Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

Doubtless anything would be an improvement over Rosetta Stone!

I once sampled that program for a language of which I knew next to nothing and never studied, namely Greek. Without the rote drills, I became so lost when made to produce my own beginner sentences, I simply gave up. Berlitz was oddly enough not too bad, I also attempted to try learning another language I didn't know, Arabic, yet somehow the Berlitz method seemed to work for me and even without the prompts, I was honestly able to learn the script and recognize words:-)

For fun, I even tried Polish which I already studied, and had I not known how to use the verbs in their correct aspect form already and had to rely on Rosetta's method, I'd have asked for my money back!!

Go figure. There are no guarantees for success.

Work / Teaching Mandarin in Poland [10]

I'd imagine there'd be a considerable market in the major cities and/or universities. Wonder what the call would be in China for Polish:-) If anything, Russian would I'd imagine be the bigger draw!

Contact the major firms in your area of interest (with an interpreter preferrably) and see what they say. I think if you cast your net wide enough, you may actually catch something.

Best of luck,
tarsape@gmail

Work / Any Speed School of English in Poland? [54]

Sometimes they're called "language" or "speech arts therapists":-)

Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

Interesting observation, Delph, despite the fact that I did it in the reverse; I learned Russian AFTER my Polish was nearly solid, yet found myself befuddled by all the 'false friends' in vocabulary ("pukac" vs."pukat" etc.......), even certain aspectual differences which I merrily disregarded in the beginning, figuring everything would be the same as in PolishLOL

And there's the palatalized pronunciation of Russian, UGGGH!! Polish I found "laughably" easier in this respect.

Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

Delph, I really do agree with that, at least to some extent.

While grammar per se in its raw, undigested turgidity of rules and axioms CAN surely be nightmarishly deadening and numbing, without at least the basics of structure, particularly in a highly inflected language like Polish or Russian, Albanian, German etc., how then can she hope to learn to speak the language with any degree of serious intelligibilty?

Tough call, I'll admit. Grammar "games", picking stuff up by watching movies etc. are all valuable learning tools. However, in this man's opinion, there's rarely any substitute for at least some rote memorization from the very outset, before the learner can even hope to manipulate a language such as Polish:-)

Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

I'm sure "she" would be pleased to hear that, Ruby:-)

Best of luck!

(Strictly on the Q T, Delph's a guy)

Genealogy / Jeske family research [3]

Might the typically North German surname (round about the Hamburg area) "J - E - S - C - H - K - E" be in any way related? Believe to have run across the name "Jerske" in or near Berlin.

:-)

Language / Polish diminuitive names [11]

Let's see, while I'm still on a roll:

Malgorzata < Malgosia < Gosia (Voc. "Gosiu!") < Gocha/"Gochu!"
Jakub < Kubek < Kubus < Kubu..
Stanislaw < Staszek < "Stasio!"

Think we get the main idea....LOL

Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

Pity, Rubaszny! Can't force you naturally, but you'll only be slowing yourself down.

Then again, it depends entirely on your own personal goals:-)

Boa sorte,

Work / Any Speed School of English in Poland? [54]

If one can bribe one's way into getting a job teaching English (however NEVER Polish, French, German etc..) without really knowing it (or, "just enough to get by.." aka "..who'll know the differences anyway, much less care a whole lot!!), what does that say about the entire profession??!

Gosh, Poland's starting to sound more and more like America everywhere you look; no standards, little quality control to speak of:-)

Language / Polish diminuitive names [11]

Of course! Merely a typo:-)

Danuta < DankO, Bronislawa < BronkO etc... hard feminine stems nearly always "o" (exceptions "Eliza" < ElizO) cf, soft stems e.g. Basia < BasiU, (as well as masculine) Tadzio < TadziU etc...

Masculine hard stems Jaroslaw < JarkU, Dariusz < DarkU etc.. will typically become "u".

Just a glitch on my part, that's all. Comes with charactaristically quick posting without proofreading it first. Thank you once again.

Language / Polish diminuitive names [11]

I've also heard/read Bronka ( "Bronku!" in the Vocative).

Most of my Polish acquaintances with whom my wife and I are close ONLY refer to one another by their respective diminutives:-) If my wife or I were to greet our friend Janusz, "Janusz!", after knowing him now for at least ten years, instead of "Janku", he might think we were angry with himLOL

Language / Best book for a language noobie? Learning Polish. [22]

I agree.

Best living, active, above all, CONTEMPORARY mostly mono-lingual materials in the beginning to immerse yourself in the language:-)

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

Spot on, polasku newbie!!

