Law / Confirmation of Polish citizenship with name change? (US immigrant) [8]

Did she legally change her name? If so, there should be paperwork somewhere.

If she didn't officially change her name then why is she using a pseudonym in the US? The US isn't so anal as Poland about official identification papers but if she has a drivers license (for example) then it would have to be in her legal name.

Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

In other words, what people are saying is that voivode and voivodeship are mostly useless words in English except for extremely specialized usage. I would not recommend using either jwith a person who doesn't already understand the concept.

They should not be used (undefined) in general interest texts or everyday conversation (if communication is the goal).

Language / Province or Voivodeship [36]

Only people who already know what a województwo is are liable to understand voivodeship. It's an awkward, ungainly hybrid that only serves those who think a dictionary is enough to do a translation.

In Poland I just use województwo while speaking English (if the person I'm talking to is liable to understand the word) and 'province' if they don't know enough Polish (or enough about Poland). If I'm writing informally I'd just define it, for a US speaker I'd write "an administrative unit somewhere between a county and a state" (how I'd explain it in speaking as well).

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

I refuse to grant those guys the title "artist"! (Unless ruining movies in English* for me is now consideed 'art')

Maybe voicer-over

*I can stand movies with a voice over as long as the original language isn't English

Language / Spend more time on Polish verbs or nouns? [8]


Native speakers might think so, but as a successful learner of Polish as a foreign language I suggest spending time on (in decreasing order)

1. Nouns (gender and case endings)

2. Adjectives (same)

3. Pronouns (same)

4. Verbs

The reason is simple, in face to face communication Poles (despite what they might say) understand Polish with the correct noun/adjective/pronoun endings and wonky verbs far better than with correct verb endings and wonky n/a/p endings. Ideally you want everything to be correct but make nouns the priority and you won't regret it.

USA, Canada / Feminine surname endings in America? [48]

"Please keep to the language of the forum, which is English!"

Boy, you guys want to take the fun out of everything!

USA, Canada / Feminine surname endings in America? [48]


Nevíš?

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]


It's lektor in Polish and some people anglicize it as lector in English (though no one who doesn't already know what a lektor is would understand it the way intended). English lacks a word to describe the a lektor does, the process is voice-over, one voice speaking over the soundtrack which is reduced to background noise but I'm not sure what to call the person who does it...

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

A culture's preferred localization technique (dubbing, subtitles, voice over, voice over dubbing*) is almost entirely due to historical accident. All forms have advantages and disadvantages and it largely comes down to culturally determined individual preference (most people don't have very original tastes and like whatever their culture has conditioned them to like ).

Poland uses voice over because:

a) people prefer audio to visual translations of audio material (nothing wrong with that)

b) voice overs are cheaper than dubbing (again nothing wrong with that)

It totally sucks for anglophone residents of Poland (since it makes films in English unwatchable** even (especially!) if they know Polish) but it's what Polish people are conditioned to prefer and that won't change.

Rationalizations about how this is a superior method are just that, rationalizations. Similarly rationalizations about the superiority of subtitles are also rationalizations.

*often found in Russia and Bulgaria (and other places?) a cross between dubbing and voice over, something like a full cast but the original soundtrack is still (Barely) audible in the background = far less disturbing to me than the single voice over because the original is far less audible)

** it makes movies useless for entertainment and, unlike dubbing, doesn't help in learning the foreign language either

final note: I only hate lectors for dramatic programs - documentaries I could care less and don't mind the lector - go figure....

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

I can't stand it if the language of the original is English for all the reasons people here mention (blocks out original, sounds dumb, sounds .... tacky (tandetnie) )

I don't much mind it if the language of the original isn't English. I'm not crazy about it, but I can watch a movie in French or German or whatever with a lektor.

Personally, I don't mind dubbing (if you want audio translation) but it's very un-PC to admit that.

Polish style voice overs are the worst of both worlds, you lose the original (at least the way it was meant to be heard) _and_ you have the bad, abbreviated translations associated with subtitles.

Language / How to pronounce the Polish word "w" in sentences? [15]


It rarely occurs on its own. When it does, it's like an English v with no vowel following. Most of the time, attach it to the following word and if the first sound of the next word is p, t, k, ć, c, cz, s, sz then its pronounced more like f.

w ciemności = fchyem-NO-shchi (with vowels like Spanish).

