Language / Voiced consonants in final positions in Polish [6]


It is indeed, very bad German.

Life / Polish Driving Licence. [314]

How can you 'buy' a legal driving license?

Language / can / be able to vs may / be allowed to [19]


It is still a matter of ja mogę versus ja umiem in effect. Now semantic fields? Why make a simple question so impossibly complicated?
To know is znać or wiedzieć which is yet another totally different matter from that of the verb móc.
To answer the original question mogę jechać means that physically you are able to go and are free from other obligations at the time in question.

Umiem is similar to dam sobie radę in a mental ability to perform a task.

USA, Canada / NO VISAS to Canada for Poles in the near future [62]

I suppose once they get in to Canada, it will be easy for the Poles to cross the boarder and enter the U.S.A. too.

USA, Canada / NO VISAS to Canada for Poles in the near future [62]


I get it and it is logical for the American Government. There are millions of illegal workers from these other Latin American workers who are in things such as the service industries working without a 'Green Card'' and the authorities turn mainly a 'blind eye' to such practices. The Latin Aerican table layers and room cleaners work for low wages and pay taxes but are not entitled to long term state benefits in old age in return, such as government old age pensions which, over many years in retirement, costs the State a small fortune.


No, it is not. I have been to Poland and my wife has friends who have even returned from Canada to Poland to live. They found it too cold! The winters in Canada can be dreadful. Florida would be nice and Australia too but the winters in Canada? It must be like a postman's delivery round in Siberia!

Language / can / be able to vs may / be allowed to [19]


It seems that this question has been made too complicated and has become side tracked. Anyway, we have had this whole topic somewhere else not so long ago and this is just a repetition. To answer the question simply móc-to be able from which we get the verb ending mogę meaning I can do something (in a physical sense) mogę otworzyć okno and ja umiem, from the verb umieć means I have the mental ability to do something such as umiem mówić po polsku meaning that I have the mental ability to speak Polish through education. Potrafić is used again differently and I can not understand where wolno and można come in to it with the verb móc.

Language / Voiced consonants in final positions in Polish [6]

Same in other languages too. For example, some people speaking bad German say unt instead of und when speaking.

UK, Ireland / An Englishman's View on Polish flocking to the UK [53]


Utter rubbish. There is simply no comparison whatsoever. What was the population of London in Celtic times? How is it possible to compare a million Poles entering the U.K. in the last year or two when there are no jobs for people at home? It generates cheap labour, short contracts, lack of security in the work place, no pension or sick pay rights and in general, the whole working class of whatever nationality looses out in the long run. There are always two sides to every coin.

Life / Polish Driving Licence. [314]

No, obviously they will not transfer a South African license to a Polish one, will they? An international license is usually valid for 12 months or at least that was the case when I was driving in South Africa although the law may be different now as I am talking about over thirty years ago. The you write fifty lines of rubbish to me instead of getting advice from a proper source. Gek, maar niet voor mee, hoor!

Language / Common neuter case nouns please [12]


Somewhere we have already discussed that the polish word muzeum is a Polish singular neuter noun.

Love / Polish girls are OK but Hungarian girls are the best.. [24]


I do not agree this this statement. I think that Polish women start off all right it is when they come to the West and become corrupt by what they see and by what everybody else has. Ania, say, is a cleaner in Poland before she marries an Englishman Paul, who drives a van for a living. They come back to the U.K. for a while and everything is fine. Later, Ania meets Agnieszka, who is a vet, married to Angrzej, a doctor. They have a big house and three cars and have a son who goes to a private school. Later Ania sees what a wonderful life it can be in the West but why is her new husband, Paul unable to reach these new 'social targets'? Then it is a downward spiral, Capitalism makes people compete and in the competition, people are split and divided. Unfortunately, polish women do not understand the power of money as they are not used to such a dangerous 'drug'.

Language / Using of numbers in these examples [6]


Or jednego pana.

Love / Polish girls are OK but Hungarian girls are the best.. [24]


I think that is true of everybody though. I have met a few Hungarian girls and they did seem very nice. It is when you are with someone for some time that you really know the other person and if you are going to be together for ever or not.

UK, Ireland / The best place to live on my own in the UK? [57]


A person or a squirrel?

UK, Ireland / The best place to live on my own in the UK? [57]


We have relatives in Luton and we have visited Luton once or twice. There is a large Polish community as there is Luton airport which brings in cheap flights from Poland. There name was Wozniak, if I remember rightly.