Rarely have I encountered a Pole who'll admit to such:-) While I understand why, at least partially, (inferiority complex being the frequent butt of ethnic humor, reputation for generations of being slow-witted (for the men) or slutty and loose (for the women), many Poles have such an arsenal of defense mechanisms regarding fear of being exposed as anything less than proficient and intellectual-sounding in English, merely getting them to fess up to failure is like trying to deconstruct Fort Knox:-)

Travel / Summer Vacation at the seaside in Poland for 19/20 year olds? [12]

Yes, I enjoyed Szczecin also. Wasn't there more than half a day's trip worth, but loved the harbor as well as the Old Town Square! Too long ago and far away to recall the special places I visited, unfortunately. Alas. But then, there's always next time.

Work / Relocate to Lodz Poland [30]

Learn the local lingo as close to fluently as humanly possible and remember to respect the practices of your host as you would expect them to respect your culture as well:-) Don't necessarily expect your host(s) to speak English either. Accomodation to "Think global, act local!" will save you a lot of grief, believe me. Also, what I've been given to understand by Polish natives, acquaintances of mine, Lodz is not Warsaw, even though a fairly large city, I've been told, and so don't be surprised if your neighbors or colleagues have had little to any contact whatsoever with a practicing Muslim. Poland remains one of the most conservatively Catholic countries in Europe today. This proviso is by no means meant to discourage you, simply to alert you to potential stumbling blocks, should you not look BEFORE you leap:-) And on that final note..........

Best of luck!

USA, Canada / I embrace the term "Polak" or "Pollack" in the US [33]

@Marco,

You don't mind being called a kind of fish?? OK, to each his own!

Travel / Travel Plan to Poland [11]

Poland has, I'm told, some of the last unspoiled wilderness left on the continent of Europe (here I'm excluding Northern Scandinavia, Sweden, Norway, and Finland).

I've only seen photos thus far, but what I have seen is simply stunning!

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

Sounds to me at any rate that a lot of "fence-mending" is needed on both sides of the Oder-Neisse Line.
Thanks, Ironside.

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

Ironside, do you then believe that there's any hope for Polish-German relations or is it otherwise doomed to failure?

Po polsku / Dlaczego uczysz się Polskiego? [101]

Dziekuje, kaprys! Dobra rada jest:-)

Work / Job opportunity for non Polish speaker student [10]

There's Cambridge Certificate and something known as BEC (Business English Certificate). The latter was popular in Western Europe, in Italy for example, but that was a while ago, so things have doubtless changed:-)

Work / Job opportunity for non Polish speaker student [10]

Best of luck to you in Poland and I'm almost certain with your languages you'll succeed well!
Powodzenia, zosiasamosia:-)

Work / Job opportunity for non Polish speaker student [10]

Probably so, zosiasamosia! A pity that preferrence doesn't usually extend to English teachers too:-)

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

Probably, Polish-German relations are better now than at almost any time heretofore:-)

Work / Job opportunity for non Polish speaker student [10]

My suggestion is to take a basic course in Polish (of which I'm sure there are quite a few), preferrably before arriving in Poland, but it not, then enrolling at some local language school.

This may not be the answer, but at least it'll get you started and obviously, the more Polish you know, the better your chances at being able to secure a modestly-paying job for yourself, rather than having to do only menial work:-)

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

Unfortunately, it's not that simple either!

Germany, for that matter, no country, can just put their past "behind" them, as one can a ruined love affair, ill-fated job endeavor, or a lousy Thanksgiving dinner etc.:-))

A nation must live with as well as in spite of their past; their history, all things considered, has shaped their past AND their present, along with their future.

The Second World War was as much an outgrowth of German history as the US' war against her Native Americans was a result of Manifest Destiny, for example.

The Holocaust was sadly the ineluctable progression of Germany's "special path" (Sonderweg) which moved further and further from Enlightenment values, culminating in the rise of Hitler.

Again, who owes whom more and what, is an endless exercise in futility!

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

Brought to closure, most probably, but perhaps not "solved":-) Reparations in the end can never "compensate" such violent loss, can they? It's merely a gesture.

Although of Jewish descent, I really have to agree with Tacitus. Eternal breast-beating (ewige Selbstzerfleischung) helps nobody, including the person engaged in such useless self-flagelation! The Shoah has been long consigned to the annals of history, and even if I am not directly related to survivors first-hand, I agree with Elie Wiesel, may he rest in peace, that the children of killers are children, not killers.

After what he endured, to forgive the next generation is an incredibly inspiring act of maturity, not to mention, humanity!!

Po polsku / Dlaczego uczysz się Polskiego? [101]

"Cwiczenie czyni mistrza!"....to przyslowie jest dla Was oraz dla mnie:-)

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

Germany has paid so much in reparations, I'd have to commend Chancellor Merkel for being as unflappably fair as she has in publically admitting German guilt.

I believe, only one of her predecessors, the late, great Willy Brandt, went as far in openly declaring his conscience before the world, as both a German as well as a world leader.

His famous "Warschauer Kniefall" (Act of Kneeling in Deference Before a Monument to the Warsaw Uprising), public relations as it might well have been, did much to strengthen the belief, that at least WEST Germany was truly atoning for the sins of the fathers:-)