Food / Tatar - a raw meat dish [28]

From the mistakes-you-make-only-once department:

Many years ago, I bought what looked like fresh tatar on Saturday morning from a meat stand. Little did I realize that it was probably from Thursday and the weather hadn't been that cold. I bought it thinking to make hamburger steak (which might have been okay) but a 'friend' said it looked like tatar so I had it that way (minus egg or sardine or pickle or vodka). About 36 hours later I became sick as a dog with a splitting headache and really bad case of the shakes. Strangely I don't remember throwing up though I assume I did.

I still enjoy tatar but only from places I trust (and lots and lots of vodka, did I mention lots of vodka?)

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]

My opinion: Talk of one group of people being "superior" to another never leads anywhere good.

And everyone of your points is either highly disputable or a double edged sword.

"-- Polish women make better wives ..."

They also expect a lot more control at home and over their husbands and are no more faithful than Polish husbands.

"-- Poles attach greater importance to the family"

So-called family values are good up to a point, but when they're too important (arguably the case in Poland) they lead to nepotism (you don't hire the most qualified, you hire your cousin) and corruption (the public aren't family so it's okay to cheat them).

"-- Polish food is far superior to the cotton-fluff stuff"

Polish food is higher quality than most of western europe, but the variety is less than amazing. You can eat very well in England as long as you limit yourself to non-English food.

"-- Poles attach greater imporatnce to time-honoured traditions"

Again, respect for traditions is good up to a point, but can also lead to stifling innovation and progress and the continued existence of ideas (like 'national superiority') that really need to die.

"-- Poles are far less mean and penny-pinching and more hospitable"

Less penny-pinching? Excuse me (HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!) hospitality can be nice but also takes intrusive bullying forms (forcing guests to eat and drink long after they want to stop). There's also phony hospitality "gość w domu, masło do lodówki" or "gość w domu, pilnuj żonę" (see point above)

"-- Poles have always adhered to the maxim: ... the belief that a fight for freedom anywhere in the world is a struggle for a free Poland"

Like supporting Georgian aggression against Russia?

"-- Poland has traditonally been a haven for dissenters"

Yes, Radio Maryja just _screams_ "tolerance".

"-- By and large Poles in the Isles do not dance naked on pub tabletops, vomit on other customers, urinate on the walls of defecate in corners....."

No they reserve that behavior for private parties (probably a good point overall)

UK, Ireland / POLES SUPERIOR TO BRITS? [260]


Gołąbki are just Turkish dolma adapted for local ingredients (cabbage instead of grape leaves, and the earliest versions used buckwheat or barley instead of rice).

I especially like them Hungarian style with a spicier sauce than Polish versions and sour cream slathered on top.

News / ENGLISH STILL PROFITABLE IN POLAND? [78]

First, I wouldn't suggest that anybody move to Poland if they're not serious about learning the language. No matter how many people know (or think they know) English if you don't know Polish here, you're marked out as a victim (or burden to people who have to coddle you and do things for you).

Second, I would have thought the market is saturated but I only teach at the uni and am not interested in private stuff.

My intuition tells me that 'more and more' people signing up for courses indicates that the courses aren't doing much good.

Food / POLISH HANGOVER PREVENTIVE? [7]

I'd heard that flaki works (after drinking before bed)

I've also heard that the Hungarian herbal liqueure Unicum works for that (generally very good for stomach ailments and cold prevention too)

I think for your uncle, going to the wedding was just an excuse to kick back a glass of melted lard.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]

The best programs for improving language ability.

Soap operas.

The language is usually day to day standard, enunciation is usually clear, the plotlines are generally guessable, and there's tons o' repitition

Beata : I have to talk to Magda about her boyfriend.
Beata : Magda, I have to talk to you about your boyfriend.
Beata : I spoke to Magda about her boyfriend.

Magda : Beata came to talk to me about Jacek.

Jacek : Magda, did Beata say anything to you about me?

Also there's lots of interesting cultural information hidden away in the story lines and the things that the characters take for granted.

News depends as journalistic language tends to be full of weird usage that people don't use on a daily basis.
Comedy is the worst as it is liable to depend on linguistic creativity and the humor is liable to go missing even when a viewer from another culture understands the language.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]

But be careful. I hardly see an English language movie with Polish subtitles where there aren't serious problems of translation.
Basically, what I've read elsewhere is that the people in charge don't care about quality and consistently go for low bidders who work fast, rather than people who know what they're doing.

