Language / Learning Polish - need courses or books !!! [17]

It sounds like a quick phrasebook or travelbook is what you're looking for, and you have a good recommendation already, but later on, if you're interested in a more traditional, detailed study, I recommend:

"Teach Yourself Polish" by M. Corbridge-Patkaniowska. Published 1967 by The English Universities Press.

Unless the language has changed significantly since '67, it should be very helpful. I'm a slow learner, but it seems to be helping me. :) My library had it, so there was no cost to read it. A good book, I think.

Life / JOKES ABOUT POLISH. Have we deserve it? [68]

No, I don't think Polish people "deserve" the jokes, but I don't think they're bad either, as long as you tell them in a spirit of fun and not in a mean way. Incidentally, the only times I have heard Polish jokes were when I was visiting or talking to Polish people. :)

The only time I really disliked that kind of joking was when my high school European History teacher, who was Polish, joked about Poland being insignificant in history, because when I got older and read history for myself, I felt kind of cheated that we never talked about Poland in class, because a lot of important history happened there. Oh well.

Love / Polish Engagement and Wedding Traditions [42]

I think it goes a bit like this in Poland:

If you want to marry a girl, you send your most socially influential friend or relative to her house with a bottle of vodka to negotiate with her and her parents. If they agree to marriage, they drink a toast with your friend and send him back to you to plan the wedding. If she refuses to marry you, she sends your friend home with a watermelon. Sounds like a good deal to me - either you have a wife or a tasty watermelon to eat. :)

At least, that's how marriage works in Poland according to Reymont and Sienkiewicz. Things might have changed recently. ;)

Language / Which books is it essential to have read to be a good Polish student? [23]


Ah, that's a shame. I've been looking forward to seeing the film versions. What do you think was wrong with them? "Ogniem i mieczem," (With Fire and Sword here) is one of my favorite books for historical fiction, especially for its humor, which I think makes it more enjoyable than Krzyżacy even, though both are good. Was the film just made poorly, or did they present the story itself poorly?


That's Stanisław Lem. Solaris is good, as is The Star Diaries (Dzienniki gwiazdowe), I think. Although The Star Diaries was written over something like 20 years, so the themes and style are inconsistent - some are short and fun, and others are long and philosophical and less fun.

I'm interested to know which books are taught in Polish schools today, including classics but also others. This is a good thread. :)

Language / Learning Polish online help [21]


I like Rosetta Stone, although I think it's really best to find a book to go along with it, because it's purely "immersion," with no instructions as to cases and tense and so on. Rosetta Stone along with a nice dense text from the library is working nicely for me, I think, although it's still early - I haven't learned too much yet. :)

Also, the free trial of the Transparent Polish program is nice for learning a bit of vocab and pronounciation.

Language / Which books is it essential to have read to be a good Polish student? [23]


No problem. It's good to hear an opinion in any case. :)

Language / Should I learn both Polish and German [147]


Very true! Once you're used to the "formula" of language learning, it's hard not to pick up that next book. :)

Incidentally, Hueg, was your first German post written with colloquial spelling or is that the standard in other German-speaking countries, outside Germany? Both of my old German professors, coincidentally, came from the same town in N. Germany, so I never learned much variety, although I hear Swiss German is a bit different in that way. :p

German is a lot of fun, but it isn't much help in learning Polish; not for me, at least. That wasn't the original post's question, I noticed, but whenever I see this thread, it always looks like he's asking whether knowing German would be helpful for learning Polish, rather than for living in Poland, which was the real question. Heh.

Language / Which books is it essential to have read to be a good Polish student? [23]


I'm not an expert, but I know that anything written by Sienkiewicz, Reymont, or Mickiewicz, is definitely available in English. Almost all Lem's work is out there in English too, if you like Sci-Fi.

Libraries are your best bet, in any case. I've had no luck at all with bookstores, which stock basically nothing besides "Quo Vadis," for Polish authors.

USA, Canada / The best POLISH FESTIVAL ever!! - San Diego Oct. 13-14 [36]


Nice, something in California! I'll be there if I can get time off work. Sounds fun. :)

USA, Canada / Polish Restaurants in Los Angeles/Riverside/Santa Barbara/Palm Spring [10]


Hm. Can't think of any, and I've been living in Orange/Riverside/San Bernardino/LA Counties for the past seven years. Not too much out here, I don't think, although the suggestions so far look promising. :) I'll be as interested as you are to see how those suggestions turn out. :)

Language / Could anyone check my polish? What can i improve? [44]


I can't, because I'm a beginner too. Just thought I'd say hello to a fellow novice. :)

But just for fun, and not that it's worth anything really, I'll say that your paragraph looks to me like it would make sense to someone reading it, even if it's not perfect. Your word order in sentence 2 is a bit different than I think my textbook would put it, and unless a future lesson will prove me wrong, I don't remember "moje" having a ó. But I'm sure a native speaker will set things straight soon, more authoritatively. :)

Life / Bolek i Lolek [30]

Very cute. Thanks for the video! :) It's good to see a bit of popular culture from times past.

Life / You know you're Polish when... ? [111]


Except that catsup has Asian origins, and is named for a Malay word. At least, according to the history channel. :) But I agree that catsup is too sweet to use very often. When you grow into an adult, you drift from catsup to mustard and everything works itself out.

