Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

No, I'm not. It would be hard work, though that in itself wouldn't put me off.

Thanks... that's one for the no's... :-)

steve

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

From what you say, gummishu, perhaps my best strategy might be to learn Polish first then go back to Russian later (in the assumption that the similarites might actually make my learning Russian easier then).

Thanks for that... you given me something to think about there...

steve

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

I think what's bothering me is that in the short time since I switched to Russian I feel I've made good progress. While I have little in the way of vocabulary, I've done well in learning the alphabet and applying it to pronunciation. This might seem a petty claim to you seasoned language-philes (if that's not a word, it should be :-), but given how intimidating it looked when I first started I see it as an achievement. So, it seemed a little sad to turn my back on it.

I think I should go fully into Polish, but tell myself I will return to Russian, and so all that effort isn't really wasted.

Thanks for allowing me to get my thoughts together. It seems like a nice forum and I'd like to stick around...

steve

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

cinek

I thought about Ukrainian, but it looked like there were a great deal more resourses out there for learning Russian. That, and my research suggested most people in the Ukraine spoke Russian as well.

The cross contamination of words you mention is the worry. I'm definitely going to go with learning just the one for now.

Leopejo... thanks for that information - I'll study it carefully.

I have twelve months before my proposed Poland trip--maybe not enough to master Polish, of course, but hopefully enough time that I can 'get by'. My trip is for pleasure, and my learning the language for fun, so whatever standard I take with me will work, if you see what I mean.

My wife's father was Polish, and we know little about his past, so my trip is a surprise 50th birthday present to my wife in that we'll go over and see for ourselves where he was from. I hope to also give her some sort of family tree - but that's a set of problems in its own right!

steve

steve

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

Thanks for your thoughts, Sasha

Genealogy / Tarnowice vs Tarnow - Polish town names [10]

Thanks, Peter, I appreciate the response.

I'm still a little confused, though. I looked at the map you kindly linked for me, and it has a red circle about 40km NE of Tarnow, but I still see no mention of Tarnowce. Are you saying Tarnowce is a region and these other places you mention are part of it?

I'm assuming Słupiec, gm. £ubnice, pow. Staszów, woj. świętokrzyskie are places - I'm a only a week into teaching myself Polish and so still mumbling Nie, Tak, and Dzień Dobry at the moment. I get funny looks on the bus :-). So, sorry if I appear a bit simple with that.

If you, or anyone else, could expand on it I'd be grateful.

thanks

steve

Language / Pan or Pani? Do we have to be formal in the UK? [22]

I'm just starting out in learning Polish, but I must say I like the idea of a language with a built in respect mechanism. Oh, I know in English we could say sir, or mister, or some such, and in times gone by we probably did so more, but I mean it's nice to find a language where such respect is still important.

I wonder if it will continue in Polish, or in this age of text messages and Twitter will such grammatical constructs become eroded (I flinch when in English I see people email R U OK and the like)?

steve

Genealogy / Tarnowice vs Tarnow - Polish town names [10]

Ah, I see. Thank you, Peter. I'll have to recheck my information source for the spelling.

Thanks again

steve

Looks like what I wanted was Tarnawce, Peter, which is just west of Przemyśil right on the Poland/Ukraine border.

Thanks for helping me get there in the end...

steve

Genealogy / Tarnowice vs Tarnow - Polish town names [10]

Thanks, Polonius3... the heading was altered (presumably by the moderator) and the spelling changed then.

But the rest is me not getting the right spelling - Tarnawce is what I wanted, and it would seem it's way east almost in Ukraine.

Thanks for looking in... I'm blown away by how helpful folks are on these forums...

steve

Genealogy / Tarnowice vs Tarnow - Polish town names [10]

I noticed that on the map from Peter's original link. I did wonder if that was what io was looking for.

But now I'm pretty sure I've found it very close to Przemyśl, right by the Ukraine border. The Ukraine element fits in with other information I have about the person I'm tracking.

Thanks for your thoughts, Chiquita...

steve

Life / SHOCK HORROR...good customer service in Poland [10]

Admit it, you're lost down some dusty track with a kinky haddock. :-)

Good service is great, no matter what the country...

steve

Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [178]

Merged: A couple of pronunciations...Przemyśl,Rzeszów,Tarnawce

Dzień Dobry

What's the pronunciation of the following town names? Am I close?

Przemyśl

Shem-shil (or is that 'y' sounded too?)

Rzeszów

She-show (with the 'o' as in the English word 'town')

Tarnawce

Tah-nah-v-ts

I want to talk to an English, non-Polish speaking person about these places (so I can get away with winging it!) but I'd like to get them right. I'm not yet confident in my ability to pronounce words I've not yet heard spoken - but I'm working on it.

