Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


But you do...........


That's British English.

Actually, speaking of the 'United Kaliphate' did you know that more Americans speak Arabic at home than Polish (or indeed Italian).


And now here's a French lesson for you. 'Adieu' is used to indicate a permanent goodbye. For goodbye until next time it's 'au revoir'.

@ Ziemowit, actually he turns 30 this year, worrying isn't it - he's still young enough for us to adopt him, what do you think? You could give him French lessons and I could teach him some basic manners. Are you up for it? :))

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


Not in the least. I agree with it. I'm not abusive to anyone here, I don't call them vulgar names or swear at them so I don't expect to be subjected to it. I expect a man to open the door for me etc. Even in art college I never carried my own portfolio or set up my own easel. One of the boys always did it for me. I'm small and light and the bloody things were too heavy for me.

Ah well, the only thing that matters is that Adrian has made an eejit of himself yet again :))

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


You weren't raised in Poland. You left when you were seven.


Yes for my husband. Yes for Ziemowit. Yes for Gumishu. Yes for Ironside up to finishing his education. Don't know how soon after that he left Poland but his English though fluent, is by no means at native speaker level, which yours is, because you experienced total immersion whilst still a young child. Also yes for Jaskier who is a Polish native speaker and has BA in Polish linguistics.

When you were here as Adrian K9 you said the following:

"although I can speak, read, and write Polish very well I'm not a native."

and here's the full text of the quote which the Mods trimmed in my previous post :

"The Polish spoken in the US is much more Americanized in a way than the Polish in Poland. I don't have much contact with Polish people aside from my parents and a few friends and even then we usually speak English - except for with my dad who doesn't know English that well but even then we use Polish intermingled with English."

So to have you lecturing Ziemowit, Gumi, Ironside and now Jaskier on the finer points of their native language and claiming that they aren't proper native speakers - it's laughable really. Oh and of course my husband also speaks some sort of weird dialect according to you. Yes they're all wrong and know less about the correct pronunication of words in their own native tongue than you, the Pol-Am who has lived most of his life in America, mostly speaks English and even when you DO speak Polish it's 'Americanized'.

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]

When I first started learning Polish I thought I was saying the 'sz' 'si' etc correctly but every time Mr Atch would pick me up on them and tell me they were wrong 'nie sz, si' over and over again. I'm a lot better now as far as saying them correctly goes, but I still struggle to hear the difference when people are speaking, especially if they talk quickly. I think as long as you can hear the difference when they're spoken in isolation and as long as you're saying them properly yourself you don't need to worry about whether you can hear them in normal conversation.


Do you mean you end up with the 'goooood marn-een-g' vibe?? It's the vowel sounds combined with the very precise enunciation that does it. In English we run a lot of sounds together but in Polish you speak each sound separately plus our vowel sounds are often quite vague. I'm talking about standard pronuncation of course, not counting the huge range of regional accents.


And for some reason the word 'piosenkarka' cracks me up, really have no idea why!

Law / Money with ZUS - what happens to it when I leave Poland and come back home? [23]

Dolno, don't you ever miss certain aspects of the UK? You're always so critical of it but I mean it's so easy to find out your rights and entitlements and generally if you're owed money by the government you'll get it with no quibble. I know somebody about your age. He's Irish but lives in Spain now. Anyway he lived and worked in England for about 10 years in the 1960s/70s and had no problem getting a UK pension, just by applying online. And he didn't need all the names and addresses of his employers etc. It's all on file and they look it up. Surely you must get frustrated in Poland sometimes with the clumsy, unwieldy way of conducting simple business and the onus always being on the member of the public, never on the authorities.

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


You've admitted yourself on this forum that you speak Polish with an American accent not to mention your errors in grammar and construction so I wouldn't accept your word as a Pol-Am on any aspect of the Polish language. You are not Polish, you're Polish-American and there's a big difference.


Three native speakers already answered you. Ziemowit, Gumishu and Ironside are all born and raised in Poland.


Do you remember saying this?


You really think Ziemowit and Gumishu go round speaking English all day?? You're the one who speaks English most of the time and have done pretty much all your life since the age of seven. Btw you're wrong about corporate types. They speak Polish amongst themselves at work and only use English when communicating with foreign clients or the occasional co-worker. The majority of staff in Polish companies (even American or UK owned corporations) are Polish and they don't speak English with each other in the work place, they speak Polish.

