Work / Dutch translator job Warsaw- salary? [21]

Aniaatje if you read the thread properly you'll see that neither I nor Mafketis thought you were a native English speaker nor that you were offering your services as such but regardless of your English it does seem odd that a company wants to hire you to translate from a language you don't know at all and equally odd that you would be happy to do so. The machine translator will tranlsate French into imperfect Polish which you will then knock into shape, so you're not translating from French but from garbled Polish into correct Polish. I would have serious reservations about such practises.

And what does it tell you about the company that's offering the job? Surely they can find a Polish languages graduate with sufficient knowledge of French to do such a translation so why do they want to hire you? Would you really want to work for a company like that? And believe me, at some point they will ask you to translate into English and you will end up doing so. Now this raises issues of ethics.How would you feel if somebody who didn't know Dutch or Polish was translating from those languages? Doesn't it make a nonsense of your own profession and ultimately undermine you? A translator needs knowledge of both the source and target languages.

Work / Dutch translator job Warsaw- salary? [21]

Actually I was being a bit harsh on the OP. Afterall she doesn't say she'll be translating into English but I bet she wouldn't say no if she was offered good money to do it :) I've read so many Polish texts which have obviously been translated by a Pole into English with all the literalisms that you would expect and this at quite a high level, government documents and so on. Now this is completely against the idea that one translates into one's native language rather than from. Quite understandable years ago when there was limited access to native speakers of other languages but not acceptable nowadays to have a Pole translating into English. I suppose one of the problems is that there are so few native English speakers who are fluent in Polish but at least the English text should be checked by a native speaker and corrected.

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]

Possibly the same hearing impairment that causes most Polish people to pronounce 'ship' as 'sheep'?

Work / Dutch translator job Warsaw- salary? [21]

If the company is so stingy that they're hiring somebody who doesn't even speak French to translate from French........well they're certainly not going to want to pay even the going rate for translators.

With respect Aniaatje, your English is not fluent because you made a very basic error with 'since ten years I work as a freelance translator'. We never, never say 'since ten years' in English. It should be:

'For the past ten years I have worked as a translator'.

And 'I also speak fluently Polish and English' should be 'I speak fluent Polish and English'.

Your English is very good but not native, which it should be for professional translation services.

Language / Use of Duda in speaking [9]

Gosh Notty could you be any more ignorant. One of the very interesting aspects of languages is how they are connected and relate to each other. For example I once heard somebody speaking Macedonian and recognised some Polish words in there. Lyzko's example is very interesting. There are German borrowings used in the Polish language. Educate yourself with this lovely scholarly article on German loan words in Polish:

ejournals.eu/SPL/2015/Issue-3/art/6441

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]


Yes that's the problem. We really don't have those distinctions in English phonetics. One of the things my husband has always emphasised to me and still corrects me on, is the difference between 'cz' and 'ci' and 'sz' and 'si' whereas in English there's really only 'ch' and 'sh'. I suppose if you exaggerate the shapes you make with the mouth when saying them, I'd say that starting with the lips in a neutral position, with 'cz' you bring the lips forward into a pouting motion and with 'ci' you draw the lips back.

Life / Long-term living and working in Poland [12]


Depends on what kind of work you do. If you're in IT then yes you could. However as to 'generous raises' that's a different matter. I don't know about America but in the UK and Ireland it's pretty standard to get a payrise after your first year and then regular reviews of your salary. You can certainly get payrises in Poland but they don't come that easily. You may well have to demand one and be prepared to move on if you don't get it. Polish business culture is not about getting the best staff, rewarding them for being good at their job and encouraging them to remain with the company. It's about getting staff as cheaply as possible.



And the reasons above ,amongst others, are why it's common! There is quite a high turnover of staff in Polish companies. The stats would make your hair stand up on the back of your neck. However, without fluency in the language you may find it a bit harder to change jobs so easily.

