Language / Help with homework (Polish language learning) (Hurra! Po Polsku - Level 1) [9]

Dear Learner!

Polish conjugations can look insanely hard at first, but you've simply got to memorize by rote EACH new verb you learn from which ever "verb class" to which it belongs:-)

"Oglądać", for instance, ALWAYS has '-am, '-asz', '-a' in the singular, whereas "mówić" ALWAYS has '-ę', -'isz', '-i' in the singular. As soon as you even casually encounter a verb which you've never seen, note down its conjugation, for assuming in a language such as Polish is generally a poor idea.

The rules are numerous and surely too lengthy to condense into even a single post, space (and concentration) limitations withstanding.

The ol' "fluency" vs. "accuracy" argument rears her head again, eh?

Well, Lenko, my feeling remains that it's fine and good to want to "feel" a language etc.. , in some sort of '60's kumbaya-type atmosphere, sitting around a bong and getting gently high on life. However, all the feeling and even positive enjoyment in the world (not that I'm knocking that, by the way!) can never truly replace old-fashioned, solid study of the basics:-)

Sure, your way is great for all of us enjoying the feeling of speaking a foreign language, however, for me, I'd prefer to sound a little naturally halting at first, and yet enjoy getting it right, instead of sounding like an eternal illiterate, feeling their way around verb tenses, (did I utter that four-letter word G-R-A-M-M-A-R - horrors??!), merrily, unconsciously making an ass out of myself in the process!!

It is still possible as well as preferable to sound casual, intelligent, yes even, correct, in another language, while not sounding boorish or vulgar either.

I'm a language teacher myself and I'm all for mnemonic devices, games, songs, puzzles and the like in order to make learning "fun". Truth is though, sometimes learning ISN'T fun, it's hard work and adults learning a language such as Polish, German, Russian, Finnish... need a fundamental structure to their learning.

On the other hand, whatever floats your boat!

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

Hopefully soon what?? If you mean whether or not so-called "German land" will be somehow "returned" to Poland, ahemm, it ain't gonna happen, matey! At least within MY life time (and I'm fifty-seven)LOL

Language / Swearing words in Polish <next level> [4]

Didn't mean to rain on your parade, Naenna!

I speak other languages (some with accentLOL!!) and have found as a foreigner that the effect of using unexpectedly "strong" slang can make people feel a bit uncomfortable sometimes. Other times, it can backfire badly:-)))

Just use those words you posted SPARINGLY, or you'll surely not sound like a native Polish speaker at all.

Language / Swearing words in Polish <next level> [4]

Ahemm, to recognize such vulgar language is fine. However, you might do more than "surprise" your friends by actually using them.
A word of caution; "swearing words" in other languages frequently carry a great deal more weight than they do in English!!

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

Historically, from the banks of the Western Rhone/Rhine, from present-day Alsace, once 'Elsass-Lothringen, extending up through where the former East Prussia (Ostpreussen) "ended" and the borders between Russia and Poland "begin":-)

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

Well, at long last, I not only agree with you to a certain extent, I actually UNDERSTOOD what you were trying to say; it's a language breakthrough, YEEAAAAA! LOL

Elitism is though only part of the whole story, Crow. The histories of both Poland and Germany, even if geographically intertwined, are completely different in terms of their world view:-)

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

Crow, you're missing the point once again, namely, that the entire profound tragedy of German history is, as both Plessner and later on Dr. Mitscherlich, point out, that the Germans have never been able to conceive of existence in terms of "halves"; it's been all or nothing! We see this is their language, their literature, their artistic achievements.

German history has been one of absolutism, a sort of eternal, i.e. FAUSTIAN, pursuit of perfection, coupled with a deeply ingrained absence of ego for which they have had to aggressively overcompensate!

As the Poles have been less than achievement oriented throughout their long history, by contrast, the Germans have been the classic OVERachievers, in nearly any area one can think of.

For the Poles, it was enough to survive as serfs to their neighboring overlords, and yet they DID rebel as soon as they had a fighting chance, thus proudly proclaiming their independence from the Russian yoke in 1918.

The Germans' overweening need to compensate for feelings of inadequacy led them to seek overall domination of their surrounding, when and wherever they could:-)

Please, don't let's generalize!

