Travel / Advice please on travelling between Gdansk, Olsztyn, Ketrzyn [4]

there is a rail connection between Gdańsk, Olsztyn and Kętrzyn

you can check them out on pkp.pl connection search which is also in English - if you find it difficult to use anyway just let know here sometime and certainly someone will check that out for you specific enough

aha it's a couple of miles from Kętrzyn to the Wolf's Lair itself but I'm sure there is some private transportation available

there are also coaches from Gdańsk eastward to Mazury (but it's a bit more difficult to search for such connections on-line)

Life / Good polish bank for online banking? PEKAO SA let me down. [32]

don't know what's the story now but I was issued an Electron card for my Inteligo account - never tried to learn if I can get anything better

Law / Banks making a fotune ..What about the Złoty [11]

my advice don't exchange money in the UK - do that in Poland - from my experience you will be robbed in the UK - btw avoid exchanging money at the first exchange office ('kantor') you encounter (usually at the airport or near the border) go for one outside tourist areas

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]


simple as that

no need to put any racial issues - this is not the case when the state should interfere

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]


in this case

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]

I still think it is not ok to impose such laws on the nation - if the general public strongly dislikes some aliens for whatever reason, for the state actively pursuing the policy that is against these feelings (in form of imposed laws instead of education and example) is counterproductive (does not serve the intended goal - quite the reverse)

Genealogy / Two Polish Guys visiting Romania [15]

Pierogi

you need to browse for some mind-washer offers around :P

StuntGirl - try contacting Samorząd studencki in each and every Medical University in Poland - you will find their emails on Polish language websites of the Universities - ask them for help in English if they don't answer the first mail keep mailing them

it would of course be much easier if you knew what is the city they study

News / 14 year old rape victim from Warsaw denied abortion! [348]


again there was no rape involved as far as I know

excerpt from a comment on a book by Catholic journalists about the case - the comment is pretty malicious (it is by a pro-choice person)

Ciąża 14 letniej Jowity, nazwanej w mediach Agatą, stanowi wynik czynu zabronionego - obcowania płciowego osób poniżej 15. roku życia

translation
14-year-old Jowita's pregnancy (named Agate by the media), is the result of the legally forbidden action: intercourse between people below age of 15

now the link:

pardon.pl/artykul/5891/_/24#komentarz_1182271

it is true that Polish law allows for abortion in this case (the pregnancy is the result of unlawful action)

but it does change the moral matters involved


and if Gazeta Wyborcza was using the term rape it shows that they are ready to manipulate to further their agenda (i don't read Gazeta, in fact I don't read any paper issues of newspapers, just read some internet news (Gazeta.pl only occasionally)

Travel / How do I open a bank account in Poland with only a visitors visa? [11]


it really is not difficult to find a Polish helping hand (or rather eye) to go with you to the bank

Language / Prepositions in the Polish language. [16]


all the games require the 'w' preposition:

gram w karty - I play cards
gram w brydża - I play bridge
gram w berka -
gram w siatkówkę - I play volleyball
gram w tenisa - I play tennis

the reason that games require the preposition might be this:

gram has also a meaning of I pretend(I play, I act like) but also I play (a role) - which are quite near semanticly

so there is: gram wariata/gra wariata - I play an idiot/looney (like to play dead), zgrywam (zgrywam is derivate of gram) głupiego, zgrywam durnia - I play stupid

grać/zgrywać wariata is colloquial for to pretend one doesn't no about something in question

there is also the meaning of grać which is connected with music

grać Szopena - to play Chopin, grać Beethovena, grać mazurki (play masurkas), grać wesołe nutki - to play merry tunes

a contrasting pair can be formed for example

grać w piłkę - grać piłkę

grać w piłkę - means to play some ball game (but usually means football - czyli w piłkę nożną)

grać piłkę means however to play a ball - say in a weird form of acting/performance

I can't explain to you the origins of the 'w' preposition here - but it does play some role in distinguishing meanings (disambiguation means) as you can see (czyli gra konkretną/określoną rolę w odróżnieniu znaczeń ;) )

there is more to tell about that but I think it is enough of a lecture already :)

Language / Prepositions in the Polish language. [16]

well could be przymknąć na coś oczy is similar in meaning but not exact (sort of to turn a blind eye - but not exactly too)

maybe - patrzeć na coś przez palce is nearer in meaning (look at something through one's fingers)

I can't think of anything that has exactly the same meaning and/or is a similar construction - I does not mean there is not

Language / Prepositions in the Polish language. [16]

hmm iść ręka w rękę is to cooperate with each other as far as my brain tells me

but who know's maybe I am wrong here (being a native speaker hehe)

I sure should buy dictionary of Polish phrasal verbs ;)

I should add closely cooperate (iść ręka w rękę z kimś)

Law / Polish citizenship when married to polish and living in poland [17]

from what I know it is impossible - you have to stay in Poland - but then I could be wrong

Genealogy / Two Polish Guys visiting Romania [15]

but they are quite useless if you don't know their surnames

samorząd studencki I mentioned before is a student representatives' organisation

Genealogy / Two Polish Guys visiting Romania [15]

well it may be - my faculty and and year (not medicine) are there -

UK, Ireland / Migrant workers face rental block [59]

good one :)

