History / For what the Germans owe Poland one trillion U.S. dollars? [299]


that is an own goal and they cannot blame anyone but Merkel (and themselves for standing by her)


Southern Europe dealing with crippling debt and massive youth unemployment (largely due to having to share a pretend currency with Germany) is probably not too sympathetic.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


There's never been a shortage of parents willing to vuhore out their children for a shot at celebrity (and that sweet, sweet money)

The fact that Anjelica Houston didn't think anything weird was going on (she'd lived in hollywood her whole life?) is a very damning indictment of the milieu...

When CGI gets better child actors should be replaced with computer simulations.

Study / Studying English in Krakow, private tutors, schools or universities [49]


Not so! Some time ago I spent some time teaching Polish to not quite new arrivals (semi-formally, I was doing it as a teacher but I wasn't paid).

In some ways my classes were more like 'descriptive Polish grammar for dummies' since the learner needs more formal understanding of the structure more toward the beginning than with some other languages. Listen and repeat and don't worry about grammar don't work untill the student has some grammar to forget.

Inevitably students said I made them understand how the system works better than any other teacher they had (that is they began perceiving it as a system rather than a jumbled and tangled web of exceptions) and were happy that I could often answer questions that Polish teachers, even those trained as PFL teachers, couldn't answer. Having learned myself I had more conscious knowledge of the structure (and what non-natives will find especially weird and difficult) than a native speaker.

There are lots of things I wouldn't be able to do and mine shouldn't be their only classes but a non-native who understands the difficulties first hand can be a great asset.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


Not if he stays in France. France does not extradite French citizens.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


I mean for these new accusations.

News / Roman Polanski accused of unlawful sex with a minor [403]


statute of limitations? My own feeling is that there's a conflict between a few judges and the powers-that-be do not want to open up the pandora's box of systematic child abuse in hollywood

if he ever is taken into custody I expect there will be an unexpect 'suicide'

Study / Studying English in Krakow, private tutors, schools or universities [49]


I'm an American native speaker and freely admit I can't tell most British accents apart. Really exagerated extremes I can mostly tell apart but I can't tell different cities in the same part of the UK apart the way British people can. America doesn't have that wide a spectrum of variety though I've noticed British people can't tell the American regional differences apart very well either.

Way back in the 1990's the British-based EFL/ESL industry gave up on the idea of learners ever sounding 'native' though. There was some weird recursive double speak about 'any accent that sounds like a person who uses english every day' or something but I forget the details.

In the US I think there's still an idea of sounding like a native (but the US does have GAE, a neutral standard that never sounds out of place (geographically or ethno-racially, unlike the UK)

Law / Can a student go in any other Schengen country with a Polish National Visa (D) [46]


Kya hai?


are you asking us or telling us?

Life / So this question has to be asked: who runs the underworld in Warsaw [18]


We don't argue with amore, here.

Work / Teaching Mandarin in Poland [10]


They do seem less likely than Japanese or Koreans (much less Vietnamese!) to learn much Polish. I think also one aim is to switch to as much Chinese as possbile as early as possible (I knew one who spoke nothing but Chinese by the second year - though they did know Polish well enough).

Life / So this question has to be asked: who runs the underworld in Warsaw [18]


And the Don is Antonio Macerevicio, stay in his good graces and he'll print a coin in your honor

Life / So this question has to be asked: who runs the underworld in Warsaw [18]


you have a very interesting fantasy life, I imagine that there are several dissertations for psych grad students inside that little noggin of yours.....

Work / Teaching Mandarin in Poland [10]


And Polish teachers of Mandarin (I've known a few) and Taiwanese sent by their government (also known a few)

Law / Status of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights [63]


A passport proves citizenship at the time it was issued. If an emigrant from Poland did something that would renounced said citizenship in favor of another (like serving in the armed forces of another country, there are other things to) then that won't necessarily be on file with the original passport.

Also, where are your parents in this? IIRC citizenship has to be proved from the parents not grandparents. A person who expects the Polish bureaucracy (rather than evidence from their own parents) will tend ot set off alarm bells .

Law / Status of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights [63]


Old passport records do not prove how long citizenship was valid or if the holder did something to renounce their citizenship (like serve in a foreign army IIRC)

Law / Status of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights [63]


and what part of the legal code of any country is covered by "silly buggers"?

what's the real charge? in words that a court would take seriously

Law / Status of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights [63]


That would have no impact on dealing with non-EU citizens applying for Polish citizenship...

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


And there's a need for that in Poland because....

Language / Pechowy? - Can someone translate this? [7]


I agree it should be the second (the final letter, should be e, looks like the writer's first y though) or does it look like e to you?

Language / Pechowy? - Can someone translate this? [7]


it says węzły pachowy (translated above)

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


At one point, for English I thought that Makedonia for the country and Macedonia for the province of Greece would be a nice distinction (the same spellings would work in Polish too...) but people have too much fun arguing to actually think about reasonable solutions...

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


Country names come from all kinds of weird sources. Get used to it. And nobody sane with a functioning intellect really cares about who called who what over a thousand years ago.

What Macedonians call themselves?

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


So? the citizens of Macedonia don't really have another name for themselves are they supposed to rebrand domestically because Greece is being irrational?

Brittany (fr Bretagne) is a province of France and somehow no one's getting upset at the name Great Britain (Grande-Bretagne)

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


how are they doing that?

Greece is acting like the occasional crazies here who object to the name of Lithuania (because in Polish [Litwa] its identical to the old unrelated Political entity)

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


I don't. It is not possible to copyright ethnonyms. Period. The same word can be used for different groups of people. Deal. With. It.

I love a lot of things about Greece, but their perpetual tantrums about the name Macedonia are extremely off-putting to the sane.

News / Polish man tries to sell British mother into white slave trade [128]


Well that settles it!

News / Polish man tries to sell British mother into white slave trade [128]


This story is falling apart faster than a mexican toupee in a thunderstorm....

Harry might have to look a lot harder for examples of rampant Polish criminality....

News / Polish man tries to sell British mother into white slave trade [128]

guess he hasn't heard of instragram prostitutes that specialize in (Gulf) arab clients....

News / Polish man tries to sell British mother into white slave trade [128]


What day is the slave market?


nothing new there...

Feedback / Warning for posters who have been changing the names of famous Polish politicians, celebrities, etc. [90]


Oh lord, dealing with pathologically fragile egos is exhausting... demanding a lot of what progressives call 'emotional labor'... (that's not about you dolny, can I call you dolny? or would you prefer slunzok?)


I didn't call the person 'blincent' I wrote that it 'rhymes with' blincent, very different as different as bear droppings and sailing ships.