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

I thought that this film was not very difficult to interpret. How wrong I was...

Life / Comedy of communist absurd 'Mis' by Bareja [13]

I don't think they would help.

Life / Comedy of communist absurd 'Mis' by Bareja [13]

Subtitles :)

Work / Is there jobs for a beauty therapist in Poland? [28]

sweet_g,
I think the fact you aren't Polish will attract customers. I used to know one person in that 'beauty business' and, afaik, it's not too difficult to start with it, relatively. The only thing that is hard in Poland are formalities: loads of stupid formalities to set up even a little business and high taxes you need to pay when you employ someone.

I think you should have a capital to invest in the equipmnet and a lot of patience. Really a lot.
Good luck!

Life / How important is it to have a car in Poland? [37]

I don't think a car is a necessity anywhere in Poland because a lot of people don't have cars and they can survive. Even in the country.

But if you hate smelly passengeres, dresiarze (Polish chavs) playing some awful music loud on their mobile phones, babcias almost putting their bags on your lap to suggest you should give up your sit for them (as if they couldn't ask you to) and other elements of 'local colour', get a car.

Work / Is there jobs for a beauty therapist in Poland? [28]


Sorry, nobody's gonna pay your employees' ZUS for you.

News / What is the future of Catholic church in Poland. [154]


Funny, I read a similiar story on an Internet forum. An atheist woman in Warsaw sent her child to a Jewish school because she didn't want her child neither to be taught religion nor to be pointed out as 'the ones who doesn't attend religion'.

I think that the power of the church will become weaker and weaker, but very slowly. I can see people are becoming more and more conscious of their choices of faith. First, the generation for whom the church is associated with fighting communism will die. The social pressure to stay in the church will weaken. Then, tolerance will become more widesapread in the society. They will stop accepting what the church claims on homosexuality, contraception, death penalty etc. Finally, church will be just a religious institution and stop being a political power.

Work / Is there jobs for a beauty therapist in Poland? [28]


Because I know it's something to do with beauty, and I can see that there are a lot of beauty centres in Poland that prosper.

News / What is the future of Catholic church in Poland. [154]


No, you don't have the basic knowledge. According to Catholicism, the Church is neither a building nor the clergy. It is the whole congregation of believers. And since we talk about the church in Poland, we're talking about the Polish believers. It's a bit strange, but Polish congregation has their own views which sometimes differ from the official doctrine of Vatican (the most striking example is Radio Maryja). In Poland, most people who declare their strong connections with the Catholic church are pro-death penalty. Being pro-DP goes in one package with being conservative, traditional and catholic. So, regardless of Vatican's doctrine, Polish church is pro. And the Polish church is also vengeful although Jesus said people should forgive each other. If Polish Catholics really cared about what Vatican says, Poland would be a paradise.


Theoretically. I've never met anyone (live or on the net) who attended to a school that actually conducted such lessons. None of mine had them either. Like most students who don't attend, I wasted my time in the school hall. In my liceum about half of the students didn't attend religion and we had a philosophy graduate in the teaching staff - still, we couldn't have ethics. So the possibility of ethic lessons for everyone interested is fiction.

Don't try to discuss using theoretical arguments, because theoretically Christians are merciful and practically they organized crusades.

Life / Poland peasant or noble tradition? [34]

Polish culture is full of traditions that derive from the traditions of nobility. Especially when it comes to machanie szabelką (waving a sabre), golden freedom and drinking.

Polish nobility (when it existed) didn't usually represent too much of high culture. Try reading Pasek's diaries, Pan Tadeusz or Zemsta and you'll see who I'm talking about.

Life / The School Year in Polish Schools [21]

About 30. For some classes (P.E, languages) the classes are divided into two groups.

News / What is the future of Catholic church in Poland. [154]


Yeah, I just looked it up. Nobody ever killed anyone during crusades according to the rules of Christian mercy and the fifth commandment. These were just some priest walking around and teaching Gospel. Of course...

News / What is the future of Catholic church in Poland. [154]


Do you realise that the word 'liberal' has many meanings, not only as in 'economic liberalism'?

Life / Poland peasant or noble tradition? [34]


Oh, yes, Pasek was a sophisticated intellectual. Anyway, great fun to read!

Language / How to pronounce long consonants in Polish? [6]

Theoretically we don't have long consonants in Polish. When we have two identical consonants next to each other, we pronounce them 'separately': lek-ki; mięk-ki; in-ny; man-na. I mean, ideally, i.e. in theatre, speeches etc, when we care to speak very clearly and correctly. The first of the pair is pronounced a bit weaker but one can hear these are two sounds.

