Posts by Kapusniak

Kapusniak

18 Jul 2009

USA, Canada / Born in Poland came to Canada as Child -- Polish Passport questions [9]

Cześć Everybody,

I was born in Poland and came to Canada as a baby. I would like to get a Polish (which I guess ultimately means EU paszport)

I do have a Polish birth certificate, only problem is, it is buried amongst a ton of other papers somewhere and finding it is going to be a challenge.

This leads me to two questions:

1. What would the process be if I can find my birth certificate?

2. If I can't find it, what is the process to get a replacement?
(I'm assuming I might as well not bother until I can produce a birth certificate)

Thanks,
--Kapuśniak

Kapusniak

19 Jul 2009

USA, Canada / Born in Poland came to Canada as Child -- Polish Passport questions [9]

Thanks, everyone, for the responses. After doing a bit more reading both on these forums and on other pages linked from here, it seems that it may take less time to find my birth certificate than to go through the process of getting replacement paperwork.

So, this leads me to another question. But first, I should offer a bit more background...

I'm in Toronto and am a Canadian citizen. (Have been since the early 70s -- for most of my life) Both my parents (along with myself and my brothers) were born in Poland.

I speak Polish conversationally and can read it if I have to. (Thanks to the written language being so wonderfully phonetic.) My roots (employment, family, etc.) are firmly in Canada and realistically, (barring a sudden lottery win) I'm not going anywhere.

I have never been back to Poland, and seeing as I was a baby, I have no memories of it. But that doesn't mean I don't want to spend some time there some day -- maybe start with a nice long vacation. There are some distant family there but I think, when I go, I want to start by doing the tourist thing.

So, that leads me to my question:

Although it might be sexy to be the holder of a Polish passport, do I really need one? If I go on a visit with my Canadian passport, will the authorities give me grief when they discover that I am actually a Polish citizen? I have heard stories of visitors who are actually citizens being prevented from leaving or entering the country until they get the proper paperwork in order. (which of course, will cost a lot of money)

Kapusniak

4 Aug 2009

Language / "i" vs. "y" - ryby/Francji [7]

Is there a rule indicating when the letter "i" is used instead of "y"?

You have:

ryba (ryby)
chyba
tylko
było

Then you have

idzie
francji
pij
miłosć
i (as in "and")

I'm confused. Is there a rule or do I just rely on my słownyk to get the spelling right.

Kapusniak

4 Aug 2009

Language / "i" vs. "y" - ryby/Francji [7]

OMG You're right!

When I pronounced that list of words using your guide, it immediately sounded "right" to my ear. I'm literally shaking my head right now. I can't believe I've let things slip like this.

Seriously, I rarely get a chance to speak the language anymore and this is proof that if you don't use it, you will eventually lose it. I'm taking this as a bit of a wakeup call.

Thanks, everyone.