Monday, June 3, 2013

The winners of the Polish quiz

The Polish challange is now completed. 
The winners of the quiz are Karlo, Petra and Tomislav. 
They knew answers to all questions, but one. 
Congratulations!


Would YOU like to check how much you know about Poland?
You will find quiz questions & answers both on slideshare and in the school-hall.
Have fun!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Happy Kids' Day!

The first of June is celebrated as the national children's day in Poland!
Whatever age you are, eat some chocolate and have the happiest day ever!


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Get ready for the challange - part 2

Last minute preparation for the quiz? Watch the video! That should help.


Remember! Poland is a country of many colors :-)

Deset do jednoga – PRAVILA

Uslijed ograničenja vremena i broja natjecatelja pravila kviza su prilagođena.

Postavke
1.      Svaka skupina sastoji se od dva učenika I jednog učitelja.
2.      Natjecatelji stoje u polukrugu iza klupa/stolova.
3.      Svaka skupina započinje s tri prilike, takozvana “života”.
4.      Članovi skupine koji ispadnu, sjedaju.
5.      Kviz se sastoji od tri kruga.

Krug 1
1.      Svaka skupina započinje kviz s tri “života”.
2.      Skupine dobivaju pitanja o Poljskoj numeričkim redom i imaju 5 sekundi za odgovor.
3.      Ako nema odgovora, ili ako je odgovor netočan, skupina gubi jedan “život”.
4.      Nakon što svaka skupina dobije po jedno pitanje, počinje slijedeći krug istim redoslijedom.
5.      Skupina koja ne ponudi točan odgovor u prvom krugu, a ne zna ni odgovor na pitanje iz drugog kruga, gubi oba preostala “života” i ispada iz natjecanja.  

Opće pravilo prvog kruga glasi:
"Svakome dva pitanja, jedan točan odgovor za preživljavanje."

Krug 2
1.      Svaka skupina ima još 2 ili 3 “života”.
2.      Kao i u Prvom krugu, pitanja se postavljaju skupinama 1, 2, 3, a za netočan odgovor gubi se “život”.
3.      Ako skupina odgovori točno, proziva broj sljedeće skupine koja će odgovarati.
4.      Ako prozvana skupina ne odgovori točno, gube jedan “život”, a skupina koja ih je prozvala proziva sljedeću skupinu za odgovaranje.
5.      Ako prozvana skupina točno odgovori, proziva sljedeću skupinu.
6.      Kad skupina izgubi posljednji “život”, ispada iz igre.
7.      Natjecatelji ne smiju prozvati skupinu koja je njih prozvala.
8.      Igra završava kada u igri ostane samo jedna skupina ili ako se odgovori na sva pitanja.

9.      Ako ostanu dvije ili tri skupine, pobjednik je skupina s većim brojem točnih odgovora.

The greatest Polish athletes of all time

Poland has been present in winter and summer Olympic Games since 1924. The Polish national team has won 285 medals, paving the way for many Polish Olympians to go down in the history of international sport. The brightest star of Polish sport is Irena Szewińska, a track-and-field athlete and a sprinter, who won 7 medals – 3 gold (the 4x100m relay, the 200-meter and 400-meter sprint), 2 silver (in the 200m sprint and the long jump) and 2 bronze. Poles are also really proud of Robert Korzeniowski, the greatest race walker ever. He won only 4 Olympic medals, but they were all gold.

Irena Szewinska
Robert Korzeniowski
Polish athletes celebrated their greatest successes during the summer Olympics. Many of them have won more than one medal, and they were often gold, e.g. Otylia Jędrzejczak (swimming), Tomasz Majewski (shot putting), Robert Sycz and Tomasz Kucharski (rowing). In the winter Polish athletes performed with less success, apart from two phenomenal ski jumpers Wojciech Fortuna (the gold medal in the K90 ramp jump in 1972) and Adam Małysz (1 bronze and 3 gold medals), as well as, a brilliant cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk (1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals).

Justyna Kowalczyk
Adam Malysz


Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Polish History in a Nutshell

You don't need to know any foreign language to learn more about the Polish history. 
Check out the Animated Historty of Poland. Enjoy watching!


Events worth remembering:
*966 Christianization (Mieszko I - the first ruler of Poland)
*1025 Kingdom of Poland (Bolesław Chrobry - the first king of Poland)
*1410 The Grunwald Battle (against the Teutonic Knights)
*1569 The Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth
*1795 The Partition of Poland
*11.11.1918 The Reconstruction of Poland (The Independence Day, Józef Piłsudski)
*1939 Westerplatte, The Invasion of Poland (WWII)
*1945 Communist Poland
*1989 The Round-table Talks
*2004 Poland in the European Union

Get ready for the challange!