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]

Hi Ziem. What I meant was that to my ears anyway, the 'y' at the end of 'jogurt pitny' has the same sound as the 'y' in 'być'. There is only one way to pronounce 'y' in Polish as far as I'm aware.


Ok, this is getting confusing! Are we talking about Polish 'i' or English 'i'. Polish 'i' is pronounced as the English sound 'ee' as in beet. English 'i' is pronounced as in 'bit'. But Polish 'y' doesn't have a direct equivalent in English, the nearest equivalent is 'i' but it's not identical. I see that Gumi and Ironside agree that ''być' is not pronounced the same as 'b*tch' - I'm not clear what your view is? Do you consider that 'być' is identical to 'b*tch'?


I'm not following you Ziem. Bić would sound roughly like the English 'beach' so how can it be the same as 'być'?

Isn't this fun :))


You mean like the guy in Nie Lubię Poniedziałku? :))

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


You really are so rude. And you're quite wrong Adrian. They are not pronounced identically. Perhaps one of our native Polish speakers here will confirm.

I attended Polish classes, I didn't just pick it up from the ether, so I was taught how to pronounce the sounds, although Mr Atch had already taught me the alphabet and is incredibly fussy over the sounds. He told me, 'your sounds must be clear and precise, especially the endings of words, otherwise you'll sound as if you come from 'the village' :D

The 'y' in być is pronounced in exactly the same way as it would be in for example 'jogurt pitny' and that 'y' is most definitely not an 'i' sound. Here's how it sounds:

Pick the video up at 3:00.

youtube.com/watch?v=_RIB15ZjuYo

I don't want to sound like a superior b*tch but maybe it's because I have taught reading for so many years which involves teaching phonics that I'm aware of the subtle differences in sounds. Young children often don't hear any difference between the 'o' and 'u' sounds in English, cut and cot for example, which is why they have difficulty even with simple phonetic spellings.


I know where you're coming from Lyzko. The vowel sound in RP pronunication of 'pony' is the closet English equivalent one can get to the 'ł' sound in pełny. There are many sounds in Polish which have no direct equivalent in English, the nearest we can manage is an approximation. What you're saying makes sense.

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]

It does if you pronounce it wrongly ;) Now don't start foaming at the mouth, I'm just teasing. Although there is a grain of truth in what I say. The 'y' sound in być is not the same as English 'i'. It's one of those uniquely Polish sounds, very subtle but it makes the difference between the native speaker and the foreigner - though of course there are foreigners who pronounce it correctly.

On a related topic, when I first met Mr Atch we went out one evening with a work colleague of his and his wife (both spoke some English) and I noticed that when the guys were chatting in Polish, Mr Atch seemed to use the word 'tomek' a lot so I asked him 'what's that word, you use it all the time'. You can guess the answer of course. Mr Atch chortled merrily 'it's my friend's name, Tomek, informal for Tomasz'. He'd introduced him as Tom but for some reason I didn't make the connection. My razor sharp intellect must have been blunted by 'lerv' :))

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

Latest turn of events:

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-02/polish-supreme-court-suspends-judge-retirements-until-eu-ruling

The Polish Supreme Court is refusing to comply with the new laws and has sent five questions to the European Court of Justice regarding the proposed changes and their legality. Fair play to them for standing up to Kaczyński.

Btw did anybody notice the 'changes' to the electoral code which were slipped under the radar a few days ago while the public's attention is concentrated elsewhere.

Law / UK employer refusing to pay salary - working remotely from Poland [3]

This might be helpful to you:

gov.uk/options-if-youre-owed-money

As you're not actually an employee but a 'business' in your own right you can't pursue them under employment laws but they are a business which owes you money so you can go after tham on that basis. I don't see why they would pay you for August though as presumably you're paid in arrears not in advance. Do you mean you think they should pay you a month's salary in lieu of notice?

The link below might also be helpful in informing you of your options within the EU. From what I've read there it seems that you should be able to sue in the UK which will certainly be less complex than going through the Polish legal system.

gov.uk/government/publications/make-a-cross-border-claim-in-the-eu-ex725

If you're still unsure what to do, I would suggest that you contact the appropriate UK authority and they will advise you.

