Vocabulary - Celebrate Valentine's Day.

Have a very special Lovers' Day this year: let your heart do the talking, but make it speak in English.

So it's Feburary - mid-winter, still ccold and gloomy outside; but February is not the time when we fell miserable, for it has long been a month of romance, time to celebrate love. And the 14th, Valentine's Day, is the most heartmwarming day of the year. On that only day in the year, you are free to openly confess to your emotions, let your sweetheart know how special he is and how much you care ... All you have to do is send a valentine ( a special greeting card) with a message "Will you be my Valentine?" But remember that you must stay anonymous. There are lots of valentines to choose from. Most of them contain artistic messages with pictures of Cupids or red hearts with arrows going through them. My favorite, though, is the card I came across while I was tidying and arranging my great-great-grandmother's personal correspondence. It was a card with a tiny mirror attached to it and a message: "Look at my Beloved". Sweet, isn't it? Don't you think it would be great to get a card like that? If you make a card like that and add some romantic English poetry or a funny rhyme, your Valentine will be impressed.
Don't let your romantic mood wear off to soon because your beloved English Zone wants to share it with you ... So - let's start.


Glossary
gloomy - dark, making you feel sad (ponury)
miserable - very unhappy (nieszczęśliwy)
heartwarming - making you feel happy (podnoszący na duchu)
to confess to something - to admit something (wyznać coś, przyznać się do czegoś)
sweetheart - someone you love (ukochany)
greeting card - a card with best wishes that you send to someone (kartka z życzeniami)
anonymous - not known by name (anonimowy)
to contain - to have something (zawierać)
Cupid - Roman god of love (Kupidyn)
arrow - thin pointed stick shot from a bow (strzała)
to come across something - to find something by chance (natknąć się na coś)
correspondence - letters exchanged between people (korespondencyjna)
tiny - very small (malutki)
beloved - someone you love a lot (ukochany)
rhyme - a short poem (rymowanka)
to wear off - to pass, become less strong (minąć , skończyć się)
to share - to join with others in doing (dzielić, wspólnie coś robić)
to be impressed - to admire something, to be under a strong influence of something (być pod wrażeniem czegoś)


Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is swweet
And I love you


How Do I Love Thee?
by Elizabeth Barrett Browing (1806-1961)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to to the depth  and breadth and hight
my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the end of Being and ideal Greace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-ligth.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith
I love thee with a love I seem to lose
With my lost saints, - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my loife! - and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.


Drogi miłości
W jaki sposób cię kocham? Miłość zna tyle dróg,
Kocham cie tak głęboko, szeroko, wysoko
jak dosięga ma dusza, a nie sięgnie me oko
z dala od krańców  Bytu, gdzie Laski czystej próg.
Kocham cię wśród powszednich potrzeb dnia - żaden dług,
tylko ten spokój w słońcu, lub przy świecach w mroku.
Kocham Cię otwarcie, jak ci z wiarą głęboką.
Czysto ciebie kocham, jak ci bez pochwal i trwóg.

Kocham cię z namiętnością tą co wpierw karmiła
dawne żale. I z wiarą dziecka w moim łonie.
Kocham cię miłością, którą niemal zgubiłam
z moimi świętymi; wszystkim, co oddech wchłonie:
śmiechem, łzami - jak długo Bóg zechce, bym żyła.
Kochać cię będę jeszcze lepiej po moim zgonie.


And now few words about the origins of St Valentine's day

In fact, its roots lie in the ancient Roman mid-February festival of Lupercalia, during which a sort of lottery took place. There was a box, from which each young man drew a name of a young woman who became his sexual companion for the year. The custom lasted for many centuries util, eventually, people decided that their beloved ones should be chosen by sight rather than by luck. After the introduction of Christianty, pagan customs were stopped, but for Roman men the 14th of Feburary continued to be an occasion to seek affection of women and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration. In the 5th centuary the holiday began to be called St Valentine's Day, most probably after a priest who in the 3rd centuary defied the Roman Emperor Claudius ||. Claudius believed that single men would make better soldiers and banned marriage. But Valentine continoued to perform marriages in secret until he was imprisoned and beheaded on Feburary, the 14th. It is believed that ,while in prison, Valentine fell in love with a young girl.
Befor his death, he sent her a farewell letter, which he signed " From your Valentine!" The expression is still in use today. And even though since 1969 St Valentine has not been officially honoured by the Catolic Church, for those in love he will always be the patron  of romantic he will always be the patron of romantic causes.

