What is the most annoying thing about NATIVE Polish speakers?

...Following the huge success of the “co-topic”. :)

This one could be about native Polish speakers in Poland or abroad.

The thing I found annoying during my stay in Poland as a tourist & language learner: when Polish tourists turned to me for help and my basic Polish was obvious, they immediately backed out.

They did not mean to be rude, though. I’d probably do the same at home if I didn’t speak English... In Eastern-Europe, non-native speakers still seem strange and “confronted” with English or German first.

Hmm, Bondi. I found just the opposite. When I was last in Poland, I naturally spoke nothing but Polish and found among those my own age, then round about thirty-five or so, a tremendous arrogance (cleverly masquerading as "helpfulness") by insisting on answering every bloody query of mine with a some mispronounced English slang phrase, peppered with the usual 'f****' word in order to sound impressive or like the in-crowd! Of course, I persevered calmly, pretending to be a German tourist (a convincing bit of acting ony my part, I must say) who didn't understand their babblings. After a while of this dog-and-pony charade, I then launched into a crude imitation of a German speaking English, faulty grammar and the like, if only to convince them in a sociable/humorous way that I really couldn't make out their broken English, with the tag line 'Kenn ai schpiek Inglisch?? Jess, nawt so gut, laik ju, ai lairrrn it in skul, ja?....'

They actually fell for it and I got my wish: extended Polish conversation with native Polish speakers and no concessions to the fact that I was a foreigner. We went in fact to a local pub, hoisted a few frosties and then took a lovely stroll.-:)

They speak too fast!

D'you mean normally, or just when inebriated? I frankly didn't find the speed of their talking to be a problem. Indeed however, the more the żubrówka, the more slurred the speech-:)

Baisc Polish is a tricky thing. You can say a few comprehensible sentences, but what do you do when someone proficient in the language gives you an answer? ;)

When I first went to Spain I learned my sentence.......

"Can I have a tin of tomatoes?"

Said I.

The shopkeeper asked

"A big one or a small one?"

I said

"Can I have a tin of tomatoes?"............................

etc

I had the idea of learning all the difficult answers before learning to ask the simple questions.
Was that a simple answer?

Polish news broadcasters and their accent drive me nuts...i can't listen to them...

Can you explain why? Do they talk funny in the same way as I imagine all news broadcasters the world over do in any language? Odd intonation and the pitch rising and falling in an unnatural way? Or do they all just shout like pirates at a rum-drinking convention?

i was used to it while in Poland, but now when i listen to the rmf fm or telexpress online, it irritates me... long pauses, slow talking....and that's all sound kind of weird to me... maybe i just don't like anymore when somebody is a slow talker...lol

I feel the same. After all those years I'm not sure if it's me or them though.

I understand it. Well, most of it... or some of it... :) Every language is difficult in the beginning, I suppose.


NativeEnglishspeakerstendtodothataswell..... Everyone's first experience in the UK (or Ireland or US). You just have to get used to the spoken language in real life.