UK, Ireland / Poles claim UK benefits after working only one year instead of going home [156]


Mother Nation? Show respect? I think I know how your left arm got so big.

What tosh.

Brits coming back from Spain? Spend some time on the Spanish and French expat forums and you'll see how few speak Spanish or French. Or better, live there for a few years. If they are retired, they receive a British pension. Many ARE entitled to local benefits and claim through the nose. Do a google on "CMU" and BTW, many locals DO complain about the health system clogged up with

The Australian points based system wouldn't stop someone going on benefit once in the country with a residency permit. They don't even need to be a citizen.

BTW, there are PLENTY of UK expats in France and Spain claiming all the benefits they can. Some are still in the UK system while driving a French car (no road tax requirement) claiming their winter heating allowance, etc etc etc. Most read the Daily Mail too.

Language / How to add Polish language to a Navman (GPS)? [8]

Thanks for that.

Language / What does changing this name ending mean? [6]

Various names become longer, not shorter when using the diminutive version. e.g. Teresa become Terenia and so on.

Language / How to add Polish language to a Navman (GPS)? [8]

Yes, but the list was written by some bloke in NATO I guess :-)

Some voice options:
English - UK
English - US
French
Spanish
Italian
Swedish
etc, etc

All the traditionally 'Western' European languages.

Even if I buy the Eastern European map 'pack' at £39, I wouldn't assume it would have Polish as a system language, as they don't even appear to sell Navman in Poland (or any other Eastern European country for that matter)

I know that 3rd parties do alternative voices, such as John Cleese who rants "OK, don't listen to me then! Do it your own way" when you don't follow the instructions. So I wondered if there were 3rd parties doing language packs. Possibly not.

Language / How to add Polish language to a Navman (GPS)? [8]

You would think so, but I can't find it as a separate option.

Language / CAN UK'S POLISH MIGRANTS HELP WITH POLISH LEARNING? [3]

Polonius, you could look at this as a parallel of all the tens of thousands of Brit's in France, Spain and Portugal. Some mix and others don't. A vast number can barely say Hola! or Bonjour! :)

There are several Polish clubs in the UK that have been around since the 1940's. Some have classes for English and Polish. From my experience, the Poles I have met at the bar at one of these pubs are keen to help, as they are pleasantly surprised to meet someone wanting to learn Polish.

Immersion learning is great as you say, but it's the time aspect. There are well established schools in France, Spain and so on where you basically pay for B&B and speak the hosts language from the minute you arrive. There range from a few days to several months. A bit hard to do if you are working a normal 9-5 existence.

Language / Children's TV programs and cartoon names to learn Polish [12]

Does Polish tv have teletext/subtitles for the deaf? Using this while watching often helps, so long as the text is close to the spoken words.

It can be irritating when a long spoken sentence gets written as "Hi" or "Yes"

Kids DVDs are good as you can often have subtitles on at the same time, again, the closer the subtitles to the spoken words, the better. Otherwise it's very distracting.

Amongst the best things to watch on TV are wildlife programs, such as those by National Geographic, or BBC/David Attenborough for example.

The reason is that the scene is usually self explanatory; cute fluffy thing in foreground, thing with big teeth in the background. You can usually tell what's going to happen and concentrate on the words themselves.

There are also lots of gaps in the narration while you watch the gazelle get torn to bits (or whatever) to allow you time to 'digest' what you have just heard.

Also, the narrator will be well spoken, use almost no slang and speak slowly. Unlike many kids shows.

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

Which reminds me....

A friend's teenage son recently 'discovered' Monty Python last week and wanted to show me a YouTube clip.

Ironically, it has subtitles in....... (You'll never guess) :-) There are quite a few of them.

Life / Mexicans/South Americans in Poland? [14]


Nothing, a joke my former colleague (a Mexican-American) would always sat to "newly arrived" Mexicans we met at work. :-)

Australia. I lived in Florida for a few years.

Life / Mexicans/South Americans in Poland? [14]

Well they won't as if the water was cold. ;-)

I get asked if I'm English all the time, and no one should have to undergo that!! :-)

As ragtime says, enjoy your holiday.

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

:-)

What's that saying about "There's no such thing as a problem, only opportunities"?

The opportunity here being absolute confusion :-)

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

The BBC's 'Muzzy' program for French, Italian, Spanish and German is aimed at children and very successful.

Boiled down, this is what equates to:

1) Watch program in English (several times, so you know it more or less off by heart)

2) Watch it in ______ language with English subtitles

3) Watch in English with ______ subtitles

4) Watch in ______ with ______ subtitles

Repeat, over and over.

I have done this with French tv and DVD's and found it helps to break a sentence into more easily identifiable, individual words.

The important thing - as previously mentioned - is the accuracy of the translation. The audio and text need to be consistent for it to work well.

I watched one film - Japanese - and the text was soooooo different between the English audio and subtitles, that at one point somebody answered a question with "yes" and the subtitles said "no" :-) Perhaps the folk who did the audio and text translations had their own poetic license....to the extreme. Just something to remember when trying to learn a language from movies.

Food / Menu suggestions for a Polish/Scottish night. [89]

That'd be showing off!!

:-)

Australia / Mount Kosciuszko the highest mountain in Australia [11]


An odd comment, to say the least isn't it?

Last time they were attached was at least 50,000 years ago, so it's pretty safe to not include Papuan geography in Australian statistics No?

Food / Menu suggestions for a Polish/Scottish night. [89]

WKD still make the "Iron Brew" version. The benefit being that your teeth can rot at the same time as your liver.

:-)