Language / Do you think there is something like Warsaw accent ? [29]


Because there isn't any. The only "difference" I can think of is a possibility of retro-voicing the "ch" sound in Lech (as in "Leh") due to the character of the preceding vowel, but such pronunciation would be considered slovenly and substandard.

Nevertheless, the spelling clearly shows that both Lech and Ruch should have an unvoiced "ch".

Life / Regional traits in Poland [27]


I only meant that, though they remain in rather friendly relations, Czechs are not Moravian and Moravians are not Czech :-)
I quite liked your "Morava Czechs" contraction ;-)
Two birds with one stone, as the saying goes...

Life / Regional traits in Poland [27]


Both the Moravians and the Czechs would like to have a word with you outside... ;-P

Law / Polish Govt website for foreigners, marriage, family, etc. (in PL and EN) [19]


Spot on.

Law / Polish Govt website for foreigners, marriage, family, etc. (in PL and EN) [19]


No, I am not. I have also always worked very hard professionally, AND done the housework etcetera.

And before you get all feminist on me, please do care to read the following excerpt from the same site and same survey results:

"On the other hand, a good husband will earn money and, consequently, provide for his family and wife, and ensure their security (he is supposed to take care of the amount, continuity, and stability of income, and life with no financial worries)."

The people who attacked the first part of the statement, about a woman being "a ray of sunshine" for the husband and family, smoothing pillows and dusting and cooking, should really spare a thought for the poor, exploited man in this hypothetical relationship. If there is slavery in Poland still, the guy's situation fits the description much better than the woman's ;-p

Law / Polish Govt website for foreigners, marriage, family, etc. (in PL and EN) [19]


Well sorry to rain on your parade, I am an independent, emancipated woman, and I see nothing wrong in publishing the results of this survey. I can agree with quite a lot of the statements as well. I see nothing wrong in a traditional marriage with gender roles set out clearly; heck, I would love to be a dutiful housewife who doesn't have to worry about where the next pay-check is coming from! I could then pursue other interests such as trolling on the internet, watercolour painting, writing poetry, and going shopping for nice clothes and stuff with my lady friends :-)

Law / Polish Govt website for foreigners, marriage, family, etc. (in PL and EN) [19]


one last time: it's NOT government advice. It's information about what people think, taken from a survey. Actually, I think this is a brilliant approach: you not only tell the prospective bride or groom from another country what the legal requirements are, you also show them what the "natives" tend to think on the subject, and what the expectations might be. If people getting married to foreigners always took this into consideration, there might be fewer divorces on the grounds of "cultural incompatibility" later on.

UK, Ireland / Its strange that there arent many Poles who live in the UK on this Forum [102]


I know this is totally off topic, but can't resist. I have had this happen to me, and a friend of mine in a different house-share, in this case the flatmates were definitely NOT of the Polish persuasion - so this I guess would be more of an international trick ;-) I'm SO glad to be living independently now! Overall I think the very idea of sharing a house or flat beyond a certain age (like when people are still studying) is sick and wrong, and really brings out the absolutely worst in people. I sometimes thought I could murder certain individuals for the things they'd done! Ranging from using my kitchen utensils to throwing my freshly washed and dried laundry on the dirty floor so they could hang up theirs :-(((

UK, Ireland / Its strange that there arent many Poles who live in the UK on this Forum [102]


OMG what sort of people were they?! I've known a few idiots in my time, but what you describe here is almost too good to be true ;-)

UK, Ireland / Its strange that there arent many Poles who live in the UK on this Forum [102]


...well exactly. So what language should a forum be if it's for Polish speaking people then?

UK, Ireland / Its strange that there arent many Poles who live in the UK on this Forum [102]


Why would they participate in English language forums if they can participate in Polish language forums?
To turn your argument on its head, why isn't this forum conducted in Polish if it concerns Poland?


I comment here, does that count towards the 0.1%? ;->

Law / Polish Govt website for foreigners, marriage, family, etc. (in PL and EN) [19]

Maybe you should read the whole thing, actually it's quite fascinating. The quote describes what Polish respondents said about marriage, not what the government thinks marriage should be like. Definitely read the whole thing.