Food / Where to buy inexpensive coconut oil in Poland? [7]

There is/used to be a small Asian grocery on ul poznanska in warsaw. I think it was Vietnamese owned.

I think there might be some Indian stores now but don't know where...

But there's almost no chance of getting coconut oil cheaply here. You can probably find it for cheaper than 44 zlots but you're still going to have to pay a lot more than you want.

It's called supply and demand.

Food / Polish vodka zoladkowa gorzka (a very pale colour orange and has spices in it)? [12]


it's the second part, niech żyje nam (may s/he live for us!) it's wishing the person a long life,
it's kind of like 'many happy returns' which I completely didn't understand as a child.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare

In Polish it's call befsztyk tatarski, or just tatar for short. It's a good idea to wash it down with lots of vodka.

Food / Polish vodka zoladkowa gorzka (a very pale colour orange and has spices in it)? [12]


You drink the others gay? (I keed, I keed)

Anyway, rather confusingly there's also czysta żołądkowa gorzka, which is one of the very best clear vodkas. You can pay a lot more but you won't get better. Reccomended with tatar (ymmmmm).

Language / Biernik czy narzędnik (Accusative or Instrumental) [65]

The plain genitive is used for possession in the third person

dom mojego brata (my brother's house)

house my-gen brother-gen

usually the order is possessed possessor, as above, but in some cases the possessor usually (must?) come(s) first

jego dom (his house)

pani syn (your-formal-feminine son)

genitive z

z Warszawy (from Warsaw)

zrobiony ze szkła (make from glass)

contrast that with od (from a person)

list od mojego brata (a letter from my brother)

Again, memorize the nominative-accusative-genitive paradigms of about 100 nouns (and the adjective forms that go with them) and learn to use them without hesitation and the rest of the cases won't be very difficult

Food / Polish vodka zoladkowa gorzka (a very pale colour orange and has spices in it)? [12]


There are a whole lot of drinks that fit that description, the most common/popular is gorzka żołądkowa (bitters vodka).



But there's half a dozen or more similar drinks with a similar color. Each has a particular mix of herbs, my own favorite is the cheapo (slightly cedary) balsam kresowy (border balsam?)

Language / Biernik czy narzędnik (Accusative or Instrumental) [65]


Well there are two different z prepositions (formerly different but pronounced the same in modern Polish)

z (usually something like s or sa in other Slavic languages) = with, which is always followed by instrumental

z (usually something like iz in other Slavic languages) = from a place (or substance), which is always followed by the genitive

Quick note: the hardest part of the case system is the nominantive / accusative / genitive (and learning for masculine nouns when the accusative is like the nominative and when it's like the genitive). Buckle down and get that straight and the rest is (relatively) easy.

Language / Locative case and prepositions in Polish [13]

The locative ending should be listed as -(i)e or -Je (where J doesn't mean Polish j but a softening of the preceeding consonant).

In other words, the locative -e always 'softens' the previous consonant, this is indicated either by ie (in spelling) or some other consonant change.

Classifieds / English cuisine week in Lidl shops in Poland [203]


Or rutabaga (ROOT-a-bay-ga) in the US. I like them sliced thinkly and quickly deep fried. yumm Polish people are prejudiced against them though : (

Language / Cholera, cholerny, cholernie... [9]

Micky


Oh, Mickey, what a pity. You don't understand...

Damn, damned, dammit all sound kind of old fashioned. There's no way for most people (esp Americans) to say "She sings damn well." and not sound ridiculous.

For this century, I might suggest 'hella' and most people (esp Americans) would modify sing with 'good' not well.

"She sings hella good" would work for modern American usage.

Love / Is it wrong for Polish girls to kiss boys before marriage ? [31]


Possibly. I chose to answer seriously, just in case. And he's in London, which is not really part of any country. There are both Poles and Kurds (and weigh?) there.

Love / Is it wrong for Polish girls to kiss boys before marriage ? [31]


It is completely normal in Poland. It is not normal to be so jealous of people she knew before you that you want a divorce.

A divorce would not be good for your son. Is your jealousy so strong that you want to hurt your son?

Get over being jealous. It will only hurt you and the people you love.

Language / Lat V lata [8]

In both cases you use lat

20 lat
25 lat

On the other hand, 'for 25 years' could also be 'przez 25 lat' some context would help determine which to use.