Do you want to take part in the Polish quiz, but at the same time you're afraid that you don't know enough to get through the first round? Don't worry about that! All the questions involve general knowledge about Poland and topics that I covered in different classes.

Get ready for the challenge by checking my PowerPoint presentations (Poland - general knowledgePolish MusicPolish Education) and blog posts. Although materials I have to offer are in English, the quiz itself will be held in Croatian. Thus, the language barrier should not be a problem.

In case of any questions, don't hesitate to write!
 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Jeden z dziesięciu / Deset do jednoga

Dear Students & Teachers,

My work here is almost over. I hope you've learnt a lot about Poland, my language and culture while I was staying in Daruvar with you. I had a lot of fun exploring it myself to an extent that I would never do back home. Now, I challenge you to take part in a Polish quiz "Jeden z dziesięciu". Let's check how much you remember from hours of talking about Poland. Team up (2 students + 1 teacher) and take part in this fun activity on the 29th of May.

The quiz originates from the United Kingdom. The original name is "Fifteen to One'. It was a popular general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4 from 1988 to 2003. It had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV.


The Polish version of the quiz is called “Jeden z dziesięciu” (“Ten to One”) – thus, the number of contestants is significantly smaller. In Poland, the program was first launched in 1994, and as TVP’s (Polish National Television) top rated quiz show, it is broadcast till now. I remember watching the quiz as a child. Every week, my dad impressed me with a number of questions that he actually new answer for. I still think that just trying to answer all the questions even before the quiz contestants was the best part of watching it together with my family.



Learn more about the quiz. Read the rules in Croatian.

Postavke
1. Svaka skupina sastoji se od dva učenika I jednog učitelja. 
2. Natjecatelji stoje u polukrugu iza klupa/stolova. 
3. Brojevi za skupine će se izvlačiti prije početka kviza. 
4. Svaka skupina započinje s tri prilike, takozvana “života”. 
5. Članovi skupine koji ispadnu, sjedaju. 
6. Kviz se sastoji od tri kruga. 

Krug 1 
1. Svaka skupina započinje kviz s tri “života”. 
2. Skupine dobivaju pitanja o Poljskoj numeričkim redom i imaju 5 sekundi za odgovor. 
3. Ako nema odgovora, ili ako je odgovor netočan, skupina gubi jedan “život”. 
4. Nakon što svaka skupina dobije po jedno pitanje, počinje slijedeći krug istim redoslijedom. 
5. Skupina koja ne ponudi točan odgovor u prvom krugu, a ne zna ni odgovor na pitanje iz drugog kruga, gubi oba preostala “života” i ispada iz natjecanja. 

Opće pravilo prvog kruga glasi: 
"Svakome dva pitanja, jedan točan odgovor za preživljavanje." 

Krug 2 
1. Svaka skupina ima još 2 ili 3 “života”. 
2. Kao i u Prvom krugu, pitanja se postavljaju skupinama 1, 2, 3, a za netočan odgovor gubi se “život”. 
3. Ako skupina odgovori točno, proziva broj sljedeće skupine koja će odgovarati. 
4. Ako prozvana skupina ne odgovori točno, gube jedan “život”, a skupina koja ih je prozvala proziva sljedeću skupinu za odgovaranje. 
5. Ako prozvana skupina točno odgovori, proziva sljedeću skupinu. 
6. Kad skupina izgubi posljednji “život”, ispada iz igre. 
7. Natjecatelji ne smiju prozvati skupinu koja je njih prozvala. 
8. Kad ostanu samo tri skupine, završava prva faza kviza. 
9. Drugi krug nema zadano trajanje niti zadani broj pitanja; ovisi o broju skupina koje prežive prvi krug i pokazanom znanju. 

Krug 3 
1. Završna se igra igra za bodove. 
2. Skupine započinju s tri “života”. 
3. Broj “života” preostalih nakon Drugog kruga pretvara se u bodove. Skupina kojoj su preostala tri “života” započinje Treći krug s 3 boda. 
4. U trećem krugu postavlja se do 20 pitanja, a broj preostalih pitanja pokazuje se u donjem desnom kutu ekrana. 
5. Netočan odgovor znači gubitak jednog “života” (tri netočna odgovora izbacuju skupinu iz igre, bez obzira na broj bodova), a točan odgovor donosi 10 bodova. 
6. Skupine odgovaraju od najnižeg prema najvišem broju početnih bodova. 
7. Ako je odgovor točan, skupina proziva jednu od preostale dvije skupine. 
8. Ako je odgovor netočan, skupina gubi jedan “život”, a sljedeća skupina odgovara. 
9. Igra završava kada u igri ostane samo jedna skupina ili ako se odgovori na svih 20 pitanja. 
10. Ako ostanu dvije ili tri skupine, preostali “životi” se pretvaraju u bodove (1 “život” = 10 bodova). 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Invitation to dance

Do you like dancing? Are you open for new experience? 
Do you enjoy performing in public?

