Language / Dziewczyna i koń.... Dziewczynka i pies [22]


In each language there is a degree of redundancy, so whether you pronounce the "w" as "v" or "f" is not critical in conveying the correct message. Polish inflection helps here too, so an experienced Polish speaker will have no problems with understanding what you are saying if you you the correct case for "samochod".

Also, think of some sounds in terms of whispering. When you whisper sentences, effectively they all contain ONLY voiceless consonants. Still whisper is understandable.

UK, Ireland / Getting married to a Polish Citizen in the UK [371]

There are no myths.

You get married in the UK with a Polish citizen and the marriage will be a valid marriage recognized all over the world, including in Poland (of course). Period. The marriage ceremony and required documentation is always as per the country where the ceremony takes place.

As for Polish citizenship, it won't be automatic, but should you decide you need it, it's pretty much a formality, albeit on occasion a lengthy one.

Some other comments here deal with non-EU citizens marrying a Polish (or other EU citizen) in order to get their residence papers and such. That's a different kettle of fish.

UK, Ireland / What will the Polish give the UK? [58]


Do you mean the "deep culture" that Polish patriots were forced to practice in Russian mines in Siberia? You're damn right. Poles detest a culture that is that "deep".

Love / Polish men and sex [89]


With that remark I think you weren't quite the gentleman you'd like to think of yourself.
If you used or brain (as you so encourage her to do) you would have understood what she wrote - it wasn't about sex during the first date.

USA, Canada / Transferring money from Canada to Poland [11]


I you are re-settling back to Poland you may be exempt from any duty taxes (mienie przesiedlenia) . Check with the Polish consulate.

Life / Day-to-day Polish Customs [20]

Be extra polite to women.
When invited by someone to their home, on a first visit it's nice to bring a fresh cut flower or two for the lady of the house. Depending on the degree of intimacy with your hosts (I don't mean anything explicit here) it's OK to bring a token bottle of something for the man.

Feedback / sounds (mp3, wav, ogg) [8]

Great! Perhaps that should even be a sticky in one of the Polish language sub-forums.
It will be a of great help to all those trying to learn Polish.

Thanks.

Feedback / sounds (mp3, wav, ogg) [8]

No guarantees. Just like there is no guarantee someone will post a transliteration of a polish sound.

Recording a one or two second sound bite certainly takes less effort than the great work Janusz posted on youtube. On one occasion I was actually ready to upload a brief sound (szczygiel). I'm pretty sure others would follow.

Law / "Difficult Customer" business in Poland [18]


I understand your sense of justice, but perhaps you might step back and look at the cashier's reaction again:

what if whatever the customer said was heard only by the cashier, while the customer being slapped was witnessed by others? If that's the case then both the girl and the store could be in legal trouble.

IMO, the correct reaction for the cashier would be to stop serving the customer and to call her supervisor/manager.

Law / "Difficult Customer" business in Poland [18]


Franky, I have no idea how you would go about it in Poland either.
Many legal cases are public, and so is information about them. I imagine this may be not always true where out of court settlements have been reached. But even if you just get hold of info that such settlements occurred that too may be useful info.

Where to start?
Dunno. Maybe some legal firms, Polish legal magazines ("Prawo i Zycie" comes to mind), and perhaps the almighty google.

At any rate, lots of work.

Good luck.

Law / "Difficult Customer" business in Poland [18]


My brother in law made gobs of money on just that, but in France. He worked solely with banks. Now retired at the tender age of 50.

This kind of business requires a lot of preparation. You need to do some serious research that might show measurable ($$$) consequences of NOT using the kind of services you offer. If I were into that idea I'd start with investigating whether there were lawsuits against stores, settlement cases, what were financial losses etc. If the research yields positive results then you have created some compelling marketing material.

Genealogy / May I know if 'Plawsky' is a Polish surname [11]

One suggestion: when researching this last name use a more likely version - Plawski

Genealogy / May I know if 'Plawsky' is a Polish surname [11]

Just by the sound of the name it would be hard to say. It does sound Slavonic.
It may be Polish, Russian, Jewish, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Slovak, Czech (among others)

Feedback / sounds (mp3, wav, ogg) [8]


Some, yes. All?
Look at them English speaking members of this forum looking for audio materials. Does it give you a hint?


The alphabet alone isn't even the beginning of the story. What I had in mind was individual requests for pronunciation. These could be even automatically deleted after some predefined time, if storage space is at premium.

UK, Ireland / What will the Polish give the UK? [58]


to paraphrase a American donut; ask not what Poles will live in UK, ask what UK would like to keep.

UK, Ireland / Sending a parcel to Poland from UK [30]

Don't they have Polish agencies in UK? Some may offer shipping services, and will usually charge much lower prices.

Recently I shipped a painting from Canada to Poland. Canada Post quoted me $425. The Polish agency charged me $45.

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

I like the relatively low key moderation here, but one thing strikes me as pretty sneaky for the lack of a better word). Posts are moved without warning, redirection or acknowledgment.

