Life / Pretending you don't speak Polish - Poles have a strong preference and love for English [18]

Love for and talent or ability in English are not the same, pernumba:-)

I too have visited Poland and, while nearly every Pole I met spoke nothing but Polish, those who politely "claimed" to speak English required a veritable re-translation of their English back into Polish, from there into comprehensible American. Being a social sort, I merely smiled in order to be friendly, and pretended I understood them.

No offense, but Poles' strong preference and/or love for English (as with many other Europeans these days) is more often than not either politically, that is, socially or economically, rather than linguistically, motivated! If vulgar, US-slang is the order of the day, then let it be.

If someone, be they a Pole, German, Spaniard or whoever, really wants to "practice" their English, then they ought to realize ahead of time, that practice also involves correction of their own mistakes. Were I more than willing to take their correction of my Polish, they then should be as willing to accept my gentle correction of their English.

That's only fair, I think.

Work / Studies In Poland, is it easy to survive on part-time jobs? [259]

Good luck, Sajal! Just be prepared for what you're in for:-))

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]

A spanking to my mind, both as a parent as well as an enlightened being, is ONLY necessary if the child is in immanent danger of injuring or killing either themselves or another person, say, running across the road with cars coming and the light is red, having been sternly warned verbally NOT to ever do such!

I got myself once (but once only) paddled sorely on the behind and no, it didn't damage me psychically. Then again, both my folks (enlightened as the day is long) abhorred the use of capricious physical violence as a so-called deterrent to bad behavior. Even back then, they knew separately and together that such Puritanical tactics of "Spare the rod, spoil the child" do not make for healthy, adjusted citizens. Child abuse on a regular basis, both verbal as well as physical, damages both body and soul alike, represses feelings and leads to out-and-out sadism, especially among male children, creating a society of bullying, inured, indeed numb, to the feelings and sensitivities of others. No, Johnny, one size DOESN'T fit all.

"'......got a good ass whoopin' when we needed it....." Fine, Johnny. I then have your assurance that you turned out "allright"LOL

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]

Just 'cuz ya don't SEE a kid's reaction to a sound thrashing, Johnny, doesn't meant it ain't there, dude!! Guess the kid who shot up those folks in the black church was simply a "bad seed", born bad, ya know, and just couldn't help itLOL You punch, whip, even slap, especially a boy, once too often, wait and see what happens. It won't take all that long either.

BALONEY!! Violence begets more violence and going back to the many old, psychologically-proven bad ways, won't help anybody, particularly society at large.

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]

Political correctness is simply a not so bad idea gone haywire through over- as well as misuse, that's all. Pupils who don't learn a subject as easily as the rest were once deemed "stupid", "dumb" or "backward" aka "learning disabled". Nowadays, it has been established that in far too many cases, it wasn't a matter of said pupil being learning disabled as it was of the teacher being "teaching disabled" and the administration being a bunch of lard asses, more focused on generous pensions and vacations than on all kids learning equally.

As a teacher myself of many years, the number of my charges whose ego has been destroyed by the cruelty of uncaring educators is greater than I could shake a stick at!

Any philosophy if incorrectly handled, such as political correctness, can be detrimental. Yet, the alternative of returning to a time when pupils were regularly flogged for the most miniscule offense, is far more horrible than trying to spare the marginalized among us.

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]

Rahulraj,

Your German skills will prove essential for serious, long-term, above all higher-level, employment and or study in Germany! As to how important it will be to have this knowledge along with English in Poland, I would say cannot hurt your chances, but only help them:-)

How well though do you know German? Working and/studying in Poland requires at least basic Polish, your other languages (including your native language) notwithstanding.

tarsape@gmail

Life / What is the reason for POLISH jokes ? [486]

I still love Ted Knight's response on TV when a fellow guest on the Carson Show remarked, "I heard a great Polish joke the other day! Wanna hear it?", to which Knight (Kaczynski) quipped, "Sure, would you tell it in Polish?"

