Travel / 2-week vacation in Poland - it was awesome! Culture shock interesting. [29]


so very true! :)

Life / Internet provider Gdansk [5]

You could also check UPC (Chello). Don't know if they are in Pruszcz but you can check at their website.
Neostrada should be OK as long as you don't intend to ever move it to a different location - it can be a very painful and time consuming experience.

Language / Polish words shared with the french language [29]


a propos (there should be an accent over "a")
vis-a-vis (same as above)
savoir-vivre
Can't think of more examples - I think in most cases spelling was adjusted to Polish


I know English and French, both as foreign languages, and from my point of view French borrowings in English can sometimes make things easier - like, for example, I may understand new English words without having to check them because I know the French original. That's cool, but there is one serious drawback - it's next to impossible for me to pronounce a French borrowing in English if I learned that word in French first :D Like, I don't know - "bouillon" or "aubergine". The words, spelled like that, ARE French, it is natural for me to pronounce them the French way, and I need to stop and think if I try to pronounce them in English ;) Mind you, both are French borrowings in Polish also, spelled "bulion" and "oberżyna" :)


No, don't worry, he only meant Michal ;)

Language / Polish words shared with the french language [29]

Bakłażan and oberżyna are synonyms. Like aubergine and eggplant?

Language / Polish words shared with the french language [29]

You know, you just made me google search for what language "bakłażan" could have originated from :)
I think that "bakłażan" and "oberżyna" mean the same thing, Solanum melongena, as you mentioned. The name brinjal originated from sanskrit and Arabic, if you can believe Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant

OK, got it - I found that the Bulgarian and Russian words for aubergine are very similar to Polish "bakłażan". Again, if you can believe Wiki, it seems that "bakłażan" comes from a Turkish word which comes from Arabic. It's funny, because "aubergine" has originated from French, which originated from Spanish, which also originated from the same Arabic word :)

(and I found that by clicking on the Russian equivalent in the link above... I hope I got that right, since my Russian has not been used for many years and it was never very good in the first place)

Language / Polish words shared with the french language [29]


I wish I had one... As they say, "jak się nie ma co się lubi, to się lubi co się ma" (if you don't have what you like, you got to like what you have) :) Your dictionary is probably a more reliable source than Wiki, it's just that I was curious and Internet was all that I had.


:)

Language / Polish Gender in foreign word borrowings [26]


I think it is because you don't press just Alt & Ctr, you press Alt + the letter you want to "modify" (Alt + Ctrl + the letter if you want to make a capital one), like:

ą -> Alt + a
ę -> Alt + e
ć -> Alt + c (Ć -> Alt + Ctrl + c)
ń -> Alt + n
ś -> Alt + s (Ś -> Alt + Ctrl + s)
ź -> Alt + x (- -> Alt + Ctrl + z)
ż -> Alt + z (Ż -> Alt + Ctrl + z)

But of course, first you need to add Polish keyboard in the regional and language options, like sledz explained, and then you need to make sure to select Polish from the language bar.

Language / "ksiegarnia" = "bookshop"? [14]


Yes it does. Księgarnia comes from the root "księga". Księga = a book. It suggests a big thick book though in modern Polish (a normal size book would be książka), but it is also used in some set phrases, such as księga podatkowa = tax book, księga główna = general ledger, etc., or for books within the Bible

Language / So i bought the Polish game "Wiedźmin" to learn Polish. [27]


Agree :)
I don't normally play computer games, but from the trailer and from what I heard from friends who have it, it seems like a really good one.

Still, for those who think of buying it as a present, do check PC requirements first and make sure that the person who receives the gift has a computer that meets them. One of my friends had to seriously upgrade his PC to be able to play it ;)


Can't agree more!