Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

yes SzwedwPolsce - your examples show there is difference how various letters can be pronounced depending on their position ( it is not just ę and ą that get pronounced differtently depending on their position or neighbourhood - someone already mentioned the phenomenon of devoicing of consonants (ubezdźwięcznienie)) - but there seems to be pretty consistent rule to this

History / Polish president Mościcki and Hermann Göring hunting together in 1938 [76]


it is a side issue I know - but Polish fighter force was not destroyed by Germans in these two weeks - it just could not operate anymore because of shattered logistic of the country - it's repair and support columns were caught up in ground fighting or could not reach possible new operation areas in the east of Poland for various others reasons - also those pre-war main bases of Polish air force, among them those in eastern Poland, were destroyed by German bombing - it is also noteworthy even in these 17 - 18 days of operation Polish fighter force claimed a considerable share of German air force - it is estimated that Luftwaffe lost well over 200 airplanes in combat over Poland and I guess some 100 of these were downed by Polish fighters (the rest was mostly air defense fire)

Life / Polish plantlife and similar flora where you live. [81]

the substance is lime or chalk and it just reflects the sunshine - I've just read a paragraph about that - the procedure should best be done already in february as it can be quite sunny even then (can remember quite a few warm and sunny ferbruaries where I live) - it is not only that early buds that make a tree vulnerable but also the parts of bark warmed during the sunny day can become adversely affected by night frost and break or yield other wounds in the aftermath - actually painting the trees white with chalk (some stuff like flour or clay is added to the paint so it's thickier and doesn't wash away too easily) has little value in fighting insects and other pest

Life / Polish plantlife and similar flora where you live. [81]


it is also a means preventing the sap movements in the tree too soon in the spring because of the sun operation - this may make the tree to grow buds too soon and make it vulnerable to night frosts or snowy episodes - gosh do I even make sense in English ;)

News / Local elections in Poland, EU citizens should register to vote [57]

I don't know any people who are in my local authorities (e.g. in power now) and neither do I know those new challengers - so I vote according to my party affiliation but I guess it only counts for 'powiat' level and higher - on the lower level there are no PiS affiliated candidates AFAIK - btw I believe there are too many levels of local authorities here in Poland - god knows what we need those powiats for

Travel / From Krakow to Warsaw. Where else can I go during Christmas in Poland? [6]

i'm not sure it is still available but you can consider going to Białowieża (some 150 miles east of
Warsaw - it is quite a wilderness there with vast stretches of primeval forrest and you can see some pretty big wildlife including the wisents - as I have already mentioned it can already be booked out (there is a limited hotel base there)

it can be very snowy there at the time of the year but this year's autumn is very warm so it is hard to forecast snow conditions for the end of December

try searching 'Bialowieza the land of wilderness'

News / 100 days of Komorowski presidency [41]


well then there should be no public education pal - cause once there wasn't and somebody who must have been a politician has come up with that idea - there shouldn't be social security and so on - the best a government can do is to change nothing is a thought of someone who does not have ideals I would guess

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]

believe me - I really haven't stolen that money ;)

yes - I can imagine Dutch has it's specific intricacies be it grammatical or (of ;) phonetical

and yes perhaps my spoken Dutch is not perfect (I mean pronouncing all the sounds of the language - especially the g and h difference)

as for grammar I think you will agree that Dutch language shares a lot of rules with German and English languages

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


Stu - Dutch language is pretty easy to speak tell ya :)

I never really taught myself Dutch and I could understand a lot from similarity to the German (and a little less to English) and speaking it is not much hassle either (the couple of rules are pretty quick to grasp)

Genealogy / Scott Grifka, Family history [13]

busha is grandma or babcia

News / 100 days of Komorowski presidency [41]


based on what?


could you possibly describe these ominous circumstances ? or is it just going 'truth' among your family

