Travel / Mosques in Krakow? [131]

Layle (you got me on my knees!) wrote:


It's doing its damnedest! They spend a lot of money (as you know) trying to spread a nasty anti-progress, anti-scientific, retrograde version of Islam that turns any society it grows in to sh*t.

Layla (you got me on my knees!) wrote:


Politically yes. But most analyses I've seen show that the Saudi public is even more retrograde and conservative than their hideous royal rulers.

At the individual level most Muslims are good people (and I personally like most Muslims I've met). But I don't forget that no country with a Muslims population of about 80% has anything that a westerner would recognize as freedom of religion. I'm not in favor of curtailing Muslims' religious freedom but I think it's a good idea to keep reminding them that they're enjoying something their societies of origin routinely deny non-Muslims.

Bottom line, would you rather be a) A Muslim in a western country? b) A non-Muslim in a Muslim majority country?

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Arrrbol wrote:


Is it any weirder than "strasznie dzięuję"? (or "potwornie dziękuję" which I've also heard a time or two) ?

What about 'Bo ja wiem' for "I have no idea" or "w życiu" for "never"

All languages have their points where the meaning can't be deduced from the ingredients.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

Why not ząbek? (not being a native speaker it sounds fine to me)

"Mam ząbka."

or

"Ten laptop nie ma ząbka."

I like it (native speakers will probably vehemently disagree).

News / Andrzej Lepper committed suicide [98]

teflcat wrote:


What conspiracy theory? I always thought Lepper was a crook and liable to be drawn into crooked dealings. He might well have killed himself (though hanging seems a little out of line with what is known about his character) or he pissed off a bigger, more dangerous crook.

There's also the possibility that it was yet another case of auto-erotic asphixiation gone wrong* (sorry for that mental image, really, I am).

Finally, one of the reasons that people believe in conspiracy's is because the powers that be have a pretty bad record of not telling the truth. Lie often enough consistently enough (like most governments most of the time) and people will seek out alternate explanations.

/wiki/Auto-erotic_asphyxiation#Famous_cases

News / Andrzej Lepper committed suicide [98]

I actually kind of agree. I think there's about a 50/50 chance he was helped. But i don't think it was political at all, he probably just got too involved with ... representatives of certain illegal activities. He seemed like exactly the type to get in too deep without realizing it until it was too late.

But again without further evidence I'd say it's about a 50/50 chance.

Travel / After 7 Weeks, why i loved Poland =) [22]

levi wrote


That sentence is not good English. Would you call 'Good Poruguese' if someone just used Portuguese words with no thought as to grammar?

note: I've made this point twice before but used portuguese words (once with translation) and the moderators decided to delete my comments because subtle points are apparently against their policy. If this comment is deleted I'm out of here.

Life / Polack: A Small Minded Movie. [17]

Q: How many Poles does it take to wipe out Polish jokes forever?

A: More than they've got.

Travel / Questions: Bus from Puławy to Budapest [4]

Yeah, actually the night train to Budapest (from Warsaw as well) works fine. I've taken it a number of times (both directions). The conductors of the sleeping (or couchette) car are IME Polish about 2/3 of the time and Hungarian 1/3 of the time. But if you have your tickets language isn't much of an issue. Typically trains from Poland arrive at Keleti palyaudvar in the morning.

Law / Why do local municipalities in Poland take your birth certificate when you get married? [3]

It should be the other way around, they keep the copies (verifying them with the originals which they give back to you).

Travel / Questions: Bus from Puławy to Budapest [4]

Your best bet is to go to the Puławy PKS and look around for the international connections. There might be a posted schedule outside somewhere as well as offices inside. It's hard to do on line but much easier in person. The address is Lubelska 9, B on this map.

You also might try through a travel agency.

maps.google.pl/maps?hl=pl&q=pu%C5%82awy+pks&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1489l4148l0l4309l10l6l0l0l0l0l393l1136l0.2.2.1l5l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1595&bih=631&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

I would be very surprised if the driver spoke English.

Life / Where are the second-hand stores in Krakow? [14]

Thrift stores as such basically don't exist. But most cities have outdoor markets (at least on some weekends) where people sell second hand things.

I just found this (can't vouch for accuracy)

ul. Balicka 56.

saturdays 9-14
sundays 7-15

technically this is for antiques but usually there is more modern stuff as well

also looking for pchli targ (flea market) in google it looks like there's one in Kazimierz on sundays (a few years ago I don't know if it's still on)

also Hala Targowa by ul Grzegorzeckiej on Sundays

Life / Car or no car to commute in Warszawa? (Warsaw) [13]

I like to bike but I wouldn' advise it in Poland. Polish drivers are not very bike conscious and the weather a lot of the year doesn't encourage it either.

I second the public transport option. It's safe, cheap and pretty efficient. Also walking. The streets are very safe and walking is great exercise (better than biking).

A car is not needed in central Warsaw unless you need to drive to the outskirts (or all over town) a lot. Gas is expensive, theft is still a worry, parking almost impossible and traffic is already overcrowded.

