# What is your major? - I'm majoring in



## Kos

Cześć Wszystkim

I have a question relating to studying a certain field or subject in college or at a university.  In English, when asked the question _"What is your major?" _or "What are you studying?" we usually respond with "I'm studying xx" or "I'm majoring in xx".  My question is, how would we express this in Polish.  Usually in the past when asked _"Na jaki kierunek sie wybierasz?" _I often respond with _"Studiuję kryminologię"_ or _"Studiuję psychologię kryminalną."  _Does this seem like a correct response or wording?  Sometimes I see wordings more along the line of "Wybieram się na kierunek xx" or "Jestem studentem na kierunku xx."
I'm just wondering what the best phrasing is so I know if I'm making sense or not.

Będę bardzo wdzięczny za odpowiedzi
-Kos


----------



## dreamlike

"Na jaki kierunek się wybierasz?" implies that one didn't undertake the studies yet, and is just planning to do so. I think it best translates as "What are you planning to study?" Your answer "Studiuję..." doesn't seem like a correct response if only because it doesn't correspond well with the question.

I'd be most likely to ask (the two options being equally good)
*Dreamlike:* Co studiujesz? / Na jakim kierunku jesteś?
*Kos: *Studiuję kryminologię. / Na kryminologi.

*Dreamlike:* Na jaki kierunek się wybierasz?
*Kos*: Na kryminologię.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Kos

Dziękuję bardzo Dreamlike!  This is the exact answer I was looking for!  I had a feeling that "na jaki kierunek się wybierasz" implied the notion that one hasn't begun studying yet but I wasn't completely sure. I'm glad I'm on the right track though haha.


----------



## dreamlike

It's better not to rely too heavily on our instincts as far as learning foreing languages goes, but in this case, your instincts were right  Let me just say that the word "wybierać się" is very common in spoken Polish, as in: *(1)* Gdzie się wybierasz na wakacje? *(2) *Właśnie się do ciebie wybierałem, jak zadzwoniłeś.


----------



## Kos

I always understood "wybierać/wybrać" to mean "to choose", but recently I've seen the usages you've written.  I was actually going to start a thread about it in the future but I'm glad to see that you've cleared up my questions about it. It seems like when the reflexive pronoun "się" is attached to it, the meaning changes a bit to literally meaning "to take oneself out" or something along those lines.  By the way your English is very good. From reading your posts it looks like your English is on a native speaker's level


----------



## kknd

Kos said:


> I always understood "wybierać/wybrać" to mean "to choose", but recently I've seen the usages you've written.  I was actually going to start a thread about it in the future but I'm glad to see that you've cleared up my questions about it. It seems like when the reflexive pronoun "się" is attached to it, the meaning changes a bit to literally meaning "to take oneself out" or something along those lines.  By the way your English is very good. From reading your posts it looks like your English is on a native speaker's level


other, similar pair might be also interesting to you: _brać_—_brać się_ [_za/do_] (meaning: "to take" and "to get down to, to set to"; but _brać się_ [_z_], "to stem from").


----------



## majlo

If the context is clear and the situation informal, you can say: - "Na co idziesz?" - "Idę na...".


----------



## Kos

Kknd, czy możesz mi napisać kilka przykładów/zdań żebym wiedział jak się używa wyrażenia "brać się za..?" 
Thanks for the help, majlo! I like your suggestion.  It's straightforward and gets the point across clearly.


----------



## LilianaB

Hi, Kos. _Wybierać_ and _wybierać się_ are almost two different verbs. The second one is reflexive and thus has almost a totally different meaning.


----------



## dreamlike

majlo said:


> If the context is clear and the situation informal, you can say: - "Na co idziesz?" - "Idę na...".


That sounds like a fair suggestion to me. Come to think of it, that's what I tend to hear most frequently when talking about higher education. "Na czym jesteś?" is somewhat less common, though.



Kos said:


> Kknd, czy możesz mi napisać kilka przykładów/zdań żebym wiedział jak się używa wyrażenia "brać się za..?"


You would do well to start a new thread about it, we'll be more than glad to help you out


----------



## kknd

dreamlike said:


> You would do well to start a new thread about it, we'll be more than glad to help you out


napiszę o tym w „telegraficznym skrócie” (tzn. bardzo krótko), gdybyś chciał jednak więcej informacji na ten temat, załóż nowy wątek zgodnie z sugestią nieocenionego dreamlike'a. otóż „brać się za [acc.]”, np. „brać się za sprzątanie” bądź „brać się za siebie” (ogólnie: „kogoś”); inny przykład „wkrótce się za to zabiorę”; zamiennie z „brać” [imperf.] stosuje się też wyraz „wziąć” [perf.].


----------

