Life / Where to get a cup of coffee in Warsaw? [40]

Some of the world's oldest living people are smokers. Fear is much more dangerous. It actually gets to the point where anti-smoking campaigns pass a certain threshold of intimidation where it just becomes funny. Sorry to all you heart disease and lung cancer sufferers!

Life / Where to get a cup of coffee in Warsaw? [40]


Wouldn't it be Gwiazdazłoty?

Love / Polish women are known for their beauty, but men are so ugly (most of).. [250]

It's not fair to compare, but I really wouldn't say that my girlfriend (who is Polish) is as attractive as any of the English girls I have gone out with in my time. Love is not skin deep. It's about care, devotion, sharing your life with someone and being beaten into submission by a woman who knows what she wants. Discussions like this one are even shallower than skin-deep.

Language / The difference between i and a ? [15]


How the hell did I manage to type that? It's a vowel, of course. I think I must have been distracted by a sheep.

Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [178]


Indeed. They shouldn't be difficult because they have close correspondents in English, but they are tricky because of where and how they are used.

Tricky. In much of northern England, the y at the end is a bit like like the Polish y. In southern England, it's closer to Polish i.

But...
The English 'i' sound is more of a glide or dipthong, whereas the Polish sound is a pure monopthong. I was trying to teach someone the differences between a few English words. I got the best pronunciation when I spelt these words thusly:

szijt / shyt
pijs / pys

I only wanted someone to pass me a sheet without them thinking I was swearing or being disgusting. Ah the things we do for a little p!ss and quiet.

Language / The difference between i and a ? [15]


Maybe in Doric, but not in most languages.

I just copy other people. That way, I don't think like an Englishman or like a Pole, but just act like a parrot.


A is a consonant.
I is often a vowel, but in Polish, sometimes it is a sign that the previous consonant is softened.

As standalone words, a i i (for a a i, i i a, i a a) are similar. I had been treating them as slightly different, but only because I have been copying how the professionals seem to use them. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the exact differences are.

Feedback / My Thoughts on this Forum and Moderators [71]


Nobody is as elusive as Robert and Gosia. I think we even heard Vincent speak once.

Language / Dlaczego/Czemu - What is what? [22]


As long as I don't sound like I'm saying "jagnię".

Language / Dlaczego/Czemu - What is what? [22]

I had learnt "dlaczego", but my ladyfriend always uses "czemu". She actually usually says "czemu why?"
I often reply to "dlaczego" with "dlaczego nie?" Is "Czemu nie?" good as well?

Language / Dlaczego/Czemu - What is what? [22]

Po co? ...or is it Bo co?

Czemu is dative (I think) - To what [reason]?
Dlaczego looks a bit more genitive (possibly) - Of what [reason]?

Weird thing is that I was going to ask the very same question on the very same day.
Thanks for saving me the bother, Mr. Cjjccjcjcjjjc.

Language / SAY TELL TALK SPEAK - HARD 4 POLES [22]


I thought that was more like to converse.

I can tell you all something without speaking. The written word can only occasionally speak volumes.

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Polish is not as difficult as some languages. There are plenty of books, websites and nice people around to help. This is not the case with many, more obscure languages. Why should Polish be on someone's list of most difficult languages and not Slovakian which is close to Polish, or Kashubian which is also close to Polish yet lacking in resources for learners? What about languages like Nenec, Nahautl or Fang?

News / Polish engineer beheaded in Pakistan. [347]


To the kind of filth that killed him, words like Polish, British, American don't mean a thing. It is a sad fact.


You are:

a) wrong, and
b) unnaturally obsessed.

News / Polish engineer beheaded in Pakistan. [347]


It seems though, that that Polish engineer ended up on the 'front-line'. I hope he can rest in peace and that his killers receive something approaching the punishment they deserve.


Shut up and think of something constructive rather than blaming the British like you always do.

Language / IS POLISH LANGUAGE'S VULGARALISATION MEDIA-DRIVEN? [23]


I've heard the c-word on Radio 3. In the evenings on Radio 1 in the old days (John Peel), they never removed any swearing. I wouldn't mind a bit of swearing, it's people like Chris Moyles, Jonathan Ross and so on I find offensive and boring.

I keep being subjected to Polish TV, yet so much of it is not actually Polish. Very little, in fact.