Also, unless things have changed you'll probably have to have the taillights changed:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taillights#Rear_position_lamps_.28tail_lamps.29

The longest (in time) and most frustrating trips I've had in Warsaw were by car. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Life / Have many Poles had enough of one another? [198]

delphiandomine wrote:


I think a lot also depends on the particular store's manager, I generally like Lidl but the one closest to me is .... not so good.

Do they have a promote from within policy? If I were a younger person without office work pretensions I'd try to get hired at a chain with a promote from within policy. The work (as work) is not necessarily so rewarding but you can leave it behind when you're not there.

Work / Jobs for non Polish speakers? [24]

BRS wrote:


A company in Poland hiring only native English speakers? Is that what you meant?

Love / Kiss on the eyes - Polish girl's way of being affectionate? [8]

Kissing just under the eyes is not rare in Poland, can't say I've heard of or experience eyelid kissing. Sounds freekay.

UK, Ireland / I need help!! (problems with my Polish coworkers) [41]


I can't picture any interaction that begins with "What's wrong with you?" ending well....

Stand back and take a broader view.

Polish people don't see the work environment and co-workers the same way that Anglophones (in general do). They're not there to make friends and mostly have little interest in socializing with co-workers.

Also, Polish people tend to take a dim view of indirect ways of saying things. Don't say "Do you think you might be able to let me get by?" Say "Anna, move!" (always use their name and simple commands, that's actually more polite for Polish people than obscure indirect expression.

Don't look at them as potential friends or even people you can get along well with. View them as other people doing their job. You don't have to be nice, just be correct.

Do not apologize for your past behavior, Polish people see that as weakness and admission that you were in the wrong. Just change your behavior slightly and the picture should start changing on it's own.

Work / Polish student overseas wanting to study in Poland:Which language do I choose to study in? [6]

Also worth considering:

1. Cllasses in English will be signficantly more expensive than in Polish.

2. The quality of education in Poland is significantly higher in Polish than it is in English.

in short:

studying in Poland in English - high price + lower quality

studying in Polish - lower price + higher quality

Getting your Polish skills to the appropriate level won't be easy (though the internet can help a lot) but dealing with Polish faculty in English is also not going to be a bed of roses...

News / HIV infected Nigerian has bitten bus ticket's controler in Cracow! [56]

delphiandomine wrote:


Gotta say I don't see it. People don't like them because they don't like paying for their ticket. I can't say I've had any really bad experiences with them but have seen a lot of passengers with no ticket (and no excuse) be rude.

Food / Is there a good substitute of Philadelphia Cheese in Poland? [14]

quark is for sernik, for US style cheesecake you want something like this:

Language / How many words does the Polish language have? [30]

Here's a post from language log (written by professional linguists) with links to even more posts about the futility and fatuousness of people trying to say how many words are in a language.

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2363


The root is kot, which is enough for a fluent (or even semi-fluent) user to generate the rest.

Kotek is a perfectly regular diminutive ending, kot = cat, kotek = kitty (roughly)

As for kotek and kotku, why aren't sing and sings different words in the dictionary?

Kotku is just the vocative (and locative) case of kotek. Again, 100% regular.

While beginning (and intermediate) learners of Polish might feel overwhelmed by the irregularities, the advanced learner is hardly ever bothered. Polish is overall much more regular than irregular.

With English it works in reverse, easy in the beginning and the steepest learning curves are for the most advanced students.

Language / How many words does the Polish language have? [30]


No. Sorry for muddling your head with a few facts. It won't happen again. I'll be helpful now and let you know, the Polish language has exactly 236,817 words, not a word more or less.

Language / How many words does the Polish language have? [30]

I'm mostly not posting here now (for mod reasons) but as a linguist I can't resist:

This is a pointless question for many reasons, including but not limited to:

- there's no real valild cross linguistic definition of 'word' (that is, you have to define word by language)

- there's no established way of 'counting' how many words are in a given language

- in the English tradition, once a word makes it into a dictionary it's there forever even if no one has actually used it for decades (or centuries) the English word count is boosted by thousands and thousands of words that almost no native speaker would recognize or be able to use. Most other European languages don't do that and treat obsolete words as .... osbsolete rather than as going concerns.

What you can say is that Polish and English work differently which is going to influence what dictinaries look like and word counts. For one thing, derivational processes (making new words from old ones) are usually less ambiguous in Polish so lots of potential words don't have to be listed in the dictionary. In English derivational processes are more unpredictable which means you need a lot more separate entries.

This is also reflected in spelling where English words have to be learned one by one whereas Polish depends more on general rules.

In some ways, for the very advanced learner, this makes Polish easier than English. While reading newspapers or books, I'm always coming across new words (for me) in Polish that are completely understandable in context. Even native speakers can find this difficult to do in English (less common with individual words but unfamiliar collocations with idiomatic meanings can throw me in English. I remember coming across 'belt up' in something British and it made no sense at all to me and I only learned what it meant when it came up again in a context where the meaning (shut up) was clearer.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]

If that's the case, then give it a go, what do you have to lose?