Love / I would love to meet a Polish woman..they are so attractive! [33]


this is a good one - really made me laugh

Law / Starting a coffee shop in Poland [14]

mullerriceman

he meant alcohol licence i guess

Life / Solidarnosc Tattoo - is it a good choice? I have Polish ancestry. Symbols, ideas, heritage. [31]

polish military eagle is different than any other i can think of - i.e. distinct enough

Language / Pan/Pani...usage changes for case distiction? [23]

females are Pani (in nominative - you know - the cases)

males are Pan

Pani is also vocative case,

vocative case of Pan is Panie,

vocative case is used to address people directly

Genealogy / Help with these Polish names: Pelagia and more. [13]


maybe Mieczysław or some Lithuanian name (because of the ending)

Sobzeak may be a German rendering of the name Sobczak

I think Rewers (spelled like reverse) may be perfectly Polish (or at least a name of a Polish Jew)

Language / I'm learning Polish using the Michel Thomas Method [9]


the complexity of Polish makes it difficult to grasp by ear only - would advise to use some grammar reference - say us hear some phrases and some grammatical forms and you go to check them in some grammatical reference (it think it is beneficial to have a couple of approaches to the language at the same time)

Language / Example sentences for different cases. [42]


mieszamy requires 'accusative' (biernik) - and accusative of kolory (which is a plural of a masculine noun) happens to have the same form as 'basic' - 'nominative' form of the noun - this is for all nouns in plural actually - except a class which is called 'personal masculine' (personal masculine is for example names of occupations/professions/positions held by males - Polish distinguishes robotnik from robotnica, lekkoatleta from lekkoatletka - the former are masculine the latter feminine (robotnik - worker/labourer, robotnica - femala worker, pracownik - employee, pracownica - female emloyee)

ci pracownicy - these employees te pracownice - these female employees
widzę tych pracowników - I can see these employees
widzę te pracownice - I cans see these female employees

(widzę requires accusative case just as mieszam(y) does - you can see that for "pracownicy", a masculine personal, accusative does not have the same form as the 'nominative' (basic form) (but accusative is equal to genetive in this class)

in general youprobably already noticed that Polish declination system is pretty irregular (unlike Hungarian as far as I know - though maybe there are languages with even more irregularities to their declination)

aha

now prepositions - 'z' is preposition in Polish require specific cases as well

'z' is a bit problematic here because it actually has at least 2 basic meanings

the first is 'z' = 'with' and it requires 'instrumental' - it is often described as a question - z kim/ z czym? with whom/ with what?

the other meaning of 'z' is - out of, from (sometimes off) - this is the case here - z kranu - from the/a tap (out of the/a tap) - this one requires 'genetive' kran, z czego? - z kranu?

Language / Polish Present Tense - Please Help Me. [8]

its true that there is no aspect thing to the prestent tense but the way it is formed is often quite irregular (so not easy to predict - you simply need to learn some instances and remember what they look like - by contrast past tense forms are pretty regularly built and easy to predict)

Feedback / Thread Leader [9]


yes - seems to be a good idea to me

Life / A famous psychic Ms. Nina Szymanska. [8]

Jestem Wodnikiem, w astrologii chińskiej Metalowym Wężem. Numerologicznie jestem szóstką. Wróżeniem zajmuję się od 40 lat. Nazywam się Janina Buczek - Szymańska. Od poniedziałku do soboty przyjmuję między 12 a 18 w salonie w £odzi, przy ulicy Kilińskiego 117.

I think you are looking for this person

Language / Czy jest pan or czy pan jest? [14]


would make some sense but completely different to the one before chucking the Pan/i out

children are addressed to directly - meaning in second person and not third

News / The most spectacular errors in Polish politics. [264]


you are so deluded ;)

Food / Who drinks fruit juices in Poland? Best Polish juice makers? [25]

mixed carrot fruit juices are served to little children

then there are younger and mid-age generation who are used to this kind of stuff
(and not into colas, sodas and other) but they are minority

there has been a brand in pure fruit bottled juices - some exotic mixtures - namely Frugo - the stuff was quite good but at the same time a bit too expensive I guess and the brand has fallen out of use - must be the sales weren't that good - don't know the exact fate of the makers

anyway I think that juice making buisness in Poland is pretty competitive - though the quality of some major brands in recent year has fallen dramatically (maybe it is the competition pressure and people buying the cheaper stuff rather the better - for whatever reasons) - so maybe it is a field to explore - but it sort of would have to be somewhat elitist product that would catch on with not so many - so the problem is the business scale - but you see Polish youth (many of them/especially educated) are quite susceptible to mind forming when you know how to address them (must be self-worth deficit)

then juices are bought for hospital patients as well so they have something to drink at hand - but it is a minor thing in sales I guess

older generations usually don't buy that stuff (our grandmas used to make fruit juices on their own and many people still do now - my mom does)

Life / Could I live on 2000zl in Poland? [30]


I guess hardly any reliable internet connections - I would think broadband is hardly existant there

two years ago it was quite possible to rent a studio flat (sort of) in Gdańsk for lower than 800 zl (maybe things have changed from that time) - these though rather excluded flats with a good internet connection - I rented a studio with shared kitchen and a bath for 500zl in Gdynia (shared with one other guy like me) - of course not a central location