Dead silence on the other end. The guy ended up not telling the joke:-)

Life / What is the reason for POLISH jokes ? [486]

Polish jokes in Germany have replaced the infamous "Ostfriesenwitze" or "East Frisian jokes" now for some time. Poles, like Swedes in the US during the 19th cent., were often the butt of jokes for being allegedly technologically backward, way back when.

Interesting how people often associate intelligence with the ability to fluently master technology.

USA, Canada / Why do Americans (and Canadians) hate Polish people? [226]

You mean Germans hate Poles more or vice versa?

Love / I dont get why you guys think are too young for sex even though aoc in Poland is ok [40]

You may be right there, JeenCzlowiek32!

Many non-whites WEAR hoods, although they might not live in 'hoods:-)

Language / A good place to start learning Polish? [29]

Yep, native speakers are usually one's most reliable source in terms of current, natural (if not necessarily grammtically "corrrect"LOL) usage!

Often, a native speaker will instinctively know when or when not to use certain locutions of speech which are usually lost on the average foreign learner. The invaluable aid of having a native speaker at one's disposal (highly educated or not) is that one hears what it used in conventional, daily conversation at its most natural as opposed to even the best textbooks which often (most of the time unintentionally) feature highly bookish, stilted usage, which, though "correct", sounds odd or unnatural in everyday utterance and will immediately stand out as "foreign", regardless of having a near perfect accent:-)

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

Again, Johnny, you're not in charge of the Thought Police, are ya? Big Brother may be watching, he sure as heck ain't inside our heads, thank heaven, or all of us would have been royally flogged or worse during Puritan times!!

Our thoughts are our own, especially when posted anonymously, not to mention, not at all:-))

Think back to the movie "Cape Fear" where the lawyer protagonist goes to the local sherrff and asks that Cady be locked up for what seemed to have been on his mind concerning harming the lawyer's wife and daughter. "Hell, Mark!", the sherriff continues, "I cain't lock a man up for what's on his mind, that's dictatorship!"

Sort knocks your statement into a cocked hat now, doesn't it.

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

Right, gumi

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

I'm sure you did, gumishu. It's comforting to know that:-)All fine and well to have a "perverted imagination", as you put it, incidentally! Only, let it remain in the imagination...not to mention, the boudoir for safe keepingLOL

Oh, I agree Dom! Anyone who send texts, aka SMS on such topics, by my very defintion, becomes a pervert, since this is publically acting upon a private fantasy!

Think everyone here can see that.

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

The question was asked and answered. Once again, and it's easy to lie about who posted what, the thought in and of itself does not a perve make; it's the action which does! Or are you all members of the thought police as well:-)

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

@Johnny, now don't go playin' holier than thou and make me believe you never ever once in your life didn't get a hard on over some adolescent walking wet dream!! This is Lyzko you're talking to, pal! If you say, yes, that's not called anything other than normal. However, in your mind's eye is where it begins and ends.

And might I remind you of that traditional Swiss folk tune: (in English roughly translated) "Oh, thoughts,they are free, and no one can guess them...."

You start arresting folks for what's going on in their minds, that's dictatorship.

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

Thinking or mentally fantasizing doesn't make someone a perv! Blatantly undressing a young lady with one's eyes while making lewd gestures or facial expressions, subsequently ACTING on it, most certainly does:-)

Life / Millennials even worse than baby-boomers? [60]

Both boomers and millenials share similar traits and are repugnant in totally different ways. Boomers, those born between '45-'59, frequently expect stuff to be handed to them by a welcoming social services-style Federal Government from the late, lamented New Deal Era, i.e. let the freebies reign supreme forever! Guess what? The spigot's gonna get turned off, sooner rather than later. This leads me to the latter, namely, the millenials! The latter, as opposed to the former, have given up on the '68'ers ideology of taking big gov't to task for social injusticel. The reasons??! The millenials wouldn't know a civil right from a civil wrong, 'cuz they are the offspring of the boomers, or post-boomers, whose folks were often nothing more than bunch of whining, red-diaper dope babies, uncritically schooled in the greatness of Communism.