UK, Ireland / The best place to live on my own in the UK? [57]

Actually, Brighton would be a good choice of a city too. It would have a good night life with two universities, a sea with beaches, being in the South of England it would be a bit warmer than other cities in England, and the South Downs are close to hand. A good train and bus service to London. Maybe not a bad choice either? If you want to be near to good night life and near to fine countryside too, Nottingham would have the 'best of both Worlds' in this respect with Sherwood forest on your doorstep and also the country's oldest pub! Or the smallest, I can never remember which!

UK, Ireland / The best place to live on my own in the UK? [57]


The town is not interesting as such, except for the University but the countryside around here is lovely.


I thought that Newcastle was a boring town. I like the metro train service that goes all around the city and includes a link to the airport and I liked Whitley Bay.

UK, Ireland / Night school for polish language in Sheffield / West Yorkshire [16]

I am not sure about now but it used to be the case that Sheffield and London were the two only places in the united Kingdom that offered themselves as centres for G.C.S.E. Polish once a year in the May/June sitting. It was organized by Manchester Board but things may have changed since I did it fourteen years ago.

UK, Ireland / The best place to live on my own in the UK? [57]

There are so many places and almost every big city can lead to beautiful countryside, either by car or by bus. Sheffield can not be called a beautiful city but by bus, you can be in the wonderful Derbyshire countryside in just a few minutes. The ride to Bakewell is one of my favorite. Aberystwyth is a nice Welsh town with access to fine countryside just a few minutes drive outside. In fact, I would say that the drive through Wales from Hereford or ross On Wye to Aberystwyth is as nice as anything I saw so many years ago whilst driving through South Africa.

Life / The romance of an unknowable country ... Poland - my story [35]


To tell you the truth, my 'memories' are not so impressive or long term as the one given by Pani Wojtczak. Mine are simply visit snippits!

Life / The romance of an unknowable country ... Poland - my story [35]


Yes, I was in Poland in the Communist era.

Life / The romance of an unknowable country ... Poland - my story [35]


I know the little town of Radomsko and it is near to Czestochowa. We were there not very long ago. My wife went to school in Radomsko and we visited her former teachers whilst there. In the local cematary now lies the remains of one of the victims of the recent underground bombings in London-her remains were identified through D.N.A.

Language / Any useful words to tell kids to behave? [19]

Whoever said anything about me having any connections to Poland? Did I ever say any wielkie slowa na ten temat!!? In fact officially, in Slavic language ja is used, certainly in Russian but who cares anyway? It is a forum for fun, there are no prizes in the after life.

Such an important man speaking twenty languages by the age of seven with a daughter who speaks Polish without any trace of accent yet you have nothing more important to do that argue with polish and non Polish teenagers about wielki and duzy. I will continue to say ja and you can continue to say wielki samochod and I think that you look even more silly!

Language / Learn Polish Coursebook: Beginning Polish v1 [8]

It is interesting to know that you can find the audio on line. What about book number 2? Is there audio for that too?

Language / Any useful words to tell kids to behave? [19]


dam ci klapsy tez jest.


And what is your point, may I ask?

Language / Any useful words to tell kids to behave? [19]

if you are talking to small children and you want them to stop doing something or to behave better say something like "prosze, zachowuj sie", which means behave yourself. You could add "ja dam ci klapsy", which is giving your child a good spank, not very politically correct in England right now but the Poles use this sort of language all the time.

Language / Learn Polish Coursebook: Beginning Polish v1 [8]

Yes, I know it well. It is an old American book written about 1966. The teacher was a teacher of Polish who put together all the lessons after giving Polish lessons in the classroom and that is what in effect, this book is based on. There were originally two volumes, there is a number 2 as well, which described grammar. Are you going to buy tapes that go with it? I would have thought that you would find that difficult to do now after such a long time. I would have thought that this book would be out of print for many years. Teacher Polish grammar through little exercises. On the whole, a very good book indeed.

Language / "Potrafić" and "móc" - what's the difference? [9]


I believe there is also a saying in Polish chciec to moc-which means, more or less, where there is a will, there is a way.

Language / "Potrafić" and "móc" - what's the difference? [9]

In a learning sense such as reading the verb umiem can be used, for example umiem czytac whereas moge czytac may refer to the fact that where I am now, such as the light in this room, is adequate.

Life / Queuing and Polish people [49]


In Russia, it was even worse. Many years ago, I was in Russia and a Polish girl turned to me and asked 2why does everybody here push you all the time? Have you noticed that, they are not happy until they have pushed you at least once!" I think it is frustration and the fact that as everybody is so called equal, you need to push someone to feel 'one above the rest'. Rather like some Poles on this forum, they like to find your weakness and mistakes and take advantage by ganging up together.