Life / Mosquitoes in Poland [40]

No. From what I hear there are less than usual this year.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

I'd say "quite well". Not perfect, but I can pass for a Polak unless I need to use a complicated sentence with lots of declension and agreement in it. ;)

I started by learning the pronounciation, learned some basic grammar from a book and the rest has been picked up the hard way. For example I learned a lot of building terms (and swear-words) when we built our "piętro" extension on the house. I learnt a lot of tennis terms when I got out there and played tennis with the locals.

Knowing the language is essential to understanding the people. I don't just mean understanding what they say, but understanding why they are the way they are. I found that once I can speak directly to people and have a conversation in their own language, I started to understand some of the differences in ways of thinking. (And boy are there some large differences:) )

I agree with the poster above. Anybody who makes no effort to learn the language is missing out.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


I forgot to answer this part.

I think it's amazing that people can converse without opening their mouths. :)
I have a theory about why the language developed in such a closed mouthed way and it is this...

Being a very cold climate in winter, opening the mouth wider to speak would involve more heat loss to the body. So a fairly closed mouthed language evolved.

...it's probably a heap of crap, but I'd love to hear other people's ideas.

What else do I think about it? I think agreement and declension suck, but I've tried to learn Polish like a child learns language, by absorption of whole phrases rather than consciously thinking about cases and genders. (Conversely, it takes a very gifted Pole to be able to get definite and indefinite articles in the right places in English. You can spot the non-natives on this forum very easily on that alone - but fair play to them for posting - I wouldn't be able to post decent quality written Polish).

The adult way of learning a language might be faster (vocab and grammar) but that's not how we teach our kids to speak natively is it? At least, not until they reach school age.

My son (almost 7) has been brought up "one parent, one language" from birth. He often corrects my Polish, but I can still get him sometimes. For example, the other day I told him "Kuba is short for Jakub". He disagreed with me. "No it's not". I said "Let's ask Mummy" ;)

Dad was right. I still know more than him about tennis, photography, building etc. But how long will it last?

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


What about "under the thumb?" Still, I agree a one word description is good. What about wimp? :p

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


Bet they will answer whichever is their native language or the one in which they have the best ability. ;)

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


Not unless both languages are primitive. ;)

News / Polish Mom claims daughter got pregnant from swimming in pool! [162]


Perhaps you did? ;)

Or, on the other hand, maybe everybody else was in bed when you posted? Or maybe everyone's said what they wanted to say and the thread has become boring?

In my opinion it would be impossible to get pregnant swimming in a pool with a costume on. And if she was swimming without a costume on, she would probably be capable of "bumping into" a stray erection as well. :p)

News / Polish Mom claims daughter got pregnant from swimming in pool! [162]


Oh. I know this one. Three. ;)

There's a bit of a shortage of Roman Catholic Polish cows this year though. The price has gone through the roof. :p)

Anyone considered the possibility that she got pregnant before she went away?

News / Polish Mom claims daughter got pregnant from swimming in pool! [162]


Plenty of that around all year round (excuse me for the tiny edit ;) )

News / Polish Mom claims daughter got pregnant from swimming in pool! [162]


Maybe she wasn't wearing a swimming costume but jeans?

Messing with the gene pool?

News / Polish Mom claims daughter got pregnant from swimming in pool! [162]


Post #159, according to forum time, was made at 02:12, which is when most UK or Polish based people will be in bed. Hence my comment.

Life / What is it with the Polish love of antibiotics? And Why do Poles get ill more? [40]


Oh, don't get me started on that one, bo zmarznię. LOL.

News / RHD cars in Poland - my campaign to change the rules in Poland [128]


You're starting to sound like a Pole Harry. ;) Been here too long?

(Ahh. I see your post has been 'adjusted'. Perhaps that was an adjustment?)

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

What I like about Polish is the completely logical pronunciation. If you know the rules, you can read a word. It's also nice that if you hear a word, 99 times out of 100 you can write it down correctly.

Grammar is a different story, but we get our own back on the Poles by having articles which they cannot fathom at all. You can always tell a non-native English speaker/writer because they get the articles wrong or omit them altogether.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


Quite right. I don't think I said it did though. I was just trying to be positive about Polish and say something nice. After all that's about the ONLY thing about Polish that is helpful in learning it.

The logical nature of Polish does help because you can learn a word from a book and know how to say it without having to learn all those stupid phonetics symbols or ask a native "how do you say this word?"

One of the hardest things I find about spoken Polish is the intonation and vigorous gesticulation. It's completely different from English and very hard to get used to. People often look and sound to me as if they are about to start a fight. You can't learn that stuff from books though - have to be immersed in the culture.

Mind you, most foreigners don't get English intonation, which is why we now have so many natives ending all their sentences with an upward intonation like the Australians do.

Intonation is a big part of communication too. When I ask my wife a question in English and the answer is "I don't know" the intonation she uses is the same as if she was saying "nie wiem" in Polish - and in English it carries with it a message of "I don't know and **** Off" which is totally unintended.

I think people need to pay a lot more attention to the "music of speech". But I guess that doesn't get taught in classes and also to an extent depends on aural ability.