A couple of days ago I created a thread dealing with pronunciation. In my mind the topic deserved to have its own little area. Within less than an hour it was merged. The validity of the move could be argued both ways, but that's not the point. To me it's a matter of courtesy, so it was disappointing to first see a useful thread disappear altogether. I stumbled upon what I posted later, but now in another thread.

I'm not sure if the issue is with policies, or with the board's functionality. Is there a "move" and/or "merge" topics function available to mods?

Like others before here, I would like to see some info from mods as to why a thread has been locked, or deleted (although I don't agree with thread deletions at all, as there is some educational value in those those too)

Love / Why do you suppose the Polish guy I'm dating refuses to speak Polish? [22]


Reminds me of stories I read about British fellas in early 1940's, who pretended Polish accent to pick up dates in England. The popularity of Poles (thanks to Polish pilots) put them (briefly) out of the dating market.


Nah. Unless by that you mean they use the same organs of speech, in which case Polish is related to Swahili.

Love / Men attitude towards women in the Polish culture [82]


First I need some background info about you.
What is the highest grade of biology you took? ;)

Love / Bad experience with a Polish Guy who... had another girlfriend :( [49]

Sometimes it just happens :)

Genealogy / how many know their own family histories? [139]


Lots of family lines were broken by wars and Soviet occupation. For many, to research their bloodlines it meant to go back to painful memories, often not so distant. A sentence from your post kinda touches on the subject(quoted below)

In my case, I somehow convinced my grandmother to talk about her side of the family. In 1970's she was able to take me back to 1812, all from memory. Every single male who was alive between 1812 and 1942 was killed as a result of some war or military action. One who lived longest was my grandfather, killed by the Germans at the age of 42. Going further in time required a lot more effort and research (but it paid off).

Also, as you may know, Poland, like most other European countries, had this nobility vs commoners system. It never occurred to the latter to inquire about their roots. Because of social systems they lived under, they often lived in the same place (as an extended family) for centuries. There was no need. All you had to do was go to the local cemetery, or ask your grandparent. Many of those who would be in a position to trace their bloodlines beyond the times of their immediate family members were killed as soldiers, or exterminated by the Germans and Soviets. In Poland the intelligentsia and nobility were usually the first targets.

Also, a lot of records were systematically destroyed by the Germans during WW2. We were deemed to be Untermensch and designated for complete destruction, so it certainly made no sense to the Germans to hold on to the tradition and documents of an unworthy race.



You are doing some serious research here.
Glad it's yielding good results.

UK, Ireland / Polls for Poles in the UK [178]


Which intelligence? Not sure if you're Polish or British.


That was my point


Only after protests by some British pilots and the general population appeared in British newspapers


Don't you see that those Polish RAF pilots did the right thing by demanding that ALL Poles who fought should be honored?

Genealogy / Looking for any information on the Surname "Sokolowichski" [6]

As Grzegorz_ says, Sokolowichski is simply not possible in Polish

Perhaps sokolowicze(w)ski?

News / Polish "brainbox" comes back to Poland from the UK for a better education [77]

Did anybody see Idiocracy? A comedy about dumbing down.

Genealogy / Przybylski, Szarek from Tracing Konopnica, Zimna Woda, Lwow district - my grandfathers family [4]

The name is Zimna Woda
traveljournals.net/explore/ukraine/map/m1576191/stacja_zimna-woda.html

See Polish wikipedia for more info
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimna_Woda_(Ukraina)

News / Third World War and the role of Poland [82]


Yes. Nuclear physics is taught at some Polish universities.

UK, Ireland / Polls for Poles in the UK [178]


This is kinda true. And admittedly, there were technical issues RAF faced, and the danger to RAF pilots was undoubtedly high. But so was it in other areas.

Warsaw was simply not worth the Western effort anymore, as it had already been given away to the USSR.

Churchill faced a great dilemma. On the one hand he had Stalin who wanted Poland, and Roosevelt who didn't give squat about Poland, on the other, there were >100,000 Polish soldiers, still very much needed by the Western Allies. Sure UK had to sent some planes to Warsaw.

News / My view on Poland's Future [22]


I don't want to sound overly pessimistic, but unfortunately we also have two powerful neighbors. While one of them seems to be content with the status quo (at least for now), the other is still stirring and looking at Poland with great hatred.

UK, Ireland / Polls for Poles in the UK [178]


Back to your question that I promised to answer.
In points:

1939 - GB does not fulfill its military obligation towards Poland
1940 - Poles fight for Britain (the most effective pilots during the Battle of Britain, 5% of RAF, responsible for 12% of kills, fighting only since about 1/2 way through the Battle)

1944 - Little help (if any) during Warsaw Uprising. Polish squadrons not allowed to help either.
1945 - Poland is already given to Stalin while Poles still fight under UK's command (Poles were the 4th largest army in Europe during WW2)

1946 - Victory parade in London, Poles not allowed to participate
2007 - one tornado2007 claims that Poles should not be allowed to vote in their own elections if they reside in the UK, even if Poles pay every last penny of the cost.