Life / Polish pretense - what's the deal? [72]


Why only girls? Boys don't hang out in Malls in UK?


Ewww... You'd like to oogle teenage girls, wouldn't you? ;O


lol
Did the men squatting in cirlces in the forest told you so? ;)
How on Earth Andrzejki can "ridicule" the Church and "allow the scales to fall from peoples eyes and let them see what a nonsense it all is"? Andrzejki is the eve of St. Andrew's Day. The priests may preach against it because Christians aren't supposed to practice any magic, fortune-telling or things of this sort.

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


Oh, I know you are, I can feel it in my bones lol


So what? It's pretty, leave the Christmas tree alone! >:-[

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]

Yes, I'm sure you hate the Christmas tree or placing votive candles on the graves of relatives on All Saints' Day - such evil, evil things lol

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]

Converted.

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


If you're planning to visit some churches then when in Kraków Kościół Mariacki (St. Mary's Basilica) is a must :) Also the Wawel Cathedral with tombs of Polish kings and I personally like and also recommend visiting the Church of St. Francis of Assisi's.


Oh, I didn't know you put it in the "Everyday Life" section. I wrote that because someone moved your thread to "Relationships, Marriage" section (I don't know why really).


Well then I'm sure she'll know what to wear in Poland :)


I've found a photo of a Polish Muslim girl living in Poland:



Btw, she wrote on a blog she can't wear a hijab at work so this can be a problem (I don't know if it's regulated in any way by law, it probably depends on the employer).

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


You're welcome :)


:)


No problem, I'm religious myself. Tom's posts ended up in the bin (Random Chat Thread (deleted periodically)).


That's very nice of you and I'm sure the girl will enjoy it, however:


Tom is right, Abu3issa, the girl can wear a hijab if she wants to, it wouldn't be considered disrespectful by Polish people. The only downside would be that people would stare at her, as there are so few Muslims in Poland and her outfit would be considered something "exotic" ;)

Btw, is "the Muslim girl" your wife or daughter? Is she Saudi Arabian?

(Mods, shouldn't this thread be in the "Society, Culture" section of the forum?)

Language / Learning to speak Polish(?) for traveling reasons. Help!? [30]


People say it's difficult. I believe them ;) Of course it also depends on your language skills, probably.


Let's start with how to pronounce Polish letters and sounds then:

A a - "ah"
Ą ą - ivona.com/pl/ or if you have problems with it pronounce it as "on" (as in "on/off")
B b - b
C c - you can pronounce it as "ts"
Ć ć
D d - d
E e - "eh"
Ę ę - if you have problems with it pronounce it like "eh" or "en" in "men"
F f - f
G g - pronounce it like "g" in "great" (always)
H h - h
I i - "ee"
J j - pronounce it like "y" in "yes"
K k - k
L l - l
£ ł - pronounce it like "w" in "wave"
M m - m
N n - n
Ń ń - if you have problems with it pronounce as "n"
O o - like "o" in "spot", "stop" or "Harry Potter"
Ó ó - like "oo" in "poo"
P p - p
R r - r
S s - s
Ś ś - if you have problems with it pronounce it as "s"
T t - t
U u - like "oo" in "poo"
W - pronounce it like "v" in "van"
Y - pronounce it like "i" in "pity"
Z - z
- -
Ż - (it's the same as "j" in French in "J'adore Dior" or "jamais")

In bold - letters pronounced in a different way than in English.

Other Polish sounds:

CZ cz - pronounce it like "ch" in "chunky"
SZ sz - pronounce it like "sh" in "shadow"
CH ch - pronounce it like "h"
DZ dz -
D- dź -
DŻ dż - pronounce it like "j" in "joy"
RZ rz - it's pronounced in the same way as "ż" (it's the same as "j" in French in "J'adore Dior" or "jamais")

For example, if you want to order a beer you say:

"Poproszę piwo."

You could pronounce it like:

"Poprosheh peevo."

o - always pronounced like "o" in "spot", "stop" or "Harry Potter"

If you have any questions ask away :)

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


No, I haven't been to a British nightclub. Abu3issa's is asking about Poland. He asked: "What can a Muslim girl wear in Poland, to appear modest yet blend in with society?"

Walking around in underwear isn't "modest", do you understand that, Tom?


So?


That's fascinating, Tom, but what does it have to do with clothes for a Muslim girl?

Life / How To Make the Poland Homeless Happy [7]

That was great :))))

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


OK, I'll try :)


If she likes colourful clothes then she could go with skirts like these, for example:

And as kaz200972 wrote she could combine those wide jeans with a tunic blouse:

Also, during summer when it's hot she could wear those tunics with wide linen pants, which are a classic and elegant choice for that time of year:

As for skirts, then this could be considered a very casual "university" look:

Everyday outfit:

For work:



Something more chic, elegant:
Elegant outfit in Poland

And more summer looks:
broken link

To be honest I'm not sure what would be acceptable for Muslims, so I don't know what to propose. Are long sleeves in blouses obligatory? And how close to the body they could be? For me, for example, the first "summer look" (the photo with the white chair in the background) is pure innocence, but maybe it wouldn't be acceptable for a Muslim girl?