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

"Illiterate cretins"????!

One can be cultured, that is, aesthetically cultivated, without being necessarily enlightened, can't they?

Wagner for instance was from all contemporary accounts a toxic dirt bag as a person, yet only a genius touched by the divine could pen the overture to 'Tannhaeuser' or the prelude to 'Lohengrin', among numerous other works:-)

Study / Is Poland a good Place for quality education? [19]

Muslim's are indeed unwelcome, that is, unless the eurocrats in Bruxelles can see some financial incentive for them to come and stay!

It's similar to the Jewish situation during the Middle Ages and after:-)) They were scarcely shown the red carpet, and yet throughout the continent, from France aka Gaul through The Suliman's realm, Jewish traders et al. were allegedly respected for their business acumen, yet nothing else.

As soon as they outlived their usefulness, they were merrily chased out by pogroms, massacres, and other violent means, such as the Inquisition, later on.

Muslims have the added burden of being the people associated with 911, first impressions and the like.

With the Jews, there was no such justifiable excuse for ill feeling, albeit fear that the Jew was a perennial usurer, a fallacy the Church did nothing to deny))

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Think there's some historical misunderstanding, frankly, as to what precisely was meant by "chosen people"!
:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

And are you also familiar with what the New Testament has to say on the subject of worthiness and salvation??

"Be he Greek or Jew, in finding Christ, they too may enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

:-)))

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Although I certainly don't defend the "bad" behavior of my co-religionists, Jews were never made to feel especially welcome in almost any European country of which I can think (except perhaps Denmark, possibly also Bulgaria and they were so few in number, their presence went largely unnoticed for centuriesLOL)

Jews were the political footballs of the world, brought in when their supposed skills, cleverness and/or expertise, was needed, merrily chased out, as soon as their services were no longer required.

Life / In Poland the saints come marching in on October 31st [2]

Yes, in many countries. The Spanish-speaking world has Day of the Dead, Britain has All Saints' Day, Germany even has "Laternen gehen" in some towns up north, but it's not scary, just little kids walking in a harmless procession with their parents and collecting candies))))

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

You can't burst a bubble which fails to exist, ol' człowieku zalaza, hate to disillusion ya, bud!

You ignore facts as plain as the schnozz on yer face:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Eye two:-))

My wife LOVES to look at Kraków........from the pages of a book. Regrettably, she also has had her own experiences with the Polish and so, must one day overcome HER trepidations!!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Prejudice against initial prejudice isn't prejudice it's called justifiable retribution, otherwise known as SURVIVAL!!!

History provides all the "proof" you need:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

You mean she speaks Polish like a pigeon, he-he?? I think you mean "pidgin"LOL

Thanks again for the public relations, dolno! My instincts though tell me better:-))

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

While a leopard might never change his spots, perhaps a Pole can change his (true) colors:-)

If I can convince my wife to come along, then I'll definitely consider it! As she doesn't speak Polish, I'd naturally act as her translator.

Many Europeans may speak some English, but whether or not they THINK in English, remains a questionLOL

And in your case, Ironside, unremitting prejudice reigns supreme!!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Communists have no nationality...

Neither have anti-Semites. A hater by any other name remains just that:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

@Polonius, not sure where you get your information, but in no responsible record which I've read, does it ever detail unprovoked attacks by local Jews on gentiles for the sheer pleasure of it:-) 'Course, there were/are Jewish gangsters, drunks, and low lives, just as with any other peoples. The fact is though, that it was never Jews who instigated anti-Jewish violence, unless you equate being a kip and paeis- wearing Yeshiva boy as an automatic provocationLOL

I trust that's not what you're saying!

@dolnośląsk, As I haven't been back to Poland in many years, if my wife wished to accompany me, I'd be off like a shot. Unfortunately, until that time, I'll have to stay au courante via the Web, as do the rest of us!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

The difference is, Jews have a relatively short history in the US, perhaps as a group vs. as individuals, only since the late 18th century, and NEVER in large ghettos!

