All the '-olisms' of the world

Many people suffer from addiction...The most well-known and dangerous forms of dependency are : 

alcoholism /ˈælkəhɒlɪzəm/ 

drug addiction 

gambling 

Gambling may drive you into bankruptcy

Many new terms related to behavioural addiction have recently been created. Such phenomena as compulsive buying, and workaholism have been identified. 

Here is a list of the most popular forms of addiction:

shopaholism (compulsive shopping, oniomania)

shopaholic -a person who suffers from shopaholism

Shopaholism - new purchases bring short-term euphoria

workaholism (work addiction)

workaholic - a person who suffers from work addiction

overeating (=objadanie się)

exercise abuse

sugar addiction

caffeine addiction

chocoholism (=addiction to chocolate)

addiction to painkillers (=uzależnienie od środków przeciwbólowych)

tanorexia (tanning addicition)

Tanorexia causes permanent damage to your skin

bigorexia (muscle dysmorphia)

Bigorexia is an obsession with well-developed muscles

orthorexia (=obsession with healthy food)

Orthorexia is quite a new phenomenon

sex addiction

computer addiction

Internet addiction disorder (Internet overuse)

Many teenagers may develop Internet addiction

mobile phone addiction 

television addiction

How to check whether your compulsive behaviour has already turned into an addiction? 

Here are some alarm signals:

1. Getting the object of desire satisfies your needs for a short period of time. Feelings of euphoria, joy, calmness pass away very quickly, giving way to anxiety and sadness.

2. Your life revolves around your dependency...Your addiction comes to the fore, pushing your family, work, health and financial situation into the background.

3. You are able to spend your last penny on the thing you adore (video game, magazine, cosmetic products).

4. You keep thinking about the activity/thing you like; it becomes an obsession.

Glossary:

addiction/dependency - uzależnienie

to be addicted to sth - być uzależnionym od czegoś

an addict - uzależniony; narkoman 

abuse - nadużywanie, e.g. alcohol abuse

compulsive - nałogowy 

to suffer from sth - cierpieć na coś

phenomenon (pl. phenomena) - zjawisko

term - termin

behavioural - behavioralny; związany z zachowaniem

an object of desire - przedmiot pożądania

to pass away - mijać

to give way to sth - ustępować miejsca czemuś

anxiety - niepokój

to revolve around sth - toczyć się wokół czegoś

to come to the fore - wysunąć się na pierwszy plan

Can you think of any other forms of addiction?

Prince Charles as a weather forecaster!

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of BBC Scotland, Prince Charles along with his wife Camilla Parker Bowles have visited the broadcaster's (=nadawcy) headquarters (=siedzibę). The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall had a go at (=spróbowali swoich sił) reading the weather forecast! Against a background (=tło) of the BBC's weather map, the royals delivered a specially-prepared script (=scenariusz) which included several references (=odniesienia) to royal residences in Scotland. The Duke of Rothesay presented the report with a great sense of humor, saying for example: "Who the hell wrote this script?" and "Thank God it isn't a bank holiday (=święto państwowe)". The visit was part of the annual Holyrood Week - an event the aim of which (=którego celem jest) is to celebrate Scottish culture, achievement (=osiągnięcia) and history. 

I invite you to watch Prince Charles' and the Duchess of Cornwall's appearance (=występ; pojawienie się) in front of BBC cameras:

On the occasion  - some weather vocabulary :

weather forecast - prognoza pogody

weather forecaster - prezenter prognozy pogody, meteorolog

background, backdrop - tło

slide projector - rzutnik

pointer - wskaźnik

point to - wskazywać

the points of the compass - strony swiata

North - N - północ

South - S - południe

West - W - zachód

East - E - wschód

warm/cold front - ciepły/zimny front

atmospheric pressure - ciśnienie atmosferyczne

storm clouds - chmury burzowe

Source of the videos : youtube

Spring flowers ...

