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Posts by glowa  

Joined: 6 Apr 2006 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 20 Aug 2007
Threads: Total: 1 / In This Archive: 1
Posts: Total: 291 / In This Archive: 243 		From: Belgium
Speaks Polish?: sometimes

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glowa   
6 Apr 2006
UK, Ireland / info centres in england for a polish friend [8]

unfortunately, polish consulates/embassies suck, in whatever coutry.

Kelly, your friend obviously needs a language course first. then he'll manage finding any usefull information or whatever. I guess it's about job, isn't it?
glowa   
6 Apr 2006
Life / Whats gay life in Poland? [140]

Gay life in Poland is in a rut. There's a general tendency not to accept things. Gay - bad, Jew - bad, different - bad. Plus, in case of gay life, even the dumb government is now acting against it as is church - which has way too much to say out there, in general.

So my advice. When your in Poland, adding the fact that your gay to the introduction - BAD IDEA.
As someone wrote before.

However, I'm convinced, you'll find your way around.

To the discussion on the subject of science tackling being gay as an illnes - only in Poland I heard such a stupid thing that gay is an illnes.

Someone wrote: Gay are gay and will always be different. What crap is that! I like blonds, my brother like brunettes. We're soooo damn different. I have gay friends. Apart from what kind of a human they sleep with, I don't personally see the difference.
glowa   
7 Apr 2006
Life / Whats gay life in Poland? [140]

:) I wouldn't dare to expect from someone to change that much. I tried to say that sexual preferences don't make a person THAT different. It's just, you know, what turns one on.
glowa   
8 Apr 2006
Life / The Poles in the New Europe: Looking for Bread Abroad [22]

i pretty much agree with the article, except for the part about language abailities.

remember that to find a job, English is only valid in GB. in other countries you can use it on holidays. what the Poles are recognised for in this matter is the ability to learn a local language to the level of a comfortable conversation in no-time. and comfortable conversation I mean understand/being understood, while not necessarily speaking grammaticaly perfect.

that's where the feeling of being an "expert" (i wouldn't use that word, though) comes to the picture.
glowa   
19 Apr 2006
Life / Polish edition of "His Dark Materials" [7]

Polish title: Mroczne Materie
empik.com/showobject.jsp?objectId=103118&currentCategory=1010000

you can try online in general on empik.com - it's a Polish network of book stores.
glowa   
19 Apr 2006
Life / Polish edition of "His Dark Materials" [7]

Ok, the form of what you've written is quite difficult, because it seems a little elevated. Let's give it a try. Would be good if you got a second opinion on that afterwards

Trylogia, ktorą wszyscy ci obdarzeni wzrokiem powinni przejrzeć.
(Ta, w ktrórej trakcie czytania, przeżyłem psychotyczny epizod.. Myślałem, że jestem Lyrą. Jaki wstyd.)
Uściski i Buziaki.

Funny, I seem to not be able to translate "Lots of love". something's not right. :)
a famous psychotin drunken... I skipped the first and the last, because I don't know how to phrase that.
glowa   
5 May 2006
Travel / Possible film shoot in Lodz, Poland - need advice [17]

The spelling:

£ódź

(view it with ISO-8859-2 coding)

first letter you read as English "w"
second as English "oo"

the last two you read as one and I can't find an English sound for it. it would be something like English "j" but a little softer

and BTW, that's where the famous movie school is, so most likely it is the place you're looking for.
glowa   
26 May 2006
USA, Canada / People visiting the US from Poland [3]

I think you've got to send an invitation. with it he can go to the embassy to apply for a visa. never mention work in an invitation. they will turn it down right away. he won't get a green card this was anyway. tourist visa most likely.

how to write and issue the invitation I don't know. Perhaps a consulat can give you the info,
glowa   
9 Jun 2006
Language / An issue in threads about translating between Polish and English [16]

Hi All

I've been reading some ot the threads, where people ask to translate between English and Polish and would like to express a little concern.

We're probably all aware that most of the translations are done by us, i.e., the Poles present on the forum.

So, as far as translations from Polish to English are concerned there is no problem, because you, native English speakers, can correct or rephrase the sentences to your liking once you've got the outcome.

However....
The problem arises when English to Polish translations are concerned. The sentences, the form is often really horrible. "Colloquial" wouldn't even be the word to explain it. The thing is that those translations do carry the meaning, but most of them is awful Polish. or should I say low-low level, you know - pretty much learnt-on-the-streets style.