Neither group holds a candle in my mind to the Greatest Generation. If only the Greatest Generation hadn't fallen asleep at the switch and kept more of an eye on their boomer children, this country would have been far better off.

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

The idea of giving thanks is universal! The American festival of English Puritans giving thanks and celebrating with a big meal though, IS distinctively American, no argument there:-) For that reason in certain European countries such as Germany, they make a distinction between what they call "Erntedankfeier" , a generically fall festival celebrating the onset of harvest with no references to anything American, of course, vs. "Danksagungsfest" which conjures up images of those folks in Pilgrim attire seated soberly around a large food-laden wooden table with Massasoit, the Native American chieftan, sitting towards the end. However, most simply prefer the American "Thanksgiving", only to make it easier:-)

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

Mikolaj has a vague equivalent figure in Austria known as Krampus, though the latter is supposed to be a sort bad guy character, Mikolaj isn't:-)

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

Is Dziady any way related to "All Souls' Day"? Just curious:-)

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

Well, it's too early for Wigilia but too late for Zaduszki, so ya got me.

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

You must be joking:-)

Sort of reminds me of Homer Simpson, "Dammit, I'm sick of all this Chinky food, Frenchy crap! I want somethin' American, I want pizza!!"

lol

Life / Should Poland Introduce a Thanksgiving Day? [24]

For what would the Poles be giving thanks? Most Northern European societies have some sort of harvest celebrations, festivals etc. Poland is undoubtedly no different.

Be aware though that certain national holidays, except of course for Christmas, New Year's or Easter, are scarcely "transferrable" as the cultural traditions are not historically parallel!

Other countries throughout the world may rejoice in the planting season, yet which outside the US has a specific tradition of Pilgrims giving special thanks for them being allowed by G_d (with more than a little help from the Native Americans!!) to prosper in a strange new land among a peoples so far different from their own?

Halloween is appropriately celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, especially America, while All Saints' Day in Europe including Britain, is hardly comparable. Germany has a procession in the Northern part of the country exclusively known as "Laternen laufen", while it has nothing to do with ghosts, gobblins, and scaring people.

Language / How do I make my Polish sound more 'natural?' [14]

Good for you, rozumiemnic.

"Zmruz oczy" from the early '00's is another excellent movie with which to practice "natural", idiomatic, and colloquial speech! I watched it without any subtitles whatsoever, eventually switching over to Polish captions in order to help me visualize what the characters were saying. Worked like a charm.

Just took out "Noz we wodzie" - 1962!
Can't wait.

History / When will you Poles give back German land and the cities which you robbed? [557]

I think it's clear that Germany did the plundering and pillaging of her neighbors, NOT the other way round:-)

Language / How do I make my Polish sound more 'natural?' [14]

I recommend listening to, that is, watching good, contemporary Polish movies WITHOUT English subtitles! If anything, perhaps close-caption subtitles in Polish so that you can see as well as hear what is being said!

Recommended might be "Ida" and "Kret", the latter anyway, an outstanding film with a riveting plot and decent acting.

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]

So long as one is qualified by dint of their thorough training, ideally bilingual as well, and willing to act as standard bearer of the language they are teaching, all I can add here is, "More power to you!"

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]

Brexit was a last ditch effort to withdraw Britain's support for Bruxelles, pure and simple!

England especially (while Scotland voted against Brexit, as you well know) has always wanted to remain ENGLAND, rather than Europe. When first in London as a student during the late 70's, I casually remarked to an older woman how much I was excited to be in Europe for the first time, at which point I was frostily corrected, :"But you're not in Europe, young man, you're in England!"

:-)

Life / Why are Muslims seen as a deterrent to Poland? [564]

Nowadays, that's undoubtedly true, though not in former times when education actually meant something.