Life / Buying New Tyres for your car in Poland [9]

I was surprised when an Italian friend of mine - who has only recently started studying Polish, in view of a several months stay later this year - understood the word opony. When I asked how come he knows it, he said he had searched all of Europe for cheap tyres and found the best deals at opony.pl: even with shipping costs and paying a car mechanic to mount them on the rims and car, it was the cheapest way, and he is satisfied of them.

Po polsku / Czy znacie jakieś "kultowe" Polskie filmy na Youtube? [21]


Tak jest.

Nie wiem czy następny film jest "kultowy", ale dla mnie jest, to:
...

Genealogy / Kesikowski: Surname origin, Polish Kingdom-Podlasie region 1600-1700 [8]

So the father's full name was Marcin Kęsikowski.

History / Civilian life in Poland (Krakow) during the WW2. [30]

Polskie drogi happens also in Kraków, doesn't it? ;-)

Language / Polish Poetry: Should one only translate into one's own native tongue? [39]


"one's own", "another, foreign no matter how close" are not so easily defined and distinguished.

Regarding Italians, Umberto Eco wrote a couple of books on translation - which is funny, as the translation of most of his books into another language (which I won't mention) was done by someone, whose Italian is very bad. Instead, a blog post by renowned translator William Weaver on translating Eco's The Island of the Day Before is quite enlightening and an interesting read. Pity that I can't find the link.

Language / Polish Poetry: Should one only translate into one's own native tongue? [39]


Amen to this.

Australia / Prawdziwki (Porcini) mushrooms in Australia? [14]

I know this well, I have them in my garden here in Italy. The issue is that in Italy they are relatively scarce, but very appreciated and valued. That's why they import them. On the contrary, in Finland there are many more porcini and much less eaters, besides they are so common that they aren't valued as much.

There isn't a Wikipedia page on him in English, I hope Google Translate is enough: Loreno Dalla Valle.

Love / Torments me my boyfriend had a relationship with a pole-how do I get over this [28]


I don't know either. My suspicion is that you are trolling. Why? Maybe you were inspired by a couple of quite stupid threads in the last few days.

Language / Polish Poetry: Should one only translate into one's own native tongue? [39]


Generally speaking maybe, but there are many cases in which the above doesn't apply.

UK, Ireland / Are you Poles proud of your country? Then why do you keep coming to Britain? [100]


This is so true. Only living abroad - as opposed to visiting as a tourist - you do learn about other cultures and societies and also about your own country and yourself, you do enrich yourself, and you do understand that many more things are relative than you thought.

By living in one country only it's so easy to take many things as self-evident and true, only after an extended stay in another you come to appreciate that it is not so.

So, Advice, I advise you to go live abroad, for example in Poland.

News / Could Poland be self-sustainable in energy? [56]

I don't know the Polish situation exactly, but generally speaking nuclear waste disposal is not the problem they paint it to be. And sometimes "lobbies" get it right.

News / Could Poland be self-sustainable in energy? [56]


Nuclear is pretty cheap.

News / Could Poland be self-sustainable in energy? [56]

I still hope the nuclear project goes on.

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


That is certainly true, but still when Polish and Russian differ, it's usually the Polish which has a "western" counterpart to the Russian "common Slavic" one. Also it seems to me that Polish often has two versions of the same word, maybe with slightly different meanings, one "Slavic" and one "western" - a bit like English having often a "Latin" and a "Saxon" (?) word for the same meaning.

Sure, every language has such cases, but Polish struck me among them - it's the only language where I can try to improvise by using an international word and being confident it actually exists.

Edit: the above in my quite limited experience with Polish (and Russian) though.

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

I do actually find Polish to be surprisingly "Westerner", and surprisingly more Italian/French/Latin than German. The contrast with, for example, Russian, is striking. I'm sure you could just add -ować, -acja, -anie to "Western" words and make complete sentences that Poles will understand.

Australia / Prawdziwki (Porcini) mushrooms in Australia? [14]


Which is strange, as porcini are imported to Italy. An Italian entrepreneur became rich by exporting porcini from Finland to Italy.

Travel / What's good to do in Wroclaw Poland? [34]


Thank you for that site!

Language / Do I have these Polish word cases right? [16]

Or find different ways of self teaching.

Remember also that there is never a one-to-one correspondence between words in different languages. What there often is, is the correspondence of functions of words in a sentence.

"Chaza has an apple"

"Chaza" is the subject (who does)
"has" is the verb, or predicate (the action)
"an orange" is the object (what is being done).

Subject and object have different meanings, that is, functions in the sentence. Now in English you don't usually see the difference, as "an apple" can be both subject and object. But see the next example:

"Chaza kisses her"

"Chaza" subject
"kisses" predicate
"her" object

You don't say "Chaza kisses she".

In Polish it's the same. The subject is expressed in the nominative case "Chaza", then there is the verb, then there is the object, which is in the accusative case:

Chaza ma pomarańczę
Chaza całuje ją

There are many more possible functions. An example is what in English, I think, is called the indirect object (?): to whom?

Chaza gives an orange to Cinek.
Chaza daje pomarańczę Cinkowi.