So I would like to say to the Poles: please, try to put is more or less right, I mean, we can make sentences in our native tongue, can't we?

to the English-speaking people: be carefull with these translations, to everyday little converstions, SMS's or things like that it might suite, but if you need to send a letter or any kind of a more official communication, make sure what you send is not a "graffiti text".

Please, keep in mind that I'm not trying to ask anyone to stop helping others. It's just a little observation.

OK, enough bragging from my side.

Cheers!!
glowa   
9 Jun 2006
Language / An issue in threads about translating between Polish and English [16]

No, no, don't misunderstand me.
I don't think it's a problem, really. It's just that sometimes there are requests to translate something more important than an SMS, that's where it could be good to be a little caucious. Especially when you're the person who needs the translation.

You see, some of the translations are awfuly bold.
And I don't mean that it should all be put in fine a well concieved poetic form, but you know... I'd encourage to put this minimum effort to make it sound, well... smooth - if that's a word I could use here.

But no, I'm not trying to say there's a problem on the forum. Please, consider it rather as an opinion, that's all.

And if I'm wrong, well, then I'm wrong. Fine by me. :)
glowa   
12 Jun 2006
Australia / What do the Polish really think of Australians? [10]

you'll have a high chance to meet you homies if you go to the mountains in the south. Zakopane seems to become a popular place to visit among the Australians.
glowa   
21 Jun 2006
Life / What do Polish people think about `Greece and Greek people? [15]

i've met quite some on my way. very polite people, stubborn like hell (I take is as a quality),

Greece is beautifull, except for The Athens which looks like a huge garbage can.

the crappy thing is when you're in Greece for holidays there's low chance to find a public beach. everything is bought for housing together with the beaches so everything is private (at least that's the case in Patras), it's s bit annoying when you're there and want to go to swim or whatever.

nevermind though, people are great and make up for those little things.
glowa   
21 Jun 2006
Language / A Native American or a Native Pole: Who is better into which language? [116]

do you people know anything about Polish grammar?

first of all the meaning of "tense" is different in Polish and English - we would call these tenses: past, present, future and that's all

but for example: action complete/incomplete - which in english is expressed as a tense (i will do, i will have done and so on) in Polish we do not consider as a tense-something construction but as a form.

now there are no prepositions in Polish which make it really complicated when it comes to forms (it's also a reason why the Poles can't quite get a grasp on it in English)

the form of the verb in Polish has nothing to do with the English thing. for an English speaking person you might basicaly explain that almost every conjugation is an exception.

declination is a hell to learn correctly - even for the Poles themselvesl. well, English doesn't have it at all.

whoever says that Polish is simple is a damn heretic or very naive:)

ok, one correction, I'm not saying English is simple, but comparing to Polish it still remains a fart.... as most western languages anyway. they are very schematic complaring to ours.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
News / Poland has now 2 presidents? [26]

are you serious? do they really say such stuff on forums or just joke about it?
these two ducklings are bro's! but to make it funny, the other one is about to become the PM... or already has, I don't know.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
News / Poland has now 2 presidents? [26]

well, I think that joking about these two is quite alright. after all they are public personas.
Wujek, please, do no confuse joking with judging, though the line might sometimes be very thin.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
Language / Polish language problems (orthography) [47]

my teacher once told me that far, far away and long, long time ago, in Polish language there was a difference in sound between ó an u i, ch and h and so on (not all the cases though). the differences degraded, but spelling prevailed. that's all. grammar attempts to explain it but all ends up with exceptions anyway. the origin of words also plays a role, of course.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
News / Poland has now 2 presidents? [26]

I have to admit I'm one of those, who don't respect public institutions, perhaps because my feeling is that I'm not receiving the slightest respect as a citizen, from their side.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
News / Poland has now 2 presidents? [26]

good question, so easy to answer, though
I guess, I'd expect the government to do its job for once, instead of boldly showing us a finger whenever something difficult comes accross. we pay big money for politicians good life, what we get back is a joke.
glowa   
11 Jul 2006
News / Poland has now 2 presidents? [26]

because the polish government tends to works for itself, not for the population - that would be its job.
glowa   
12 Jul 2006
Real Estate / Poland Property...should I be scared [127]

these are all quite difficult questions,

where? i'd say "aim at big city".

you can make money on buying and selling an appartment, the price growth at the moment is madness, so you might even win some in a very short time. with a house prety much the same.

buying an old city property and renovating it can be a difficult thing to do because of adaministrative/paper work that goes with it. if you want to do that, you might step in a pile of sh... I wouldn't go this way.

anyway buying an old property in an old neighbourhood might be a mistake from starters.

