Study / The reputation of the Jagiellonian University, Krakow. [52]

The Jagiellonian University has a good reputation, however, I will give you feedback on the summer program, based on my own experience last summer for 6 weeks. The teaching was good, generally speaking, but don't expect to be able to speak Polish well after a few weeks. It helps if you already know some Polish, as many students from various countries can speak some Polish but may not know how to write it or know grammar very well. If you are a serious student, don't stay in the student dorm but find your own place to stay if you can. The reason I say that is because there are a certain number of subsidized American brats of Polish descent who are coming only for a cheap vacation where they can drink to their heart's content since the drinking age is 18 in Poland and 21 in the US. This means the dorms are very noisy in the evening and even though there is supposed to be certain hours of quiet, it doesn't mean it is enforced very well. So, if you like your sleep and want to be able to study, go stay someplace else. Also, the summer program is not held on University grounds in the old town Krakow area. It is held in various high schools and other such buildings about a 1/2 hours' walk from old town Krakow. It is not a problem since you can easily take a tram to old town.

USA, Canada / United States-based church or travel companies that tour Poland? [2]

pattours arranges both secular and religious tours to Poland
206tours has religious tours to Poland

note: Orbis Travel in Poland just filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 29th.

Language / Dziękujecie in plural form [11]

Actually, I didn't for what I wanted correctly. What I really wanted was the past form of the word dziękujecie.

Travel / Do I need to speak Polish in order to enjoy Poland as a tourist? [14]

If you are in the major cities, many young people speak English and so there will not be a major problem. I went to Poland a few years ago to study some Polish and the only place there was a problem was the train station. I solved that one by booking train trips with a travel office where the employees spoke multiple languages. Anywhere else I went, I was able to find someone who spoke English. Of course, it helps a lot to know some basic words and phrases in Polish. I would sometimes ask someone in Polish if they spoke English.

Language / Pimsleur v Rosetta stone [27]

I don't think Rosetta Stone offers a free download of Polish anymore. In earlier versions, it used to offer free samples of many lanugages, but now it seems like it only has a few language demos and they are online only. It is possible online to buy an earlier version of Rosetta Stone from other vendors (not directly from Rosetta Stone).

You could download a simple vocabulary program (just words, no pictures) from here: byki.com/fls/FLS.html

Study / Opinions about '2 weeks intensive Polish course' [26]

You will need much more than a 2 week course.

I took a 6 week course at UJ in Krakow three summers ago. I think the teaching was good, but I wouldn't stay in the dorms again. It's developed somewhat of a "party school" reputation for the summer course. I have heard from other students who went to UJ previously that the course offered by the Catholic University of Lublin is better and is the best option for serious students.

Language / Polish Language classes - what do your lessons look like? [21]

I took part in classes in Krakow in summer 2007. We used the Hurra Po Polsku book and Ach Ten Język Polski book. In addition, there were some handouts. There were a lot of interactive lessons in class e.g. describe the person sitting next to you (in Polish of course), go into town in teams and find certain items/landmarks by asking directions in Polish, write a short report about the class visit to the Ethnographic Museum. I would say that the class was good and not boring. There were a variety of additional classes/activities in the evening, but unfortunately, I was mostly too tired to take part in these since the dorm was so noisy. I am a person that needs a solid 8 hrs sleep and it kept getting interrupted by drunk students coming in at all hours or the beer pong games in the hallway any day of the week. So I found it hard to study and to get enough sleep. So, I could recommend the summer course at Jagiellonian University but not the dorm stay. If I did it again I would sign up for the classes only and stay somewhere else.

Life / Online phone directory Poland [10]

Even though there are phone books in Poland if you go there, they apparently don't like to have this information online. One website that specializes in world phone books says: "The Polish privacy laws make it illegal to publish private information. So the white pages are subject to many restrictions. After forty years of abuses under the communist system, the Polish people are very protective of their privacy. They do not want any private information revealed to anyone, even in Polish white pages telephone books, without their written permission. Gathering of any data that can be used to identify an individual is subject to some very restrictive laws. And the people of Poland enthusiastically support the laws. They are very quick to complain if their private information is given out."

That said, there is only one version of Polish white pages I have found and it has become more restrictive than it used to be a few years ago. You have to know already the person's name, city and street they live on in order to use it. This is it: ksiazka-telefoniczna.com.

Life / Good furniture shops in Poland? [11]

The town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, beside the shrine, is know for furniture making. It is about 22 miles southwest of Krakow. Some of their websites say they will make custom furniture. I know when I was walking through the town, there were signs out for "meble" everywhere. Just search for meble i Kalwaria Zebrzydowska and you will find all kind of websites from the town on the internet.

Life / Poland's Environment, recycling [79]

In US this is common in many cities. It's a real pain but you get used to it. Where I live, the cities like to have recycling . So, glass items have to be washed and kept in a separate bin. Cardboard, paper, metals are mixed in another bin. In this bin you can put some food containers like yogurt and food cans but you have to wash them first. The idea is they have to be clean for recycling. There's also a separate bin for yard debris like grass cuttings, tree branches, leaves, etc. Then you also have your regular garbage bin for all the rest. Also, you can't just throw away electronics in the garbage anymore - have to take computer monitors, computers, old tv and such things to special places to recycle. The worst part is the space you need for all the different bins until trash/recycling day.

Law / Getting married in Poland (documentation, church) [42]

I don't know if this will help you, but maybe it will give you some information: /blog/marry-polish-citizen/

Law / How to register for doctor in Poland (by area) [16]

Merged: Does Poland have a list of registered doctors by area?

Is there a list of doctors like in the US where you can look names up in each state's medical board? I have copies of letters that were written by a much younger relative in Poland to my grandmother quite a few years ago. The relative was in medical school in Warsaw then and would now be around 70 years old if still living. She referred to the school as the Academy of Medicine in Warsaw. I don't think it exists under that name now - maybe was renamed? I also wonder if there would be records somewhere of graduates - at the time she still had 2-1/2 years of study left.

History / Restitution Sought by US Holocaust Survivor Family of Expropriated Property in Zywiec, Poland [24]

Actually, I worked with someone of Jewish descent who went with his father to Poland and the father was able to reclaim ownership of his property. I don't know what part of Poland this was in. In this case, however, he found a young mother and her children living there and allowed them to continue to use it. With the situation in question, it seems like all they can do is go through the courts and see if they can claim the property again.

Life / Catholic idol worship in Poland [29]

"they are CATHOLICS they dont read the bible, they worship Mary and pray to idols"
None of this is true. If you take time to really understand Catholic beliefs, you would see that you are misinterpreting things. And Catholics do read the bible - they put it together well before the Protestants changed it.

Genealogy / Requesting images of marriage records - Redman surname [2]

From what I can tell on this webpage ptg.gda.pl/index.php/certificate/action/showinfo/parishId/54
you will have to ask for information from the Pelpin Catholic diocese archives to get the records because it looks like the older records are there rather than in Gdansk archives. They will probably want a fee. Contact information for the diocese is here: diecezja-pelplin.pl/diecezja-en