Just be aware that Poland is indeed a lovely place to visit but like anywhere, living and working there is very different. In the workplace it's a much more hierarchical culture than the US which you may find difficult to adjust to. The main thing is that you're only 25 but be careful. Don't go into extended working holiday mode and find that after five years your career has gone nowhere, you have no savings and you're trotting back across the pond with nothing to show for your European odyssey. Have a definite plan about what you want to do over the next few years and set some goals. Imagine your thirtieth birthday, you want to be quaffing champagne, not extinguishing the birthday cake candles with your tears :)) Good luck with it anyway, hope everything works out for you.

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]


Polly is right that it's hard to render in English! Believe me I do know how to say the 'cie' sound :) Maf's 'chyeh' is a much better rendering.

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]


Well I can if the person speaks clearly but there are plenty of native Poles who are sloppy about it. I think maybe my ear is attuned that way from teaching reading in English to young children through the phonics method and spending years breaking words down into sound.


Yes absolutely, much better.

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]


Excuse me, it's Polly the Pole who said 'che', I said it should be 'chee-e' which is correct. 'Che' is sloppy pronunciation. Every sound must be pronounced separately in Polish.

Life / What about mindset? Polish people and atheism. [10]

Well everything is relative you know Notty. Dodging past the princpal's office in your purple socks was pretty exciting for a fourteen year old girl back in the dark ages :)) Now my mother went to a boarding school and when they were juniors (under sixteen) they had a nun sleeping in the dormitory with them - horrors. She slept in a separate cubicle so they couldn't actually see her, but Mum said they gave each other a buckie up as the Scots say, so that they could see over the top of the partition and find out whether she was bald under the veil. They were most disappointed to find that she was wearing a sort of cap on her head so they were none the wiser!

Life / What about mindset? Polish people and atheism. [10]

Yes I know what you mean Maf. I was just saying that I would expect a teenager to be worrying about other things than whether her sense of humour will be accepted. This is an interesting link for the OP:

nazaretanki.edu.pl/eng

What strikes me as amusing is how it's suggested that wearing a uniform teaches students to focus on more important things than 'nail polish and skirts'. We did every possible thing to 'customize' our uniforms. The lay staff didn't take any notice of things like purple knee socks instead of regulation black or grey so the challenge was sneaking into school wearing them and getting through the day without being spotted by a NUN :) And yes, we wore nail polish, light colours to be less noticeable and mascara of course and lip gloss, you wouldn't even notice it but we KNEW we were wearing it and getting away with breaking the rules, that was the fun!

Polonia / Who still speaks pidigin Polish after many years in the country? [59]

I'd say that 'zba-vee-CHEE-el-ah' would be more correct wouldn't it??

Life / What about mindset? Polish people and atheism. [10]

Well I went to a Catholic girls' school Maf so yes, you didn't have much choice really, a lot was expected of you, even if you weren't overburdened with brains :) But actually it would concern any teenager, especially if they're lazy. 'Oh God, I wonder if they'll give loads of homework, will I have to take Maths, can I give up geography, always hated it' and they might wonder about what sports the school offers, you know that kind of thing.

Life / What about mindset? Polish people and atheism. [10]

Well I should imagine it's her parents who are sending her there, that's why.

As for jokes about God etc, firstly your peer group will be young people so they will be a mixed bunch, like all young Catholics. Some will have a sense of humour about religious topics, some won't. You can't generalise about things like that. As Nathans says 'when in Rome'. Take your cue from how others behave as to what's acceptable and what isn't.

Anyway, if I were you I'd be be more concerned about how I'll find the curriculum, the academic standards and what will be expected of me by my teachers, whether the other students will be nice, will I make friends etc. Just concern yourself with all the usual, normal things you would at any new school and forget about the religious aspect. But most definitely, don't make fun of things like prayers or other practices that seem odd to you etc during your first couple of weeks. It would just come across as very rude and ignorant. Keep your fat yap shut and you'll do fine :))

Love / DO RELIGIOUS POLISH GIRLS STILL EXIST IN THIS GENERATION [66]

Lawdy Miss Clawdy. He explained that in the initial post. Firstly he's a practising Catholic, and a Charismatic one at that which is pretty full on let me tell you. There aren't too many Catholics in the Netherlands and those that there are, are likely to be closer to Anglican in their practices than to the Charismatic movement. Poland is still seen by much of the world as a Catholic country and a devout Catholic from elsewhere may think they're more likely to find a suitable wife there. I suppose one could ask though why Polish as opposed to Italian or Spanish or one of the other well known Catholic nations.

