Language / I know "się" is the only reflexive personal pronoun..but "jak się masz?" [34]

I'm learning English grammar as a side effect of Polish so I'm unsure as to what you mean by 'reflexive'. ...but I'm here to learn, if you feel like explaining?

Anyway, I reached the literal translation of 'Jak się masz' by finding the dictionary definition of 'Jak' (how), 'się' (oneself) and 'masz' (form of 'miec' - to have).

By this method the nearest literal translation would be:
How oneself to have?
(I incorrectly used the verb BYĆ [to be], rather than 'MIEC' [to have] above.

Language / Instrumental form in Polish [65]

Merged: Nominative to instrumental?

As an exercise I was given a series of sentences to rewrite changing the structure and grammar from nominative to instrumental:
'Jan pracuje jako nauczyciel' (Jan works as a teacher).
'Jan jest nauczycielem' (Jan is a teacher).

Masc/Fem distinctions also appear.
Lekarka/lekarką. (f)
Inżynier/inżynierem. (m)
Policjant/policjantem. (m)

Here are examples of which I am unsure:
Beata pracuje jako sprzedawczyni.
?Beata jest sprzedawczyniką?

Maria pracuje jako psycholog.
Maria jest psychologką

Iwona pracuje jako księgowa.
Iwona jest księgowaką

I'm fairly sure the above 3 are wrong.
If someone could correct them and explain the reason/rule (or exception to rule) it would be a great help to mr.

Also Uczeń becomes Uczniem (masc nominative to instrumental)
Does the female nominative Uczennica become uczenniką ?

Language / I know "się" is the only reflexive personal pronoun..but "jak się masz?" [34]

Jeez! Full contact linguistics on this forum.

Jak się masz?
How oneself to be?

this is the nearest I can get to a 'direct' translation to English.
As a beginner I am finding the lack of dirct translations quite complicating to the whole process. I'm hoping it's just a bottom heavy subject and that, as things start to fall into place, the learning momentum will increase.

UK, Ireland / Are the Poles in England hated? [450]

Zeus. You seem to think that we English believe Polish want relationships for 'documents'???
Poles are allowed to live and work here whether they are connected to an English person or not. They don't need some kind of green card.

Mariaespana. All English hate everyone? You love every Pole?
That kind of blanket policy towards entire nationalities is the most insincere of sentiments. Especially considering it's written in English.
Write it in Polish and I'll start to take you seriously.

Language / Pittsburgh Uni. 1st Yr Polish. HELP [5]

I don't know how to post web links BUT
1. Go to Polish Forums, general Polish language.
2. scroll down to 'Polish language learning links' by hal201 (?)

It's his first recommendation and he's included a link.

Life / Do Polish people respect other cultures? [96]

Hearts (Edinburgh) are also a protestant team.
It's really only in Glasgow and Edinburgh where you encounter this Hibs/Hearts, Celtic/Rangers, Catholic/Protestant divide.

Life / Do Polish people respect other cultures? [96]

Why is West London plagued by Australians who all shout about 'Rubbish Britain' but have spent a decade working as bar staff just to avoid leaving?

AQI (Australian Question Intonation) is the dumbest accent in existence! Imagine a Brummy with Downs Syndrome who can only engage on the topic of cricket and your half way there to understanding the problem.

...and we got the cream of the crop! If you actually vist 'down under' prepare for wall-to-wall vegimite, V.B. and 'pomme bastard crap at cricket, ugh, ugh'.

And if your complimented as 'interesting' it's an insult. They're being sarcastic... the height of Ozzie wit.
Wankers!

Life / Airports being built in Polska [5]

"I think this is great, it will provide employment..."

I was under the impression that Polish employers where having a hard time finding workers for the jobs that already exist ?
On one of thoses immigration documentaries a Polish Minister visted Peterborough and addressed a hall filled with Polish ex-pats. He told them about the economic changes, new opportunities and asked them to consider returning home (a desperate 'your country needs you'). At the end of his talk only ONE PERSON stayed to ask further details and he was only interested if the wage could be negotiated.