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]



well mafketis it is also the thing that the sentence doesn't make sense in Polish even after getting all verbs in proper form - so one desperately needs a context (e.g some more information) to figure out what the sayer actually means - I just put that comment in case you are not aware of this, which I believe you in fact do

it is always possible to communicate using words in basic forms just requires some more effort on the side of the native speaker to figure out meanings formulated this way or convey meanings in such a manner

I hope what I have written makes sense in English at all ;)

on the side note (sort of) - I think prepositions are much underestimated core of a given language and can cause much confusion for foreign speakers

also just came to my mind that the difference between adjective and adverb in Polish can cause more confusion than what is the case in English (oftentimes there is no difference as far as I can recall ;)

Language / The Future of Polish Language [179]


yes, true - I couldn't figure out the meaning if out of context - it is not the improper use of tenses btw that makes this pretty unintelligible (i am very much for 'infinitive speech' for foreigners trying to speak Polish for a start - but it helps very much if they quickly learn the role of the aspect in Polish verbs I'd imagine)

News / 100 days of Komorowski presidency [41]

yes noreen - Mr Komorowski was always really well-meaning classy guy - no sarcasm no Kaczyński bashing ever - and he is a real diplomat - while in Moscow victory parade this year made some sweet comments about how Polish troops are once again in Moscow the firts time being in 1610 (Polish occupation of Moscow in the aftermath of a war lost by Muscovites) -

to follow that Mr Komorowski gained a nickname Jamajka (Jamaica) for his 'well-meaning' commenst that Poland is somehow being ridiculed in Jamaican press for some exploits of the PiS government - he also was very quick to judge Lech Kaczynski's visit to Georgia and the delegation being caught in a skirmish with some Ossetian militia supporting the Russians in their invasion - he said something like 'an attempt/attack in the same league as the visit' (jaka wizyta, taki zamach in Polish)

he was one of the most active Kaczyński bashers anyway - though I haven't followed his 'words of wisdom' that much

Ohhh, and yes, I think he is handsome. - handsomeness is not a political quality in my eyes and doesn't actually tell much about the person in question

to my eyes Komorowski is just another hypocrite of whom there's plenty in PO (Civic Platform)

News / 100 days of Komorowski presidency [41]

hehe Komorowski reasonable and devoid of agressive tones - you guys really don't pay much attention to what is going on in Polish politics - you should've read how his 'support commitee' senior members were spitting hatred in front of the news cameras - Andrzej Wajda and Władysław Bartoszewski the most outspoken in that event

Language / Polish names spelling and pronunciation [24]

zjee:shah

it is an approximation 'cause a couple of sounds in question do not exist in English language

ee: is shorter than usual in English

btw Zdzisia is a pet/short name for Zdzisława (zjee:swavah)

History / Recent Lech Walesa interview made by VBS [30]


peacefully yes decisevly no (see 'Kozłowski comission' that emptied the remainder of SB archives in existence of 'delicate' material - Adam Michnik was a part in this comission) then again WSI (military intelligence service - who somewhat paradoxically also was very active in internal Polish matters) remained untact right into the new millenium - there are many other issues that make this power transfer not that obvious - remember also that money is the power - and ask yourself what are the roots of some media outlets in Poland - you might be pretty surprised

History / Recent Lech Walesa interview made by VBS [30]


I don't count him as such - and you would find a lot more Poles who don't either

Language / Caring/loving words in Polish? [90]

Jak się masz siostro najdroższa? Mam nadzieję, że podróż ci się układa zachwycająco, i że po powrocie będziesz miała mnóstwo do opowiadania. Mam nadzieję, że poprawię się w polskim do twojego powrotu. Pozdrawiam i tęsknię. Do zobaczenia wkrótce.

there is no specific word to denominate older sister in Polish - older sister is simply starsza siostra which is literal translation of the phrase in English

the translation I have come up with is not a literal one and I have assumed a couple of things - for example I have assumed that you mean that you hope to be better at Polish when your sis returns from the journey (this is the meaning of the sentence I have written in Polish)

hope it helps

and hmm perhaps wait until someone else gives his translation - it may convey the English meaning better or/and sound better in Polish (though I tried to give a translations that sounds good in Polish)