Polish to English subtitles also have problems, not in content so much as style. There's a tendency toward stilted, unnatural or dated usage.

One quick example (paraphrased except for the relevant part):
"Like my nana used to say "you need to get laid"."
"You're nana used to say that?"

translated:
"As my nanny used to say "you need sex"."
"Your nanny used to say that?"

Nana is actually an informal word for grandmother and the humor of inappropriate grandmotherly advice becomes kind of creepy paid caretaker advice .... babcia would have been a better choice than niania.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]


Also there's a tendency to raise the register. I remember people getting upset at the lektor using crude language (no matter that the original was crude, the Polish version was supposed to be nice and ladylike). That was a while ago and while I disagreed at the time, I do wish more people worried about crude language now.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]


Yes both subtitles and mr. lektor require that most dialogue be shorted by about a third on average.

The translation method that allows for the best translations _as_ translations is dubbing, but Polish people are prejudiced against that.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]

Huh? With dubbing you only hear one soundtrack. It's not the original but it's one. It's the dreaded lektor that gives you two unintelligible soundtracks at the same time.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]

Okay I'll gently steer it back .....

When I was still actively learning Polish I found that movies in languages other than English with subtitles helped me a lot more. With a movie in English I could tune out the subtitles but if the movie was in Chinese or Hungarian I really had to depend on the subtitles to make sense of what I was seeing.

Oh, and I also thought the dubbed version of Friends on Canal Plus was good for language learning.

Food / POLISH HANGOVER PREVENTIVE? [7]


Many years ago I was at some all night party (I forget which maybe carnival but not the last night). There were 10 of us at a table and most people brought a (half liter) bottle or two (to date this more accurately, Premium was the big vodka then).

buteleczki.opole.pl/okno.php?zdj=./img_bottles/xpwvethuhcbnvwfijqbmfmj i.jpg

Anyway, as each bottle was emptied it was placed on a little ledge above the table. A few times extra people from other tables helped us with a round but more often half or less of the 10 saw to the honor ourselves.

There was also food served throughout, ever half hour or so a new dish was brought around (and people also brought some stuff themselves).

There was also a lot of dancing (live do-kotletów band).

By the time the thing broke up (sixish a.m.) there was over a dozen bottles for out table of ten. I had been doing shots all night long (but also eating and dancing) and didn't feel drunk and felt wonderful when I woke up in the early afternoon.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


What are you referring to, breathing? living? working?

be more specific.

Life / NANNY STATE in POLANd vs RABBLE? [25]

Nanny State = Państwo solidarne?

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]


Nana does not mean 'niania', it means 'babcia'.
That's what's wrong with translating 'nana' as 'niania'.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


IMHO the real reason the RC church will never acknowledge homosexuality as normal has nothing to do with scripture (which catholics take a selective view toward anyway) but with a simple fact: if the church says being gay is okay, then it has to deal with it inside the church, which is the _last_ thing it wants to do.

(for clarity: I'm not talking about pedophile priests, another issue the church is in deep, deep denial about).

Life / NANNY STATE in POLANd vs RABBLE? [25]

So do I, I just couldn't resist a cheap shot against PiS....

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


Does the church give its blessing to infertile couples?

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]


Irrelevant. If the church wants to be consistent, then it needs to say that infertile people shouldn't monopolize a fertile partner (and fertility tests should be carried out before the church gives it's blessings to a couple).

But most people don't want the church to be consistent about much of anything, they want it to reinforce and comfort them in their biases.

Language / Do Polish Movies Help learn the language? [60]

Yes, hearing a 50+ year old chainsmoking guy mumble "wsadź mnie .... mocniej ... mocniej" is ..... an experience (not one that I ever want to repeat, but an experience).

Love / Love my polish girlfriend alot but under pressure from family [166]


The problem is, too many new arrivals (with no interest in assimilating) in too short a period of time simply transports many of the values and conditions that caused the unemployment at home.


They tend to all boil down to a low level of social trust (a necessary condition for a society to become and stay wealthy).
Generally levels of social trust all over the middle east are pretty low.

Love / Polish Girlfriend gone missing [154]

Tough news, but look on the bright side, you really dodged a bullet and now this new guy will be the poor bastard on the receiving end of her lies and manipulation.

Final warning: I wouldn't be _hugely_ surpised if one of the reasons for the obfuscations were that she was thinking of you as an insurance policy. If things didn't work out with mr new dreamboat she could still make up some story you'd believe and waltz back into your life as if nothing had happened. If she ever shows up again, waste no time in kicking her to the curb.