Law / How to Create Computerized Invoices in Poland? [5]

wf-kaper.pl/index.php?action=2

I used to use their small business accounting software for księga przychodów i rozchodów when still in PL. This software does all you want, including invoicing and VAT accounting, the link I've pasted goes directly to the invoicing component.

AFAIR, they are cheap, efficient, and the support team is quite good too. I would also get upgrades free or half price. Overall, it took a load of worry off my mind, and a lot of work off my hands ;-)

Disclaimer: this is not an advertisement. I have never been affiliated with the above company and have no personal interest in recommending their services!

Life / Problems for Dual Earner Families in Poland (and rest of EU) [19]

Do bear in mind that in the past (one hundred or more years ago), either both parents worked (eg they were peasants or labourers, or the husband owned a business and the wife helped out, or the wife would work as cook or seamstress or charwoman with the husband mining or whatever), in which case younger children were looked after by their older siblings or other relatives, or if the parents belonged to the upper classes, they did not work, and delegated childcare to nannies, governesses, teachers, and other domestic staff. In both cases, children were never the focus, be-all and end-all of a family. They were expected to grow up as soon as possible, and join the adults in their world of either work or intellectual and leisure pastimes, depending on the family's income. So I think that dual earner families in the modern sense of the world are not functioning properly because:

1) it is a two-tier structure only, with parents caring for children, no extended family usually involved, and all the work and care going one way - from parents to children, and

2) instead of "bringing children up" - helping them grow into adults - most parents nowadays seem hell-bent on being their children's "best friends", thus losing authority and the chance to teach them anything useful for later life, also

3) as the children grow, they are not expected to assume any responsibility for the family and its well-being: "it is enough that they do well at school".

Overall, I think the stay-at-home Happy Mom is a myth created in the 50s. Women havenever before been so isolated and left to their own devices with only a couple of toddlers for company. Been there, done that, never ever again.

Love / Why are Polish girls constantly ill? [166]


Are you sure they're not simply entering the date(s) of their future, erm "times of the month"? Which is a rather sensible practice overall.

Food / "marianka" (majeranek) [3]

I'm guessing it's marjoram - "majeranek" in Polish, "majoranka" in Czech.

Travel / 1st impressions of poland - Borat on billboards [12]

Hopefully you realise you actually posted two pictures of exactly the same stretch of road with the same ads visible from different angles?

Language / Pronouncing final -ą as -oł (Czech infleunce?) [14]


Czech does in fact have nasal vowels, even though it does not acknowledge them in spelling. E.g. if you say "na louce" (on the meadow), the "ou" is actually pronounced almost identically to a Polish "ą".

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]


I would definitely disagree. Both declension and conjugation systems (at least in Czech) are massively difficult.

Life / What is the nature of Polish people's hygiene? [76]


Unless you do heavy manual labour, why on earth would you change clothes at least once a day? I'm not talking about changing underwear or changing clothes because of going out to a fancy restaurant etc. I am talking about just changing for the sake of it. Why would you wanna do that? Do you really get sweaty and dirty that fast? I think not - I think it's something you've been taught to do by the laundry and clothing industries. The more you change and wash, the more soap you need and your clothes don't last as long as they could.

Do you honestly and truly believe that if I put on a clean pair of jeans in the morning and then just sit around all day - they will be actually dirty by nightfall?

Food / Is it just me, or is the Polish diet rather unhealthy? [119]


I am trying to visualise leczo dripping with fat. How can a sauce-based dish do that? It's immersed in sauce, but remember sauce is not grease! At least in my part of the world, to make a sauce I drain quite a lot of the liquid the meat or vegetables had been simmering in (which is basically water with some oil), and add some flour to it, maybe a bit of cream, mix it well and return to the pot. Yeah, I guess some old-timers might add a bit more fat at the start, but still... dripping with fat?

