Language / Verb patterns 'BYC' [29]


Boy, am I relieved to hear that.
This is precisely what I have been trying to learn for the past week and I'd just about summed it up in my head with the idea that i verbes were for habit so when I saw Marek's post I thought I'd got it all wrong.

I realize that the i thing is an over simplification, but it certainly helps me remember whether I should be using chodzić / jeźdić, or iść / jechać

Language / misleading differences between Polish and English languages [92]

In French "preservatifs" are condoms. (Condom is the name of the French town where presumably they originated.)
In English a "preservative" is something you put in your homemade jams to stop them going mouldy.
I gather that since jam-making British ladies have colonised large swathes of rural France there have been plenty of red faces and misunderstandings when they've been chatting to their neighbours ;)...

Language / misleading differences between Polish and English languages [92]


My French students will never forget how to pronounce bank after I told them that they were pronouncing it like a vulgar word (it's banque in French: sounds like "bonk").

In fact a lot of the examples quoted as being confusing between Polish and English are the same between French and English:

eventually = in the end
eventuallement = perhaps

actually = in fact
actuellement= now

important (French) often means a large number or quantity, whereas
important (ENG) is more to do with the quality of the thing discussed.
un charge de travail important: a lot of work
important work: it is vital, for some reason

the thing with "combine" works in French too: "un combine" can be a trick or a fraud

other examples:
offrir = give someone a present
to offer = to propose

sensible is sensé in French whereas
sensible in French is sensative in English

Mel (who speaks French a lot better than she does Polish!)

Food / Polish non alcoholic fruit drink [7]

Diękuję Darius:
you wouldn't happen to have a recipe, would you?

Language / Common neuter case nouns please [12]

Dziękuję bardzo!

Language / Genetive, "jej" and "jego" [8]


Sorry, my mistake for not making myself clear: I meant it is harder for native speakers of French (the rest of my class - I live in France) because in French it is the other way round: the possessive goes with the thing possessed not the possessor, whereas in English and Polish it depends on the case of the possessor.

Language / Genetive, "jej" and "jego" [8]

Yeah, easy for me 'cos it's like English: rather harder for the rest of the class as they are native speakers of French, so the possessive agrees with the noun of the thing possessed not the possessor.

I'm clear about it now,
thanks again,
Mel

Language / Common neuter case nouns please [12]

Mmmm.. not a lot of scope;;; our teacher did say they were quite rare: I'm hardly likely to be asking whose mud it is!

Is that calf the animal?

I should be OK with "moje ciastro" and "moje dziecię",

Dzięnkuję

Language / Polish words shared with the french language [29]

Yes, but they are so well assimilated into the language that 95% of the population are unaware that they come from French at all (war, wasp, warden, William: and all the words with an "s" in the place of the ^, all the names of meats: veal, mutton, pork, beef) - unlike expressions that are perceived as French like "carte blanche", "cul de sac", "coup de grace".

Life / What is the position of Esperanto in Poland? [16]


uea.org/info/angle/an_ghisdatigo.html

"the language also has much in common with isolating languages like Chinese, while its internal word structure has affinity with agglutinative languages like Turkish, Swahili and Japanese."

"There are Esperanto speakers all over the world, with notable concentrations in countries as diverse as China, Japan, Brazil, Iran, Madagascar, Bulgaria and Cuba."

"The first symposium of Esperanto speakers in Arab countries took place in Amman in 2000, the sixth All-Americas Congress was held in Cuba in 2004, and the fourth Asian Congress took place in Kathmandu in 2005."


You're very welcome: I think you'll find it's anything but "just another language". They say in 70 hours study you can reach the same or a better level of language than in 700 hours study of English!

Life / What is the position of Esperanto in Poland? [16]


Hundreds of places - China, Hungary, Brazil, The Congo... four continents good enough for you? Not everyone speaks fluent English you know: look here:

petitionspot.com/petitions/Esperantistoj/signatures/7


Quite a lot: People write in Esperanto, you know, it's not just translation!
William Auld was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999 for his work in Esperanto: In a speech in 2001 at the National Library of Scotland, to which he donated his Esperanto collection, he said: "My love of the Esperanto language in no way diminishes my love of English; and that is why it sets my teeth on edge to hear foreigners massacring my mother tongue as they inevitably do when using it. None of this applies to Esperanto." (I definitely concur on that last point!)

And if I have to read a translation, which obviously I do as I can't read the originals in languages I don't understand, I'd rather read an Esperanto one than any other language: you know what they say: translator=traitor! I reckon an Esperanto translation has to be the closest to the original.


Actually some French Esperanto speaking friends bumped into (quite literally) some Esperanto speakers in a Czech department store, so maybe not as unlikely as you might think!


Interesting comparison that. But the whole point is it's not a choice: you don't have to choose one to the exclusion of the other. You can learn to communicate in Esperanto in a fraction of the time it would take you to be able to utter the simplest phrases in a more complex language (Polish , for example!). And depending on what your mother tongue is, you might actually gain a better insight into foreign languages in general which will make learning another one easier than if you hadn't learnt Esperanto. (This is not my imagination, but the result of scientifically conducted experiments.)

Why not look into it further, you might be pleasantly surprised!

Life / What is the position of Esperanto in Poland? [16]


Actually, I consider learning Polish to be an academic venture: I am unlikely ever to actually have a call to use it!
With Esperanto I can travel all over the world and read literature from many different countries - not to mention the huge benefits of being able to communicate "on a level playing field" on the web with people who don't speak English as well as I do.

News / Things you might not know about Poland [76]


I did know this: I speak Esperanto.

Maybe I should start a new thread.

Food / Best way to drink Zubrowka??? [20]

[Moved from]: Cost of Zubrowka Vodka in Poland?

Hello,
having discovered I can get Zubrowka Vodka in my local Leclerc Hypermarket I was just curious to know how much a 750ml bottle cost in Poland.

Thanks,

Mel

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]

Thank you Ella.

I have some questions about this:


Would I say "we" also if I was giving the name of the town? What about the region (In English it's in Caen, in Calvados in France, but maybe not in Polish?)

Dziękuję

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]


Cześć Hal9009,

I did find the thread ealier in the week - and you're right they are brilliant little videos: the one for that pesky sound "ą" does not appear to be working, which is a great shame!

Dziękuję

Mel

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]


Yes, that was easier: after a mere 8 lessons I'm not up to reading Huxley in Polish yet.

Dziękuję

Mel

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]


OK, I think I've grasped that - in fact English does it too (but most people never realise - I knew I'd got a specialist in my class when he said "Madame, why have you written disgusting, but you're pronouncing it discusting?)

Is it always the voiced consonant that gives way to the voiceless one? Does it matter which order they appear in in the word?

Could you give a few examples, please.....

And how does 'Jak się masz?' translate? I can see "masz" is the second person singular of "mieć" but I thought that was "have"?

Mel (on a steep learning curve)

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]


Thank you, I should be able to pronounce all of that apart from the first word.
We learned that the "w" in "wtorek" is closer to an "f" sound.

Does this also apply before "sz"?

Mel

Language / Przedstawiam się [24]


No, that's not it. It sounds to me like "słychać" (spelling probably all wrong....)



Dziękuję


Wow, if I'd known I would have spelt my name like that! Specially now I've checked out what
"Piękna" means....