In the meantime, it's a new year, time to go out and build a new life. Best of luck!

Work / Soldier in need of advice about using Polish in a new career path. [11]

Here's a program in Polish studies (on Polish German border)

no costs mentioned, but there is contact info.

amu.edu.pl/nowa-eng.php?linkid=3294

Warning: some Polish universities (counting on the idea that most foreign students are being sponsored by governments) add on ridiculous charges for foreigners, but these can often be negotiated/petitioned away (or at least reduced).

Powodzenia!

Food / What is your favourite Polish meal?! [64]

sałatka jarzynowa, used to eat it by the bucketful

Life / POLAND'S QUASI-BROTHELS? [21]


Here's an idea. You might get more and better discussions if you didn't go out of your way to insult people who don't agree with you.

I really doubt if there's a group that could be called "Euro-apers" in Poland on any issue.
In regards to prostitution, various people of various political orientations have different ideas on how to deal with it. My concern is to protect those women (and young men) who go into prostitution on their own (usually out of a combination of desperation, dullness and dysfunctionality) and to prevent people from being forced into prostitution.

The current Polish laws (and most rightwing proposals and some leftwing proposals) do niether.

IINM individual prostitution is not illegal (though not really legal either).
This means that prostitutes who work on their own have to do so in dangerous conditions and making brothels illegal makes it easier to exploit and/or imprison women. No law will make prostitution go away, laws can be done to limit the harm done.

There's nothing that new in the Dutch drug situation either. For myself I think marijuana should be legalized and regulated (though personally I can't stand dealing with chronic potheads).

USA, Canada / FIRST POL-AM CATHOLIC (?) PRIESTESS [72]


I hate to side with Krakowianka (who is conspicuously lacking in Christian fellowship and charity) but .... she's right.

The Catholic church sets the rules for being a Catholic and the rules they've set include regular church going.

That said, a person doesn't have to be a Catholic to be a Christian (despite what some Catholic church officials might imply) and one can be a committed Christian without ever going to church. Belief in the basic principles is quite enough.

And you're right (and Krakowianka's wrong) about the use of the word kosher. Kosher - it's not just for gefilte fisch anymore!

Law / "Texas style" steakhouse in Poznan. Worthy investment? [35]

Problems with a steakhouse in Poland.

Poles aren't into beef as a rule, even very good butcher shops don't always have it. A natural result of this is that the beef isn't ..... great quality. I'm guessing that most beef on sale is from 'retired' dairy cattle. (when you travel you don't see herds of cows in the country side, there's an occcasional dairy cow staked out to graze).

So supplying a steakhouse won't be that easy or cheap and the prices needed to make it profitable will scare many away. Yeah, a lot of people in Poland have money but the people with the money to spend on imported quality beef are going to want an upscale establishment. And the number of foreigners (who spend a lot of time going out) outside Warsaw just isn't that big.

Real, quality hamburgers would have to contend with the debasement of the term in Poland. On the one hand, there's the ghastly memory of Polish "hamburgery" of the 90's (breaded) pork with raw cabbage(!) and a rock-hard bun or the present knowledge of McCrapolds.

I've done homemade hamburgers that have convinced a few Poles that hamburgers can be well-made and taste good but it's generally a hard sell.

Language / TYPICAL MISTAKES OF POLISH LEARNERS OF ENGLISH? [23]

Where she lives?

I don't know where does she live.

Food / History of the Polish potato (what did Polish people eat before?) [17]


No, tabouli is a salad made with bulgur wheat

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgur

buckwheat is gryka, also known in the US as kasha (strange but true)

Language / Help with pronunciation of Gorecki Symphony [41]

The first sound (cz) is like 'ch' in English 'chips' or 'tsch' in Deutsch.

The second sound (t) is not like an English t at all, it's made against the teeth as in Spanish or Italian (and at least some kinds of German, I don't know about yours).

The next sound (e) is like English e in 'get' or German nett.

The next sound (r) is like a single r in Spanish or Italian (not like English or German r at all).

The final vowel (y) is like 'i' in English sick or hit (this doesn't occur in word final position in English) maybe like German i in Mist or schicken (again it doesn't occur at the end of words in German).

Also important: Polish doesn't have long or short vowels, all the vowels are pronouned clearly, the word cztery has two syllables and the first is stressed but be careful not to make it too long (and to not make the second vowel too short).