Life / Are Polish traditions dissapearing [93]


How about the Kupała Night? Wasn't that the actual Polish feast of love?


Never heard of that but sounds cool.

Anyway, secular Polish traditions are mostly local or connected with particular groups of people. The all-Polish traditions are, well, religious...

News / Metal concerts in Poland- where to launch them? [7]


I could. But "Blume" sounds the best in the French version.


But it works quite well in opera, too...

Life / Are Polish traditions dissapearing [93]


Yes, I agree, it's a non-religious tradition.

And it's becoming less and less popular, because the decrease in employment in agriculture. No reason for most of the society to follow it...

Language / affectionate term in Polish [59]

Retro style:

łazęgo
moczymordo
psubracie
gałganie
łapserdaku
ladaco

News / Metal concerts in Poland- where to launch them? [7]

Listen to "Halber Mensch" by Einsturzende Neubauten and imagine it in English....

Life / Are Polish traditions dissapearing [93]


Can you name any Polish non-religious holiday tradition?

News / Metal concerts in Poland- where to launch them? [7]

Warsaw: progresja.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=

Lódź: dekompresja.com.pl/laysceny.htm

And why the hell do German bands sing in English?!
German is the best language for music!!!

Language / Instrumental form in Polish [65]

If he meant "the best obstacle", he would write "the best obstacle", not "the biggest obstacle", I assume.
Anyway, I've never heard of good and bad obstacles. It just doesn't go together.

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]

So, maybe he should


Oh, thank you...


I sing, write and compose music but not professionally... yet ;-)
I'm thinking about reviving my darkwave project now, so I need to unearth my scores and do something.

I think your nephew could study something like Artistic Education on a university but I don't know if he can do it without the knowledge of Polish. The only thing you can study at a music academy without too much formal preparations is vocal.

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]

The story of the poem is the following:
A boy is in love with a mysterious girl, whom he meets every evening and who refuses to say who she is, where she lives and who her parents are. To make her tell him something about herself, he swears her eternal love, fidelity etc. She warns him against breaking the vows and goes away. The boy wanders at night and comes to the shore of the Świteź lake. There, he sees a beautiful female figure, apparently supernatural, who emerges from the water and tries to tempt him. She tells him to dump his beloved and start living with him in the lake. First he resists but finally, he follows the figure to the water, he gets to the middle of the lake, he embraces the phantom and in her face, he recognizes his mysterious beloved. She says he would burn in hell for breaking his vows and they drown together in the water.

In the end it is said that every night her ghost (or herself, or whatever) is dancing on the surface of the water and his ghost suffers and moans on the shore.

And most probably the name of the poem is the name of that girl/deamon/ghost.

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]

Deamon. A true Slavic one ;-)

Language / Instrumental form in Polish [65]

No, it can't. "Najlepszą" means "the best".

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]


The papers are usually not required, but some skills taught at music schools are. For studying instruments he will most probably have to:
-prepare some pieces at home and present them (the Academy will name several pieces to choose from)
-get some unknown notes and an hour or two to prepare another piece or set of pieces
-have an exam in a vista playing

So, if he can't play a vista, he can forget about it.


There is a Romantic narrative poem by Mickiewicz called "Świtezianka", and Świtezianka is most probably the name of a kind of a deamon who lives in the lake of Świteź. Or it's also a species of dragonfly.

Life / People with Down Syndrome/Mental disability in Poland [26]


So, apart from lower taxes etc.

Imagine you employ a 'normal' person to a very simple job. Such a worker will be bored and pissed off with doing such stupid stuff. He or she would feel humiliated to do this instead of getting something more demanding.

And imagine you employ a mentally handicapped person who is not suitable to do anything more complicated. Such a person will be very happy to have a real job, earn real money, he or she will feel needed, important and a part of the 'normal' society.

Would you prefer to work with happy and thankful subordinates or with the ones who hate the lousy job you give them?

Life / 'The Pianist' - the movie. What's your opinion? Polanski [59]

Quite well done, I liked it. And I liked the music in the film.
I loved the scene when Szpilman, dirty and wearing rags, started playing Chopin to prove he's a pianist.

Life / Catholic Church services in Poland [10]

Hebrew. It's even used in Jewish liturgy :P

There's one funny thing about Polish masses, but, I don't know, maybe it's done everywhere...

When the priest takes the bread or the cup and raises it to show it to the congregation, people bow heir heads and look at the floor instead of of looking at what is shown to them.

Language / Instrumental form in Polish [65]

Not "najlepszą" but "największą".

This is a very advanced question. The problem is not about syntax (which is OK in both sentences) but about semantics. I can explain it to you, but it will be long and difficult. I hope you know the difference between syntax and semantics... Are you sure you will feel like reading and analysing it?