But in natural speech some of the double consonants are pronounced like one long consonants (those, that can be pronounced longer, so no plosives or affricates) because it's easier. So, you can hear manna, Anna, panna, hossa, bessa etc. with something that is actually a double-length consonant.

You can even hear people pronounce one consonant instead of two (e. dżownica instead of dżdżownica) but that is not correct. Some people, especially children, say letki instead of lekki but that is incorrect, too.

Life / How to Survive on a Minimum Wage in Poland? [45]

You can buy a cell phone for 1 zł in Poland, if you take advantage of one of many promotions, so it's not that expensive actually.

Love / I like this Polish girl, but she doesn't get my... English sense of humor [124]

If Poles don't get British sense of humour, why are Monty Python and 'Allo 'Allo so popular? Aren't they British?

Language / How to pronounce long consonants in Polish? [6]

'i' is not a consonant.

Australii is pronounce more or less like australi.

Love / I like this Polish girl, but she doesn't get my... English sense of humor [124]

Right. I think sense of humour is more a matter of individuals, not nationality, especially in case English-Polish encounters. Polish TV has played English comedy classics like Monty Python stuff, 'Allo 'Allo, Keeping Up Appearances or Fawlty Towers, so we cannot say that English humour is something not understood and strange for the Polish (I could even say Monty Python earned a kind of cult following in Poland). But some Poles don't get it and prefer other kinds humour. And some English people have completely different sense of humour from what Poles know from the TV.

Love / I like this Polish girl, but she doesn't get my... English sense of humor [124]


In general, Polish translations for film and TV are on a very poor level. In most cases they aren't made by professionals but by krewni i znajomi królika (the managers' relatives or acquaintances). They usually contain basic errors, so it's hard to expect that the 'translators' would be able to preserve the humour if they can't preserve the meaning. I study translation and I sometimes find it embarrassing to listen to the translations made for the TV.

Some exceptions are the 'Shreck' films (controversial but really funny) and 'MP Flying Circus' (also controversial, by Tomek Beksiński). And both Shreck and Flying Circus are very popular...

Life / How to Survive on a Minimum Wage in Poland? [45]

And I find it really funny when I see people showing off their expensive iPod models, but using them with standard earphones.

The quality of the sound would is much better with a cheap mp3 player and big, expensive headphones. But more people know what iPod is than what Sennheiser is...

Love / I like this Polish girl, but she doesn't get my... English sense of humor [124]


I can hear a lot of idioms translated literally, misused word (where the translator uses the wrong meaning of the word which has more than 1 meaning) or 'false friends' wrongly translated. In consequence, you can often hear sentences that just don't make any sense. It is certainly NOT professional.

And using computer programs in literary translation (which includes film & TV ) is NOT professional either. It can be acceptable in translating documents (which are very standardised) but even the most sophisticated program will fail in a simple comedy dialogue. To choose the right word you must understand the text and this is something computers cannot do.

Life / How to Survive on a Minimum Wage in Poland? [45]


But an average Polish consumer doesn't care about the sound but about showing off the equipment. Or to be more general - not for the product quality but the brand prestige.

Life / How to Survive on a Minimum Wage in Poland? [45]


I had the same problem during my P.E. lessons. Luckily I don't have them anymore. But what makes me furious are dresiarze who play music loud on mobile phones on public transport. I can hear them even through my own music.

An mp3 player is a must for someone who uses public transport, goes to gyms or supermarkets and has any sense of music.

Language / CIZIA & KOCIAK? [17]

I don't know if they're used often but they are perfectly understandable. If you want to insult someone - you can go for it.

Language / CIZIA & KOCIAK? [17]

They are very sexist and patronizing, aren't they?

Life / How to Survive on a Minimum Wage in Poland? [45]


A book won't stop you from hearing the other passengers' mobiles.


That's what they are for :)

Language / CIZIA & KOCIAK? [17]


Either you're not very fluent in Polish or you're just a cham...

Language / CIZIA & KOCIAK? [17]


I never said kociak was vulgar. One can be a cham without using a single vulgar word.

Calling someone 'kociak' implies complete sexual objectification of the person referred to. That's why a gentleman wouldn't call a lady that way.

Language / CIZIA & KOCIAK? [17]


I have used this words, I admit, but to make fun of the words themselves, not to express my 'appreciation'. The same way I sometimes use hip-hop slang or dialect though I'm neither a hip-hop fan nor dialect speaker; just for a joke. The only situation I can imagine in which I say "Ale z ciebie ciacho" to a guy is either joking with a good friend, or mocking someone.


As far I as I understand English, it's very close. Still, not very respectful terms.


In most cases it is true, but...
...when a girl wears shorts because it's 30 centigrades in shade, many men still think that she is doing it in order to objectify herself. It's not so easy.