Flower names are often used when talking about spring changes...Names of flowers are quite easy to remember as they are often similar to their equivalents (=odpowiedniki) in our mother tongue (=język ojczysty). What may be problematic is their pronuciation (wymowa):

tulips

TULIP /ˈtjuːlɪp/, for those of you who are not familiar with (=zaznajomieni z) the phonetic transcription symbols (=symbole transkrypcji fonetycznej) - /tjulyp/

daffodil

DAFFODIL /ˈdæfədɪl/ , simplified transcription - /dafedyl/

crocuses

CROCUS /ˈkrəʊkəs/  - /krełkes/

narcissi

NARCISSUS  /nɑːˈsɪsəs/ (/nasyses/)   (pl. narcissi) /nɑːˈsɪsaɪ/ (/nasysaj/) 

hyacinths

HYACINTH /ˈhaɪəsɪnθ/ (/hajesinf/)

When the weather is nice go for a walk and observe nature slowly waking up after winter stagnation. Try to recall (=przypomnieć sobie) the flower names with their pronunciation!

Source of the photos : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crocus_longiflorus5.jpg (author : Meneerke bloem, CC); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White_and_purple_hyacinths.JPG (author : ElenaSchifirnet CC);  http://pixabay.com/; private collection.

Wild life a bit closer...

Doué la Fontaine zoo is an impressive biopark in Western France. The idea of this type of zoo is very appealing to me - animals live in the open with fences and nets being hardly noticeable. The zoo is home to 70 species, such as giraffes, rhinoceros, penguins, red pandas, lions and vultures. What struck me most, yet, was a dazzling show of numerous species of parrots, flying just above spectators' heads and eating goodies from the animateur's hand.   Wonderful  scenery, pens and omnipresent greenery make the park even more alluring...There is one more advantage of such splendid parks - the opportunity to take nice pictures! 

Here are some photos I took last spring :

The giraffe

Various species of parrots

The tortoise

The red panda

The pelican

Flamingoes

The parrot

Colouful feathers

Stunning plumage

The birds approach visitors

Greenery is omnipresent there

A haze-covered cave

The hippopotamus

In the zoo there is also a restaurant with a splendid view of the run of the giraffes from a  wooden terrace and a great souvenir shop, where you can buy wooden statuettes of animals, soft toys for children and many more...

GLOSSARY

appeal - podobać się

in the open - na odkrytym terenie

fence - ogrodzenie

net - siatka

hardly - ledwo

noticeable - zauważalny

vulture - sęp

strike-struck-struck - robić wrażenie

dazzling - olśniewający
species - gatunek; gatunki

spectator - widz

goodies - smakołyki

pen - wybieg

omnipresent - wszechobecny

greenery - zieleń

alluring - urzekający

splendid - wspaniały

opportunity - okazja

plumage - opierzenie

feather - pióro

approach - zbliżać się

cave - grota

haze - mgła

Something more...

go to the zoo - iść do zoo

zookeeper - opiekun zwierząt w zoo

feed - karmić

take care of sb/sth - opiekować się

cage - klatka

run, pen - wybieg

Winter vocabulary

Winter has not forgotten about us! It has shown its frosty face again..Here is some winter vocabulary for you along with my photos : 

Plants covered with snow

My cat playing with snow

The titmouse pecking at a fat ball

A pine tree covered with snow

A bird feeder among snow-covered branches 

The first snows of winter

Glossary

frosty - mroźny

covered with - pokryty

titmouse - sikorka (pl. titmice)

pick (at) sth - dziobać

fat - tłuszcz

a ball - kula

a pine tree - sosna

a bird-feeder - karmnik

among - pośród

a branch - gałąź

first - pierwszy

An Indian summer

That's it! The autumn has come! The summer is wonderful but it cannot last forever...unfortunately. It remains us to be glad with what we have! In my view, the autumn is, is spite of its coldness, the most beautiful season... We are sourrounded by magnificent colours, which change every day. Here is your autumn vocabulary :

Colourful leaves

Leaves turning yellow and red

In autumn we gather walnuts and apples

Sunflower seeds

Walnut shell

And that's a wonder of nature! A daisy in autumn!