I'm looking forward to when the pay starts to match British wages. I'll be over there myself.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]

Wonderfully helpful, z_darius.
The pieces are starting to fall into place nicely.

I have just had my fifth lesson. We looked at nationalities and professions:

Lekarz.
On jest lekarzem.
Lekarka.
Ona jest lekarka (hooked A - Polish letters unavailable, as yet, on my keyboard).

Fryzjer/Fryzjerka (Male/Female nominative).
On jest fryzjerem. (He is a barber)
Ona jest fryzjerka. (She is a hairdresser)

Any tips, advice or recommendations will be of enormous use to me.
Again, thank you for your guidance and support.
Dziekuje,
Paul.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]

The gender may be surplus to requirements when determining the correct form of byc but I'm still trying to familiarise myself with the appropriate pronouns so working out the specific on/oni/one/wy (etc) required is still usefull.

Life / current pound zl exchange rate [14]

The Zloty is strengthening far more than the Euro.
Remarkable when you consider just how strong the Euro is against the Dollar and GBP.

LondonChick:
I'm only looking for an economic forcast, not a guarantee of a specific exchange for a future date.

Life / current pound zl exchange rate [14]

If you look at the history of the Pound against the Zloty it has been steadily declining for the last 18 months.
Is it possible find predictions of exchange rates in the near future?

UK, Ireland / Teenagers attack a Polish deli in Trowbridge, UK [27]

There was a Latvian kid who worked at the same place as myself, Artjoms, he was punched and knocked down, banging his head on the edge of the kerb. It resulted in his death. He was 21 or 22 years old.

The real irony is that the 'True Brit' who punched him had never had a job, never paid tax, just collected state benefits his entire adult life.

It will be taxes from people like Artjoms that pay the £600 per week it will cost to keep this idiot locked up for the next two years (he got four).

I know who I'd rather have in this country.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]

Quote from Krzysztof:
"Reading some of your comments I have a feeling you need to brush up some of the basic concepts of grammar, such as personal pronouns. They are structurally nearly the same in Polish as they are in English. The personal pronoun you use dictates the grammatical form of the verb, but only in some tenses.

I also have a feeling you are have a problem with understanding that Michal is in fact exactly the same "he" (on) for grammatical purposes. Again, these are rudimentary basics that are present in English and Polish, and you need to, perhaps, start with understanding them in English, before you are ready to proceed with Polish. It is not uncommon for people to learn the grammar of their native language due to the fact that they need it to understand the structure and rules of a foreign language.

Regardless, don't despair or doubt your abilities. The fact is that Polish is very difficult, and often escapes what might seem logical in other languages.[/quote]

You have a valid point.
It is not a case of 'brushing up' on my English grammar but actually learning it.
I cannot remember ever having verbs, adjectives, pronouns (etc) explained to me, despite taking both English language and English literatute at GCSE level.
For my entire life from 10 years old to nearly 35, my age now, I have read voraciously and consider my vocabulary and general knowledge to be quite good BUT my understanding of the basic rules of English are sadly lacking.

I'll start a crash course immediately.

"A knowledge of other languages is helpful"
Absolutely!
The 99 feminine/1 masculine = masculine 'rule' was easier to accept due to a vague memory of high school french.
The use of a negation, rather than a different word, is the same in Thai.......
Having experienced a few of these concepts before made the idea's less alien to me.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]


I'm sure at some point this info will be helpful but, at the moment, I have a worksheet with specific sentences and gaps where I have to add the correct form of być and my tutor has instructed me to use my BYĆ table to complete it.

Where I have no ja/ty/wy/on to dictate the form needed I use my pronoun sheet to find that Michel (single/masc) = 'on' thus 'jest'. Agnieszka (single/fem) = 'ona' so also 'jest' Whilst the pairs of names (plur/masc) = 'oni' dictating 'są' is the correct form.

Although I do not want shortcuts (I'm wanting a solid foundation of the basics to build on) it's important I stay as much as possible on the specific exercises I have been assigned.

