UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

well inform yourself better Harry - just look-up lend-lease entry on wiki - you will find that Americans supplied the Soviets on lend-lease terms already in October 1941. Period.

I don't know details or if this support was decisive. But still what you write tells you are not well informed.


Russian soldiers wore American boots, eaten American canned meat and bread baked from American grain. without it they would quite possibly die of hunger. Don't know about fuel supplies but wouldn't be surprised if they badly needed some.

Food / Polish Hot Chocolate [7]

hot chocolate is not that popular in Poland actually
though there are many people who would love it just don't know it
I myself actually don't know how to make it myself (unless you consider those ready-to-make powders chocolate as well)
you just happened to be a guest to a good cafe with staff who know their trade

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]


Viktor Suvorov is of completely different oppinion - he states there were massive forces in build-up process on Russo-German border and there were plans ready for invasion of Germany - it is just that Germans gambled to be the first to attack and Stalin ingored quite clear signals from the intelligence of German intentions. He could have figured that given the disproportion of armies, resources etc it would be foolish for Germans to attack. So in the end Russiand commanders in the west were taken by complete surprise. Most of the airforce destroyed on airstrips (it's numbers went in thousands). The reconaisance head of some German divisions went as far as 200 km into Russian controlled territory on the first day of Barbarossa.


So how come the biggest tank battle until 1943 Kursk took place in July 1941 near Brody in todays Ukraine just miles from the conteporanous German-Soviet border????

Life / Poles in Poland: How did you learn your English? [60]

i was very lucky to have an excellent resourceful teacher in high school. Thank you Mrs. Micek :)
we also had 6 hour of English a week for nearly four years (the double or triple of the normal amount in high schools)

i started learning at the age of 13 thanks to my dad (English was not nearly as popular as now) - I had a great luck to be able to get private lessons where I lived. It was just about half a year but it served me quite well. so when in high school I already had some background.

and when I first came to London in 2002 I could not understand much what was spoken to me
sometimes I could not understand a word heheh :)

now I'm quite used to English accents (English English) (but more exotic ones like Northern Irish, Scottish are unintelligible to me)

btw colloquial English and phrasal verbs are still my weak spot
well I haven't actually put any significant effort to develope my skills for quite some time.
it's just what stays with me from reading

did I state that American accents are easier to get grasp of??? ;)

oh and I have some serious liking for some good Irish English accents (it has a pleasant melody) English English accents tend to get on my nerves :P

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

well the idea was to liberate Holland in 1944 on the way to Germany proper
was it a viable thing - don't know

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]


this is exactly what I mean - some 80 per cent of Holland remained under German control in 1944

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]


but there came 1944 and Allies promised to liberate Holland soon if the Dutch underground is actively sabotaging and fighting Germans. The Dutch did as were told, the Allies never came in 1944 (it's not that they did not want to), there were lots of reprise from Germans they took most food from Holland and eventually flooded most of the land - the winter was pretty harsh for the Dutch. I have seen the graves of the Dutch underground fighters killed executed in 1944 (some of them were probably actually no fighters like it happened quite often when the German military were involved) and it was as far as at todays German-Dutch border.

and yes Torq the Brits are mostly quite ignorant to Polish history (if not completely) but still have big mouth like isthatu

Life / JOKES IN TODAY'S POLAND? [20]

i don't know what jokes people tell.
i just have one to tell hehe

a long one heheheh

three women meet for a cofee or similar

one of them with hearing problems

they talk some random things

one says: hey, look, didn't your housband go fishing yesterday.
I saw him carrying some stuff to your car. You know some angles, buckets. And he was wearing rubber boots.

the other says: yeah, he sort of goes fishing from time to time

does he bring anything back home?

well, he does - the other says - and shows with her pointed fingers a size of a postcard

oh, I get it

wait, but I've seen your man go out fishing quite often
and he always takes plenty of stuff with him
he seems like a serious angler, isn't he?
nights out fishing and stuff

that's right, he's a serious one

I'm sure he can bring some good fish back home, couldn't he?

Weeell - the other women shows an admirable size of a fire extinguisher (not the car variety of course) - he mostly brings home stuff this size

Then the third one - the one who does not hear so well breaks her silence and says...

Look girls, this is not that important after all, the most important is if he's got a heart

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

in Polish its nie ma za co in Portuguese da nada ;)

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

thank you :)

News / Abortion - how is the Polish government going to deal with this issue? [273]

I am no catholic for that matter. Nor even christian.

News / Abortion - how is the Polish government going to deal with this issue? [273]

well bishop could have forgiven her but is it a binding statement to God :)?

the same way you don't need any priests to have some contact with the reality of God, what priest say is in no ways binding to God

priests are false teachers in many instances anyway

if someone steals my wallet, some sum of money, whatever - I can well forgive him, anyone affected can forgive him (I actually am doign myself a favour more than the person who hurt me) but it still does not withhold retribution that is bound to affect the doer. For what you give you will receive.

