Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]


I think a simpler explanation is that more often than not women like to marry up (in terms of socio-economic status) and men like to marry down. How many fairytales end with the princess marrying a mid-level manager?

In general socio-economic temrs the US/UK outranks Poland which outranks Ukraine/Russia. There are individual exceptions but hypergamy/hypogamy explains the big trends pretty well.

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]


So what's the block? IME Polish people are far more interesting in Polish than in English.

Law / PESEL or NIP in Poland for an American married to Polish citizen [22]


Are you sure? When I got my permanent residence card they told me I needed to get a PESEL but when I went to the relevant urząd (where I had done zameldowanie) and they had already given me one a couple years previously.

Also check your residence card (if they still do those) it might be there. Mine's on the bottom of the front.

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]


That's a perfectly legitimate ambition and not what terri described at all, which was lazing around home or hanging with your buds all day while she works.... and then she comes home and does the housework.

Again, any man that would seriously go for such an arrangement is scum (my opinion only, to each their own....)

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]


No. Ideal life for a pimp. Men who aren't scum of the earth would hate such an arrangement.

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]


No.


Irrelevant


Deal breaker (major deal breaker).


Irrelevant.


Yes. worth it, if you can adapt, but nothing you've written so far indicates that you can.


Yes.


Stay where you are or learn Polish (seriously, you need to be fluent to be happy in Poland long term).

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


it's not that the EU as a whole is dead, but a particular version of it (ever greater integration, euro in all countries) is dead because no one wants that anymore (though those in charge of the EU don't seem to really realize that yet).

The Euro has failed because that's all it can do. There is no way to make a non-transfer union with no shared fiscal policy between Germany and southern Europe work.

There is no evidence that the majority of EU citizens want ever-greater intergration with more and more decisions that affect their lives being made by unaccountable technocrats in Brussels.

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


There was nothing remotely pragmatic about her migrant policy (which is continuing to spectacularly fail in just the way that I and many others predicted).

And no she does not need to become anything but "Ex".

Her day is over. She needs to make room for the sane.

Language / How many words does the Polish language have? [30]


The same is true of any language. Linguists (nb I'm one) can't even agree on a cross-linguistic definition of 'word' which is concept that can only be defined in terms of a specifid language.

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Out of the frying pan..... (wasn't he one of the ones trying to bully other countries into taking migrants that Merkel let in?)

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Too bad her heart wasn't in the right place for Greece... or for the German women and children sexually assaulted by migrants or the people killed in the Christmas market attack. Look at the blog german joys for some view of what her migrant policy

Her time is over. She needs to accept it and leave while she still has a little dignity (before she gets Thatchered). To maintain any credibility (and allies) in the EU Germany needs to remove her quickly.

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Never. And it's a humanism (of a kind) that's in rebellion against technocracy that has lost any trait of humanity.


You do realize that he and I disagree on about 95% of all issues, don't you?


Whatever he's about, it's not barbarism. I suggest you re-examine your uncritical belief in what you've been told.


Actually that's part of what people are standing up for. Since when has Merkel shown any concern for the Judeo-Christian civilizational ethic?

You're like a Pole in 1989 worrying about all the instability that ditching communism will bring.

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


What's interesting isn't the leaders (now or in the near future), but people speaking up against them.


That's a chance (though I think the danger is overblown, since those most pushing the idea are mostly wrong about everything else). The main thing is we have no way of preparing for a new reality, all we can do is try to be ready.

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Dont' spend too much time trying to understand a crazy person, you just get dirty and the crazy person enjoys it.

It should be noted that there is a.... contingent in Poland that regards JK as Jewish (google the name Beniamin Kalkstein).

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Not death.... LIFE! (cue the Life Day theme)

Seriously, the neoliberal consensus has nothing to offer anymore. It's a tired worn out model. I don't know what's coming next, but something is (and better be prepared and ready to deal than clinging to conventional comfort thoughts).

Remember, this time of year in 1989 the world seemed set in stone and by the end of the year that world was gone for good.


It's probably a good thing you never went into diplomacy... "I'm am not exactly thrilled to be in your insignificant little ******* country, but it comes with the territory and so I guess I might as well make the best of it by mouthing a few comforting platitudes...."

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


This analogy is so tired and worn out and over-used that it has zero impact. Actually quite the reverse the more it's used the more desperate and out of touch those clinging to the old order seem.

The neoliberal consensus has failed and is being rejected by voters across the west, it has brought sterility and decline to Europe along with the hopeless, unworkable Euro.

I'm not sure what's coming next, but the sooner we get on board the better the chance to turn the future into something better!

Merkel is the past, she has nothing worthwhile to offer anymore. The future is what we make it!

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


Agreed, which is why Angela Merkel needs to be replaced. She is not in favor of democracy, she's in favor of neoliberal orthodoxy which has worn out its welcome.

Embrace the new! You have nothing to lose but your blinders!

News / Frau Merkel today in Poland [70]


No. Her anti-democratic actions in Greece and insane refugee/migrant policy have actually done more to harm the EU than the actions of any other politician in living memory. She couldn't have done more to harm the EU if she tried. I sometimes think wrecking the EU is her goal.

She needs to go. Her migrant policy needs to be reversed. The EU needs to back off on its 'ever closer integration' policy.

People across the west are rejecting the neoliberal consensus, the harder the leaders hang onto it the worse the crack is going to be. You can't keep the lid on a pressure cooker forever.

