Language / Which is the BEST, EASIEST to learn & most helpful"POLISH FOR FOREIGNERS"course? [32]


Haha... come on. You also think that one should be careful with the word numer (number), because it can also mean sex-act?
Then I have to stop asking people for their (telephone) number.

There are so many words that have dirty associations. And it's not a big problem.

But "Poproszę numerek" has a sense of humor.

Language / iec conjugation [47]


This is an important part of the grammar.

determinate = a specific action (jutro idziemy do kina)
indeterminate = non-specific actions/actions in general (często chodzimy do kina)

They always come in pairs. This is an example with the pair iść/chodzić .


There are so many other things that you should focus on than these details.
I have told you so many times to focus on the basic things. But you are not listening, and then I can't help you, sorry.

Law / Polish Cop Took My Car Registration :S [143]

Everybody knows that bureaucracy in Poland is more crazy than in 99% of other countries.

Language / iec conjugation [47]


That division does not exist in Polish.

Language / iec conjugation [47]

pojechał = he was riding - Ok, maybe we can accept that. Or "he went".

The rest are unfortunately incorrect.

Verbs ending in -łem are always past tense (1 person singular, for a male).
---> szukałem, miałem, byłem, robiłem

Past tense singular endings:
ja -łem/łam
ty -łeś/łaś
on -ł
ona -ła
ono/to -ło

They are always like this. So the endings in past tense are very regular, but the stem can change.

You must learn one things before going on to the next, don't stress.

News / Too much change in Poland?! [25]


I guess them as much change as I can, just to get rid of the groszy.

Love / What exactly is Wieczór panieński - Bridal Shower? [8]


It's a female bachelor party. The girl who is getting married gets a party with her female friends. Usually it includes doing some crazy things, but of course it's not obligatory to have a stripper. I'm pretty sure you have the same in Germany.

Language / iec conjugation [47]


There is no rule for that. You must learn it by heart.

Start with learning the present tense.

For most verbs:
ja -ę or -am
ty -sz
ona/on/ono no ending, only the stem
my -my
wy -cie
oni/one -ą

Take it easy until you get your books. It's impossible to learn if you don't have a good book. If you are really interested in grammar you can get Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook (by Dana Bielec). It's very much grammar in it. But usually I don't recommend it for beginners since there is almost too much grammar in it.

Language / "Zaraz wracam" - Why not "zaraz wrócę" ? [32]

It's common in many languages (also English) to use present tense to express something in the future, in some situations like these.

Language / iec conjugation [47]


You don't know the difference between imperfect and past tense. It's 2 completely different things. You should read about the difference btw. perfective and imperfective forms. It's very hard to explain, but there are some threads about it, search. And learn from a proper book.

Present tense: jem
Past tense imperfective: jadłem/jadłam
Past tense perfective: zjadłem/zjadłam
Future imperfective (compound future): będę jadł/jadła (or jeść)
Future perfective (simple future): zjem

Check 301 Polish Verbs.

Language / iec conjugation [47]

There are many exceptions in verb conjugation that you must learn by heart. That's just the way it is. Often there is no good explanation.

Language / I need some encouragement from Polish language speakers! [30]

Buy Polish in 4 weeks (level 1) and 301 Polish Verbs. And you will understand most of it,

Language / Which is the BEST, EASIEST to learn & most helpful"POLISH FOR FOREIGNERS"course? [32]


Without conjugation of the verbs you can't even differentiate 'I want' (chcę) from 'you want' (chcesz).

Good Luck to understand the language then...

Language / że & iż [16]

Ok, thanks.

Language / Which is the BEST, EASIEST to learn & most helpful"POLISH FOR FOREIGNERS"course? [32]


You mean you want to learn Polish phrases, not the Polish language. There is a huge difference.

Language / że & iż [16]


Does anyone think this sentence sounds bad?

Love / Is she genuine? - I would like some advice please re a Polish girl. [130]

Can be true, or can be an evil method of a scammer. Scammers have no moral at all, and they play on people's feelings.

Language / When do you use 'się'? And what does it mean? [37]


Of course there are exceptions to all rules (in all languages).

Love / Is she genuine? - I would like some advice please re a Polish girl. [130]


It's so easy for a scammer to google this.

It's very difficult to differentiate a professional scammer from a genuine person. That's why scammers make money, because they're skilled.

But their is one good rule; if it's too good to be true - then it's usually not true.

And you can ask her to write something in Polish. If the scammer uses online translations it will not look so good grammatically.

Language / When do you use 'się'? And what does it mean? [37]

When people explain this it sounds more complicated than it really is.

In a slightly simplified way we can say that:
Się means myself, yourself, herself, himself, ourselves, themselves and yourselves (depending on the ending of the verb as usual).

Compare these pairs:

Myjemy = We are washing
Myjemy się = We are washing ourselves

Uczę = I teach
Uczę się = I teach myself (I study)

Kochają go = They love him
Kochają się = They love themselves (or they make love to each other)

But note that Polish and English verbs are not always reflexive in the same situations. So, sometimes you can't just translate it word by word from PL-ENG or vice versa. But you will learn these situations by heart automatically while studying other parts of the language.

Work / Salary expectations in Poland [373]

This is for sure an overestimation, I can guarantee that.

Work / Salary expectations in Poland [373]

Most people I know get about 2000 zl per month in a medium sized city.
Rent (incl. bills) 1000 zl
Food 400-500 zl per month.

The biggest problems is that it's difficult to get any other job than teaching English if you don't speak very good Polish. And the unemployment rate is high, so there are a lot of Poles competing for the jobs with you. And of course, for most jobs, they prefer to hire a Pole.


You should also ask where they live. Wages and cost of living varies a lot in PL.

Language / Which is the BEST, EASIEST to learn & most helpful"POLISH FOR FOREIGNERS"course? [32]

There are 2 very good courses available:

1. Polish in 4 weeks (level 1) (but it takes longer than 4 weeks to complete it). You also get a computer program to listen to the dialogs.

2. Colloquial Polish, you also get a CD with the dialogs.

Earlier I preferred Colloquial Polish. But I have seen that it's easier for most people to follow the structure with Polish in 4 weeks.

You also need a special book for conjugation of Polish verbs. It's called 301 Polish Verbs. I strongly recommend it. It'll help you so much.

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


Of course, German had a significant influence on the Polish language.

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

Or you can do as McDonalds and take 1 Polish and 1 English word and put them together to a new word, Kurczakburger.

Well, this is very common among young people in most countries actually.

English, Polish et. al. borrowed a lot of French words a long time ago. Now people don't even know they are of French origin.

Language / DECLENSIONS (the difference between suffixes) [11]


It depend on which grammatical case you have, there are 7 of them. You need a good book that explains the grammar well.

Love / All Polish women can't be nutters can they? [257]

Come on, these things happen. That's life. Just move on! This is your chance to be strong.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


It's an important and time consuming part of learning languages. We should be glad we don't have to do it. We get more time for other things.

Love / All Polish women can't be nutters can they? [257]


I don't know this girl, but ok, let's say that she's an idiot. What should you do?
The sooner you move on, the better you will feel. The more you think about her, the worse you will feel.


By the way, does the name "Southern" remind you of anything?

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


I agree 100%. But some people don't realize this. So they make it much more difficult than it is.