Food / Poland known for their sweets? [67]

I think Wedel improved since Cadbury took it over. I don't like Wawel - I think they're poo. And as for Ptasie Mleczko - I hate them. But that's a personal choice.

The plums in chocolate and liqueur chocolates are very good though. I also like the chocolate nuts and raisins you can buy (but I forgot the brand name).

My main gripe about chocolate in Poland is that there is a huge range of quality available ranging from stuff which doesn't contain any cocoa, to some quite nice stuff.

Love / Are Polish Girls scared of English Guys [124]


LOL - I hope you didn't mean that the way it comes across? ;)

Food / Poland known for their sweets? [67]

Ohh, you haven't been to £ódź lately then. They already have one at Manufaktura :p

Maybe Wedel was better long ago, but in the 16 years I've toing and froing between UK and Polska I think it got better. But maybe it just got more Cadbury-like which could be what I was used to? Who knows? The fact that some people like Ptasie Mleczko shows we all have different tastes.

Food / Poland known for their sweets? [67]


Can't argue that it's not damn good stuff. I love Lindt even if I can't spell it. ;)

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]

I thought the culture of sleeping with your kids developed out of necessity? i.e. there wasn't enough rooms or beds for everyone to have their own.

It's a very personal choice and really it depends on how well you sleep. My wife was a very light and nervous sleeper. Our son had his own room from day 1 and slept through the night from week 9.

I don't think there's anything particularly sick about sleeping with your children, but, except for unusual situations (bad dream etc.) for me it's preferable that they learn independence in this from as soon as possible.

Having a kid is a major shock to the family - particularly the first one. Both parents need to cut each other a lot of slack and try to understand each other's needs. No one person's needs should be totally met at the complete expense of another - that breeds selfishness. There is already too great a culture of selfishness in the world.

There's nothing wrong with letting a baby cry for a while. It's one of the main ways they can get exercise. They can't do a great deal else after all. Check the nappy, hunger, properly burped. If none of that helps, just leave them to it for 10 minutes and then go check on them.

Are you feeding on demand or do you have a routine? If you want your kid to go through the night, a routine works a treat. I recommend the book "On becoming babywise". It's simply brilliant. Everyone I know who has used their strategy has baby sleeping through the night inside the first 3 months.

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]

And that's completely fair enough in the first few weeks.

I wasn't really meaning newborns though. I meant older kids. In my opinion there's no good reason to routinely share a bed with your 3-year-old unless it's the only one available.

USA, Canada / Moving back from Canada to Poland, yes or no? [39]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I recommend a long holiday in Poland. By long I mean a couple of months or more - before you commit yourselves to anything. Canada is a magnificent country. I can't honestly see why anyone would rather live in Poland than Canada? What exactly is the upside?

Same for UK to be honest. If you're in Canada now and you're doing OK, you're better off staying there unless you have specific opportunities to move for.

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS SO SPECIAL LIVING IN U.K [90]

We've got all the best talent from Eastern Europe here because we opened our doors first. ;)

Compared to Canada though, tbh I think you're better off where you are. UK is in a big mess and will stay that way for a few years until we start making things again instead of shuffling money around and expecting everyone else to do the doing.

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS SO SPECIAL LIVING IN U.K [90]


Not something I'd be qualified to comment on. You?


Good observation. I agree with you.

One of the ways the UK has let itself and its traditions go downhill over the years is by encouraging mass immigration and by being a soft target.

Cultural diversity is all very well, but those who are invited to live in a country should do most of the adjusting rather than expecting the locals to adapt to them. (Isn't this how it is in Poland? I can't imagine the local offices of any government organ in Poland translating their leaflets and forms into English to make life easier for me - and that's how it should be.)

It's the FIFO principle. Fit In or go away. ;)

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS SO SPECIAL LIVING IN U.K [90]

I think a lot of people stood up and took notice when things got so bad that the BNP started getting enough support to get 2 MEPs.

Hopefully, that is the wakeup call that mainstream parties need to tighten up border controls and immigration policy. Still - it's too late really. It's quite conceiveable that in my lifetime the UK will become an Islamic state - simply by reproduction.

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]


LOL. Ever tried talking to a child just after a tantrum?


The naughty step is supposed to diffuse the tantrum and take away the audience. That's the whole point of it. It's effective sometimes. I think it was developed by people who don't believe in spanking children. Personally I think spanking is essential, but the naughty step can be a useful tool if not over used.


It gives them and you a time out so that...

* they can calm down
* you can respond maturely


Yeah - I bet they're scarred for life. Why did you become an axe-murderer Billy? "It all started back when I was 15 months old and my mum made me sit on the naughty step for a whole two minutes".

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]

I explained to you what purpose it serves. Cooling down before the kid will be capable of communication.

Raised many kids have you?

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]

Fair enough. That's much better explained. :)

USA, Canada / Differences in How Polish People Raise a Child and How Americans Raise a Child [149]

Where do you draw the line between spanking and beating though? This is where Polish language causes confusion because they use the same word for both.

Beating, to me, implies being hit really hard with a stick or belt and leaving a mark which lasts for some time. Smacking is quite normal in most countries where common-sense is still alive and well.

Bottom-line (pun intended) is that you will have to decide what is right for your own kids and you will live with the consequences of your decision. How's that for an awesome responsibility?