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

hmm I actually don't know the origins (etymology) of the verb polecić - to recommend

there is also a simmilar thing zlecić - zlecenie (zlecić komuś zadanie - to charge someone with a task; dać komuś zlecenie namalowania obrazu - to commission a painting from someone)

I am not sure if these verbs have anything to do with lecieć-latać-polecieć

edit

they could have though

they may all come from zalecić - to advise, to recommend
which may come from zaloty ;)

polecić can also mean to order someone to do something
and polecenie is order, command or instruction

there is a polecony kind of letter - it is supposed to get into the hands of the addressee only who should sing a receipt to confirm that he/she had received it.

legal correspondence is usually send as polecony letters (list polecony)
would you be so kind and give me the name and some facts of any similar things in America/UK?

Food / Poland and the Juice [35]

there are multitudes of juice makes and types in Poland
as far as I can remember it was not the case in England
can you get carrot varieties in Tescos for example?
here they are ubiquitous

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]



it isn't that bad actually

btw if you keep bread in plastic bag and out of light (in a cupboard or some type of bread container) it does not dry fast - it won't last for ever of course

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

it's not perfective - it's actually impertective

perfective is pofrunąć, polecieć

fruwanie has much to do with moving wings

News / Abortion - how is the Polish government going to deal with this issue? [273]

i don't actually understand how you can claim a phoetus is a part of woman's body - do arms, lungs, kidneys, fingers ever grow appart and start living on their own?

i think it is quite obvious it is a new life that a woman helps start out in this world

News / Abortion - how is the Polish government going to deal with this issue? [273]

having an abortion for fear of being asked questions is an escape from responsibility - trying to keep apparitions costs individuals and societies dear prices - it causes so much stress - the stress you are going through affects others like ripples on water - i think facing the situation is really much better in the end

I know there is not enough love and acceptance around so that women who give a new- -born child away won't get hurt. but not leting it come to this world is creating even more of things that are against love, peace and growth - so the spiral gets thighter

is not allowing a child to live really care for it - letting it live and letting someone else take care of it is much more of care - it is an act of love and what we need in this world is more love - you will get what you give eventually

what modern education lacks is a focus on personal responsibility, yes you can have fun with your body but you should be aware of the possible consequences, spreading a lie that some of the contraceptives are 100 per cent effective does not help

I can imagine a situation when a woman who in spite of not so favourable circumstances in her life gives birth to a child is respected, applauded and perhaps somehow even rewarded by the society - it can be achieved- though maybe it is a long way to go - but if we do not start we won't get there - and I don't say todays religious attitudes help - many religious paradigms ought to change

I still think letting a child live and grow and then sort the things of his/hers origins him/herself is better than not letting it live so that it has no issues with it - it is giving the child a choice - how do we know if the child would have any difficulty with such issues - people are different

anyway my opinion is abortion is no solution just eventually causes even more trouble just most of us can't trace the roots and paths of it (or turn a blind eye)

Life / Are there any neutral or positive stereotypes of poles? [40]

very sad indeed
but I can tell you worse things can happen - look at people with cancer
there always can be found a way to enjoy life
sometimes you need to surrender some expectations to find that joy again

News / Abortion - how is the Polish government going to deal with this issue? [273]


it's not only the life of the woman in question
also the life of the child

there is a solution to the question without killing the child

don't know if it is used anywhere else but in Poland someone came up with an idea of
a 'window of life' - where a woman can leave a new-born child completely anonymously and from what I know also without being witnessed - and then care is taken for the child

some religious orders do it but there are also such things in some hospitals
These children often very soon find new families - there are a lot of couples who want to adopt such infants.

I don't know if it has been embeded already in Polish law so that there are no consequences for the mother in question but it seems logical to me.

It is one solution.

There can be also ways implemented to help lone mothers give birth and raise their children (if they want to keep the child and not to give it away)- though this one involves money of course - it is already done in Poland on not so big scale by welfare organizations some religious some not. (they call it children villages 'wioski dziecęce' as far as I know)

anyway the evil of abortion can be avoided

I have no opinion on morning after pill

of course condemning women for having abortions solves nothing just stirs more negative feelings - the feeling of guilt in the women firstmost

also the legal solutions against abortion such as in Poland are not complete if there are no ways implemented to help a woman out

btw there is huge hypocrisy in Polish medical circles when even women who's life is endangered are sometimes refused free abortion (for moral reasons they say - a doctor can refuse performing abortion) and at the same time the underground abortion industry prospers (in private gynecologists practices) - it is sometimes the same people to perform abortion who first refused to perform it for free in a hospital. There is hardly any trace of police raids on underground abortion clinics.