Leaves falling off trees

Autumn forest with dense foliage on the floor

In autumn we need to rake dry leaves

Vocabulary:

last - trwać

unfortunately - niestety

remain - pozostawać

in my view - według mnie

in spite of - mimo

coldness - zimno

season - pora roku

surrounded - otoczony

magninicent - wspaniały

turn (red) - czerwienić się

gather - zbierać

walnut - orzech włoski

seeds - ziarenka, pestki

shell - skorupka

fall off sth - spadać z czegoś

a wonder of nature - fenomen natury

foliage - liście

dense - gęsty

floor - poszycie lasu

rake - grabić

The photos have been taken by myself.

My orchid

The orchids have been very popular in Poland for a few years. Even though my family memebers bought their specimens long time ago, not until last Monday did I become an owner of this beautiful plant. The most popular genus of orchids is Phalaenopsis. My flower also belongs to this group. The orchids can boast a great variety of colous - they can be white, cream, violet, rose, pink, orange, yellow, spotted and  stripy...Just take a look :

In my next post I am going to show you my orchid and take a close look at the maintenance instruction card which was attached to the plant!

The photos come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis

Species of birds

We can see them everywhere..They live close to us...In winter we feed them, their trilling heralds the spring...Do you know the names of the most common birds? 

The Swallow

The swallows are easily spotted. You have surely often seen these graceful black and white birds. Swallows are one of the greatest migrants of our skies. Depending on species, they fly thousands of miles to spend the winter in Africa, Asia,  and South America. Remember : one swallow doesn't make a summer! ;)


One of the most popular birds - little joyful sparrow!

The House Sparrow

This bird is found in most parts of the world and is strongly associated with human habitations. It can live in urban or rural settings. This small bird has a length of 16 centimetres and weighs 24–39.5 grams. Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. The House Sparrow eats mostly seeds, weeds and insects, The predators of the House Sparrow include, among others, domestic cats, hawks and owls.


Our next bird is a lovely colourful bird - the Blue Tit.

The Blue Tit

The Blue Tit is about 11 cm long. It is widespread in Europe and western Asia. As it is a resident bird (it doesn't migrate), remember to feed Tits in winter! You can build or buy a bird feeder, which you can fill with grains, seeds and pork fat.

Vocabulary:

feed - karmić

trilling - śpiew (ptaków)

herald - zwiastować

common, popular - popularny

easily spotted - łatwo zauważalny

graceful - pełny gracji

joyful - radosny

associated - związany

urban - miejski

rural - wiejski

setting - miejsce, sceneria

weigh - ważyć

marking - upierzenie

seed - ziarno, pestka

grain - zboże, ziarno

weed - chwast

predator - drapieżnik

among others - między innymi

domestic - domowy

hawk - jastrząb

owl - sowa

the Blue Tit - sikorka

the House Sparrow - wróbel

The Swallow - jaskółka

widespread - rozpowszechniony

migrate - migrować

bird feeder - karmnik

pork fat - słonina

The photos come from : 
http://blog.closer-to-nature.com/tag/swallow/ (great blog, congratulations!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Tit

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system made up of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands. It covers an area of 133,000 square miles.The reef is situated in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef can be observed from outer space and is the world's biggest structure made by living organisms.This reef structure is made up of and built by billions of midget organisms, known as coral polyps. This reef is home to numerous species and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN named it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

A part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the influence of human use, such as fishing and tourism.

The Great Barrier Reef supports a great variety of life, including many vulnerable and endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.

Six species of sea turtles breed in the reef – the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, flatback turtle, and the olive ridley. 

Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises can be found in the Great Barrier Reef, including the dwarf minke whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, and the humpback whale. Large populations of dugongs and sharks also live there.

What is more, saltwater crocodiles live in mangrove and salt marshes on the coast near the reef. 

The Great Barrier Reef seen from outer space

Coral reef

The Green Sea Turtle

The Dugong

I invite you to watch a film showing the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef:

The photos come from : 

http://fallenscoop.com/21773/great-barrier-reef-under-significant-threat-from-agricultural-pesticides

http://www.global-warming-awareness2007.org/Globalwarming-Coral-Reefs-Climate.html

http://www.the-greensea-turtle.com/the-green-sea-turtle-pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugong