Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]

Thanks, Serca--:)))))

Do you know f.ex. German as well as your native language? Just curious. LOL
Which others can you speak? I know a number myself, among them Polish, German,
Danish, Swedish, Dutch, (survival) Spanish and I have a fluent reading knowledge of
Norwegian.

Many Polish speakers find English a nightmare in reverse; we have MORE exceptions
than actual rules, almost zero correlation between often completely irregular spelling
vs. pronounciation and a staggering choice of vocabulary!!!

Ever seen an old movie from the early '80's called "Sophie's Choice" with Meryl Streep
as a young Polish-Jewish immigrant to America? In one line during the film she remarks
to her equally young English "tutor"/later romantic interest how English has sooooo
many words for one word in her language. "You have (reading from her first dictionary)
for "fast" 'fleet', 'rapid', 'expeditious', 'speedy', 'swift', I get dizzy just to think of it all.."

Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]

Crossword puzzles (rozrywki, krzykowski) are also a super way of learning new and interesting vocabulary-:))))

Language / Verb endings attaching themselves to other words [9]

....Guess I missed that one, Darius:))) lol

Language / Verb endings attaching themselves to other words [9]

......Kiedyś spotkamy się dziś wieczór? - Przed kinem.
Gdzieś mieszkasz? - W Zakopanym.
.......

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

As per usual, Polish is far more exact than English! The next time some Yankee-Doodle Dunce starts to tell another "dumb Polak" joke, I swear, I'm gonna say what the late great Ted Knight (nee Kasziński) said in the same situation: "Now, tell it to me in Polish!" LOL

If any tongue, at least European, constantly tests the mental agility of the learner, it's got to be Polish)))))

Language / Popular Polish expressions/proverbs relating to months of the year [10]

Brilliant, Gumishu! Many thanks. That's precisely what I wanted. Off to the loo, will post again later)))

Language / what is the difference between prosze and poprosze? [39]

......or sometimes when answering the phone, occasionally with 'Słucham!' preceeded by the family name , e.g. 'Lipiński, Słucham!' = Hello, _____Lipiński speaking! or anything similar.

Rather formal though, I must say-:)

Language / Popular Polish expressions/proverbs relating to months of the year [10]

Is there a rough equivalent in Polish for "March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb."

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

Correct, Gumishu! Polish aspects RARELY correlate easily with English 'tenses'-)))!!!

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]

Looks pretty darn accurate thus far, Osioł. You might also include in "round two"
"być"/"bywać" = to be vs. to frequent, i.e. be at/with regularly:

BY£EM wczoraj wieczorem u moich rodziców. = I was with my parents yesterday evening

BYWA£EM każdej niedzieli wieczorem u moich rodziców. = I used to be with my parents/at my parents' house every Sunday evening.

Language / mój vs. swój [9]

Saw recently in a Polish magazine ad "Bądź panią swego życia" = Be YOUR (as opposed to someone else's-:) lol) own woman.

Language / Du ju spik polisz? [21]

Have to read the link, but already I can say that the issue of language erosion is one dear to my heart. Will have to post back once I've finished it.

Thanks in advance!

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

You're probably correct, Bondi. I'm still a bit too unfamiliar with foreign- specifically English-language pedagogy in Central and Eastern Europe. I did live for a time in Germany, as you've probably gleaned from my posts, and so have a much better insight into German English-language instruction. From experience, I can safely say that it's bloody awful! LOL. Oh sure, Germans seem to speak a lot of English abroad, as well as at home in international situations, yet, rarely is the quality of their English much good! Good enough perhaps to impress numerous monolingual or non-German-speaking foreign visitors, but hardly passes muster with an educated native (though many Germans then rationalize this lack as simply 'good enough' -:):):) )

Americans often see only the best and the brightest Germans who come to the States and teach at Harvard, MIT etc... and of course all sound practically like Brits, with flawless Oxfordian accents. This though, is scarcely the reality for the bulk of German speakers, both at home as well as abroad.

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Bondi, thus the famous pun: 'Egyesegere!' = To your health! vs. 'Egyeseggedre!' = To your arse! --:):):)

Language / Polish language problems (orthography) [47]

Gumishu, perhaps here, "zrozumiesz" might convey the subtle degree of difference you want to indicate, cf. "Czy rozumiesz? = Do you understand? (in general) vs. "Czy zrozumiesz" = Are you beginning to understand? (right now)

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Sound advice. It's always the same for foreigners learning any language. They try translating from the familiarity of their native tongue, forgetting of course, that words, sounds, meanings, etc. resonate, often totally, differently with a native speaker of the language which the foreign learner is trying to acquire. This no doubt frustrates any language teacher, if, say, an American asks during the lesson "How d'you say 'Thank G_d it's Friday!' in Polish, or 'There goes the ball game!' in Turkish etc...

True language acquisition at any age, should be "How is it said?" rather than "Why isn't it said the way we say it in our language?"

Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]

Wonder then whether the Russian 'urok' (written of course more like 'yrok' in Cyrillic!), meaning 'lesson' as in a textbook or primer, is related to the above meaning for Polish 'rok'!

Language / what is the difference between prosze and poprosze? [39]

I always heard 'Proszę o chleb.', then again, maybe my hearing's going as well--:):) LOL

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

No, jaka szkoda! Szybkiego wyzdrowienia, Seanus-:) Writing's tough, this is true. Conversely, higher-level, i.e. A-level English in, among other EU-countries, Poland should also be taught, ideally, by English (British or US/Canadian) native speakers. This probably won't happen though, as it'd be much too expensive for the government to pay, that is sponsor, foreign nationals (even if EU members). Therefore, the bulk of the population will continue to be left to ill-equipt, Polish native speaking instructors, often with heavy accents, and less than fluent working knowledge of either English-language literature in the original, or, the sheer experience of having taught same in English to English speakers, say, in highschool or college, perhaps abroad, like the UK, the US or Canada.

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

Yes indeed, Seanus. This too often includes teachers starting beginners off at a level way over their heads, e.g. poetry, classic lit. etc., which the teacher him/herself enjoys, but is pedagogically as well as often culturally irrelevant to the learner and frequently, not only confuses, but in fact, can wreak irreperable damage on the student who learns outdated idioms/etc.. and later can't "unlearn" what they've been taught, like my 'computer virus' example of a basic error which may never be rid from the system!

Amending my own earlier post regarding short story reading at a more advanced level, I ought to have included more mid-to late 20th century authors in my list of favored writing-:)

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

Excellent advice, Mafketis! I concur in almost every respect, in addition, don't underestimate the importance of kiddie TV shows, apropos not being ashamed of seeming "dumb"--:):): LOL

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

Learn Polish for what purpose? Conversation? Then Rudzion's right. Literature? Try easy children's stories (NOT poetry at the very beginning, remember, you aren't a native speaking child learning their mother tongue and you'll only get terribly confused!) at first, moving to more advanced short stories, later "graduating" to higher-level writing e,g. Orzeszkowa etc.. Newspapers are fine, but really only make sense at the intermediate to advanced stage, at least that's how it was for me-:)

Begin by doing nothing but listening and simple dications, on your own or with a teacher (preferrably a Polish native speaker). Polish, as with other Slavic languages, requires considerable concentration in recognizing speech vs. written thought patterns. DON'T learn slang right at the outset. You'll think you sound 'cool', but you won't; you'll merely sound like a foreigner trying to sound like a Pole. Even idioms. Don't bite off more than you can comfortably chew in the beginning or you're only likely to choke (..on your words) and bring up gibberish instead of expressing the normal, cogent, educated thoughts you enjoy discussing in your native language.

Powodzenia!

Love / Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Especially In Another Language! [46]

As a one-time casualty of a long-distance, cross-cultural relationship gone sour, I can definitely confirm that what a partner understands in their native culture/language is usually completely different from that of the other person's, even if English is the common language-:)

At twenty-five I was hopelessly in love with a German girl several years my junior. In this case, although we both spoke German as a first (in my case practically native) language, we scarcely saw eye to eye on basic issues other than the most physically obvious. As a result, we couldn't make it as a couple. Expectations do vary from one culture to another!

Language / W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie [23]

Regrettably, black eyes, I don't know Chinese, so I couldn't say. Take your word for it though-:) LOL

Language / W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie [23]

I don't know of a language which has THE most difficult tongue-twister. Polish's certainly up there though. English: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.." doesn't exactly just roll off my tongue either (an English native speaker) any more than German: "Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische.." etc. etc.., even if I grew up nearly bilingual in both languages.

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Easier? More predictable, surely. Not certain I would say it's any "easier". I suppose though that ease is measured usually by how familiar the sounds are to the learner.

We're all different-:):):) LOL

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Interesting. Well, one man's meat...... You know the rest-:)

Hungarian has a slightly more regular pronounciation and uniform syllable stress than Polish, but, frankly, that's about it. LOL

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Yep, Seanus. First time I saw the city of 'Szeged', thinking Polish 'SZ', having come almost straight from years of Polish study, I pronounced it 'Sheged' to a Hungarian and they almost doubled over with laughter.

There were a number of such phonetic malaprops or whatnot that I made by transferring Polish spelling to Hungarian pronounciation-:)

Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

Although I don't speak ANY Celtic languages, I'd imagine that Irish shares with Polish a similarly complex declension system. What I've heard though of spoken Irish, briefly on St. Paddy's Day etc., it sounds more or less unphonetic, if I compare it to written language, e.g. 'Siobbhan' (Shavon), 'Sinead' (Shenaid) or the toast 'Slante!' (Slancha) etc..

Merely the first impressions of a total novice in Irish (...with more than a passing knowledge of Polish LOL)

Language / What do you find difficult about learning Polish? [98]

Hungarian was a tough nut for me to crack as well. Not yet sure I even pierced the shell (he-he!), but I'm gettin' there....one case at a time-:):) LOL

Actually, when I finally did make it over to Budapest, I found that all the Hungarian I had learned, on my own mostly, was useful within the first 24 hours, since I got lost on my way back to the hotel and needed to be able to read bus directions etc.. NONE WRITTEN IN ANYTHING BUT MAGYARUL!! Scary. In addition, most younf people knew neither English nor even a smattering of German. Had a couple of tense moments there.