Coincidentally, the biggest consumers of catsup I ever met were Russians, and a Ukranian friend of mine in gradeschool used to eat the catsup straight from the packet at lunchtime, not as a joke but out of choice, and almost every day. Interesting preferences, I'd say. :)

Language / Writing Polish in longhand (cursive) [17]


Aha, interesting sample, thanks! Sort of half-longhand, half-print. But it confirms what HAL9009 was saying about the Polish ł being written like English i, except with a flat line over it, and about lower-case Z being written like a small upper-case Z. Neat! :)

So at least half the puzzle is solved, I think. The Polish "r" looks the same as ours, although one person's style will differ a bit from the next, and the picture was a bit blurry I think, although that might just be my computer's settings.

If anyone can post additional examples, that would be very welcome, but for now at least it makes some sense to me. :)

Language / Learning Polish using audio? [17]


You might talk to Polish-speakers over Yahoo or Skype, or at least listen in on public conversations there, if you're well enough along to make use of it. I haven't visited the Polish channels just yet, but I found both to be very helpful in the past when trying to improve my German. I know a bunch of people who visit this forum have Skype and sometimes volunteer to help others learn, as well.

As to the software/files you mention, my local library here (California) carries only those, unfortunately. I've checked the database as recently as yesterday even, and that's all I've seen - Pimsleur and the Teach Yourself series.

Hope some of this made sense. I'm sort of passing into opiate stupor right now and having the usual trouble typing. Good luck though, and let us know if you find something helpful! :)

History / Katyn - the Polish movie [29]

Looks like a powerful movie. Of course, seeing it on the big screen is probably impossible here in the U.S., but some of the better video stores might have it in six months or so.

Thanks for mentioning it!

News / Why so many bad candidates for Poland Prime Minister? [261]


Heaven forbid, a Kashubian! :p

Seriously though, I'm not familiar with (modern) Polish politics, and I don't know Donald Tusk, but what's the problem with being a Kashubian? I've heard of them, but don't know about their politics. Just curious - it kinda struck me as funny. :)

News / Made in Poland products? [66]

Yeah. There's an Iranian market in Aliso Viejo or Laguna Niguel that has all kinds of Russian/Polish/other E. European candies, and probably other stuff. There are tons of Armenian markets in Glendale, and another that I go to sometimes in Diamond Bar.

Odds are, at least one of those is near you, since they range over about 130 miles. :)

USA, Canada / The best POLISH FESTIVAL ever!! - San Diego Oct. 13-14 [36]

If anyone is going, I'd also really like to see how it went, if there are pictures. I can't afford the trip down from L.A. right now, and I get paid on the 15th of every month, so I'm screwed. :( I was looking forward to going, but I'll definitely make it next time. :)

Life / Polish art pictures [55]


Wow! Those are really incredible. It's amazing when seemingly classic archtypal scenes have layers and layers of depth that you don't immediately see, which seems to be the case with him. I'll definitely have to learn more about him. :)


Those are always great, though I'd really like to see them up close, since they have so much detail that's lost over the internet, it looks like.

Life / Polish art pictures [55]


Wondeful video - definitely confirmed my guess that his work was highly intricate. Amazing range of color and textures there, and fitting music. It's pretty terrible to read about his last few years of life, but at least he had a long, accomplished career.

News / Poles in Iraq. What's the point? [160]


Two?

Not exactly large numbers, given that the war is 4 years old now. Suggesting that desertion is common is an insult to our (and the coalition's) soldiers, really. The war is a sad state of affairs, and even the most just war is always a tragedy, but taking out whatever frustration you might have on soldiers is unhelpful and inappropriate.

News / Poles in Iraq. What's the point? [160]


You might want to link to your sources in the future, since Google is only giving me blogs as sources that agree wth those numbers. But, even according to those, the statistic involves both Iraq and Afghanistan. Second, there's a big difference between going AWOL and "running away" to Canada as refugees and defying orders to return, which is what I was responding to. That has only happened once or twice since the beginning of the war, though the media makes a high-profile case out of each. There's a significant difference between going AWOL and hiding in Canada and rejecting your former citizenship. Most of the cases of soldiers going AWOL that I've read about are due to symptoms of PTSD or stress, rather than as a political statement, like some past draftees tried to make by moving to Canada to avoid service. I'm guessing that half a million or more of our soldiers have been in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 in any case, (counting all those who've gone and returned, not just the 200,000 or so we have deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, including our NATO troops) so even given the accuracy of those numbers, I still wouldn't call desertion common.

Language / More Polish Language Video Clips [22]

Motyla noga?

I like it, and I think I understand the meaning from the context (kinda), but do people really say that? I hadn't heard that one in the slang threads. :p

Great videos! Thanks for posting this!

USA, Canada / Americans who call themselves Polish - how do you feel about that? [112]

Funny thread. :)

As to Americans who call themselves Polish: I'm against calling yourself *anything* other than American if you were born here. It's just silly, and always annoyed me as a kid. If your parents are Polish, or Italian or whatever, then you're an American with Polish or Italian (etc.) parents. If you were born in another country, then you can choose whether to hyphenate. Seems simple enough to me, but then I have no clue who my parents were and never cared. :p

So, maybe annoying tourists from the U.S. infuriate the Irish and the Polish and who knows who else for claiming another ethnic identity, but I'll bet that the majority here don't care who their ancestors were. :)

History / Poland's National Heros [17]


That's true, in Illinois and Michigan. Nationwide, I think Gen. Kościuszko is more famous, but that's just based on what I've learned.