Language / What is the difference between BYĆ W STANIE, UMIEĆ, and MÓC? [18]

And yet the verb implies ability! It's all a matter of interpretation, really. You interpret the sentence correctly as a Polish native speaker and I interpret it differently as a non-native speaker:-)

Law / Starting a business in Poland ( English language services ) [11]

It's the same here in the States for English teachers from other non-English speaking countries who often speak English as poorly as, worse than or only slightly better than the students whom they are supposedly "teaching":-) It merely sullies the reputation of the entire ESL industry, making it a dumping ground for quacks and buffoons, almost as much as the medical fieldLOL

Language / What is the difference between BYĆ W STANIE, UMIEĆ, and MÓC? [18]

Thank you, lunacy! Of course it ought to have been "....POTRAFIĘ 'dojechać'/...", dokonany vs. niedokonany... Really sorry for the typo.
Thanks again. It was a typo, however, I knew the difference. Twenty-twenty hindsight, I supposeLOL

Language / What is the difference between BYĆ W STANIE, UMIEĆ, and MÓC? [18]

A further wrinkle in expressing ability in Polish is the difference between "umieć" vs. "potrafić", both of which can be translated as "to be able to".

Nie UMIEM po polsku. = I am not able (IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE) to speak Polish. vs. Nie POTRAFIĘ dzisiaj dojeżdzać pociągem na zajęcia. = I'm not (PHYSICALLY) able to take the train to class today.

In the former, you COULD speak Polish once you knew how being as you are presumable "able" or "capable" mentally, whereas in the latter, you may not be in the position for whatever reason to use public transportation in order to physcially get to school.

Does this make sense to you?

Law / Starting a business in Poland ( English language services ) [11]

Good luck, Abby! Sounds like a very useful service, desparately need in PL ^^

Learn a little Polish while you're at it though. Remember, the most important language worldwide isn't English, German, French, Mandarin or even in this case, Polish; it's the language your CUSTOMER/CLIENT speaks:-)

I had a freelance translation and interpreting service myself many years ago.
Again, hope you can make a go of it! If you'd like any tips etc.. marekzgerson@yahoo

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]

Just curious there, Nick ol' bean! "Rubbishing" doesn't exist in English, that's all:-) Well guess what, I don't speak Greek, so you're one step at least ahead of meLOL

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]

"Rubbishing"??? Do you mean perhaps "besmerching"?

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]

The late Austrian-born conductor Herbert von Karajan always liked to claim that his paternal family name was 'Karajanis' and considered himself 'Macedonian', when in fact the Karajanis' were purely of Hellenic, i.e. Greek, originLOL

History / Alexander the Great - Macedonski. Poland connection? [254]

Sonnabend, 8. Februar 2014

Not entirely certain I see the point to this "lecture" (Vortrag) on Macedonian geopolitics, suffice to add that I for one have always been aware that the Macedonians are ethnic Slavs, Southern Slavs to be even more exact, despite their historical and cultural proximity with Greece.

Danke fuer die Erlaeuterungen:-)

USA, Canada / Bilateral Visa Waiver Agreement between USA and Poland [47]

Many American tourists of the Jewish faith have recently (re-)discovered the beauties and those remenants of Jewish lore in Zakopane:-)

Language / Polish or any Slavic language key to any other Slavic languages? [126]

...which can sometimes lead to mildly humorous situations, such as by mistake asking your Polish friend/colleague, "Ktory czas?" instead of "Która (jest) godzina?" owing to possible language interference from "Ktorij tjas?" etc..

Language / Polish or any Slavic language key to any other Slavic languages? [126]

Maybe he means "soft" in the sense of "palatalized", like certain Russian consonants for example. I'm only guessing here though, I can't get inside his head.

Personally, I find Russian at once coarser sounding, at the same time almost lazier than Polish because of it's extreme palatalization of "n", "d" and "t". When Poles chat, both men as well as women, they often sound to me as though they're chirping rather than talking:-)

Language / Letter 'ą' and 'ę' pronounciation before 'z', 's', 'ś', 'ź', 'ż [21]

I continue to make mistakes, Gooze, so I'm not even going to attempt an authoritative explanation which might well end up confusing instead of clarifying. That's the annoying thing about mistakes, isn't it; once you make them, like a pc virus, they're next to impossible to rid from one's system, often remaining forever even long after the correction's been made and digested:-)

Suffice to say this much re: number, gender and class: Dwie polki szły dzisiaj na spacer. = Two Polish women (females) went for a walk today.

Dwaj panowie szli dzisiaj na spacer. = Two gentlemen (virile "living" males!!) went for a walk today.
Dwoje dzieci szło dzisiaj na spacer. = Two children (neuter "non-virile", even if male!!!) went for a walk today.
FIne up through FIVE:
Pięć polEK szły......= Five Polish females.....
Pięćiu panÓW szło...... = Five gentlemen .....
Thus far I'm almost rock-solid certain and so I'll stop:-)

Lithuanian too appears to my eyes a pretty conservative language, although I've never made a formal study of it.