In Europe aka Poland, Jews have a considerably longer history, dating back to around the time of Charlemagne (Karol Wielki to youLOL), hence that many more years, nearly a millenium, of time needed for the local Christian population to develop stereotypes about them:-))

By the early 1800's in America, Jews were still an exotic species for most. Not so in Poland, where the "villlage Jew" became a sort of icon, complete with unsavory reputation or first impression, as arch usurer, cheat and crooked businessman!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Come now, dolno! Supervised visits under controlled circumstances are scarcely comparable to simply, unobtrusively, showing up somewhere and finding a hostile welcome:-) In the case of the Polish-born returning whom I mentioned before, why pray, would they bother to lie or exaggerate their experiences??! What anyone in their situation would like is nothing more than to be received at least neutally, not necessarily with open arms!!

Furthermore, anti-Semitism is not always so easy to detect. Only in the most egregious examples, are identifiable Jews met with open hostility.

Jewish paranoia?? Seems to me, having experienced "light" anti-Semitism right here in the US, that given the history of anti-Jewish persecution, in Poland and elsewhere, Jews in Poland are not being paranoid, they actually have been persecuted and it wasn't that long ago, only fourty-odd years, since Mieczysław Moczar terrorized Poland with his anti-foreign, xenophobic rants, thus inciting violence.

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

The "bee", dolno, is sadly NOT only in my bonnet (appropriate idiom, by the way, kudos!!), but that of numerous observant POLISH-BORN Jews returning to Poland after years abroad, only to be met with overt hostility, usually, without any provocation on the part of the returning Jews:-)

Wish it weren't so, as I wish it weren't so for African-Americans returning to the deep South and still being stereotyped nonetheless.

The world is ugly, dolno, but denial doesn't make it any prettier!!

@Cesio,

Well said, sir! Looking forward to your return to the field of battle, sharpened pen in hand:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Once again, leave us not necessarily jump to unwarranted conclusions, Cesio! Not EVERY male migrant from, say, Syria, Nigeria, Vietnam etc.. or some other culture admittedly alien to the "white", Christian traditions of Poland, is desirous of jumping into bed with the first Polish woman/girl he sees:-) The latter is dangerous and simple minded on your part and this is exactly the sort of drawing false conclusions which we must avoid at any costs!!

Negative stereotyping hurts everyone, the bigot as well as the "bigotee"
:-)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

The bigger question remains as to whether or not Poland, for that matter most any other European nation, be she Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark etc. can ever truly ACCEPT the profound ethnic diversity she's being asked to acknowledge!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

I think he's simply given in to primitive fear mongering which sadly tends to affect more the less educated, and thus more maliable, among us!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Cesio,

Although I do realize the preservationist instincts among homogeneous societies such as yours, there is indeed a huge difference between a monolingual migrant aka "guest worker" to Poland vs. an educated student, tourist or contractor with a solid grounding in the Polish language and who plans on being in the country only for a limited period of time:-)

We recognize that, unlike the US for instance, most of Europe has no equivalent melting-pot culture similar to America's larger cities, furthermore, unlike the French or the English, has never even had the historical experience of dark-skinned, non-Christian colonies from which labor has been drawn for centuries as from the formerly French Congo, Senegal, Martinique etc..

Be careful however, not to marginalize others, as you yourselves have been marginalized as well throughout Europe!

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

@Crow, while the Poles indeed were not the pioneers of the Nazi Holocaust, there were quite a number of Poles, especially in the countryside, who were deeply anti-Semitic long before Hitler, needing just a prod from German propoganda to justify their hatred and hostility towards Jews:-)

Study / Lodz, new international school for kids? [22]

Good luck though finding Polish kids who speak good English:-) Unless of course, the parents speak the language being learned at home, you'd be perhaps best to find a specifically British or American-sponsored school with diplomats' aka ex-pats' children whose first language is English, since, as you say, your youngsters don't yet know Polish!

Broken English they can learn for free in the Phillippines, why bother to pay money for it abroadLOL

Only my opinion however, I'm not trying to discourage you in the slightest. I was myself only in Poland briefly as a day tourist and found it quite interesting, although I did know at least the basics of the language:-)

Study / Lodz, new international school for kids? [22]

Might one inquire just for starters as to why an English-speaking school, secondly, why necessarily in Łódź?
Are you intending to move to Poland? If so, why learn English in Poland instead of either the US, Canada, Australia (which is closer for you), or the UK?

Just curious:-)