News / Stealing electricity in Poland... being resourceful or theft? [21]


It's bad when the hammer goes missing because it was the only thing you couldn't nail down.

Just because you can't pick it up or touch it, doesn't mean it's not stealable. Perhaps the punishment should be for the thief to pick up something with however-many volts passing through it. Or is it the wattage rather than the voltage that's dangerous. Who'd like to find out?

News / The Heart of John Paul 2 will be in Wawel. [14]

I am just a normal, humble person, but if I state that I wish to be buried in a particular place (within reason), would it be normal for anyone else to go against my wishes and put my remains somewhere else, even if for "good" reasons? Surely this should be the same, no matter who is concerned, great leader or village idiot alike.

JP2 stated his wishes. They should be fulfilled.

Life / What is the best Polish book ever written. [23]


Got a spare copy? I like a bit of geologia.

Language / kaboom, ruff ruff ruff, meow, or moo, or bang! - sound effects in Polish? [29]

Everything anyone could possibly want to know about communicating with Polish animals.

Polish dog: "Hau hau." Translation: Good day to you sir.
Japanese duck: "Hau hau" Translation: Oh hello. How are you?

Polish frog: "Kwak"
English duck: "Quack" Translation: I think I understood that, but I'm not sure.

Language / need pronounciation for great-grandmother please [7]

prabapchya
chyochya
vooyek

I've just described it slightly differently to Davey's suggestions and put in bold the stressed syllables.

Language / Plural forms 2-4 and =>5 [30]


Jeden osioł.
Dwa osły.
Trzy osły.
Cztery osły.
Pięć osłów.


"Any one of you" not "Anyone of you"
Probably! The more you look at things like this, the more even obvious things start to look wrong.

Life / Polish films golden collection, they are better than the new ones [13]

How about this: those who are in the know about Polish films, give us your top five, top ten or top however-many Polish films, then for each one, just make a mention of the year it was produced.

Lesser, cut the anti-Jewish ****. This is about films, not about you indulging in your usual rubbish. Have you mentioned films even once?

Language / Books for Polish speakers learning English [9]


Alas there is no Polish council promoting the Polish language in such a way. That job is done by Poles working abroad and teaching various foreigners how to say "Beer", "I love you" and various swear-words.

I just looked it up on the winterweb and all I could find from the British Council is a list of courses for learning English. They all cost money. I know nothing in life is free, but what about people working in the UK who can't afford to spend valuable time and money on going to college, and who would much prefer to receive a bit of help from books or from the internet?


I thought it might be. Looks like it could be useful for learners of a particular age.
I wonder if there's a book called "Polish Is Flipping Tricky As..."

Language / Plural forms 2-4 and =>5 [30]


Here is a classic exmaple:


I hope McCoy doesn't mind me quoting this from another thread.

Language / Plural forms 2-4 and =>5 [30]

1 (jeden) palec is singular (that's the easy bit)
2-4 (dwa-cztery) palce are plural (so far so good)
5+ (pięć+) palców are plural genitive.

I'd like to be able to explain this a little better, but the point is that for five upwards, you use a different grammatical case (ie. genitive) in the plural, but rather than say there are (są) so many of whatever, you say there is (jest) so many of whatever.

News / The Heart of John Paul 2 will be in Wawel. [14]



The only way to go in my opinion.
I am sure he won't be forgotten.

Real Estate / Construction (Poland Vrs where you are from) [66]

I live in a maisonette at the end of a short terrace. Every building in the road looks almost identical, something I don't particularly like about much housing in the UK. When I moved in, there was carpet in the bathroom. I threw that away pretty quickly. Most of the hot and cold taps are seperate. Kitchen and bathroom light switches are pull-cord operated rather than plastic switch. The washing machine is in the kitchen. There is no basement, and the water pipes run under the floorboards. Fairly typical.

I like the way so many streets in Poland seem to have houses, every one of which is different. I also like washing machines NOT being in kitchens. Bathrooms seem like fairly sensible places for washing clothes to me. I don't mind not having a basement. Here in the UK, they are not usually considered to be a good thing, possibly a throwback to the days of cholera epidemics and radon pollution as well as just stinky rotty things.

Metric measurements make so much more sense than old fashioned Imperial units and so on.

Love / Love my polish girlfriend alot but under pressure from family [166]


Doesn't it means someone of South Asian origin who lives in another part of the world?