Language / Letter 'ą' and 'ę' pronounciation before 'z', 's', 'ś', 'ź', 'ż [21]

The links which lunacy posted I've found very useful. It freely admits (in the Polish version from Rada języka polskiego) that there is often zero way of knowing every single time which noun is which gender just based on the ending, e.g. "goŚĆ" (m.) BUT "koŚĆ" (f.), or "kreW" (f.), "breW" (f.) BUT "zleW" (m.) etc.....

Most noun gender as well as their class and or number must often simply be learned by heart!

Rock on, gang, keep 'em a-comin':-)

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]

I appreciate the correction, Paulina.

Here again, the pitfalls of "dictionary translation":-)

Language / Letter 'ą' and 'ę' pronounciation before 'z', 's', 'ś', 'ź', 'ż [21]

Many thanks for the links, lunacy!

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]

You're most probably correct, TheStranger! Dictionary vs. accepted standard colloquial usage can often be chasmic:-)

Language / Letter 'ą' and 'ę' pronounciation before 'z', 's', 'ś', 'ź', 'ż [21]

An interesting overview article indeed for those who know Polish. As I glanced through it, although I know Polish, I wondered about the MYRIAD umpteen exceptions to the instances given. I wondered after reading it whether I would necessarily be able to guess that "odpowiedź" for example is a feminine noun!

I still have to puzzle over the gender of certain nouns.

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]

Or "Gość jest Pan Bóg w domu."

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]

I'm not a native Polish speaker (not even close!), but I've mostly heard "Witamy!" = Welcome! Maybe something like "Serdecznie witamy do domu!", but this is strictly by the book and not at all regional or colloquial:-)

Am curious myself.

News / Don't let Poland become like my country, France. [630]

"Judeo-Christian" indicates the foundations of what is called the Occident. Judaism gave birth to the Christianity which has served as the cornerstone of much of the Western World. Modern-day Turkey, as I'm sure you'll recall, was originally a Christian nation (Constantinople) before being taken over by the Muslims.

News / Don't let Poland become like my country, France. [630]

For whatever my two cents are worth to this discussion, I see the problem as essentially what happens when a core Judeo-Christian society (in this case, Western Europe) becomes gradually overtaken by a culturally alien body, namely Islam? It's a no-brainer not to see that scores of both Jewish and Christian French, German, Scandinavian, Dutch or other citizens feel a threat from Muslim groups who insist that the Koran is a tool of forced conversion of Jews, Christians or other "infidels", if necessary, by wanton violence.

Clearly those Muslim extremists who believe this dogma aren't the majority. Yet, this vocal minority could wreak havoc if left unchecked. What this thread title means is, "Please, Poland! Stay alert and don't fall asleep at the switch. These people can be dangerous! What's occurring in France, could happen here as well."

Language / rules for genetive declension of female nouns ending in 'a' [8]

Good idea! Not so sure the feminines are any "easier", they seem however a bit more consistent, i.e. a tad less quirky, than the masculines.

Westfal is but one of several reliable sources. The very disclaimer to the introduction remarks on how complex Polish must be for the foreigner if an entire text is devoted to the final letter distinction for just one single noun gender!!

Problem too might be that for a foreign learner, it's not always that clear which gender is assigned to which noun. Take "odpowiedź" (answer, reply). I know I've encountered nouns with a "-dź" ending which are masculine (although none neuter, to my knowledge), yet seeing a new word for the first time, it wasn't always intuitive for me when I began studying.

This is where a native speaker is always super helpful!

Come to think of it though, we may only be complicating things a trifle.

Language / rules for genetive declension of female nouns ending in 'a' [8]

Stanisław Westfal offers an exhaustive commentary on "a" vs. "u" for masculine endings in the genitive singular alone, but I've yet to encounter a similar treatise in English for the feminine endings per se!

Language / I truly admire you / You truly admire me? How do you say this in Polish? [9]

1krona,

Du faar inte oversatta ord for ord! You cannot translate word for word, even when the expressions are similar. Try to find a different way of saying the same concept in Polish:-)

Det ar bara ett foreslag:-)
marekzgerson@yahoo

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Jon, just leave him be! Remember, you can never call a fool, a fool, you can only get him angryLOL

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Calm down, guys! This is supposed to be 'civilized' forum, neither a gabfest nor a boxing ring. Let's stop being so primitive and talk things out.

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Sooooo true, jonny boy! We call them politiciansLOL

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

I can recommend a frightening (if authentic!) film from and about the period "Przesłuchanie" (The Interrogation), made in around the late 50's. However, it's in Polish:-)

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

In that case, they should post what they mean (as opposed to what they THINK they mean), and mean what they post!

One more of umpteen instances of sloppy thinking and faulty logic; just another day here on PFLOL