Life / What is the nature of Polish people's hygiene? [76]


Seems like it's more of a Canadian problem then. Of course some people in Poland stink, esp. drunks and frail pensioners in care homes etc., but this is a global phenomenon.


I just can't help but love sweeping generalisations like the above. Pray, what hard facts and data do you base your assumption upon?

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish migrant in the UK. Ch. 4 - Language [66]

I prefer the "byeeeeeeeee" version ;-)

History / Why are we called Poles instead of Polans? [29]

I think you are a bit confused here.

You can say:

Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Finns, Danes...

or

the Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Finnish, Danish, English (people).

Language / Pan/Pani necessary? [8]

No need to be snarky. For one thing, the real "pan / pani magister" is usually only a magister of pharmacy, and this is is a traditional title. You go into a pharmacy and call the staff pani magister, panie magister. Otherwise you would only use this title in an academic (university) setting - the student to their teacher, the doktor to the magister, their subordinate, etc.

Also, I think 5 years of study do not equal "hardly well qualified".

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish migrant in UK. Ch. 3 - Food [93]

To put things into perspective: you say Ksysia is moaning, and maybe she is. But less so than a lot of expats in Poland who open threads on PF about how horrible PL is, what they hate about PL, how stupid and / or devious the Polish people are, etc. etc. I think Ksysia is fully entitled to have her say about what she likes or dislikes about the UK. And yes, I have also had the honour to buy foodstuffs in the UK which were past their sell-by date. Actually, even in Asda and Tesco a lot of products (meat included) usually have a sell-by date to expire within a few days of the purchase. E.g. it's the 15th, the meat is to expire by the 18th. So I just take a long hard look at it and put it away. Why wait so long before putting the stuff on the shelves? I don't get it.

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish immigrant in the UK. Ch. 2 - Stress [63]

I would agree and disagree at the same time. Most Polish migrants don't really read the papers or watch British TV; they don't get together with people who are stressed about the state of the economy because their more expensive lifestyles and top-notch jobs are on the line; and they don't really think of the UK as a real, actual country - they see it more as The Place You Go to Earn Money, a kind of Neverland or what, where nothing bad ever happens, and even if it does, there is always someone British to pick up the pieces.

Sad, but true. The real world is in Poland, and now they live the "dream". And dreams are usually stress free - everything is weird, but hey, who's to worry, it's not for real!

Hard to say who's to blame for this fairytale image of the UK, I guess both sides are guilty a bit. NuLabor has done quite a lot in the nicey-nice propaganda department, and most migrants the world over tend to paint a fantastic picture of their new country to those who stayed at home, thus luring them to come over, and who will admit they had been fooled?

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish migrant in UK. Ch. 1 - Staring [43]


I have never heard of a Polish chav who would actually kill someone for telling them to shut up on public transport (or any similar story for that matter). Please compare with the unfortunate bloke who told a guy to stop throwing chips at his girlfriend (London bus, upper deck) and got stabbed to death for it. There has been a similar more recent incident happen along the same lines, but don't remember the details.

Food / Is it just me, or is the Polish diet rather unhealthy? [119]


You are, hopefully, aware that a person requires calories to actually stay alive? Isn't the required daily amount somewhere around 2000 calories for men and slightly less for women? Also, fat is a necessary part of the diet as the brain and nervous system require fat to function properly (I'm not talking mounds of grease here ofc).

Life / Scammed in Poland again [49]


Things like that do happen. Did he botch the translation as such, or just the bit you mentioned? How about asking him to give you another copy, correct this time? It's no big deal, he just prints it out and stamps it for you, and you destroy the one with the error, end of story.

Making a small error like that is not something you could judge the quality of a translator by. You think he just has one small simple document to translate, but maybe he works full days and believe me, the small print and numbers do start swimming before your eyes if you spend 6-8 hours a day at the computer, even if what you're actually working on is simple as such. I spend at least 20% of my working time checking and double-checking for stupid mistakes, misspellings, etc., and even so I sometimes miss something glaringly obvious... Not that it makes me happy.