Genealogy / i dont know if an ancestor was polish or german [21]


it could also be an incorrect spelling of the surname Wolszczak (which is probably Polish)

Law / Marriage Procedure in Poland [56]

There's been some threads about this, maybe you'll find some useful advice here (link) or here (link).

Life / Where to buy household furniture Lodz [19]

I don't live in £ódź, so can't offer precise indications, but for starters you can try google (type "meble" +"£ódź" in google.pl) or use my search results from the querry - https://www.google.com/search?q=%22meble to see the shops that have their articles displayed online.

Some basic vocabulary for you:
meble kuchenne - kitchen furniture
kuchnia - kitchen (this word also means oven, so you may see some kitchen appliances)
sypialnia - bedroom
łóżko - bed
jadalnia - dining room
salon - living room
stół - table
stolik - smaller (usually also lower) table
półka - shelf
regał na książki - bookshelf
krzesło - chair
fotel - armchair
wymiary - dimensions
długość - length
szerokość / głębokość - width / depth
wysokość - heighth
oszklony - with glass
If you need info on materials (for example types of wood), ask.

a useful thing in small Polish appartments: ława - (don't know the English word, it's a table-like furniture, but it has always lower legs, and sometimes it's called "ławostół" or "ława rozkładana" then it's expandable so you can lift the top and also make it broader, then it looks almost like a normal size/heighth table

some pictures:
simple type (fixed dimensions):

mebletlok.pl

ława rozkładana (expandable) and/or podnoszona (lifted)

Language / Share Perfective and Imperfective Polish verbs [105]

There are a few threads about dokonane/niedokonane on these forums, have you read them?

And of course a belated Happy New Year!

History / Forgotten heroes of the forgotten war [8]

btw, a school in Kreuztal, Germany, named after Friedrich Flick (a tycoon using slave labour, a member of the Nazi party, which he of course funded generously, after the WWII convicted for 7 years in Nuremberg Trials) after reoccurring petitions from its ex-students, finally changed the name and is now called Städtisches [=Municipal] Gymnasium Kreuztal (on Wiki, in German language only)

Travel / Train Fares; train schedule in Poland has changed? [13]

Well, several years ago calling (22/42) 94 36 was quite pointless and a real pain, the line was always busy, I hope it changed.

Language / Usage of the word "Na" [17]


here you'd have to use "w" or "o", not "na" :)
bić (regular) / walić (colloquial) głową w mur (figurative, meaning to find repetitive, impenetrable obstacles on your way to some goal)
walnąć (colloquial) / uderzyć (regular) głową o ścianę (rather literally, when you for example accidentally hit your head against a wall).
If you wonder why "wall" translates both to "mur" and "ściana", there was a thread about it a few months ago, you can find it [polishforums.com/genitive_plural_mur_wall-18_25208_0.html]

Travel / Getting from Krakow to Lublin. Train, car or bus, which is best? [6]

Trains (according to pkp.pl - also in English version) take usually almost 6 hours (5:15 with a direct connection). So it doesn't look good.

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


Hurrah, Christmas is (almost) over so let's start bashing each other again.


What was the purpose of this thread, Polonius3? To prove that you're a mean Brit, lol?
I'm lost.

Life / Wigilia Greetings - When is the best time to send them? [11]


It would be rude of them to leave the table during the Wigilia supper and start making calls and send SMS, so they have to do it before the evening :)

Language / Is is possible for me to learn basic Polish in just two weeks? [22]


You mean this thread?

Well, he lost :(

Life / Euro Trash - does it still exist and what is the Polish variety like? [15]



Are you sure you're not talking about American celebrities?

News / Poland will take half a century to catch up with the West [240]

No, I guess this thread (as many threads of the type "my country is better than your country" or generally "my brother is bigger/stronger than your brother") went simply in wrong direction, partially because of use of such terms (in the original post) like "standard of living".

So a research concentrating probably simply on economical issues ('richness' of a country compared to other countries) somehow identifies them with a much broader term of "standard of living" which for many people have different meanings (quality of life in a certain place).

I guess most people here agree that Poland is poorer than Germany, UK, France etc., but is it a worse place to live? To answer this question you need too many variables (social, cultural etc.) which are often subjective. And this always leads to fervid debates.