Again you have Chaza (subject, who does), gives/daje (verb, the action), an orange/pomarańczę (the object) and now you have "to whom?", to Cinek/Cinkowi. "To whom?" in Polish is expressed by the dative case.

And so on, all different functions (when? with what? where?) have their own ways to be expressed in Polish, usually with a combination of a case and a preposition.

Love / Lost my polish (soul mate) girlfriend, wondering if theres a chance she will come back.... [34]

I don't know about huge age differences, but 5 years is definitely not one of them.

Language / Do I have these Polish word cases right? [16]

There are not so many idioms after all, don't be scared by them.

Study / Studying Swedish in Krakow [11]


On the other hand Finns often speak English with Swedes, both in informal settings and in the job environment.

Language / Help. Basic Polish Grammar by Dana Bielec [21]


The problem is that Intermediate Polish Grammar is to be found everywhere - it's the Basic one that is not to be found.

As long as grammars go, nothing can beat the completely legal and free materials by Oscar E. Swan at Uni Pittsburgh polish.slavic.pitt.edu/. One comprehensive reference grammar, one students' grammar, one Verbs + elements of grammar handbook. Not forgetting all the other material.

Language / Collection of learning resources for learning the Polish language [129]

Hurra po polsku is all in Polish and intended for classroom and teacher.

A couple of inexpensive Polish books in English for self-learners, made in Poland, are "Polish in four weeks" and Supermemo's "Polski bez problemu!". Both have 2-3 levels.

Language / How to say 'mean' in Polish? [22]

chaza, what are you using to study Polish? Maybe you should get more courses or textbooks. For example Pimsleur Polish, with all its drawbacks, tries to teach in an easy and "intuitive" way (but get it only if you find it for free and have enough time).

Besides, what is your native language, English? I'm under the impression they teach much less grammar in school in English speaking countries than elsewhere. In that case, I'd suggest to find an easy introduction to grammar - not Polish grammar, just grammar in general or English grammar. I know many people demonize learning with grammar, but it's nothing evil and it can help you understand how a language works, even without learning all those rules and declinations by heart.

Language / Do I have these Polish word cases right? [16]


For now.

One day kgoess will learn about "personal masculine" plural ending in -i or -y and the required consonant changes. But let's not scare him/her yet ;-)

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]

The problem for me is that usually an aspectual pair correspond to one only "meaning" in your native language(s). But there are exceptions, where niedokonany and dokonany "mean" different things: for example uczyć się/nauczyć się polskiego (in English both are "to learn Polish", but in other languages the first is "to study" and the second "to succesfully learn"), or zdawać/zdać egzamin (to take an exam/to pass it).

So you can wonder how to express such concepts as "to learn and become fluent in a new language every month" (as opposed to just studying it), or "to pass an exam every day" (as opposed to just take it).

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]

Oh, now it's clear. You simply can't use dokonany with repeated events, but have to change the sentence ("wszystkie" zamiast "codziennie").

Thank you!

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]

Merged: A question about perfective vs. imperfective?

A question about perfective vs. imperfective (dokonany/niedokonany)

They teach that you have to use imperfective with repeated events, even if "completed". But how would you translate for example "I PASSED an exam every day"?

Can you say "Codziennie zdałem egzamin (a nie tylko zdawałem)"?

Language / So why did you give up learning Polish? [105]

I gave up when my GF, half Polish, kept correcting me that my cześć is wrong and that I will never learn it.

Now she is an ex and my Polish is going strong.

Law / Motorcycle Polish drivers license? [37]


In Wrocław it's like this:

(after having attended the required driving lessons, I think)

1. You have to pay and register for, and pass the theory exam - which as far as I can tell is quite easy, as it's a small set of questions - which you can also find and test yourself on internet. The theory exam is valid for six months. If you haven't passed the driving exam by then, you have to do the theory exam again. By the way, it is very cheap too. You can also do both exams combined the same day.

2. You have to pay and register for the driving exam. Typically in Wrocław you can find a time for next day, otherwise the day after. The driving exam consists of: two "theory" questions that you randomly choose from a deck of cards (!), such as "check if lights work", "check engine oil", and such; łuk and górka; and 25 to 40 (?) minute drive in the traffic. If you fail, you can do it again the next day or whenever you want.

3. If you fail the driving exam three times, you have to take six additional driving lessons - at the authorized instructor of your choice. You are also entitled, if you want, to a free visit at a psychologist. Then you are free to return to point 2. (or point 1. after six months).

What surprised me the most is how codified everything is and how "impartial". All the cars are the same (Renault Clio at the moment) - which is why driving schools also have to have them. Theory is objective, a computer can pass or fail you, but this is the same everywhere. The "theory" questions about the car in the driving exams are fixed and randomly assigned, not chosen by the instructor. Everything you do in the traffic, well or bad, is noted on a preprinted paper with all the possible situations noticed. The whole exam is recorded on video. Everywhere in WORD there are posters inviting to denounce corruption, and a list of convicted people trying to offer "help" in exchange of money (examiners), offering money (those being examined) or having someone else do the exam in your place.