Come and learn polonaise with us!

The first practice of polonaise for the school performance:

Next TUESDAY (21.05)
at 14.15 (the 8th period).

Feel invited!

Polonez


On Monday, I had a pleasure to teach classes 8b & 8c one of the 5 Polish national dances -  polonaise (polonez).


Polonaise goes back to the 16th century. It originated as a war triumphal dance. From the 17th to 19th century, it was widely used as a ceremonial dance or formal march on various occasions. Till now, polonaise in Poland is an opening dance for all sorts of official events and balls.

The closing scene from "Pan Tadeusz" (Sir Thaddeus, or the Last Lithuanian Foray)
- a screen version of Polish epic poem by Adam Mickiewicz

Polonaise as the opening of STUDNIOWKA (a senior prom).

Polonaise is a really slow dance performed in 3/4 time. That is why, it is sometimes called a walking dance. For each time measure there are three gliding steps. The first is long and marked with bending a knee. Then follow two short steps and the long one all . 

One (bend), two, three. One (bend), two, three. One (bend), two, three...

Figuring out new figures.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Polish Music


The last meeting of The Polish Culture Club was aimed at Polish music. Believe me or not, picking up songs for the meeting was a really tough job. First of all, Poland has a really lively and diverse music scene. There is a lot to choose from. Second of all, I had to put away my personal music taste for the time being, so I could actually show the variety of music styles. 

We started with Fryderyk Chopin, the brightest star of Polish classical music. Despite his unusual surname, he is NOT French. He was born in Żelazowa Wola and left Poland in 1830 just before the November Uprising. He did not even expect that he would never return to his homeland. Chopin wrote 200 compositions (about 20 hours of music, mostly for solo piano), the first at the age of 6 (Polonaise, both music genre and one of the 5 Polish national dances). It's not a coincidence that Robert Shuman said "žGentlemen, hats off to the genius [referring to Chopin]!"


Fryderyk Chopin "Revolutionary Etude"


If you're not really into classical music, you can listen to jazz impressions on Chopin by one of the most talented jazz pianist in Poland, Leszek Możdżer.

Leszek Możdżer, impressions on Chopin


Then, we moved to more contemporary music scene in Poland. After the presentation of two major music festivals (Open'er and Woodstock) taking place in Poland, we listened to a wide range of Polish artists. Check out yourself!

Pidżama Porno "Ezoteryczny Poznań"
- the place where I came from :-)



Edyta Górniak "To nie ja byłam Ewą" 
- the first Polish performance and the 2nd place in the Eurovision Contest, 1994



Kayah & Goran Bregović "Prawy do lewego"



Maciej Maleńczuk, Yugopolis "Ostatnia nocka"
- an album inspiried by Balkan music


Compare to... Bajaga "Verujem, ne verujem"


Other Bajaga's songs with Polish lirycs: 
Krzysztof Krawczyk "Mój przyjacielu" ("442 do Beograda")
Olaf Deriglasoff "Falochron" ("Moji drugovi")


And Ewa Farna, a Polish singer performing in Czech and Polish language.
"Cicho"



"Ticho"



And what is YOUR favorite song? Please, feel free to comment :-)

Monday, April 15, 2013

Fruit Salad

Spotted at school today...



Those cute clay fruit inspired me to make a fruit salad. Really easy and really healthy.


You need:
- one apple,
- one pear,
- two bananas,
- one orange,
- two spoons of homemade peach jam
- two spoons of cream
- one spoon of brown sugar (optional).


First, wash and peel the fruit. Be careful while using a knife ;-) Then, chop fruit into small pieces. Mix ingredients together and sweeten the salad with a dressing of jam and cream (or sprinkle with sugar).

Have fun and enjoy your healthy snack!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

World Health Day

Today (7 April), as a tribute to World Health Organization (WHO), 
World Health Day is celebrated.
World Health Organization was opened on the 7th of April 1948 to coordinate global health actions. Nowadays, it monitors lifestyle trends, runs extensive research and sets all kinds of health norms and standards.

On Friday, teacher Dalija invited me to celebrate World Health Day with the first and second graders. By various games and activities, we explained how important is to exercise on regular basis, maintain high hygiene standards and eat a balanced diet.

Teacher Dalija explaining what is a healthy diet
The food piramid
Coloring exercise: green - eat a lot, yellow - eat sometimes, red - avoid eating.
Healthy vs unhealthy food.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Wet Monday / Lany Poniedziałek

Easter holiday is slowly coming to an end. However, there is one more day to celebrate. For many Poles, the last day is the most entertaining part of Easter. In Poland, Easter Monday is commonly called “Śmingus Dyngus” or “Lany Poniedziałek” [Wet Monday]. Why is that? On this special day, people still keep alive the practice of pouring water on each other. According to tradition, on Easter Monday, before noon, young men should look for the prettiest single girls (maidens) and douse them with water. However, nowadays the roles are reversed and boys also get dripping wet. Even the marital status does not protect people from getting soaked anymore.


