Language / LASKA- CHICK, BABE OR BIRD? [12]

It certainly depends on the context and the whereabouts in the English-speaking world... Can't just directly translate it.

"Chick" is more of an American English term for a bird. But bird is also an euphemism for bitch (suka) among males. And babe is commonly used to refer to younger girls [or someone at the same age as you] in everyday language round'ere with no derogatory meaning (i.e. "Hello, babe, you alright?" - is nearly an equivalent to "Hello, darling, you alright?", or better: "Hello, love, you alright?"). It's not offensive, has no "sluttish" tone as in American English.

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

The thing is that we still suffer from the old linguistic education. Before, we had to learn Russian. It was mandatory and everyone hated it.

After 1990, the majority of the old language teachers (i.e. Russian language teachers) simply "converted" to a Western language, they had to pick them up or lose their job. And the education system still suffers from the old and stupid methods!

There are plenty of young teachers now (who spent some time in real world situations abroad), but one can assure you that the methods they have to use (officially, at schools) are simply stupid in most cases. They try to teach languages as if it was maths or something that you just have to listen to or read, then sit down and learn and understand, then take some tests (build up texts and sentences etc.)... And then they're surprised that they cannot even buy a ticket at a train station.

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


Naaah... You can never be sure in English. Remember that joke about "Mel Jibson" and "Kim Basinjer"?

Or names like Gilbert (you'd think it's "Jilbert", but they say Ghilbert). My mate lives in a Gillott Road, pronounced Jillott, but some people still say "Ghillott"...

This weirdness must come from a French influence...

Language / Madralo - is it insulting? [16]


No, they aren't... at all. That's why they (we) adopt it so easily. But we have different reasons. (And we have no such manners that the English still seem to have in most cases - I have to admit that!)


It's meaning is English or Englishman. But it is adopted from Latin. No derogatory meaning (same as "Hungarian" in English). In Hungarian, we only have derogatory/tender names for the neighbouring countries and the ethnic minorities... :)

Language / SMS known to English speakers? [6]

Yeah, they say “text message” and “to text someone” here. And they say “cash machine”, not ATM. They invent abbreviations, then use something else. Does me head in.

Language / Madralo - is it insulting? [16]

Bleedin’ England is all about people who smile in your face, then talk bullshit behind your back. Shame that most foreigners adopt this behaviour all too easily...

Language / What is the most annoying thing about non-native Polish speakers? [90]


Yes, for us, the English “r” sounds like you have a lisp. It is much closer to l than to the proper (i.e. rolled) r. :) If I want to pronounce “plural” correctly, I actually have to go back to being a baby who has not yet learnt the difference between l and r. Plulal. ;)

:no offence intended:

IMHO an American “r” is even wRRse. Sounds like it comes through your nose. :o) A general Celtic “r” is much closer to one I’d find normal.

Language / Blackboard Language Project [28]

Check the Khoekhoe-whatsit vids in the series, they're f'ken hilarious. :D

Language / free polish -english dictionary online [52]

I'm a beginner and I use Collins English-Polish - Polsko-Angielski Dictionary, Paperback Edition. These days, you can buy it in The Works for 3 quid. (RRP 8.99)

theworksbookstore.com/

For online use, I recommend Translatica:
translatica.pl

Work / Polish Language Courses at Polish Universities [14]

Polish Language Courses at Polish Universities

Work / Polish Language Courses at Polish Universities [14]

No cześć! I've done my bit, so to say, been to the kul.pl/art_9038.html - Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) for a two-week highly intensive course. Really enjoyed being there. It wasn't cheap, but it was well worth the money. Highly recommend it.

Here you can find my short summary.

Pozdrawiam.

Language / Speaking bad Polish? [14]


Naah, we in the Midlandz speak proper English, orroy?!

:LoL:

Language / Past tense after 'by' [4]


Grammatically speaking, “...so that it were better” is conjunctive, not past tense.

Though, in contemporary spoken English, you would hear “so it would / it’d be better” or “so it was better”.

Language / Sayings in English that seem odd in Polish? [22]

Illogical sayings like “stone cold” instead of “ice cold” do me head in. ;o)

But I like the funny ones: “he dropped his guts” (i.e. he farted), “piece of piss” (i.e. “peace o’cake”, easy) etc.

Work / Polish Language Courses at Polish Universities [14]

I'm going to Lublin University's intensive course this summer for a fortnight. It's not cheap either, but I read some info on other forums and I decided to go. You can apply till the end of May. Well, after you've decided if you wanna learn Polish or Czech or Estonian... ;o)

Language / czy../trzy.. - Full assimilation in Polish [22]

Well, thank you for all your replies, that’s all I wanted to know! So in a nutshell, according to a Polish “Received Pronounciation” (“literary Polish” or whatever we should call it), it is better to avoid that. Except if I plan to go to Poznań. :)

Marek: yes, it does occur in Hungarian, but the reason is that we do not like “consonant collisions” (sorry, I do not know the linguistical term). One good example is the word klucz – kulcs [key]: ‘u’ and ‘l’ was swapped to ease pronounciation. In conjugation, when a word gets a new ending, pronounciation assimilates the collided consonants into one, wherever possible, or a vowel comes in.

Btw. if I was to speak with a foreign accent, I would just say things like podziebuje. (I.e. ‘t’ would become ‘d’ before the ‘rz’.) In my language, the harder, voiced sonants have a tendency to win.



Mutual relationship that is. I assimilate Poles with my home-made ślivovica. :)

Language / Computer terms in Polish [11]


Bwah... I have to say that Polish localisers of W*ndows are really possessed by M$'s megalomania.

