News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Exactly, jon! Patriotism means many different things to many different people. To me, for instance, partiotism's not about hoisting an Eagle in front of my front lawn and blaring Wagner's "Ride of the Walkyren" to annoy my neighbors (actually impossible in Germany due to their strict regulations regarding noiseLOL). Patriotism's more about a shared pride in Germany's tremendous, to be sure in some areas, immeasurable accomplishments in the arts, sciences, technology, R&D etc..

Work / Young dutch graduate (social sciences at university level) - job prospects in Poland? [15]

About that I coudn't say exactly. I do know though for a fact that Dutch engineers particularly are often in high demand throughout the continent, Venice, Italy for instance. A Dutch firm was called in a number of years back to help in raising the sea-level of the city. As Holland has centuries of experience constructing dykes etc.. ("Dike" even a Dutch word originally!), they were thought to be the most skilled workmen for the job.

They were right:-)

News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Depends folks on whom you call "flag wavers". If you mean do-or-die, my-country-right-or-wrong nationalists, then I'd agree. Yet, being partiotic in a balanced fashion surely wouldn't offend most Germans. Indeed Germans have much to be proud of in their history, the 1933-'45 period nothwithstanding!! The latter was clearly NO abberation, but the ineluctable conclusion to a long and tragic death of Judeo-Christian enlightenment as we know it.

Work / Young dutch graduate (social sciences at university level) - job prospects in Poland? [15]

Learning Polish well can only increase your chances at getting a decent job at a decent salary:-)
Don't expect however for a Polish equivalent/competitive salary to be the same as a Dutch salary for the same higher level, that is, academic or managerial type work!

Law / I am a US company, I want to sue a Polish company. [5]

Sam,

Just curious as to whether or not you scoped out the situation BEFORE entering into business with a Polish, for that matter any foreign, company using local contacts prior to the deal! Without sufficient knowledge beforehand of either local lingo or business customs, you could be screwed!

Sorry to be so blunt, but in your shoes, I'd contact a bilingual Polish-English lawyer ASAP and use a certified or experienced interpreter at ALL business meetings with your Polish interlocutor.

Hope this helps a little:-)

News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Herr Guenter Grass was born in at-that-time Danzig, GERMANY, considers himself (and is logically enough considered by everybody else!!) a GERMAN, not a Pole, though technically his mother was a full-German, his father a Kaszub ^^ The fact that Danzig is today known throughout Europe, furthermore is listed in all atlases, as Gdansk, resp. GdaŃsk, alters nothing about what I just stated.

News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Thus far, Tusk and Merkel appear to have at least a professional (if not overly "cordial") working relationship. Curious on the presidential level about the relationship between Komorowski and Gauck!

Po polsku / Dlaczego uczysz się Polskiego? [101]

Niedawno czytałem w angielskiej prasie że język polski jest praktyczniej w Anglii, n.p. w Londynie, niż w Polsce z powodu polskich immigrantów, którzy przychodzą do stolicy a jeszcze nie płynnie mówią po angielsku. W Polsce mówi dla gospodarki międzynarodowej więcej Polaków po angielsku.

Czy to prawda?

Już dzisiaj w gazecie londyńskiej artykuł o księgarnię w East Endzie na której wystawie było pisano "HELP WANTED! POLISH LANGUAGE A MUST!!"

News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Based on what I read as of today in the Polish press, the outcome is generally perceived as overwhelmingly positive , Greece and southern Europe notwithstanding:-)

News / How do Poles feel about the outcome of Germany's elections? [90]

Many Germans with whom I've spoken express the desire that Merkel reach out further to Poland and treat her more as an equal trading partner than was the case under previous chancellors.

Law / problems with registration a company in poland [12]

...yet that person nonetheless collected their pay:-0

Law / problems with registration a company in poland [12]

The civil service if of course a different issue entirely, granted!

"Shirkers not workers" we call them often timesLOL

Law / problems with registration a company in poland [12]

Allright, then I ought to have specified top execs at international concerns who also have corporate headquarters in any of Poland's major urban centers:-)

Law / problems with registration a company in poland [12]

I repeat, UPPER, not middle-to lower management:-)

Law / problems with registration a company in poland [12]

At the upper managerial level, as throughout the rest of Europe, I'd imagine most would know quite fluent English! Compared though with Germany, France and certain other Western countries, the gap between those who know English well vs. those who don't, i.e. can't since they never learned it in school, seems however more polarizing.

This though is only one person's impression.