finance shouldn't be a problem, nowadays you get it very quickly, but make the choice of a bank very carefully

parking: a garage is always a good idea, for the car protection rather than finding a place to park.

anyway, take what I wrote with a distance, I don't have much experience with it myself.
I'm saying what I remember from my brother's experience with these things. He owns an appartement in Gdansk and now is building a house,

one more thing. if you plan to buy a property, hurry up. the prices in cities like Gdansk or Warsaw already reach the same level as in Brussels in the European Quartier - and that's expensive.
glowa   
13 Jul 2006
Real Estate / Poland Property...should I be scared [127]

what utter nonsense comparing Gdansk to Brussels, when you compare earning from people from these countries.

take a magazine and see the prices.
I'm not comparing the cities but the prices per square meeter. it so happens, that I've spend last week in Poland and checked the matter, since I'm myself interested in investing in an appart in Brussels. and I can tell you, the prices are simillar.

people's earnings have nothing to do with it. WTF?
glowa   
13 Jul 2006
Travel / What can you tell me about Silesia Poland region? [10]

Silesia is called in Polish Śląsk (perhaps this would help you google) and indeed Katowice is the capital of the region.
It is/was a coal mining region. Central-South of Poland more or less.
Now it's poor and has enormous unemployment rate, since the mines have been one by one closed.

Three years ago a friend, Erasmus student from Spain had a task to prepare a TV-document on Silesia. She went there for two weeks (i had to find a friend down there to help here with communication, because the language is a problem in such places) and prepared some material, which I later helped here translate again, back to English.

Well, the picture wasn't that bright. The area is ugly and poor (and used to be quite the opposite, except the ugly thing - that is reasoned by the constatnt presence of the gray dust in the air produced by the mines). Polution is sky-high. The ex-miners are frustrated and angry. The docment ended up to be quite sad a story.

Silesia speaks Polish - that area once in the history was conquered by the Prussians, therefore there's a lot of German influence in the way people speak. That applies to the whole not only Lower Silesia. But they do speak Polish.
glowa   
18 Jul 2006
Food / is" kaszanka" a Polish speciality? [54]

Yes, "kiszka" and "kaszanka" are the basically same thing -- they are just called differently in various parts of Poland. The same as "potato" - some call it "ziemniak" while other call it "kartofel" or "grula".

no they are not.

"kiszka", or rather "kiszka kaszubska" has bright color, is made of mashed potatoes, bacon, spices. and something else, I don't know what. anyway, it's awesome with some mustard.
glowa   
20 Jul 2006
Polonia / Polish slaves in Italy [9]

the worst is the fact that the gang itself consists of Polish dudes. today there's another arcirlce on interia.pl - unfortunately in Polish about this kind of practics in Spain this time.

Wujek, people from province who desperately look for job and get trapped in shit like that, get what they deserve? You deserve a slap on the face, my friend.
glowa   
27 Jul 2006
Travel / Recommend staying in Sopot or Gdansk? [12]

the biggest crap-music festival. Sopot is a holiday resort in summer. The rest of the year it's one of the oldest cities in Poland (in term of the average age of inhabitants) and it's really boring. Fortunately there's a lot of students around - but those on the other hand are mostly drunk.

But as Wujek said, it's a couple of minutes if you take the "metropolitan railway" - jeeez, be brave when you enter those falling apart trains.
glowa   
27 Sep 2006
UK, Ireland / English people attitude towards Poles? [761]

Madziula, those that want to stay can stay, those that want to leave can leave and that's a fair deal. Why would you like to keep everyone forcefuly in the country to rot? We've had a government that did that and well, it wasn't fun, was it? Ask your parents. I'm sure you wouldn't like to experience the same crap as they did.
glowa   
27 Sep 2006
Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [220]

i've got something harded for you

"sześć" - 6 and "cześć" - hello. if you manage to pronounce these two in a way that they sound different then you're on your way.

And about "trzy"
you have to remembrer that there are three sounds
"t" - this is easy, you pronounce it without any difference from English like in "top" for instance
"rz" - this is the hard one, this you have to pronounce like "g" in the word "genre"
"y" - you probably know.

of course the problem is the combination of "t" and "rz" one after another.
try to pronounce it as if it was written "terzy", only pronounce the "e" as shortly as you can, with around 10000 tries of saying it quickly you'll arrive at the right point.

something to make you feel better. the fact that you pronounce it like "czy" is nothing abnormal. a lot of children in poland when they learn to speak prononuce it exactly the same way.

simillar example is the word "tree" - drzewo