Btw, how old is she?


+1
Or woollen skirts:




I had a feeling you'll write that lol


Well, if she's a Muslim then she may want to conform to some Muslim laws out of her free will and then it's neither mine nor your business.


Tom, even in Europe you can wear a bikini only on a beach lol

Love / ACCEPTABLE modest wear for Polish women? [49]


That would be OK.

Or maybe something like this:




How about this?:

modest wear in poland

Life / Rising cost of food across the globe. How much is a weekly shop in Poland now in 2013. [53]


I don't know how it's like in the UK, but Tesco definitely isn't the cheapest supermarket in Poland. Real is cheaper than Tesco, for example.

History / What do Polish think of Gen. Pilsudski? [12]


1918 to be more precise, by Piłsudski's decree, which was confirmed by the March Constitution of 1921.


From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage#Poland

History / What do Polish think of Gen. Pilsudski? [12]


He is not hated for sure (at least by the majority of Poles, I think) but also the assessment of Piłsudski isn't unambiguous.

I think the article in Wikipedia sums it up well:


In Poland Piłsudski is also:


Quotes from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Pi%C5%82sudski


That's definitely not the best recommendation in the world lol


Really? He is rather infamous for the prison for political prisoners at Bereza Kartuska and his authoritarian methods.


I think probably during at least one of the uprisings (during the partitions) and you could also read about:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish-Soviet_War

Life / Thoughts on Music in Poland [132]

Not a Polish song, but I just had to share it because this woman made me cry yesterday lol (and her story - she was born prematurely and is blind in one eye and has some 30% of vision in the other) - Dorota Osińska singing "Calling You" (a song from "Bagdad Café"):

Polonia / Polish people have no presence in China and most people are confused! [16]

Ylzmichal, are you a Catholic?
What is the attitude of Chinese Catholics towards those bishops imposed by the government?


That's cool and very nice of you, thanks :)

Life / The two sides of the Poles: friendly and honest / saying behind ones back [15]


What do you mean by that? ^__^


Noooooooooo...


Noooooo... Can't be...


Nooooooo... Not possible... The British people are white and fluffy - in one word: perfect.
Talking behind one's back happens only among Poles and tribes of Amazon jungle o.O

Language / Secret to the Polish Rolling R [40]


I have not only read your posts but I've quoted them. I see that you have problems not only with reading what I write but also with remembering what you wrote yourself o_O

You didn't write you THOUGHT you detected an "r" sound in "rz". You wrote: "In fact, this "r", even to my non-native ears, is definitely audible".

"Definitely audible." Do I really have to quote what you wrote over and over again? Can't you simply admit you were wrong so we could move on?

That's my problem with you. You don't ask, you don't "query", you state, despite the fact that apparently you lack some basic knowledge about Polish language. Be aware that overweening confidence with which many of your messages bristle combined with ignorance about Polish language can be rather irritating. And harmful as some learners of Polish language can actually believe what you're writing. It's not the first time I'm (and others) correcting you on this forum. So, please, have some humility and don't pose as an expert when you don't have enough knowledge, because you can confuse people who are learning the language.


Wow, you are really obsessed with this topic, aren't you? I think you wrote about it in almost every language thread on this forum.

*raises an eyebrow*

Language / Secret to the Polish Rolling R [40]

It seems to me there was no "query" on your part.
First you stated that sometimes "the "r" in Polish is practically elided with the letter or sound following, NOT TRILLED at all" and as examples you've given words with "rz". That was rather useless because "rz" is pronounced as "ż" and has nothing to do with "r" anymore.

And so I decided to make it clear so you wouldn't confuse people who are trying to learn Polish.
Then you wrote: "Paulina explained that the"r"-sound in a word such as "gorzka", for example, is indeed pronounced, only not trilled:-)" which was simply not true and got me wondering whether you actually read what I wrote.

You also wrote: "In fact, this "r", even to my non-native ears, is definitely audible".
So, I'm still curious - where did you hear this "r" in "rz" (gorzki, Małgorzata, brzeg, etc.)?

Life / Thoughts on Music in Poland [132]


I don't usually listen to rap but I liked those two songs by 18L:

And I like this one by £ona lol (btw, what happened to Polish diacritics on the forum? o_O):



:)

Life / Thoughts on Music in Poland [132]


There's also Patricia Kazadi (not rock though and not my kind of music tbh, but it looks like she has a nice voice):



Btw, isn't Matt Pokora French with some Polish roots?