Language / "są" is used when it's plural - Polish Language question. [10]

Guys, the main problem with all these "methods", Pimsleur, Thomas, Rosetta, Berlitz ad infinitum, is that they only teach how to memorize the bare-bone basics of the language (even the advanced sections), rather than learning to THINK in the language. For Polish, native-accented voices notwithstanding, had I zero knowledge prior to using Rosetta Stone, I'd come out knowing only how to recognize certain structure/vocab in context, yet hardly what I'd need to function at effortless professional competence in the language!

The principal flaw with each of the above is that it is assumed that the learner doesn't want or for that matter, really need to learn Polish, German, French etc. like a native, since (mistakenly thought!!!!) the latter's knowledge of English is and always has been far superior to our knowledge of their language, i.e. we ought to just "give it a rest" as they say, and merely content ourselves with rote memorization etc..

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth:-)

The truth is that upscale Europeans think their English is so superior that they don't even need an advanced knowledge of it, as natives (as well as most foreigners) don't know higher-level English anyhow, so what's the differenceLOL

My recommendation to anyone out there is to pursue Polish with the same vengeance as I did. In the end, you'll win the respect of your business partner.

Language / "są" is used when it's plural - Polish Language question. [10]

Cześć, Tony!

Ahemm, hate to be a pain, but Rosetta Stone (beyond maybe the most elementary conversation stuff) I found to be a waste of my time, speaking personally:-) Counting quirks in Polish are legion: Let's take an everyday masculine, inanimate noun "stół" (table)

There is one table. = JEST jeden stół.
There are two - four tables. = SĄ dwa - cztery stoły.

So far so good. After 'five' (5) in Polish, as well with most qualifiers "kilka" (some), "duży" (much/many), "wiele" (much/many) "niektóry" (various) etc., things start to get more than a little hairyLOL Don't know either how far you've gotten with cases, but after the previous qualifiers, often the genitive or possessive case instead of the nominative is used. To complicate things even further, numbers may well differ depending upon whether the the given noun is one of three genders masculine, feminine, neuter OR, animate virile vs. inanimate virile and non-virile:-0

Rosetta scarcely addresses most quirks in Polish (of which there seem countless) adequately in my view.

UK, Ireland / Learning Polish - Polish shops in England? [34]

Perchance equivalent to a "bodega" here in the States selling specifically (though not exclusively) Hispanic products, Spanish-language reading matter etc. Does Spanish have any more or less imagination than Polish because it has one word for several English words??

:-)

UK, Ireland / Learning Polish - Polish shops in England? [34]

Citizen67, frequently Polish will employ one word for English two or several. Many speakers from other language language groups conversely find English no-end confusing with its multiplicity of lexical usage. Morever, English, being a pluracentric language, has numerous varieties (I dare say "standards") of speech and use, whereby for instance US uses "store", the UK prefers "shop", in the US "supermarket", in Britain "green grocer" etc.

UK, Ireland / Learning Polish - Polish shops in England? [34]

Naturally my scenario DOESN'T apply if the interlocutor senses/guesses or knows that the other person's a foreigner. True enough, like most Europeans, the average Pole will certainly cut the person enough slack:-) In larger university towns and urban areas, chances are that the foreign speaker will even be answered in some form of English, being that Polish people realize that their language often comes across as downright impenetrable to your run-of-the-mill outsiderLOL

UK, Ireland / Learning Polish - Polish shops in England? [34]

I only second enkidu's comments! Poles are oodles more sensitive to social register or code switching than we Anglos. Say "you" to a male stranger, he might knock your teeth out, thinking it a gay come on. Say "you" to a female, other than a close friend, relative or spouse, and she'l likely tell ya to f***k off, (...but fast), figuring you're tryiin' to get her in the sack!!!!LOL

History / Should Poland be given ANY credit for ALLOWING Jews into Poland for 1000 years? [195]

Jews are any more 'secretive" than the upper echelons of the Catholic Church, particularly the Papacy, which has operated and continues to operate behind closed doors in hush-hush secrecy amid smoke and mirrors as it has for centuries???!

If by secretive you mean non-proselityzing and the victim of poor public relations in comparison with Christianity, then I'd agree with you one hundred and fifty percent:-)

Furthermore, it's never been an "equal" relationship between Jews and gentiles throughout the history of Europe! Jews were typically brought into various countries (including Turkey under the Ottomans) when tradesmanship was lacking among their own and desparately needed, only to literally toss the Jews right out as soon as the latter ceased to be of immediate profit to the reigning aristocracy at the time:-) England for instance, banned the Jews for almost three hundred years until Cromwell allowed them to return. Prior to that, Jews were burned out of the homes as in the Lincolnshire Massacre in the 12th century, and their lives were made hell.