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]


Don't worry. Poles are very thick skinned :))

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]


Not exactly but if the salary you request is too high they will tell you so quite directly and will also tell you the max they are prepared to go to. If they don't you can just ask them. The best thing you can do is search job sites that allow you to search within a given salary parameter. Then you'll know in advance what the max is likely to be and you can state that figure or a bit below. But you're not in a great negotiating position because of your lack of experience. One thing against you for example is lack of experience of working in teams so see if you can waffle about anything that might be a transferrable skill or could be seen to compensate for that in some way or indicate that team work wouldn't be a problem for you.

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]


However they will ask you what your salary expectations are, they always do in Poland.


Exactly, that's the spirit :)) Try to do two years in that first job and brush up on a programming language or other skills in your own time to beef up your CV. If you want to start developing try to contribute something however small to open source. You need more on your CV than just what you did in your day job.

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]


Yes you are. In the world of IT, if your experience in a technology is more than two years ago, then it really doesn't count, except in rare cases. Do you have a relevant degree? Anyway, you're very much a junior as you have negligible industry experience, so 4,000 gross would be more realistic. And yes, the games sector pays the least and offers the fewest opportunities for career progression, also be prepared to work weekends when they're trying to meet a deadline - they always fall behind on projects.

Work / Questions regarding living&working in Gdansk [5]


There is absolutely no way you will feed yourself for 300zł per month and remember you will also need things like shampoo, toothpaste, loo roll, washing up liquid, it all adds up.

Poles are generally ok with foreigners. I'm Irish so I find them a bit stiff and formal but I don't what you're used to. You might feel differently.

UK, Ireland / Alcoholics Anonymous for Poles living in Ireland [27]


I wonder if that's the American AA. I know people who were in AA in the UK and weren't religious at all. I suppose it depends to some extent on the individuals who are running the particular group you go to.


It's not quite that simple. There are literally tens of millions of 'functioning' alcoholics around the world who hold down jobs and are outwardly successful. In Poland there are plenty of them in professions, white collar jobs etc consuming a bottle of vodka per day and considering themselves normal. Incidentally there are also heroin users who function quite well day to day in their jobs. I've personally known three , two in London, one in Dublin who were daily users and held down their jobs. One of the guys in London used to smoke heroin in the toilets at work, I kid you not.

Off-Topic / Work in the US or in the UK? Moving out of Poland. [8]

The US and the UK are two very different cultures. The only thing they really have in common is the English language. Are you drawn to one more than the other? On the practical side, the UK is a much easier move for you. You don't need a work permit or visa, just hop on the plane. Also there is a system in place of virtually automatic recognition of educational qualifications, the European Framework of Qualifications which simplfies the process of showing that you're qualified to do a similar job in the UK.

accreditedqualifications.org.uk/european-qualifications-framework-eqf.html

Even with the whole Brexit thing it would be easier (and certainly quicker) for you to go to the UK than America. Loads of jobs in your kind of work as well but not always that well paid. Plenty to browse through here:

indeed.co.uk/Community-Mental-Health-Social-Worker-jobs

And as Ironside said, look for a job first, don't just move on the off-chance and blow all your savings.
Best of luck :)

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]


Just a little update. The premliminary judgement was issued earlier and the final judgement was handed down by the European Court of Justice today. Other EU nations are no longer expected to automatically honour extradition requests. Instead they should use a two step check process:

1) Decide if the foreign court can be considered independent of outside pressures (this was always taken for granted within the EU).

2) If they decide that the foreign court is NOT independent the extraditing court must assess whether that lack of independence is likely to directly affect the trial of the defendant in question. With regard to the Polish guy awaiting extradition from Ireland the ECJ said that Warsaw could be asked to provide a guarantee of a fair trial to the Irish courts. However I'd say that when he's extradited, the Polish courts and more importantly the Polish government who now control them, will know that this is a landmark case so they'll play it by the book. Having read the charges against him in detail (the Irish courts have it all on file) he's likely to go down for a nice long sentence. Btw, he was in possession of drugs with a street value of around 350,000 euros.

News / Officials in Poland are hailing an upcoming visit by Donald Trump [720]


You do know that's for health reasons, nothing to do with Muslims. And that vote was already taken and defeated in the European Parliament. However the debate on phosphates wlll come up as a separate issue this year. If phosphates are banned, then they'll have to stop using them in kebabs. It's the phosphates that will be banned, not the kebabs.


Adrian, that is simply not true. Most murders in the UK are committed by white Brits. London is the only city where more murders are carried out by blacks (Muslims hardly figure at all in the stats). You need to look at the Home Office figures. These murders are determined largely by social problems, not race or religion.