History / Most important Poles and Slavs that ever lived [74]


Well in the US, she's always "Madame Curie"


Actually in the US she's a middle aged respectable married lady (maybe with grey[ing] hair).

Law / The official Web pages are confusing in telling me exactly how many years I need to obtain Polish citizenship. [16]

As long as Romania remains part of the EU I can't think of any special reason that Polish citizenship would be necessary, especially if you can find gainful employment.

Romania is a beautiful country (the little I've seen of it). At present it's going through some growing pains (the path from more corruption to less is long and gradual and marked by disruption). But the demonstrations against the government are a very good sign and hopefully the country can/will become stronger because of it.

I've read (not sure how true this is) that there's a social conflict (as in many post-communist states) between more progressive city dwellers and the countryside which tends to miss the security of authoritarian rule and remains unbothered by corruption. If you're trying to escape that then Poland is not the answer....

Moreso than in some countries, knowing Polish is crucial to any type of integration in Poland. Foreigners who learn Polish can become as integrated as they want and those who don't..... can't.

Study / Academic year start and end months in Poland English medium schools [8]

how very odd! I've never heard it (though to be fair I don't hang around people who need/want services in English).

The only time I've ever come across the term is in discussions of the Indian system....


Is the UK that far gone that you need to distinguish that children are being educated in English? Weird, weird, place. So sad....

Language / Patrick Ney - Is his Polish Legit? [35]


That's probably something of an exaggeration.


That's very easy to believe.

Life / Do Polish people like Turkish people? [66]

Turks themselves, of course!

I remember when Erdogan was supposed to be an example of how an Islamist could be a good responsible leader. So much for that. The problem is that the more secular Turks (who are closer to Italians and Greeks culturally) have been outbred by low information Anatolians who are fine with making women wear headscarfs and integrating 11th century religious practices into the legal system.

Study / Academic year start and end months in Poland English medium schools [8]


That's an Indian term you're advised to leave behind, very few people in Poland would understand it I imagine. Say "international school" or 'school in English'

All schools, no matter the language of instruction use the same schedule. The first half of the school years starts in the beginning of September and lasts until sometime in January. The second half begins in late February and ends toward the end of June.

Life / Do Polish people like Turkish people? [66]


Turks do not have a good record in getting dictators out of office and Erdogan has a constituency (anatolian peasants) who quite like his style and theocratic tendencies.

It's too sad, because there's a lot to like about Turkey, but in its current political situation..... no.

Language / Patrick Ney - Is his Polish Legit? [35]


I have been a number of time, including once with a Polish employee of the US government, I needed something from the states for my residency and she thought I was a Polish person wanting a visa to the US who had ended up in the wrong office, we went around for about five minutes before we got it straightened out.

Another time, I was arranging my family doctor. When I gave my name the person on the phone thought I was a Polish person calling for a foreigner "Tell them we don't have interpreters, he'll have to bring his own!"

Now there's no way that I could pass for a native speaker in a very long conversation ranging over a variety of unfamiliar topics, but shorter interactions that involve things I know about are another question altogether.

Language / Nice to meet you all. I have a question about Poland's Accents? [18]


of course they can, Polish has glides, but most intro textbooks don't describe English vowels very well so they get frozen bad pronunciations. They probably find it awkward to produce so many glides but that's a separate issue.

Also Polish speakers have problems with are reducing vowels to almost nothing.

I've never understood the problems many have with ship and sheep (for instance). One reason might be that most textbooks described vowels as long and short (which kind of works in British pronunciation) and not tense and lax (what American pronunciation is based on).

ship has a lax vowel and sheep has a tense vowel but Polish doens't do tense lax distinctions wtih vowels (though it plays a part with consonants as soft consonants tend to be more lax than hard ones.

Language / Nice to meet you all. I have a question about Poland's Accents? [18]

uh no we don't.

the Polish vowel in no doesn't exist in American except before (American) r or ł

no = noł
note = nołt
nor = nor

but

not = nat
nought = nat (for many to most speakers)

There is somehting like Polish o in some British varieties but I don't know enough about them.

Language / Nice to meet you all. I have a question about Poland's Accents? [18]


There is no difference in modern Polish, the difference is between ż, rz and ź.

Actually there is a small difference in that rz devoices after a voiceless consonant so the name Zakrzewski is pronounced Zakszewski.
On the other hand ż causes anticapatory voiceing so that także is pronounced tagże.

But morze and może are pronounced the same in modern Polish.

Language / Nice to meet you all. I have a question about Poland's Accents? [18]

Witamy cię!

A couple of points.

Do you know about syllable timing versus stress timing? English is stressed timed (stressed vowels are lengthened and unstressed syllables reduced or eliminated) Polish is syllable timed. All unstressed vowels still maintain their basic sound. An example is the way Polish people say the name Clinton (with a clear o sound in the second syllable whereas English speakers say something like "Clintn" with almost no vowel sound.

Polish vowels are mostly 'pure' (they have the same sound throughout the syllable) while most English vowels have glides (they change sound over the course of the syllable).

Compare the English 'no' with the Polish word 'no'. Poles hear the English word as noł while most English speakers can't hear the difference.

Also English p, t and k at the beginning of a syllable are followed by a strong puff of air while Polish p, t and k are not. The way many Anglophones pronounce 'tak' sounds almost like 'cak' to Polish speakers.

Find some recordings of short Polish sentences that you can understand and practice trying to say the sentences at the same time as the recording. Don't repeat, that doens't help, try to say it at the same time.

If you know any other languages that might help, much of what I wrote about vowels and consonants is also true of French, Spanish and Italian.