Classifieds / Kitchen Assistant Required in Eastbourne, East Sussex [8]

You're not likely to find any staff here. Most Poles who frequent this forum are educated, fluent English speakers who wouldn't be up for a job in a chippy. If you're absolutely set on hiring Poles why don't you ask some Polski skleps in your town if you can stick an ad somewhere in their shop?

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

There is no way the UK will 'expel' EU nationals already permanently living or domiciled there. Poles have nothing to fear in that respect. I'm certain that was never going to happen regardless of a hard or soft Brexit. However interestingly in the last few days there have been suggestions that Britian will now soften its stance on movement of people in return for a better trade deal. That's going to be a bitter pill to swallow for those who voted in favour of Brexit from an immigration point of view. They're going to be the real losers, not the foreign nationals!

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]

The problem is that reckless and aggressive can only, it seems, be cured over many years and in the meantime how many lives are lost as a result of that behaviour.


The stats show otherwise. Stats show that it's actually women who observe the rules of the road and understand how traffic should
work. What you're saying is that they struggle to cope with mens' behaviour in traffic such as overtaking on a bend, going straight through a junction or roundabout without a glance right or left, coming up the inside lane on a motorbike, lane hopping, no indicators, driving straight through a pedestrian crossing where somebody is waiting to cross.

As for hesitant and insecure that's a generalisation which certainly doesn't fit all women drivers but it can certainly be cured as can poor driving techniques. That's down to being poorly taught in the first place. If you get a good instructor and learn proper defensive driving skills you can overcome that. For example when I started driving I had a tendency which is very common in learners to 'wander' towards the centre of the road and out of lane. My instructor showed me a little trick of periodically checking my left hand mirror to monitor the position of the back wheel in relation to the line at the side of the road. There are times when you need to be confident in traffic and push ahead such as overtaking where you can't be faffing about, and there are others when you should be more cautious.

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]


But surely the same could be said of men. Not all of mens' bad driving is down to their hot-headed, reckless youth. I've seen plenty of middle aged men executing dangerous and reckless manoeuvres and in Poland a lot of the older men are particularly bad as they learned during years when it appears to have been a free-for-all on Polish roads with almost no rules. Come on Ironside, the number of times I've seen Polish drivers mount the pavement to overtake traffic jams and I've had cars who want to park, drive straight at me at considerable speed on the pavement in Warsaw numerous times. They don't understand the concept that if you're going to mount the pavement for parking purposes, you SLOW down. Poland has a disproportinately high number of road fatalties involving pedestrians.

As to the stats and facts, according to the EU's analysis of accidents and fatalties in the member states 'there is extensive evidence to show that men have a higher rate of collisions than women'.


'data available in Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK have shown that large differences in male and female mortality rates
remain even after taking into consideration the fact that men use the roads more than women.' (Source EU study on gender in road accidents 2016)

Of course there are some terrible women drivers and quite a few old dears who shouldn't be on the road. In fact people of either gender who drive too slowly can also be a danger, hesitating at junctions, stopping suddenly, slowing down to a crawl on bends or when they see approaching traffic etc. In my experience they exhibit a lot of behaviours that are likely to cause someone to crash into the back of them. However the stats overwhelmingly bear out the fact that it is men who are repsonsible for the overwhelming majority of fatal accidents on the road and who commit the highest number of offences related to dangerous driving. To suggest that they are 'better' drivers because they can parallel park in a tight space is cobblers. And even that is questionable as covert surveillance of British car parks has shown:

telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9047627/Women-are-better-at-parking-than-men-study-suggests.html

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]

You're wrong.

Britain:
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/are-women-better-drivers-than-men-one-study-has-suggested-they-are-10252243.html
America:
nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Women-are-Better-Drivers-Than-Men-Study-137202638.html
Ireland:
irishexaminer.com/ireland/women-really-are-better-and-safer-drivers-than-men-322487.html

A few examples Now show me the stats on which you base your assumptions.

