Teach Kids Polish: Body Parts (Belly and Belly Button)

My kids have known the words for Belly and Bellybutton in Polish as long as they remember because of this simple little game.




Belly

Brzuszek

pronounced Bzoo-shehk with the z sounding as if you are trying to say "Sh" or "r" at the same time*. 




Belly button

Pępuszek

pronounced Pehm-poo-shehk with the sz sounding as though you are slurring (imagine how inebriated people say their S or Sh, if that helps).



Make a circle with your finger or palm around baby's belly while saying slowly "Brzusiek".

Then, gently touch the belly button while saying "Pępuszek" quickly. 

Baby will laugh at you, this is a great thing.  When babies laugh, they are enjoying learning from you.






When my second daughter was born, my older daughter played "Brzusiek Pępuszek" with her little sister.  Sometimes, they still play that game together, along with "Idzie Rak" and "Round the Garden with Teddy Bear".

I remember being a little girl and my mother playing "Brzuszek Pępuszek" with me and later adding it to a Polish version of "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes".





* The "rz" and "sz" sounds are very difficult to describe and sounds which need much practice.

Na razie...

A Polish Nursery Rhyme, Biedroneczka Mala and Planning the Next Trip to Poland

I went in search today of a Polish nursery rhyme my mother used to play with my brother and I when we were very little.  It was about a Ladybug or Ladybird, as some call it.

You can find the word in Polish below.  They are also translated into English and a video follows how to do the finger play part of this classic nursery rhyme.

Mama Lisa's Biedroneczka Mala

I've begun working again on teaching the children Polish as my older daughter said something a few days ago that really touched my father and I.

She asked if next year, we could go to Poland for Christmas instead of getting Christmas gifts.  She said she wanted to see Christmas in Wroclaw and asked me if I had ever spent Christmas there.  I had, my first Christmas ever.  And no other time.


At the idea of the trip, we all reacted with an ecstatic "Of course!  Great idea!"

So, where does that leave me?  I have a renewed need to teach the girls Polish and to save up money for the trip.

As I work on our Polish, I will share with you more sites and tips I come across to help you teach your child Polish as well. 


I sincerely wish we could afford the 45 minute drive one way every Saturday and the tuition to put at least my oldest in Polish School but it just isn't an option for us.  And that should not be enough to stop them from learning my first language.

I hope you and your child enjoy playing Biedroneczka Mala as much as we are.

Na razie...

Also, if you feel that you would want to, please donate using the paypal button below to help us pay for our next trip (I promise to share pictures when we go!)...

A Polish Children's Song to Start the Day

My older daughter woke up at 7:15, rubbing her eyes and complaining that she was very tired. Normally, she wakes up at 6:30 with a bright smile and is ready to tackle the day.

I racked my brain of everything I remember as a child to get her charged up and ready for school.

I had been waiting to sing this song to her to wake her from bed ever since she started school but she has always been out of bed before I could wake her.

In front of her, eye contact, and...


Ćwierkają wróbelki od samego rana
Ćwir, ćwir Hej ty, Kasiu, gdzie idziesz kochana? 
A Kasia śpiewała, śmiejąc się wesoło
Szkolny rok się zaczął więc idę się do szkoły!


Translation:

Sparrows are chirping from the early morning
Tweet, tweet Hi you, Kasiu, Where are you going, my love?
 Yet Kasia sang, laughing to herself happily
The school year has begun so I'm going to school!



I gave her a hug and a kiss, said Goodmorning to her and asked "So, do you feel awake now and ready to go?"  She gave me a big smile and bounced away to get dressed quickly.

My toddler reached for me and I picked her up.  She bounced in my arm, "Again!" and I sang it to her, her smile making me feel like a SuperMama. 

It was just a little song my Mama would sing to me and my brother while we would get dressed to go to school, the birds singing in the branches of the tree outside our apartment window.  I can't believe I remember these words.

And now for something fun, I found this on youtube and played it for the girls to dance to as soon as they were both dressed and they loved it.








Time for breakfast and the morning scramble.  Have a great day!  Dzień dobry i...

Na razie...



I used Kasia in the song since it's my first name. 

Idzie Rak: Polish Children's Rhyme

When I was a little girl, my parents would chant this song to me while walking two fingers on my belly to tickle my underarms.

When my older daughter and I went to Poland to bury my Dziadek, my family would chant this song and tickle her as well.  After a couple of times, she would say "Again!  Do the Idzie Rak!  Proooooszeeeee!"  It was amazing how quickly her words switched from all English to part Polish within that week because of simple rhymes like "Idzie Rak".


The complete rhyme is:

Idzie rak
idzie rak
czasem naprzód
czasem wspak.
Idzie rak
nieborak
jak ugryzie,
będzie znak!


Which translates to:

Here comes a crayfish (or a crayfish is walking)
Here comes a crayfish
Sometimes forward
sometimes backward
Here comes a crayfish
poor fellow
when he pinches you,
there will be a mark!


There are different small variations of this.  Sometimes, instead of "nieborak", it is "nie borak" (not a beet), or "niebo rak" (heaven crayfish, which could be about the zodiac sign possibly).  Sometimes, instead of "ugryzie", it is "uszczypnie" (stings you).


My family simply says the last four lines:

Idzie rak
nieborak
jak ugryzie,
będzie znak

I hope you enjoy this video I found (one of many online) of this rhyme.





Enjoy!


Related Post:
My Older Daughter's First Trip To Poland:  Coming To Poland

Slimak, Slimak: Polish Children's Rhyme

My daughters love this rhyme and sign it every time they see a snail. 

One of the fondest memories I have of either of them singing it is from when I took my older daughter to Poland to bury my Dziadek.  At my cousin's garden, a mulch pile was covered in big fat snails.  They were the snails which are regularly harvested in Poland for the French.

My cousin's daughter quickly squatted down to be close to the snails and sang:

Ślimak, ślimak wystaw rogi,
Dam ci sera na pierogi,
Jak nie sera, to kapusty,
Od kapusty będziesz tłusty

My older glanced at me and I translated for her:

Snail, Snail, show your horns,
I'll give you cheese for pierogi,
If not cheese, then cabbage,
From cabbage you'll be fat...

She promptly squatted down next to her cousin and they chanted the rhyme together again.

I turned my pregnant eyes from the snails after whispering, "You be glad I have no butter and garlic on me right now."



Another Polish Children's Nursery Rhyme About a Miscu...

Mom Photographer's Slimak post which originally inspired me