Love / English woman with a Polish partner - may need to move to Poland soon [6]

Well I'm married to a Polish man (I'm Irish) and I loved Poland when I was there on holiday but it's a very different kettle of fish when you live there :) Also I live in Warsaw the capital city and you'd be in a smallish town I imagine?? The language is tough but you can get the basics, but you'd really need to attend classes, it's very hard to just pick up. Are you English Jenny?

News / Officials in Poland are hailing an upcoming visit by Donald Trump [720]


This was discussed before and I gave you a breakdown of their nationalities. The majority were not Muslims or even immigrants.

https://polishforums.com/law/poland-weapons-laws-carrying-concealed-51505/25/#msg1636996

News / Officials in Poland are hailing an upcoming visit by Donald Trump [720]

Adrian you sound completely unhinged. Here's a dose of reality for you: smartertravel.com/2017/02/09/dodgy-areas-birmingham-warnings-dangers/

Some of the worst areas for crime, muggings etc are over 90% white. Others which have now become more ethnically diverse, already had a bad reputation as far back as the 1970s.

News / Officials in Poland are hailing an upcoming visit by Donald Trump [720]


But it was never a quaint little market town. Birmingham was an industrial city, more akin to Newcastle or Sheffield and viewed with almost the same degree of horror as southerners reserve for those Northern places :)) Remember Victoria Wood - she had a character, a newsreader with the BBC and one of her lines was "We'd like to apologise to our viewers in the North - it must be awful for them" :D

UK, Ireland / Do British partners of Polish people in the UK speak their (Polish) language? [17]


Agree. I've never been asked about my religion though that's probably because I'm Irish so maybe people take it for granted I'm Catholic. They might be curious about the OP because he's British. They do ask me if I can speak Irish though and they sometimes comment on what good English I speak!!

Work / Questions regarding living&working in Gdansk [5]

Hi Linaa, to answer your questions:

1) Salaries in call centres are not high and unless your language is a rare one ( you don't say what your mother tongue is) then you're not in a position to negotiate much. Take a look at the site Glassdoor to see salaries in Gdańsk for jobs similar to the one you're considering. By the way you won't be negotiating for the net salary, but for the brutto (gross before tax, so be sure that you're clear on what you'll actually be paid).

2) You could live on 3,000 I suppose but it would be a bit grim.

3) The rent you quote sounds a bit high I think, but if it includes the 'czynsz' (service charge) it sounds about right for the top end. I'm sure you could get cheaper and you might be able to find a room in a shared flat/apartment with some other young people which would cut down on expenses. Try the site gumtree.pl.

4) Basic Polish would be an advantage. In all honesty it's hard to manage with zero Polish but if you speak another Slavic language you may find it easy enough to pick up.

Oh and take a look at numbeo, the cost of living site where you can compare living costs between Gdańsk and where you live now :)

@Dirk, the OP is a woman, not a boy of any kind, soy or otherwise.

Life / Jehova's witnesses in Poland - how to deal with them? [110]


That's absolutely true. There were two girls in college who were JWs. There was a guy in college with us who had been raised in a childrens' home. He mentioned casually one day that they never celebrated birthdays so he'd never had a birthday cake, let alone a party in his life. Four of us in the class made a collection for a cake and card for him when his birthday came round and the JWs wouldn't contribute :( not very Christian.

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

You're welcome Lyzko. For example our neighbour who's about sixty, just says hello when I meet him in the street but he kissed my hand when I went round to drop off a little gift at Christmas. Certainly for special occasions and first introductions it goes on amongst that generation.

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

Hi there Lyzko. Must back you up on this. Older men certainly do still practise the custom of hand-kissing if they're trying to be extra gentlemanly :)) I've had my hand kissed many times. Also you're right that it's not an 'upper class' thing. A manual labourer is as likely to kiss the lady's hand as a booted and suited type :) One old fellow who kissed my hand told my husband that he did it because I reminded him of the ladies of pre-war Warsaw. Isn't that sweet!

Life / My Last Link To Poland Died - Why Leaving Poland Was My Best Decision [249]


The Christian tradition thing is a separate question on the list.


The EU doesn't work that way. And it doesn't give money in return for cheap labour. Loads of EU nationals work all over the EU for normal wages. If Poles are prepared to work for low wages in other European countries that's their choice although it's increasingly rare nowadays especially among those who speak reasonably fluent English.