UK, Ireland / What is good about being in the UK? [140]


you know - construction materials and energy prices are not very different in Poland and in Britain - there has been shortage of flats in Poland for years on end (only now the supply comes anything near the demand - the affordability was the reason then as it is still important now) - there has been credit availability issue over the years here also - it is not that long that credit is pretty easily available (well was before the credit crunch - but I don't know the realities in this field now)

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]


I would say the West doesn't want too see much further than their ass


you somehow fail to notice two Chechnya wars and the genocide on the Chechen nation


I would say Polish spirit is rather defined by the animosity to the Russian imperialism which is very different in my opinion

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]

I really like Russian language. (I actually love hearing it) I love their music. (traditional, classical) Most Russian people before revolution were simple, peaceful, religious people who lived along nature. And it was pretty natural and easy for many Poles to live among them while for example being sent to the Siberian exile. It is not the Russian nation that is an active threat to the well being of their neighbours. Or the peace in general. It is their elites.



don't know what to say - do you think Central Asia republics don't feel a pressure (of various kinds) from their former sovereign? do you think Belarus is somehow free from Russian pressure? Aren't they trying to interfere in internal politics in Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan? Do you think they have dissolved their spy/agents networks in the former communist countries and in the West, was KGB ever dissolved? or was the name just changed?

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]

Russian has simpler grammar (though not very simple and in many cases similar to Polish)
It has a bit simpler phonetics as well. I guess there are also plenty of resources to learn Russian.

Both Czech and Slovak have a bit simpler grammars, simpler phonetics (though Czech has one pretty unique sound that large part of Czechs don't render properly ;) ) that are better accessed by English speakers.

I have met claims that Croatian (Serbocroatian) is not very difficult to pick up by English speakers - but I don't know much about the language.

Bulgarian is unique in some ways among Slavic languages (grammar wise)

you can have a go and try Russian or Czech and then see if it helps in Polish. (I am not sure. I think the opinions will vary greatly among individuals (opinions based on experiences - never mind any other opinion)

a thing to remember is there are false friends - similarly looking/sounding words in different Slavic languages that mean something completely different - some 'false friends' can cause unpleasant situations (being neutral in one and gross language in other Slavic language)

Genealogy / Need a translation on a family photo. [5]

you've forgotten to include a link to the photo (or the photo itself)

Genealogy / Where is Brazazowa or Brazazowka? [24]

I recommend you learn more about general history of Poland (there was no Polish state) ethnic compositions, state borders etc
I don't think the name you give was properly transcribed so the search can be very difficult especially if your ancestors come from the lands that aren't Poland now (in the east)

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]


China are right now aiming to topple the US finances- bye bye

Life / Swine flu vaccinations taking place in Poland? [52]

I am sure you can get it commercially - but would expect it to be quite expensive - I don't think Poland is going to implement vaccination of the whole population

Genealogy / Need a translation on a family photo. [5]

passed Motyka Bolesław - for Stefania, our sister for (eternal) rememberance

harvest photo - I send you a photo. The first day of our harvest. 19th July 1947

the guys with rifles - me and the rangers (forest rangers) of mine in the west (can be former German lands now in Poland) - I was there till 1947

for the brother and his wife to remember us our photo - Dębicki family

Genealogy / Łokucewicz [10]

I don't think he did
£okucewicz is a regular Polish surname (of Belarusian origin)

Genealogy / Where is Brazazowa or Brazazowka? [24]

Galicja (Galicia or whatever it is called in English) is now divided between Poland and Ukraine - I am not familiar with the town/village name you have given and I know most towns of today's Polish part of Galicja (I mean I know the general geography of the area - it's not that I have visited it extensively) (it was a part of Austro-Hungarian empire in the times your ancestors came to the US)

this however doesn't disprove it is a village somewhere in Poland which identity has to be guessed from (most probably incorrect spelling)
still it is very probable that the place is in the present day Ukraine which makes the search even more difficult (some villages there don't exist anymore) most had their names changed to fit Ukrainian language better

btw there is a town in Polish part of Galicja that is called Brzozów (still in my eyes the discrepancy between the two names is too big - the name you give bears some Ruthenian features to my mind)

(I anything but an expert in Ukrainian Galicia geography)

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

the simple answer is no
the answer to the latter part of your question - is - it depends where your gonna stay

but wait for expat views - especially those who live in Warsaw

lastly - it is not that difficult to learn a couple of nouns in Polish and a couple of infinitive form verbs to assist them, buy a dictionary and learn the rules of Polish spelling and pronounciation (which is not Chinese astrology)

I could actually say that more and more young Poles especially in the bigger cities know more and more English - it is the older generation that you will find the least success communicating in English

Life / Swine flu vaccinations taking place in Poland? [52]

just go to any private practitioner (that speak's English) and ask - it shouldn't be overly difficult if you live in Warsaw - it think it is obvious they are interested in the issue (as not the whole of the population is gonna be vaccinated for free)

btw state-of-the-art vaccines (safe ones) for the swine flu are only starting to get delivered world wide

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

as far as I know Kraków as well has some expat oriented services, but you perhaps will need to make find some contacts to learn about these - keep the thread 'floating' hardly anyone writing here is constantly on-line

make contacts/friends with the expats living in Kraków - some regular contributors from here live in Kraków

then even though it is difficult for foreigners(westerners) to learn Polish fluently (because of the grammar) - knowing a number of most useful words sure can help much (in their basic grammatical forms) even if you can't pick them up from Polish people speaking

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

no there are no nice Polish girsl here :) the only ones that frequentiate here are moaners or shrews ;)

Real Estate / Purchasing land in Lubelskie, LAW now and future! [4]

if you still hold a Polish passport you can buy any kind of land with no obstacles

as for foreign companies - land for industrial development is sold after meeting some criteria as far as I know - the project of the developement has to assesed and accepted - I takes time - but I have no knowledge of details

