#learn polish

English - Polish

Month - miesiąc (m)

This month - w tym miesiącu

Last month — w zeszłym miesiącu

Next month — w przyszłym miesiącu

A month ago - miesiąc temu

A month later - miesiąc później

Every month - co miesiąc

Once a month — raz w miesiącu

January - styczeń → w styczniu

February - luty → w lutym

March — marzec → w marcu

April — kwiecień → w kwietniu

May - maj → w maju

June - czerwiec → w czerwcu

July - lipiec → w lipcu

August - sierpień → w sierpniu

September — wrzesień → we wrześniu

October — październik → w październiku

November — listopad → w listopadzie

December - grudzień → w grudniu

In (month) - w + locative

Last (month) — w zeszłym + locative

Next (month) - w przyszłym + locative

Of all the phonemes out there, I think the alveolar trill--that rolled r you hear in Spanish, Italian, and several Slavic languages, among others, created when your tongue vibrates against your alveolar ridge (the hard part on the roof of your mouth near your teeth)--is one of the most sought-after for English speakers. Something about it is less intuitive than the uvular trill (according to the podcast Glossonomia, at least), and English speakers, like myself, struggle with it big time.

Part of the issue, in my opinion, is that there's a large body of false information regarding the alveolar trill. Some people think they're physically incapable of doing it, like, that their tongues are too short, or whatever. For the vast majority of language learners, this is untrue--just because you haven't produced the phoneme yet, doesn't mean you can't. Some people think that the alveolar trill is created by you yourself mechanically hitting your tongue against your alveolar ridge, which is also not true. That's a good exercise to figure out the placement of your tongue, I guess, but you're never going to be physically capable of forcing your tongue to move fast enough on its own to make a trill.

I think part of the problem is that this is a very challenging sound for language learners and they generally turn to native speakers for advice, which is a much worse idea than it sounds. Natives don't think about what they're doing when they make a sound--they just do it. For example, I would never assume that, unless I had extensive phonetic knowledge, I could teach an English learner the "th" sound. I asked an Italian friend how to make the trill and she mostly was confused why I couldn't say it.

However, I could get it eventually, and that's why you will, too. You need to have the tip of your tongue relaxed against your alveolar ridge, although still positioned in a way that some air leaves your mouth when you exhale. The exhalation is key. That is what causes your tongue to vibrate against your alveolar ridge and what creates the sound. Obviously, this is easier said than done. I've seen some people write that you should try lying on your back or hanging your head or whatnot to make sure your tongue is suitably relaxed, although I can't personally attest to the merits of that. The advice that made it all click for me was someone writing that you should make a bilabial trill and move it backwards in your mouth until it becomes an alveolar trill. That is to say, make motorcycle noises/blow a raspberry with your lips and move it backwards.

I think this is a pretty good visual.

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