On the continent it wasn't much better until perhaps the Enlightenment. From the end of the 18th century on, Jews in the German-speaking lands especially were granted rights heretofore unthinkable, same in France under the Code Napoleon. Until the latter half of the 19th century, up though the 1920's, Jews enjoyed a status previously denied. The cruelest of ironies is that this was to be the beginning of their end.

Polonia / I'm going to study in Germany (speaking English / money transfers) [24]

Who's worried, Kaworu?

As the hiring director at a language school for which I once applied as an ESL- instructor remarked to a foreign-born English teacher from Hungary: "Ahh, don't worry about your lousy grammar, lacking vocabulary and thick accent. The students won't even know the difference. And if they do, they won't care! They're in New York to experience English, not for serious training."

:-)))lol

Polonia / I'm going to study in Germany (speaking English / money transfers) [24]

More likely than not, THEIR English wasn't up to par, TheOther!!

So by your logic, "on the woodway" (auf dem Holzweg), "my colleague means" (Mein Kollege meint..) rather than "on the wrong track" and "my buddy thinks" is acceptable English? Certainly my German is better than their English would ever be. Why, I tried to correct their English through gentle corrective "recast", but it didn't even phase their thick skulls.

Polonia / I'm going to study in Germany (speaking English / money transfers) [24]

RIGHT ON, WULKAN! Just because the Germans speak English, doesn't necessarily mean that they're any good at it. You took the words out of my mouth.

Furthermore, to speak English at a pablum-like, dumbed-down, vulgarly simplified touristic level so that what comes out will sound like illiterate 'Hindlish" or some related Creole, then yes, you're absolutely correct that it doesn't seem to be very hard:-)

It's a lot tougher to sound like an illiterate in either German or Polish because as we know, the grammatic arsenal needed to make oneself understood even on the most primitive, accepted level is many times more demanding for foreigners than English, 100% true!

To sound like an educated, cultivated English native speaker with a textured and pleasing pronunciation is next to impossible, except maybe for the exceptionallly talented bilingual. Most foreigners don't even try. The lingua franca of the ancient Western World was Latin,perhaps Sanskrit, of the Eastern World, Chinese, of the present era English, for the new millenium and beyond??? It's anybody's guess. One thing for near certain is that it will be some multilated patois of Worldlish(:-

Apropos the Swedish, my experience as a fluent Swedish speaker is that far too many think their English is better than it actually is.

History / Should Poland be given ANY credit for ALLOWING Jews into Poland for 1000 years? [195]

Jews invented Islam???? Henry, what are you talking about??

Polonia / I'm going to study in Germany (speaking English / money transfers) [24]

Thank heaven you've come to your senses and decided to attempt learning the language! You'll never regret this decision, believe me:-) In the meantime though, you might also want to polish up your English (no pun intendedLOL) Be wary of well-meaning Germans willing to speak English with you instead of German as often their English is not much better than yours, no offense meant ^^

"Cheap" in the sense of online language courses I'd avoid like the plague, to be quite frank. Often, they bilk one for their money and don't deliver. The one exception might be bookbox on Youtube. I'm learning Italian and I can confirm that the immersion method with solely Italian native speakers seems to be working.

Should you like some language/cultural tips for free, my e-mail address is: marekzgerson at yahoo

Mówię po polsku też, tylko nie jak język ojczystowy.

Polonia / I'm going to study in Germany (speaking English / money transfers) [24]

My simple advice??

LEARN GERMAN FIRST!

Pierogi, if English isn't your native tongue, how then in G-d's name can you adequately judge the English-speaking abilities of most Germans?? If you are a native English speaker (and an educated one at that!), how can you sit/stand/lie there and state flat out that Germans are "the best non-English speaking speakers..."???

Either you're smokin' somethin' other than Salem Lights, or you're delusional, or you simply hear what you wish to hear:-)

My experience with the young German when I was studying briefly in Germany years ago, dispelled any illusions I might have entertained regarding the English abilities of Germans across the board. Had I not known German, how would I have know what the heck "My colleague means you're on the woodway." means?!

Luckily, I was able to "translate" his broken English into correct, understandable to a non-German speaker, and yes, communicative, EnglishLOL

Such "Germanlish" I heard multiplied by hundreds of times throughout my short, if nonetheless most pleasant, stay in Hannover, said, I might add, by dozens of Germans of all ages who often plain REFUSED to speak to me in German^^