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]

Who cares? Well I'd say the families of the dead would care. It is actually a fact that women are safer drivers than men and that's been shown in numerous studies over many years. If you have time to check out all that race stuff you can do a bit of research on it.

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]

Ok, here's a few stats for you. In 2015 Britain had the second safest roads in Europe in terms of deaths per million inhabitants over number of miles travelled. Poland, Latvia and Croatia all doubled the European average, according to the European Transport Safety Council. Now those are facts.

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]




Just a minute now Notty. You wouldn't be trying to deflect the discussion away from the fact that Poles are bad/dangerous drivers now would you? If Poles are indeed no worse than British drivers then why not provide the 'scientific' evidence to that effect? Or indeed if British female drivers are worse than Polish males, get googling and prove it. There are plenty of stats out there regarding accidents and safety on the roads in Europe.

Life / Driving skills of drivers in Poland? [41]


Ooh I see Roz touched a nerve there. The grammar is all over the place. Simple past not present perfect in this case and it's FOR no reason, not with no reason. With no reason would indicate that you were out of your mind, you know? Well, actually, maybe that's what you meant..........

Anyway you big old spoofer, if you went there for no reason, having 'abandoned' your job as you so colourfully put it, why did you stay there? Again for no reason?


Oh he's the best :)) And he has a great sense of humour, he'd need to have, being married to me :D

Yes Poles are very bad drivers. Excessive speed, don't use their mirrors, no respect for pedestrians, poor observation, list is endless.

Real Estate / Cost of rent for a four room apartment outskirt of Wroclaw [17]

Google is your friend:
domiporta.pl/mieszkanie/wynajme/dolnoslaskie/wroclaw
Prices shown don't generally include bills. If you click on the ads you'll get more details. Some may mention the 'czynsz' as a separate charge. There are loads of threads about this subject elsewhere on the forum.

Love / DO RELIGIOUS POLISH GIRLS STILL EXIST IN THIS GENERATION [66]

But falling vocations are an issue Wielki. A plethora of available priests for each parish was the case in Ireland thirty years ago too. Vocations to the orders of nuns in Poland have dropped by two thirds in the last twenty years and by half for seminaries. That is a trend which will continue.


The Catholic religion is the fastest growing faith on the African continent. Don't know the situation regarding priests but if they are short of them, it's for different reasons. It would vary from country to country. For example some African countries are very politically unstable, in many others access to the kind of education needed to admit somebody to a seminary is limited, others face competition from other Christian denominations of the evangelical or more fundamentalist type, or indeed from Islam. But regarding England, England was never a Catholic country in the same sense as Ireland or Poland. It was predominantly Anglican and it's the figures regarding vocations to the Anglican church that would be more relevant. In the South-East of England they have no difficulty filling vacancies for parishes though they are struggling in the North-East. However that's not because of a shortage of ordained ministers but because apparently they don't want to work there!

Love / DO RELIGIOUS POLISH GIRLS STILL EXIST IN THIS GENERATION [66]


Priests and nuns?? Vocations in Poland have been dropping at an alarming rate over the last twenty years. Inevitably you're going to end up having to bring in relgious from third world nations to fill the roles now occupied by Poles, just as Ireland has brought in Polish religious in recent years. There are presently around 20 Polish priests in Ireland who serve only native Irish congregations with no Polish members. So there's some food for thought.

UK, Ireland / Moving stuffs from London to Warsaw or Gdansk [5]

There's a Polish courier company called Eurospedycja, based in Ireland, who can ship from the UK to Poland. If you just want to send stuff like books, cds, clothes, general bits and pieces they work out very reasonable. I've used them and found them very reliable. They also do regular removals starting at 246 euros.

eurospedycja.com/en/offer/pricelist

eurospedycja.com/en/offer/removals

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Ah no, they'll be grand. The Bulldog spirit you know. Times of adversity bring out the best in them, as with many of us. That's human nature.