Life / JOKES IN TODAY'S POLAND? [20]

Little Johnny comes to school and is asked by the teacher why he had been absent from school the day before. 'I had to bring a bull to a cow' little Johnny replied. 'Couldn't your dad do it?' asked the teacher. 'No - it had to be a bull'. :)

Work / Please advise- Job in Poland for an Indian guy [6]

well the most reasonable way is to look for Polish companies that trade with India and ask if they are in need of Indian-born staff

some imagination can get you through

UK, Ireland / What is in Poland that England doesn't have? [142]

there is fewer and fewer horses in the countryside which is quite sad

and there are far too many ravens in the forests where I live

News / Lech Wałęsa threatens to leave Poland [30]

he did cause trouble to poeple - back then people would lose jobs in Gdańsk because of he talked about them to communist secret police and some would have to move from Gdańsk.

then he caused more trouble as a president to the whole of the nation

News / Non-Polish members - what knowledge does your country have about Poland? [35]

it's not that I want to bash Germans but maybe I am oversensitive on that issue but I am not sure Germans have learned enough from their history

a couple things make me believe so
one of these are the resentments they feel after being expelled from what is now parts of Poland (and also Czech Republic) (well some of them feel - but they make institutionalized)

many of them cannot believe it was just(ice) what happened to them closing their eyes to what their brothers and fathers have done to other nations - it was just in the spiritual sense - it was merely a payout - a national karma if you want to believe.

and there is also another thing - claiming that Germans were lambs without a flaw just some bloody Nazis came and seduced them is quite ridiculous - there was something in the consciousness of the German nation that made them vulnerable to such ways of seduction - Herren race etc. Letting Germans believe that there was nothing wrong with them - that they were simply victims is letting them turn the blind eye to these flaws of their psyche.

Having said that no nation has not got flaws in its consciousness. Perhaps Polish flaw of the consciousness is a feeling of self-righteousness. In general people don't want to see their flaws anyway.

If there is pure heart no politician can make you perform crimes - I see that this way.

and I don't find anything totalitarian in the lector thing - I rather find dubbing chauvinistic (well it actually is an industry in itself - once started and people got used to it it's there to float)

it's just simplistic reasoning - dubbing democratic? lector totalitarian? on some vague notions?

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

Neither I could while in Brittain - only for toasts. Still the price of a decent bread in Poland is less than a half of decent British bread (ok English - never been much outside London.

Language / Building my Polish vocabulary... [19]


try to learn groups of words that have something in common - like things used in kitchen, things green etc - they don't need to be anything thorough/detailed, actually SHOULD not be long

or try learning words in logical chains like - bread, knife, cut, slice, smear (not very long for a start as well) try to recall these chains on occasions - it is a known fact you should repeat the material learned

you can even do some of the stuff on your own just using a dictionary and then having things checked by your native Pole

use your imagination

for variety learn some phrases from time to time

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

you're right Trevek - but in Britain baker's bread is more expensive than the supermarket thing as far as I can remember

Nathan

the whole thing started with the Brest Union - Polish Lithuanian side were trying to eradicate of Muscovite patriarchate influence but they went a wrong way giving in to the ambitions of Rome

it started a decline of Ruthenian elites - eventually after the bloody wars Ukraine was mostly devoid of any elites (most of originally Ruthenian nobility perished)

the whole country was heavily devasted and depopulated - it gave rise to Polish colonization of the place by peasants and nobility equally (which sparked even more animosity)

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

You don't buy your bread at the baker's normally Seanus??

News / Non-Polish members - what knowledge does your country have about Poland? [35]

no lector is not used in Germany - they have films dubbed

dubbing does pretty much harm to the original sound and feel of films

I know cause I have watched loads of dubbed stuff on Czech TV living close to the border. And it is really painful to me hearing popular often charismatic international actors dubbed. I don't know weather films are dubbed east of us. But I know that west of us they are (Germans do it, Italians do it, Dutch do it, don't know about the French)

The lector thing has some real advantages - first of all it is faaaar cheaper. Second if you are somewhat trained you can actually listen to the original dialogues which is very nice. And you know real voices of the Hollywood actors (and not so Hollywood ones too ;) which Germans, Czechs, Italians, French??? don't happen to know

it does not maim the original soundtrack of the film
dubbed films tend to sound very fake/unnatural

btw if you hear the original voices it is not dubbing

cartoons are on the other hand dubbed and on many occasions this is a brilliant job - watch Shrek in Polish for example.

as for subtitles - you cannot follow a film if you go to get yourself a cup of tea (most Poles would not be able to anyway)

the lector does the job for you ;)