News / The cross in Polish parliament - Does it bother you? [100]

This is a diversion and just what anyone who voted for the assclown party should have expected.

Old predator mouth is making a stink not because he cares but because he knows the usual suspects will expend a lot of time and energy in countering his assinine proposal. And the other usual suspects will make grumbling noises and no one in the sejm has to really think about more pressing issues.

FTR I'm not catholic or christian (or anything, I'm basically incapable of religious faith) and the cross doesn't bother me at all.

Work / Native Speakers increasingly desperate? Polish and African teacher forcing down wages.. [27]

I don't have direct experience (since I stay out of the private school/lesson field) but what's probably happening is a simple reversal of supply and demand.

When there weren't many native speakers around at all there was no problem in finding work. A native speaker with good Polish skills almost had to beat customers off with a stick.

There's a _lot_ less demand for what a native speaker with no special training can offer and an increasing supply of "native speakers" with no special training since "english teaching" is about the only field a native speaker with weak or no Polsh skills can find work in.

Also by now, the working assumption of most Polish people is that a native speaker of English who can't speak Polish (or who isn't even learning) has no special training or is of less value than a Polish teacher with a diploma or two.

Also since Poland is (unusually) doing relatively well economically in comparison with a lot of Europe Polish people feel more culturally confident and deferring to native speakers just for being native speakers is less tempting and the pressure for resident anglophones to learn functional (or better) Polish will continue and increase.

Love / Do young Polish ladies 17-23 speak any English? [59]

Intrigued asked


Many to most young people have English classes in school now. Whether or not they _learn_ English (or have any real interest in using it after school) is a separate question.

Just remember any Pole that chooses to speak to you in English is doing you a favor. Even if they speak the language they're under no obligation to do so.

News / Palikot or the Poles getting rid of the Polish society old Taboos in 2011? [30]


I actually think this would ultimately be good for the Church. I think (using historical precedent) people would respect the church a lot more if there were a stronger line between church and state and if the church didn't dabble in politics.

Compulsory religious education has also backfired and produced a generation that no longer respects the church.

It's really too bad that no one on the right will make these points, they surrender the field of debate to аss clowns like Palikot and do more damage to the church that Palikot ever could.

Law / Need information about opening a Caribbean restaurant in Poland. Can anyone help? [13]

Which Caribbean?

Ango-Caribbean? Gallo-Caribbean? Hispano-Caribbean?

If this is Jamaican there was a Jamaican take out place where I used to live.

They had something called they called loafs (loaves?) which were pierogi-shaped yeasty rolls with cheese, meat or meat and cheese filling. I could eat the meat and cheese loafs three times a day and not get tired of them.

I also like Jamaican baked goods, bulla bread and fruitcake.

News / Poland Elections oct 2011/your feed back about RP Janusz Palikot? Poland is changing! [106]

My own opinion on Palikot is that he's a clown and badly suited toward any serious kind of work in government. Think of Lepper with better table manners.

I also kind of assume the whole 'ruch Palikota' thing was to deal with disaffected young voters.

I deal with young educated people all the time. Overwhelmingly they

- don't like PiS

- don't like PO much better (they dislike PO less than they dislike PiS is the best way to put it)

PO types realized they needed a haven for youth protest votes (since youth support for PO is mostly negatively oriented) or they would probably go with SLD. Thus, the Palikot movement!

And it largely worked. For all his faults he was saying some things that the 'beton' of all the other parties couldn't / wouldn't say.

RP won't be able to do anything in the Sejm and probably won't be part of a coalition and the element of youthful rebellion is successfully dealt with and quashed.

USA, Canada / US Polonia 70% for Kaczyński [343]


Glib is not the word I would use to describe Tusk....

And had they lived here they might also get fed up with the rhetoric of Kaczynski, which boils down to:

_ Poland has never harmed any other country

_ Poland is the perpetual victim of its diabolical neighbors

_ Poland cannot be civil in its relations with any of its neighbors to do so would be the same as capitulation

_ There's no difference between the current German government and the third (fourth?!) reich

_ There's no difference between the current Russian government and the USSR (he partially has a point with that)

_ There's a conspiracy against me and my party

_ Tusk and Komorowski killed my brother!

If you live outside of Poland it's harder to get sick and tired of this kind of rhetoric.