Glossary
roots - part of a plant that grows down under the ground, and also source (korzenie)
lottery - getting prizes by chance (losowanie, loteria)
to draw (drew drawn) - to pull (wyciągać)
last - continue for some time (trwać)
eventually - finally, in the end (ostatecznie)
sight - power of seeing  (wzrok)
custom - habit, something that is done because of the tradition  (zwyczaj)
to seek - to look for, to wish to have (dążyć do, pragnąć)
to defy - to resist successfully (sprzeciwić się, zignorować)
to ban - to prohibit, to order with authority that something is illegal (zakazać)
to imprison - to put in  to prison (uwięzić)
farewell -leave taking (pożegnalny)
to sign - to write one's name (podpisać)
to honour - to respect highly (oddawać honory)
cause - a principle that you support (sprawa)

1. Let's talk about love

Let's start with some vocabulary that you will. find helpful while describing the ups and downs of any romantic relationship. Think of a probable chronological order of the following:

you go on a date

you split up with someone

you have a row

you get engaged to someone

you chat someone up

you go out with someone

you get married to someone

you are attracted to someone

you go steady with someone

you go on your honey moon

you fancy someone

you get back together

you fall in love with someone

you celebrate your wedding anniversary


2. Indirect questions, czyli pytania pośrednie


A teraz kilka słów o pytaniach, które tworzy się wcale nie jak pytania.

In formal situations or when we want to sound polite, we sometimes begin questions with: "Do you know ..?" or "Could you tell me ...?" If we start a question like this, the word order is diffrent from a simple question. Compare the word order in the following two pairs of questions:


When are they comming?
Can you tell me when they are comming?
Did you pay for it? I wonder if you paid for it

Zapewnie zauważyłeś, że pytania pośrednie wyglądają jak zdania twierdzące: najpierw podmiot (kto?), a potem  orzeczenie (co robi?), i wcale nie trzeba pamiętać  o inwersji ani o did, do czy do. Tam, gdzie nie ma wyrazu pytającego (why, how, who etc.), użyj.



And now it's time for you to change these questions into more polite ones:
1) Where did you  meet my boyfriend?
2) Does your sister speak Japanese?
3) When are you going to visit your grandparents?
4) Why haven't they arrived yet?
5) Will they invite many people to the party?

3. Gapped test, czyli czym zapełnić tajemnicze luki?

Let's have a closer look at a typical exam task, professionally called 'cloze test'. All you have to do is write one word in each gap.


Przyjrzyjmy się teraz zadaniu, na które zapewne natkniesz się zdając jakiekolwiek egzamin z angielskiego. Test luk, bo nim mowa, wcale nie  jest taki straszny, na jaki wygląda na pierwszy rzut oka. Zapamiętaj kilka rad , a napewno poradzisz sobie z uzupełnieniem pamiętnika Toma.

-Zanim  cokolwiek wpiszesz, przeczytaj szybko cały tekst, by zorientować, o czym jest.
-Teraz przeczytaj uważnie każde zdanie i zastanów się, jakiego rodzaju słowa brakuje. Zwróć szczególną uwagę na wyrazy sąsiadujące słowa to zwykle przyimki, zaimki, przedimki, spójniki oraz części utartych zawrotów lub form czasownikowych ...
-Ani na chwilę nie zapomnij, że za każdym razem wstawiasz jeden wyraz (don't  to dwa wyrazy : do not)
-po uzupełnieniu luki, przeczytaj ponowie całe zdanie, aby upewnić się, że logiczne pasuje do kontekstu i jest gramatycznie poprawne.


Tom's Dairy
Have I told you how I got to know Ann? Well, it must  1._______ been at 2._________ eighteen months ago - on  a gloomy autumn day, early 3._______ the morning. I was on my 4.__________ to Wrocław. I 5._______ promised to visit a friend of min 6.___________ lived there. I must say that I don't enjoy travelling 7.___________ train, but a 8.__________ . days eariler my car had broken 9.___________, so I had 10.___________ choice. Anyway, there I was -sitting by the window, trying to catch 11.______ on my sleep when a group of laughing students entered 12.__________ compartment. In 13.___________  of the early hour, they seemed to be 14.__________ a good time. I forced myself to open my eyes and looked up. And that is when I spotted the 15._________ charming soul in the 16._________ world. Idon't normally chat girls up on the train, but I knew that 17.________ I wanted to see her again , I had 18.________ act. So I started talking....