Dziękuję

steve

Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [178]

Thanks for that.

Of course, I agree with the reading statement, and it's something I'm working on. At the moment I'm only a week or so into learning Polish, so I have my work cut out just making coherent sounds without reading as such. But, I'm happy I see progress even after so short a time.

Can I ask you what you know about Tarnawce? It's where my father-in-law was born, and my plan to visit there late next year is my reason for learning Polish.

Thanks again for the reply...

steve

Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [178]

I'll make a note of the castle... I do like visiting such places.

Is it usual for single towns to be given plural names in Poland?

steve

Language / Polish Language Pronunciation - Example Words and Phrases [178]

Interesting, jakubzurawski, thank you. The more one delves into Polish, the more there is to learn.

steve

Language / The final "ę" [29]

It's certainly confusing for the novice. I've noticed myself that the likes of utube carries all manner of pronunciation of these words.

Interestingly, I think I've watched the videos referenced above (Travellinguist?) and I read a whole raft of utube comments suggesting the male voice was the correct form to follow (he often pronounced with the en or e rather than the full ę sound). I ended up using both depending on which of the two actors had last spoken the word! The trials of learning a language, eh? :-)

steve

Language / The final "ę" [29]

That's fair enough from the point of view of someone who knows the language, but surely you can see how a newcomer might struggle if first they're taught one way and then the other, particulalry as there's no real message that both are good?

I kept chastising myself that I couldn't remember such a simple pronunciation.

steve

Language / Numbers in the Polish Language [39]

Thank you for this... it's very helpful...

steve

Genealogy / trying to find dad's family. He was born in Przemysl in 1921 and was an orphan. [5]

I'm looking for people around that area, too.

Are there any professional genealogists based in Przemyśl?

I looked at the websites of some based elsewhere in Poland, and what with costs of trips to Przemyśl and whatnot, it looked like it would cost an absolute fortune. I suppose if there is a local specialist then the cost would be somewhat lower. The most off putting thing was that they appear to charge by the hour, and the intimation was that they couldn't say in advance how many hours work would be involved. I'd have much preferred a set fee.

steve

Language / Not sure if I will be able to speak Polish [53]

I had a kind of 'zing' moment last night. Two Polish girls were talking in a Harry Enfield comedy sketch, and the zing for me came when without thinking I realised I'd understood them. Given I'm only six weeks or so into my language studies, it felt good, particularly as it was the first Polish I'd been exposed to outside my audio course.

I mention this, Polskiej_Dumy, because it might be that you retain more than you think, and you're merely being hard on yourself.

Keep going. I reckon it'll come together at some point.

steve

Language / Not sure if I will be able to speak Polish [53]

cinek : Yes, this is Polish, but they are only TRYING to speak it I'd say. They are definitely not Polish, nor even understand what they are saying. I even think if the dialogue were written by a Polish native, e.g.:

Magda, Simon jest tutaj!

No native would say that. It shodul be like:

Magda, Simon przyszedł
or

Magda, Simon już jest.

Also, some sentences are not understandable for me at all (even though I'm a native speaker).

Cinek

Aha, my 'zing' moment has just gone 'pfffft' :-)

So, basically, the reason I could understand a little was because it was unnaturally simple Polish. Ah well, back to the audio course.

Sorry about the bold above - how do you get this 'quote' thing working? When I click quote all I get is name sort of thing...

Language / Not sure if I will be able to speak Polish [53]

Ah, that makes sense... thanks...

Genealogy / Polish Professional Genealogists, experience with them? [5]

Thanks for that... your 'was taken aback' comment still scares me a little.

The guy's website does mention an 'ulitmate price', which I assume means he sets a maximum it will cost (I imagine at which he stops searching). I like the idea of the free preliminary search to see if there are indeed records to be found.

Genealogy / Polish Professional Genealogists, experience with them? [5]

Thanks again, Mark.

I think I'll get Christsmas done and contact this guy in the New Year. He does soundlike a decent person. In the meantime I just found a lead I want to follow up myself (the more I can give to the geneaoligist the better).

Congratulations on finding your extended family. It sounds like a great result for you.

steve

Travel / Wroclaw (tourist help needed for a 14-year old) [20]

I've found some nice city guides on the Ryanair UK airline website, one of which is for Wroclaw. I've not looked at that particular one, but others I've found worth looking at...

link is arrivalguides.com/ryanair/travelguide.aspx?partner=ryanair&flag=en&lang=en&filter=w