A few things to consider (be prepared for).

Poland is nowhere near as corrupt as Indonesia so it has that going for it and the heat is not unbearable. But a lot of things are pretty profoundly different from anywhere in the British Isles.

Your coworkers are liable to seem unfriendly. In Poland socialization with colleagues is the exception rather than the rule. Some might resent you and others might want you to be their free English tutor. Even ones that don't dislike you will generally ignore you. Be ready for that.

Some may give you positive reinforcement for not knowing Polish and/or discourage you from learning. Ignore them and learn as much as you can and use it whenever possible. It's a lot harder than Indonesian so expect frustration.

If there is a problem with what you do in the classroom it will probably not be brought to your attention until it's a crisis. I don't know why this is, but it's a pattern I've noticed again and again. Be pro-active (but don't ask students, it will make you seem incompetent to them).

You need to learn to be assertive. Poland can be wonderful for assertiveness training for wimpy anglophones. If you don't stand up for yourself you're a walking target.

Polish women flirt. Most of the time they don't mean it. If they do mean it (and you're not responding) then they'll escalate.

Don't take no for an answer. The first answer to any request or suggestion is almost always 'no'. It doesn't mean 'no' it means 'convince me'.

Rules are meant to be broken. Poland isn't super corrupt but written rules count for little in practice. Make this work to your advantage.

There's more but that's a start.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]


Rotsa ruck with that in a small town somewhere south of £odź (Piotrków Trybunalski or Sieradz?)... They'll just tell him they can't pay him (for whatever reason) until he signs the Polish version.

Sworn translation is okay (but also not great if he doesn't understand Polish law and how English words are bent to conform to that) but he shouldn't trust a translation not done by an independent person (which he'd have to pay for).

All that aside, even if the school owner is meticulously honest (big if) the potential for some trivial cultural difference to blow up in his face is pretty large.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]

I'm aware of the kinds of cases you're talking about and 100% confident that none of them would apply in the case of the OP.

The only thing that will be binding if he signs the contract is the Polish version which he cannot read. Any English version provided will have no legal weight unless the Polish version says so and the chances of the Polish version saying so are about 10000 to one (and that's being optimistic).

Do you agree?

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]

I wish you well in getting an English language contract enforced in Poland (especially if it differs from the Polish version). Let me know how that works out.

Work / English teaching job offer in a medium Polish town. Is the salary sufficient? [30]


And in Poland, only a contract in Polish has any legal force. Any translation is a courtesy that has no legal weight whatsoever.


My gut answer here is to pass on it if you're only thinking of Poland as an interlude in an international ESL career. Poland can be a great place to live once you know how to get things done (which are very different from anything you're liable to be used to and maybe different from anything you'll be able to be get used to).

But Poland (especially a 100,000 town out in the middle of nowhere) is not a good place to spend a year or two. A large city more used to foreigners like Poznan or Wroclaw is a better bet for a shorter stay but even that can be a challenge. The weather, culture, language, food and ways of doing things (I cannot stress how much stress this is liable to cause you) are liable to lead to despair unless you're committed to learn to adapt and not just work.

To sum up, Poland is a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there.

Work / Irish native speaker moving to Poland - job ideas (private lessons?) [9]


Don't. There are no English language channels in Poland (no demand) and without Polish in most work environments you're more of a liability than an asset.

Law / Maintenance & Rights: Polish mother & child in Poland, Irish father in the UK [57]


What this tells me (with some experience of Polish ways): They hoped that you would show up by yourself, fall in love with a charming baby girl (whether or not she's yours at that age she's bound to be adorable) and offer to marry the mother. It doesn't make much sense but I'd bet a lot of money that was the plan. If nothing else the girl's mother would like the respectability of a married daughter with child and I wouldn't be surprised if she would like her out of the house too.


First mistake. Never believe that again (without very strong evidence).


Yes. There is no shortage of women who can self-justify exploiting some guy economically for years or decades even to support a child that isn't his. I'm not saying all (or even most) women are like that but there are enough of women who are that men need to be super careful and only extend trust when it's well earned. What has this woman ever done that the OP should trust her?

Another wild guess on my part. The woman knows (or strongly suspects) who the father is and knows she can't get money from him and so she chose t sleep with the OP guy early in her pregnancy based on similar looks...

Study / French or English or Polish schools in Poznan (for age 9 and 11) [34]


Not what he said. The fact is the market for English teachers in Poland is for native speakers from a country where Engish is used in all walks of life by the great majority of the population and not from countries where English is colonial leftover and where most people speak other languages at home.

A strong Indian accent can be difficult for non-Indian native speakers to understand and is absolutely not a model to be spread (unless the people paying for the teacher specifically want that kind of English). As one person put it, English has prestige in India but spoken Indian English has little international prestige.

I'm sure many people in India are wonderful teachers for some subjects in some places. But hardly any of them are appropriate as ASL teachers in Poland.