Life / Dog's life or what to expect when living in Poland with a dog [22]

First of all you should know the national rules to bring a dog to Poland (do you have a dog passport?)
Like Wrocław said each city/gmina has own regulations, there's even a dog tax (this year maximum allowed is 53,69 złoty, in Warsaw it's just 1 zloty, in £ódź 0 (no tax), in some cities the maximum 53 zl). Next year it will be called "opłata za [posiadanie] psa" (fee not tax, because of some legal controversy about the terminology), and the maximum amount of this fee will be 100 zloty, so you have to check on your City Hall's website how much they charge.


Not even stores (those with food), sanitary regulations etc.


It looks like it's different in every city :(
from what I found on a forum about dogs link
goldenretriever.fora.pl/prawo,88/przewoz-zwierzat-komunikacja-miejska-warszawa,2024.html
in Warsaw and Kraków you don't need a ticket for animals, elsewhere I read that in Płock you need a ticket, don't know about Trójmiasto, but I figured you speak Polish, so [b]read this forum

goldenretriever.fora.pl/wspolpraca,88
and ask specific questions there.

For public transport (bus, tram, metro) a leash, a muzzle and a document confirming vaccinations (especially against rabies) are a must, the dog may not behave aggressively towards other passengers and may not be a nuissance for them (whatever it means).

Since you're going to live in Trójmiasto (at least you were asking about rental there), you have to know that the beaches in the area have very different regulations about dogs, mostly dogs are not allowed at all during the season (even as early as from March in some places), but yet again you need info from local offices.

Food / Twaróg ser - serving suggestions [26]


I already posted something very similar (Today, 06:50 #8).
If I were a mod I'd move your post to random chat.

joking of course, it's not my intention to mess with the new mods :)
btw, I think cucumber with twaróg is a bad combination

Work / Advice on WHEN to go to Poland to teach English [30]

No, those weren't my calcs, I used a website to calculate the expected income, and the 5,100 a month is for months 8-10 (after you exceeded 44,000 of income in a tax year, you have to pay higher taxes, 30% instead of 19%), in months 1-7 it would be 5,900, in months 11-12 about 5,700 (the increase would be caused by reaching the maximum amount of social or health insurance paid during the year, so you'd be exempt from paying more), hence on average during the whole year your pay would be about 5,650 PLN/month. And it was "umowa o pracę".

With "umowa o dzieło" you'd earn about 8,900/month and with "umowa zlecenie" somewhere in middle (not sure how much though).

But read tonykenny's posts (in that thread and in other - just click on "member" by any of his posts and you see the list of his recent threads, those about health insurance are worth reading too)

For example this:


Maybe wait for some "veteran" teachers of English opinions (I know "Seanus" is one, but there are probably more of them, and "ukpolska" is running a translation agency, so he might know more about different laws, maybe he was teaching too at the beginnings of his stay in Poland).

Food / Twaróg ser - serving suggestions [26]

I like it on bread with a little soya sauce and a tomato.

Other simple way to serve is to mix with some powdered spices (hot paprika or pepper or both, salt, basil, and if you like it also fresh garlic or chives, you may also use fresh paprika instead of the powdered one) and some cream (it's better to use sour cream, if you can buy it where you live, or even a very small amount of milk).


So I guess pancakes and pierogi with cheese are out of question? Not to mention sernik :)

Work / Advice on WHEN to go to Poland to teach English [30]


It depends on the type of contract you sign with your school, some managers use the shady umowa o dzieło, which in my opinion isn't allowed in case of teaching (but I'm not a lawyer or any kind of specialist in the contratcs field, so I may be wrong), see more in this thread (it's a link):

Older discussion about work contracts

Travel / Anyone know a pub in Poznan that shows English football matches? [13]

Several years ago there was a British (not sure English or Irish) pub, where you could often see matches. It was in the northern part of the main square (Stary Rynek).

Food / Polish Cake for Christmas [30]


I'm a contrary example, I hated makowiec, and started to like it only when I was about 25 y.o. :)

Language / ANGLOS HAVE TROUBLE WITH SZCZ, SOME WITH TRILLED 'R' [22]


Polson didn't mean/write "ż", but "ź"


Ha, don't try to steal credit from the movie makers!
I think they should have copyrighted this surname :)


I think so.
This Chrząszczyrzywoszyce thing is more problematic, because at first I wasn't able to remember the whole word, it's so long and its second part (-rzywoszyce) doesn't sound similar to any Polish words :)

Nevertheless it's not hard to pronounce once you remember it.