4. Smiles: As thin as a rake, czyli chudy jak grabie ....?

I znowu przymiotniki. Tym razem w związkach frazeologicznych.

Have you ever wonder why we say: "głupi jak but" or "głuchy jak pień"? Such short comparisons, like any other idiomatic expressions, may seem very strange to a learner because they are unpredictable. However, there are some that reflect more universal assosciations. For example, when in  Polish we want to say that somboady is pale, we'll say "blady jak prześcieradło" The same concept is expressed by English "as white as a sheet" using the following words complete the simlines:

as ________ as a cucumber
as ________ as a judge
as ________ as a lord
as ________ as a daisy
as ________ as a post
as ________ as a button
as ________ as a bat
as ________ as a hunter
as ________ as gold
as ________ as nails
as ________ as a peacock
as ________ as a beetroot

proud, blind, cool, hard, sober, bright, drunk, deaf, red, good, hungry, fresh


Rozwiązanie 1.

you fancy someone,  you are attracted to someone - ktoś Ci się podoba

you chat someone up - zagadać , poderwać

you go on a date - idziesz na randkę

you fall in love with someone - zakochujesz się

you go out with someone, you go steady with someone - chodzisz z kimś (steady oznacza, że traktujesz to w miarę poważnie)

you have a row - kłócicie sie

you split up with someone - rzywasz, rozstajecie się

you get back together - godzicie się, znowu jesteście razem

you get engaged to someone - zaręczasz się z kimś

you get married to someone - bierzesz z kimś ślub

you go on your honeymoon - jedziecie na miesiąc miodowy

you celebrate your wedding - anniversary ochodzicie rocznicę ślubu


Rozwiązanie 2.
1. I wonder where you met my boyfriend.
2. Can you tell me if your sister speaks Japanese?
3. I'd like to know when you are going to visit your grandparents.
4. Have you any idea why they haven't arrived yet?
5. Do you happen to know  if they will invite many people to the party?

Rozwiązanie 3.

1. have - po czasowniku modalnym (must), a przed III f. czasownika (been) brakuje have
2. least - wyrażenie at least - przynajmniej
3. in - przyimek w wyrażeniu in the morning
4. why - wyrażenie on my way to - w drodze do
5. had - użyjemy czasu Past Perfect had promised, bo obiecałem
6. who - zaimek względny o osobie  - a friend who (przyjaciel, który)
7. by - przyimek  w wyrażeniu by train
8. few - określenie ilości a few days - kilka dni
9. down - phrasal verb break down - popsuć się
10. no - zaprzeczenie przed rzeczownikiem - no choice
11. up - phrasal verb catch up on - nadrabiać zaległości
12. the - przedimek określony the compartment, bo wiadomo, o jakim przedziale jest mowa - tym, w którym siedzę (pamiętaj, że po enter nie ma przyimka: you enter a room, chociaż you go into a room)
13. spite - łącznik in spite of - pomimo
14. having - wyrażenie have a good time - dobrze się bawić, po czasowniku be must być w formie ciągłej
15. most - stopniowanie the most charming - najbardziej urocza
16. entire/whole - wyrażenie in the whole/entire world - na całym świecie
17. if - spójnik if - jeżli
18. to - forma przeszła czasownika must - had to act - musiałem działać

Rozwiązanie 4.

as cool as a cucumber - opanowany
as sober as a judge - trzeźwy jak świnia
as drunk as a lord - pijany jak bela
as fresh as a daisy - śwoerzy jak pączek róży
as deaf as a post - głuchy jak pień
as brigth as a button - bystry
as blind as a bat - ślepy jak kret
as hungry as a hunter - głodny jak wilk
as good as gold - złoty człowiek
as hard as nails - twardy jak skała, bez serca
as proud as a peacock - dumny jak paw
as red as a beetroot - czerwony jak burak