I like his voice too :)

Language / Secret to the Polish Rolling R [40]


No, I didn't!

I wrote: "In these words it's no longer "r", it's "rz", which is a compeltely different sound - you pronounce it like "ż"."

There's simply no "r" in word "gorzka" - trilled or not trilled.

One should pronounce "rz" like "ż".


Audible? How on Earth can you hear "r" in here?:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Pl-gorzki.ogg


In general Polish language (the one you're taught at school and which most Poles speak) fricative rż (ř) turned in pronunciation into "ż" already in the 17th century. It was retained in some very few areas of Poland as this map shows:

However, even there such pronunciation disappears more and more rapidly and is spoken (rarely) only by older people.

From:
gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218

One more link:
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C4%99zyk_polski

History / Aurochs, the primitive prehistoric cattle of Europe, had lived in Poland? [48]


Btw, officially the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth didn't take part in the Thirty Years' War. The Polish king sent once companies of elears (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth light cavalry) to draw away Protestant troops from besieged Vienna and it looks like that was it.

History / Aurochs, the primitive prehistoric cattle of Europe, had lived in Poland? [48]


You're welcome :)


It was me, not 1jola, and I wasn't concerned, I always look up words I don't know when I read books in English ;)


It's the first volume of the so called "epic fantasy" best-selling series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin. HBO adapted it into successful television series:

youtube.com/watch?v=XfAE3hIaPm4

There's another extinct animal in those books (and TV series), not only mentioned, but a pet of the main characters - a dire wolf (Canis dirus) and it's the sigil of their House.


Aurochs became extinct first in the Western Europe. By the 13th century, the aurochs' range was restricted to Poland, Lithuania, Moldavia, Transylvania and East Prussia. The last auroch in Bavaria died in 1470. The last auroch in Poland died, as Grzegorz already mentioned, in 1627.

I don't know whether they were ever present in Siberia.


I have no idea, I'm not a geneticist. But isn't the auroch the ancestor of domestic cattle?


During what Poles call "the Swedish Deluge":
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_%28history%29

History / Aurochs, the primitive prehistoric cattle of Europe, had lived in Poland? [48]


That would be interesting.


Actually, according to Wikipedia, aurochs were protected in Poland since the beginning of the 15th century.
Pretty cool :)


Me neither, probably. I've read about them only because they were mentioned in "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin and since I was reading it in English I had to look up in the dictionary what those aurochs were :)

History / Aurochs, the primitive prehistoric cattle of Europe, had lived in Poland? [48]

Grzegorz is right. From a horn of one of the last aurochs which died in a Polish wildland a hunting horn was made as a gift for a king of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa, with an inscription: "A horn of the last of the aurochs from Puszcza Sochaczewska from rawski voivode Stanisław Radziejowski, at present time sochaczewski starost. 1620."

Language / Secret to the Polish Rolling R [40]


It isn't trilled at all in "gorszy"?


In these words it's no longer "r", it's "rz", which is a compeltely different sound - you pronounce it like "ż".

Life / Polish Positivity and the Myth Of Middle-Class Pretense, or "Everything Will Be Fine." [27]


OK.

Although "Z pustego i Salomon nie naleje" :))
Just joking ;)


Krawcowa?

Life / Polish Positivity and the Myth Of Middle-Class Pretense, or "Everything Will Be Fine." [27]


I have never heard this "proverb" in my life (and I've lived in Poland since I was born). Neither in real life, nor in films or on the internet o_O

The closest thing would be "Polak Polakowi wilkiem" which is a version of "Człowiek człowiekowi wilkiem" (Homo homini lupus).

Proverbs are:
zadane.pl/wypracowanie/Najpopularniejsze_polskie_przyslowia-18014

Mądry Polak po szkodzie
Kto pod kim dołki kopie, ten sam w nie wpada.
Kto pyta, nie błądzi.
Kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bóg daje.
Kto się czubi, ten się lubi.
Kuj żelazo póki gorące.
Kwiecień - plecień, co przeplata, trochę zimy, trochę lata.
Lepszy rydz niż nic
Nie chce góra przyjść do Mahometa, musi Mahomet przyjść do góry.
Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu.
Nie kupuj kota w worku.
Nie ma dymu bez ognia.

etc. etc.


?


Ah, Warsaw... I think Warsaw is a bit different world than the rest of Poland tbh.

Life / Polish Positivity and the Myth Of Middle-Class Pretense, or "Everything Will Be Fine." [27]


I don't know about that... It probably depends on individual people.
Poles complain a lot. We say that complaining is our "national sport" lol And we complain about our complaining, of course :)


We are like cockroaches - we will survive even the atomic bomb (some Poles joke like that ;)) lol


It may illustrate mentality of some people, but there's no such proverb.