Language / Help Required Teaching Sister Polish [9]


Music, not really, maybe search some older threads here and you find something (see links at the bottom of my post).
Do you have a satellite dish? TV Polonia (available on Hotbird and Aster) has some Polish cartoons. That's if you're in Europe of course, I don't know if they broadcast TV Polonia on other continents (I'm sure it's available in some cable networks in USA, but I have no exact information).

https://polishforums.com/life/nursery-rhymes-6607/2/

I can't find right now more threads (not sure what key words to use in my search and I have to go to sleep soon!), but in this thread above there's an external link to short poems for children:

anikino.pl/dzieci.php?s=czytanki&id=36

News / Poland will take half a century to catch up with the West [240]



Guys, don't waste your time, I'm pretty happy with the idea of noimmi (and many other "westerners") living with this (mis)conception. I don't think I (or anyone else) could change his mind with a simple

"You're stupid,
No, you're stupid"
discussion, so it's not worth it, because everybody accepts only the knowledge/wisdom he/she is able (or willing) to accept, and noimmi has proved many times his limits.

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]


Well, I guess those Poles (or other foreigners) had no way to verify their language skills earlier, they trusted their English was good enough when applied for the jobs. For a native speaker it's really easy to decide after a few words or sentences whether someone is communicative enough or not, so I guess the employers must be crooks, because they give work to cheap labour force knowing this "labour force" won't be able to satisfy the customer.

Law / St. John's Fair (jarmark swietojanski) on Stary Rynek in Poznan - Info [9]

I'm afraid selling alcohols would be a problem because you'd need a licence for it, even selling meat (or other short-term food) might be hard, as you'd need all the paper work before legally importing it to Poland and also a stand with fridge/freezer (the fair is in Summer).

Language / Help Required Teaching Sister Polish [9]


And I was fully aware of this :)
I meant "difficult" as more demanding (focus, patience), while cartoons and songs are easier, because they contain nice pictures/melodies that may become the "anchor element" - catching the child's attention at first, and while the child may not care for words that accompany these pictures/melodies he/she is still exposed to Polish - like during the natural process of learning the native language from the parents.

Love / polish boyfriend has wrecked my english [48]


You even write like her.
Of course I didn't want to be mean :)

Language / (part 2) Polish Language Pronunciation - Sample Words and Phrases [311]

You'll have the same problem with przeszłość (the past) and przyszłość (the future)

Food / Polish Cake for Christmas [30]


this only means they (makowiec and sernik) are quite old (or badly made).

Language / Help Required Teaching Sister Polish [9]

From what I heard from my friend with a billingual kid (father is Polish mother is not): they've been using both languages from the beginning (even before the baby started to speak), the child mixes them at the beginning (using some words from one language and other words from the other language, often also creates new words mixing the rules of both languages), it just comes with time that the kid starts to "feel" the difference and separate the languages as two different ones, but you shouldn't be worried about it.

So I'd go with your option 1.


Don't worry if she replies in English, be patient, a 3 y.o. kid can't grasp the concept of the future usefullness of knowing foreign languages, so you can't exercise any pressure on her, because it may cause the reverse reaction (she could reject this second "useless" language).

I think books in Polish would be too difficult for her as she's only a beginner, some songs (especially songs for kids) would be better for now - and it would be wise that first you familiarize her (through talks or games) with some of the words that are sung, so when she hears the song for the first time some words/sentences will be known to her, this way she might be more interested in learning what the whole song is about.

Generally for a kid that already speaks one language (English in this case) you have to be more resourceful, the kid must feel that this new language is usefull to her/him too. There must be some kind of a "reward" attached.

Kids living in a mixed environment, playing with other kids of different nationalities will start learning without a problem, because they will need those new "strange" words for an activity they love. So you should play with her using gradually more and more Polish.

And I'm also sure that if you say to her several times "chcesz cukierka" instead of "do you want a candy" (or some similar "rewarding" questions - if you don't want to feed her too much sweets :) she'll remember it. Maybe some Polish cartoons could be usefull too.

So generally, you should use Polish when she has "some interest" in understanding (activities, things she likes).