If you know the theme-rheme (or topic-focus) distinction, then, it will be a bit shorter.

News / "Jokes" on the account of Poles are part of assimilation process? [19]

I don't drink vodka, I drink absinthe: 2 bottles a day. And I don't steal bikes or aeroplanes because I'm more civilized. I steal break into accounts via Internet and steal money.

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]

Rakky, and what kind of formal musical education has he got? It's not so easy to get into a music academy.

News / "Jokes" on the account of Poles are part of assimilation process? [19]

I'm a Pole and I can laugh at Polish jokes. I drink moderately, don't steal bikes, I'm educated, so I don't take those jokes personally :P Sometimes I even laugh at sexist jokes. Sometimes I even tell sexist jokes or jokes abot stupid Poles. So what? These are just jokes. If you know your worth, jokes can do you no harm.

Oh, and there's one joke that even describes me but it makes it even funnnier for me.

The devil brought a Pole, an English man, a German man and a French man to the edge of an abyss. He came to the English man and said: 'Jump!'.

'I won't' the English man said.
'A gentleman would'. So the guy jumped.
Next he came to the French guy.
'Jump!'
'I won't'
'But it's en vogue'
So he jumped. Next he came to the German man.
'Jump!'
'I won't'
'But it's an order'
So he jumped. Finally the devil came to the Pole.
'Jump!'
'I won't'
'OK, then don't jump.'
'What? You're telling me I won't jump?!'
And he jumped.

Life / Help with Polish Nicknames / Diminutive Names [21]

Janina - Janka
Barbara - Basia

Samuel - I wouldn't try to make a nickname out of it
Michael - is not a Polish name at all. The Polish equivalent is Michał and it's diminutive is Michaś, but it's good only for a little boy. You usually don't use nicknames for this name

Lusia is a nickname of Lucyna

Language / W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie [23]


It is. 'Sz' and 'cz''are voiceless, so 'w' becomes voiceless, too. In most languages you have processes like that, only English speakers make themselves more problems and do not devoice sounds.

Love / What are the chicks like in Poland ? [69]

frenchboy - yes, my skin is so brown!

Love / What are the chicks like in Poland ? [69]


Hey, I'm a Polish girl and I haven't had any tan on me for ages, even natural one! I'm the most sun-avoiding creature I know. It's not true that all Polish girls use fake tan. You can see my untanned face in my avatar.

Tanning centres in Poland are associated with some certain group of women. Not very bright ones...

Language / Help with pronunciation of Gorecki Symphony [41]

Mother, mother, don't weep,
The Purest Queen of the Heavens
Always support me.
Hail Mary, full of grace.

I don't think any pseudo-phonetic transcription can give you any idea of the pronunciation. Polish sounds are just completely different.
I think you should either get a recording of this symphony (it shouldn't be a problem), or if you can't figure it out, I can recite it and record it for you, and send it to you in mp3 (I'm a native speaker, so that will be the most proper pronunciation). I don't have the best mic in the world but it should be enough. If you want it, send me your e-mail via PM.

Cool someone is finally not interested in Doda or Feel but in some real music.

Study / Study Music in Poland? [26]

Polish musical education is very conservative. If your nephew is into Bach or Chopin, it will be OK for him to study in Poland. But if he's more into Stockhausen or Boulez, he'd better stay out of Poland and go there only once a year for Warsaw Autumn.

I have some experience working with or observing the work of classically trained musicians and I think Polish musical education is limiting. Improvisation and creativity is not encouraged. Many of those people can only play by notes and if they don't have everything written down, they get lost. It is not only my opinion (I'm a musician with no formal education) but also one shared e.g. by my conductor who's getting her second degree in music.

Of course, to a creative person, musical education can do no harm and only help, but I wouldn't count for learning anything more than technique, theory and history of music until the 19th century. Sorry to say this, but most classically trained musicians I know are too conservative to understand anything that was after Schoenberg.

Life / Is Poland cold? [40]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland#Climate

Food / What is the name of a Soup made from fried onions and buckwheat? [7]

Maybe with some vegetables and potatos, too? f yes, it's surely krupnik. I can't think of any other soup with kasza.

Life / PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICES... Problem with Neighbour in Poland. [24]


?מה פתאום

It does, it means "alphabet" and it's pronounced alefbet.


Which most probably comes from Greek analphabetos via some European language, as a lot of Modern Hebrew words do. The Greek pronunciation (analfabet) implies this. From the same Greek word comes Polish analfabeta.

Anyway, it's not very probable to come across an illiterate person in Poland. Even if it's a nightmare neighbour.

Language / Road Madam = dictionary Polish [23]

I am lilac work.

Jestem bez pracy.