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

some grammatical concepts and structures are almost identical in Russian and in Polish - if you are apt at creating pigeon-holes(holes?) in your head then you shouldn't have trouble having similar a place for Russian structures next to another for Polish

the vocabulary is a bit different thing - there is lot of in common (I think 30 per cent is similar or identical), discrepancies are huge however and there are plenty of 'false friends'

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

my personal view is that Russian is a bit simpler than Polish (minus the cyrilica issue) grammatically and phonetically (no ę's, ą's, ś's, ć's, dź's etc) the only major thing in Polish that is easier to grasp is the accent/stress - Polish stress is regular (on the penultimate syllable) while in Russian it's moving and can be sometimes difficult to predict

Food / Warsaw: where to find DECENT chickens and marzipan! [12]


is this Luebecker Marzipan? - i love it - it is so delicate being only mildly sweet contrary to most other marzipans - the chocalate coating is of bitterly chocalate so it does not distort the genuine marzipan pleasure ;)

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]

yeah - not so many Germans know English reasonably well to communicate - which is very different from Scandinavia and Holland

Genealogy / Łokucewicz [10]

dear muffin, there are two sisters playing for AZS Olsztyn vollebay team named £okucewicz, I don't know however if they are Polish or perhaps Belarusian

Travel / Parks in Ferio Gaj - Wroclaw [6]

is it near Piotr i Paweł shopping center?

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]


it seems it is useful to know at least some basic German - older Polish generation also understand lots of German - especially those who did their slave work time in the Third Reich - I tend to think that before the war most educated people in Poland knew at least good basics of German ( Yiddish is very close to German so knowledge of German was quite practical even in everyday life)

I knew of one person in Holland (an older guy) who could speak or understand no English but we could talk in German (mind you this was very close to the Dutch-German border - what I guess is though it not that difficult for the Dutch to understand and even speak German - have seen plenty of German TV personalities who were Dutch - many had this particular Dutch accent but I really like it - the Schwitzer Tuetsch has quite similar accent to Dutch language (at least that of the Basel area - I met a group of tourists from there in Poland)

Genealogy / Łokucewicz [10]

oh, I have mislead you here- I am sorry- I thought the excerpt I found was current news - now that I actually read the page it is obvious it was not - this is archival news of 1964 - and two women of the surname were mentioned - Barbara (who probably is the same person as on Nasza Klasa, ) and Regina. No further details there.

the surname is regular Polish not in the sense that it is widely used - I told you it is rather improbable your granddad changed the name because the one you bear after him fits Polish perfectly (but also Belarusian) - this is what I meant saying it is a regular Polish name

Travel / Parks in Ferio Gaj - Wroclaw [6]

I am not sure if the space is still empty - but there was a vast empty space starting in the vicinity of the main railway station and going down along Borowska street - somewhere in the middle of this is a big mould calle Wzgórze Andersa - it consists largely of rubble of buildings demolished in the area after the war anyway there is park atop that mould/hill which is lit,

I don't know whether the park stretches further around cause i only saw this recently from Ślężna street which is on the other side of the empty space

then there are also gardening allotments on the other side of Gaj and there is a tarmacless road into the area from the Bardzka street (? - not sure here) - this leads also to the cemetry nearby so there is some traffic there and the road is not lit in the evenings

edit: the road is actually a street called Owocowa - (Fruit street ;) - it was tarmacless a couple of years ago - not sure now

edit2: well, it seems there is a decent park a bit nearer from Gaj than the Wzgórze Andersa also between the Borowska and Ślężna street - just looked up my Wrocław city plan (it's not completely up to date and I actually have never been there - don't know if the place is lit - the park is called Park Skowroni - cross Borowska near where it meets Świeradowska (it is the one where Piotr i Paweł sits) - and you should be able to find Działkowa street - a winding one but will get you to the park)

Food / Is there any other Polish seafood exept herring and carp? [30]

no clams in Poland, (except some top restuarants and few delicatessen)
I guess quids don't suit your needs here (but they are available here and there)
carp is actually no sea food - cause it doesn't live in salty waters
there are dishes that make use of fresh water fish like solyanka but it's not a popular thing in Poland and fresh water fish don't make their way to shops that often (carp is the Christmas exception)

just go and find a fish shop (sklep rybny) or fish department and see what you can get - I am no fish expert too

Food / Is there any other Polish seafood exept herring and carp? [30]


I very much doubt it is a good idea

I can give you a hint to a Polish-Mexican mix sort of (hot) - which I invented myself
let me know if you are interested (requires good kiszone ogórki together with the juice from the jar and prefferably also the bits of garlic and horseradish that are put into the kiszone ogórki jar)

Food / Is there any other Polish seafood exept herring and carp? [30]

no I'm not kidding - Polish pierogies with potato filling are on the salty side - the filling is actually mashed potatoes, quark (or cottage cheese - quark is sour), fried chopped onion and black pepper); there are pierogies on the sweet side but they are really sweet - pierogies with just sweetened quark (should have quite a lot of sugar) or pierogies with fruits - the best are strawberry and European blueberry - these call for lots of sugar too (the sugar naturally goes to the filling - but they are also served with the soured cream (der Polnische art ;) and again sugar on top of it

I don't think you get anything tasty putting sweet potato or yam as a filling for pierogies - it's gonna be pretty bland I imagine

Life / Polish Radio and TV stations online? [68]

put somewhere into winamp??? ;) I don't know actually - perhaps as an internet source - I just use winamp to play the mucis from disc

History / Responsibility for Murder of Catholic Poles during WWII ? [172]


those that never considered themselves Poles too? who's first language was Yiddish and who sometimes hardly spoke any Polish?