Language / What is the most annoying thing about non-native Polish speakers? [90]


American English words sound too posh: "elevator" for lift, "apartment" for flat, or "automobile" for car are perfect examples... :o)


LoL. It's even worse when I go to a Polish shop in the UK and they speak to me in Polish. Basically, I get on well with my Polish, but I usually end up with explanations at the till, starting "Nie jestem Polakiem."

Language / A good learning book for Polish [44]

DazzaMc:
Sorry, I don't read the forum every day. Yeah, they e-mailed me a consent form that I sent them back with my details.

Well, I'm happy you were successful to order it.


I go to a school once in every week and we use this book. I have some experience with language books, that's why I think "Hurra" is quite a good book to start off with, even for a self-study.

Life / The Narrator voice on Television & Films in Poland [29]



The same in Hungary. The only time we had voice-over was in the 80s. It's a thing of the past. When people bought their first VHS-players in Vienna, you could get foreign films' cassettes on the black market with that ridiculous voice-over. One young bloke narrated everything.

In the cinema, there are subtitles these days, but you can't do that on TV. Dubbing is a profession: professional actors do it, and there are dubbing directors. (Lips are not out of sync if the dubbing was done properly!) For famous foreign actors, there is usually one actor to dub them in their films. Sometimes a film is better than in original!

Language / A good learning book for Polish [44]

DazzaMc, chrisscole:

I ordered Hurra!!! po polsku 1 directly from Poland. Cost me 30 quid altogether (student's book + workbook + p&p).

The prices are up-to-date on this page: hurra.edu.pl/angielski/opis_materialow.html

(See the "contact us" page for their e-mail.)

Language / Dokonany/Niedokonany - Perfective/Imperfective [46]

Ha-ha, interesting arguments. It all comes down to the knowledge of English. Thanks for the intro to the use of pi*rdolić, btw - I didn't have problems understanding it as my language has the very same perpectives in that field! :D

AnotherGuest:
as I say, it all comes down to your knowledge of English. In English, I know some pretty rude things by now, but I have to rely on my own language as it is much more expressive. For example, my problem is that English swearings are just too short. In English, you end up with repeating f***ing a thousand times. It's only films you hear beautiful phrases of swearings like "Glorious piece of heavenly sh*t!" or "Holy p*ss on a willow-tree!". In real life, they never say things like that. (I think if it was Star Trek, the universal translator would easily be screwed up translating my swearings to English like "Should've you f*cked your wh*re mother in the mouth, you... etc.")

Regarding the associations: yeah, you just have to practice English to get used to their logic. I can't really elaborate that... In a way, I would agree that they can't "imply" meanings so easily as we'd think, though they have some pretty euphemisms -- I like "stuff it" or "sod" for "f*ck it". :) These ones are still not as good as, for instance, "let me push it in your mother" in my language - which does not sound rude by itself, but the associated meaning is "f*cking someone's mother" (e.g. she is a k*rwa!) and you would get killed if you said it to someone you argue with...

To sum it up, if you don't experience the particular language in real life, it is quite hard to understand/learn swear-words or/and associated meanings... Swearing is verbal, and will always be verbal ("oral"). We can write about it, but that's just not the same. :)

Language / Polglish - mixture of Polish and English [34]

Or do they understand inglisz łenka? LoL

Language / A good learning book for Polish [44]

Rosetta Stone is good for a start.

For a language book, I'd recommend the "Hurra" series from Prolog. I think they are the most up-to-date on the market.

hurra.edu.pl

Every part comes with a Student's Book (Podręcznik studenta + 1 CD) and a Student's Workbook (Zeszyt Ćwiczeń + 1 CD). You won't need the teacher's handbook.

These are good for self-study as they are mono-lingual and don't present you a massive stream of vocabulary and grammar at the first sight. I'd suggest you should go to a language school, though, if you have no language-learning experience. Watching films can be a help as well. And listening to radio stations (hint: radiostacje.com).

Language / misleading differences between Polish and English languages [92]


No, actually. :D

Even in a non-Indo-European language like mine, we have Latin loan-words but they can mean completely different things than their English counterparts.

Something I have to add to the misleading differences: I was confused when I first heard "priceless". I always thought it had the same derogatory meaning as "worthless", e.g. "something that isn't worth half a penny". But in reality it is the complete opposite: something so precious that its price can't even be estimated!


Strange, looks like the Saxons left behind this useful little word when they moved to the islands, then! :) Po węgiersku, "na" is of a similar use!

Na, I'm off now.

Language / how are you - jak sie masz? (saying hello in Polish conversation) [10]

The fundamental problem with explaining these things is that there's no real formal types of address in English. I'm not talking about calling someone Sir, Mister, Madam etc., which is of course, but the fact that you can only use you, whether the person you address is someone you know as a friend or is a complete stranger. In Polish, you can be ty, wy, pan, pani, państwo... Takes a bit of practice, imho. :)

Language / The only polish word a foreigner won't ever say correctly :P [113]

>I think for the forigners the hardest in Polish are all the "wizzing" collocations, containing "szcz", "strz", "drz"/"brz"/"grz" etc.

And the collisions of ł and w. They absolutely do my head in. You know, like słowo, słońce, Wrocław, Włocławek... I have to force myself not to say either "l" or "v" (i.e "swowo", "Wroclaw").

In English, there is a phrase to practice the difference between v and w: "The vicar of Wakefield's wife gave a warm welcome to the visitors." Can you suggest me something similar in Polish?

Language / The only polish word a foreigner won't ever say correctly :P [113]

(OFF)
"Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz"
O, qrwa... You'd need to attach two name-badges for that at work! :D