Genealogy / NAGONOWSKY: Please help to find my host family in Poland [5]

hello Svetlana

Urząd Miejski w Środzie Wielkopolskiej

ul. Daszyńskiego 5
63-000 Środa Wielkopolska

tel. (+48 61) 286 77 00
fax (+48 61) 286 77 02
e-mail: um@sroda.wlkp.pl

but I still think it could prove difficult to get in touch with the Nagonowski family through the city hall (they probably won't have or won't share the Nagonowski's phone no.)

I tried to find their number through some online phone directories but had no success

Language / Dziękujecie in plural form [11]

it is not accepted in formal environment/setting

News / Palikot - too liberal/modern for Poland? [197]


he is a fake guy who has found a political niche - quite cynical - and then he's also a crook - had hidden his capital somewhere in the Dutch Antilles not to share it with his wife after divorce - there are also some allegations he bought Polmos Lublin (a state owned company before) with the money he got from... Polmos Lublin (in a sense the essence of Polish 'transformations" )

btw I am very much against any subsidising of any church by the state - and at the moment the state is funding religious 'education' in the public schools - there shouldn't be any religious 'education' in public schools in my view - also the returning of Catholic church real estate is quite controversial to me - there have been quite shady instances - shouldn't churches be funded by the believers?

Food / Help me like Polish food (recommendations) [48]


I guess they are similar - though I never had potato pancakes in Czech Rep

Food / Help me like Polish food (recommendations) [48]


placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) are made with (more or less finely) grated raw potatos and finely cut onions with some wheat flour added (it makes the mixture thicker) and eggs to bind the things together - add some salt and pepper - i like some caraway in it too - like the boxty the things are fried but rather as smaller 'slaps' (that do not fill the entire pan - it is for the convenience of turning the thing) - I am pretty sure you can find some sensible recipe in English - i do it 'na oko' - measuring the proportions with just the judgement by the eye (forgive me my English ;)

News / No de-Communisation in Poland? [41]


his political opponents had for the most time no access to the archives - and it is well documented that his files were heavily emtied during his time as a president - it was documented by the ministry of interior notes - Wałęsa's past has some skeleton in the cupboard - were it a minor thing it would be more sensible to acknowledge some cooperation - the actions aiming to hide any cooperation with communist security agencies cast a deep shadow on Wałęsa's past

Food / Help me like Polish food (recommendations) [48]

have you ever tried potato pancakes Teffle - these are not strictly Polish thing but I love em - much more than I do love chips - maybe I can come up with some other ideas later

UK, Ireland / Ed Miliband, new Labour leader, talking about Polish immigrants yesterday [62]


Sean - be serious - what kind of clearing was that? Do you mean this special UOP action to get rid of the remaining communist archives on Wałęsa (SB archives of course) he ordered while in presidential power - whith pages obviously torn out - btw these were not the only actions of UOP (State Security Bureau) taken allegedly on Wałęsa's order - many other archives have been searched and emptied of inconvenient and sometimes of any material concerning Wałęsa

News / No de-Communisation in Poland? [41]

delphiandomine


if people knew better they would do better

btw some important people in Poland do behave like they are acting agents of foreing powers - look at Mr Pawlak and his gas contract until some time in 2030's (is it 2037 - this is not the only flaw of the contract as you propably know) when there is a prospective for Poland to be energetically self-suficient in some 10 years

Language / Caring/loving words in Polish? [90]


well actually it can mean something very similar to the use of cute in English that you mention - but it doesn't always mean that in Polish (depends on the person speaking)

News / 2010 Polish Presidential Election [39]

the PO stands for opportunism, corruption and ties with shady blokes

PiS stands for a vision that this country should be for the whole nation not only the power elites even if this seems not very practical and even if they were not all the times acting as idealists would