It's confusing enough without trying to take in alternative methods or extra info than the level I'm attempting to understand.

Without being big-headed I have always found academic stuff came easily to me, including languages when I have been abroad BUT this Polish is really testing me and it's the first time in my life that I have had doubts about my ability to succeed in a subject that I was taking through personal choice.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]

I'm at the early stages and I'm just using present tense BUT
As the pronoun changed with the gender as well as the single/plural option it's still useful for me to learn them, even when they do not change the form of być (as above) I'm still learning the correct pronoun for one male, two males, a male and a female (same as two males) and one female.

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]

ArcticPaul:
??Because Agnieszka is female and singular we use 'jest'??

Never mind the gender - 'jest' is correct for all of them.(female, mare or object ) So: 'jest' = is.[/quote]

So it is just the single/plural option that changed the form of BYĆ??

Language / Correct form of BYĆ. Please help! [96]


??Because Agnieszka is female and singular we use 'jest'??
(Oni) is replaced by the names has the indicator of the correct form?

UK, Ireland / Teenagers attack a Polish deli in Trowbridge, UK [27]

I wouldn't totally put this down to racism. The report states 'early on Saturday morning' which is late Friday night which almost certainly means alcohol fuelled insanity. British teenagers vandalise a wide variety of business just through a mix of boredom and stupidity.

Polish/Baltic/Slovaks are often referred to as 'Kosovo's' (not Kosovans!) whilst anyone from between Turkey and Burma is a 'Paki'.
At some level the media zenophobia is creating a tacit approval for such behaviour but lets not think any of these cretins ever read anything, ever.

Travel / Central / Eastern Europe Travel Plans 08 [6]

Some of the Polish language courses based in Warsaw give me more confidence than the ones in Krakow (jagiellonian excluded) but ALL the Poles I know have gone out of their way to dissuade me from going.

'Expensive and anonymous modern European city' is the impression I'v been left with but I'd be happy to rethink this.

If, however, you mean 'real' like London (real chance of being stabbed by a crackhead) it's really not my type of place.

Travel / Central / Eastern Europe Travel Plans 08 [6]

Vilnuis and Warsaw aren't particularly nice.
Why just Capitals?

Food / How to sour/clabber homogenised store-bought milk [17]

Twarog !!!
I used to work with a kid called Magik Twarog.

I'm not making this up.
Is it a known Polish name?

UK, Ireland / Are the Poles in England hated? [450]

It's how Biffa Bacon refers to his Frech father:

'La Fava'.
'La Mutha' is something I have not yet managed to translate.

'Why don't the Poles make Krakow and Zakopane nice?'
Well done the guys who spotted the subtle sarcasm on that one....!

Food / How to sour/clabber homogenised store-bought milk [17]

You should sell it. You have spotted a gap in the market for 'retards homo milk'.

Seriously...would the UHT sterilised stuff favoured in France/Germany/BeNeLux be any better for this kind of thing?
Or does one need 'traditional' straight from the cow type stuff?

Life / Polish Werewolf myth's and origin stories [12]


Yes and no.
the western authors had East European place names and origins for their inventions.
Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler (etc) for Vampires.

I would guess it's because these places and names are vague or completely unknown to most West Europeans allowing the authors huge amounts of freedom to fictionalize character development and events.

Even now names like the Carpathians or Tatras bring me images of beautifully bleak wildernesses with wolves or bears and locals who avoid eye contact as they scurry past strangers in the area, suspicious of their presence and afraid.... Afraid to even hint of the terrible secrets they and their neighbours share with the leaden gray skies and pine clad hills of Niedzwiedz/Biala Pod Stolem/Warowkrac....even though you can probably eat in a McDonalds in every small town.

Study / Language course payment in Euro's vs Zloty in Poland... Does it sound like a rip-off? [3]

thanks, Krzysztof.
I assumed the Euro was increasingly strong against the Zloty (as it has been against the USD and GBP). It is only after your post I checked the recent history of the exchange and found the opposite is true.

This has changed my view of the language school completely.
Cheers.