Get ready boys and girls!
Tomorrow, nobody will be safe from the Śmingus Dyngus tradition.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Easter Basket / Koszyczek Wielkanocny

Easter is one of the most important holidays in Poland. Easter celebrations take place for more than a week in Poland and start with Palm Sunday. 

One of my favorite days is Easter Saturday. On this special day, Poles decorate baskets with lace napkins, boxwood (the typical Polish Easter evergreen) or catkin, put Easter food inside and take everything to churches where food is blessed. The tricky part is that nobody can eat the basket goodies until Easter breakfast. It is on Sunday, right after the morning mass, when Polish families gather for breakfast and share each piece of blessed food among all their members.

Are you curious what people in Poland usually put into the Easter baskets? 
Especially for you, I asked my friends to take pictures of their baskets.

Koszyczek wielkanocny Katarzyny. / Katarzyna's Easter basket.
Koszyczek wielkanocny Natalii. / Natalia's Easter basket.

Can you find:
- bread (chleb)?
- Easter eggs (pisanki)?
- a sausage (kiełbasa)?
- a butter lamb (baranek z masła)?
- salt (sól)?
- an Easter cake (babka)?
- an orange (pomarańcza)?
- chocolate eggs (jajka z czekolady)?
- an Easter bunny (zajączek z czekolady)?
- a lace napkin (serwetka)?
- boxwood (bukszpan)?

Do you have similar customs?
What would you put into your basket?

Palenie Marzanny

After a few rainy days, I really appreciated the sudden change of weather. I had a feeling, it might have had something to do with the Polish custom of burning Marzanna.


On Wednesday (20.03) a group of students made 4 straw dolls symbolizing Marzanna – the Slavic goddess of winter.




On Thursday (21.03), the first day of spring, the dolls were set on fire in a ritual called “palenie Marzanny” [the burning of Marzanna].


To summon (invite) Lady Spring and complete the ritual, children and teachers were chanting a Polish rhyme.


Unfortunately, the sudden weather breakdown we experienced a few days after the ritual proves that the burning of Marzanna is nothing else than just a bit of fun. It doesn't anyhow influence the change of seasons. 


Would you like to learn more about Polish customs and culture? 

Join Polish Culture Club, every Wednesday 5 pm.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

School rules RULE!


Moving to a new country is a really bold thing to do, but sometimes it is simply scary. That’s why I want to thank you for a worm welcome in Daruvar and making me feel like at home. I appreciate your every smile and your effort to make conversations in English.

My observation period is over now. Over the past two weeks I’ve been visiting various classes, observing the teachers and learning about the school routines and customs.

Did you know that…

An example of Polish humor

in Poland students have to write short tests whenever teachers ask them? It can even happen in the middle or at the end of the lesson. Those unannounced quizzes are called “niezapowiedziane kartkóweczki”. So you’d better not piss off your Polish teacher, otherwise you can expect them saying “Wyciągamy karteczki.” [Eng. Take out sheets of paper.], which is the announcement for the short quiz being written right away. Dear students and teachers, how would you feel about this rule at your school?

For more examples: start a search engine, type in "wyciągamy karteczki" and have fun!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Daruvar, here I am!


Dear students, teachers and parents,

Welcome to my weekly blog on my life and work in Daruvar.  Most of you have already heard about me, but only a few had chance to meet me in person. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Emilia. I come from Poland. My hometown is Zbąszynek, a small town located about 100 km from Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. However, I’ve been living in Poznań for over 6 years. I graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University, where I was studying the early childhood education (BA), the school counseling and care (MA) and English (BA). I did a part of my studies in Finland as an Erasmus student. I also visit Ireland every now and then (I lived there for 9 months in total).

Making friends in Lapland

Giant's Causeway, Ireland

My first activity in Croatia was the Erasmus Intensive Language Course (EILC) in Rijeka. I can’t imagine myself living in a foreign country and not making an effort to learn the basics of the language. Since Polish and Croatian are sisters (both are Slavic languages), it was really easy to get started. Every day I learn something new, though I still have trouble speaking. So, please, try to be patient and forgive me the moments of confusion.

EILC Rijeka, The class of 2013

As a Comenius assistant at your school, I’ll be observing classes, supporting the school staff and teaching my own language and culture. I’ll be more than happy to participate both in everyday school life and extracurricular activities. I encourage you to get in touch whenever you feel like. Don’t hesitate to ask questions or seek for support.

 I officially invite you to accompany me in the truly intercultural experience and to help me discover the true face of Croatia.