UK, Ireland / Where can I meet Polish girls / community in Manchester? [10]

There's at least three or four Polish shops in Cheetham Hill; you could stand outside one of them, while wearing a red-and-white hoodie, a rucksak, and holding a can of Tyskie - I'm sure they'll be falling over themselves to meet you, lol

UK, Ireland / Where can I meet Polish girls / community in Manchester? [10]

lol probably!

I drove past a restaurant in Wilmslow Road earlier today called "Arabesque", and the first thing I thought of was "oh isn't that an insult for Polish women who only date Arabs" lol


Some wear weird pants too, I believe ;)

UK, Ireland / Where can I meet Polish girls / community in Manchester? [10]

I've never met one, but I believe they do exist, sadly.

UK, Ireland / Let's discuss Polish and British, only constructive (though we will digress) [60]


There's nothing wrong with English girls, Polish women are too thin anyway.

Travel / How can I get to Zlote tarasy - Warsaw? [14]

It's less than 10 minutes walk. Leave the hotel towards Ul. Prosta. Turn left, walk about 300m to Rondo ONZ, and turn right into Al. Jana Pawla II - it's about 200m along there.

If you're lazy you could get a tram.

Travel / Just back from Krakow [120]

Krakow's probably the most overrated city in Poland, if not Europe!

I prefer Wroclaw by a long way.

In fact I prefer Manchester, to be honest!

UK, Ireland / Help for Poles based in Uk who want to go bankrupt [18]

Brilliant... so not only do they put up the cost of UK housing and drive down UK workers wages, but we have to pick up the tab for their bankruptcy as well! Don't you just LOVE the policies of the EUSSR?

I don't suppose you get much for a clapped-out Opel with "go-faster" stripes either, lol.

Love / Are Polish men romantic and caring or... "plain"? [85]


It's definitely a Polish thing! Terms like wiocha are much stronger than "country bumpkin" here in the UK; we may laugh at the occasional inbred from the country, but we know that most country people are just normal, and often well-off or even educated.

Whereas in Poland, city people do look down on the country people in a way which regards them as almost sub-human, backward, and like something from a previous century.

Unfortunately, like many stereotypes, there is some truth in this ;) but watch the film "Blokersi" and you'll see that Poland's cities aren't entirely filled with intelligent, educated, hard-working, law-abiding people!

Food / I've never cooked or eaten any polish dish before. [24]


Go to a Polish shop and get some "placzki ziemniaczane" (potato pancakes) mixture... just add water, an egg, and fry them. They are almost as good (and much quicker) than the real thing. And, considering the price of potatoes, probably not much more expensive either. One pack (£1.60) makes about 10 large ones. I have mine with soured cream.

Language / I need advice - how long does it take to learn Polish? [70]


I can't comment as a "foreigner", as I'm from a Polish family who brought me up to be bilingual. But like those guitar books which claim that you can "play like Jimi Hendrix in three months", you can't become fluent in any language in a few months. I'd say at least a year or two. Working in a country would help significantly.

Some personal examples follow.

French: I took French at school and for a year at uni, but didn't use it in public until over a decade later. To get by in French, I studied for two months before going to France, in order to be able to get around with the basics, but I still couldn't read a French paper.

Italian: No previous experience, started learning three months before going to Italy, got by with the basics with few problems. Likewise, I couldn't read an Italian paper.

Czech: prior knowledge of Polish helped significantly. Started learning two months before travelling, left the phrase book at the hotel after one afternoon in town, could read virtually all of the signs, could read local papers quite easily. Ended up having conversations a few days into my holiday, and even gave some directions to out-of-towners, haha.

Cantonese: started four months before travelling and only managed to remember a few dozen words. I can recognise about 20 Chinese characters, but sadly about 2000 are needed to start reading a paper lol :( Must try harder for next time!

Unfortunately, we Poles love to speak fast (I speak Polish much faster than English, even though I was born here), which probably doesn't help either!

Food / I've never cooked or eaten any polish dish before. [24]

yeah, typo lol

Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

My ex used to say that she worked "w nursing homie" lol

This has been going on for years, though.

My ex mum-in-law used to say "mięso beefowe" instead of "wołowina" haha

News / World Record For Wroclaw: 7,000+ guitarists gathered in one place. (updated 2012) [18]


No, this must be forbidden, lol :)

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]


£600 a month??? :0

Or you could get a WHOLE HOUSE in a decent area round by me :)


Judging by those prices, you need to be wealthy even if you only speak Polish!

News / UK might have anti-Polish socialist Prime Minister [29]


Well, we had an unelected anti-British socialist prime minister until Thursday, so I wouldn't be at all surprised!


Perfect for NuLabour, then! Send 'em to the tower!

Life / Why are Poles in other countries called "Plastic Poles"? [168]


Not quite so simple. I guess that the above only applies if you live in a country where it is easy to assimilate into a "dominant" ethnicity/race. If i were to move to China, and had children with a Polish woman, and so did their children, and their children, etc., do you think those grandchildren would be called Chinese? No. They may find themselves with Chinese citizenship, but no-one would call them "Chinese". It also depends on whether "nationality" is more important than ethnicity or race - none of these are the same thing.

Over here, as it is still quite easy to "hide" yourself within the British population as a Pole, it's possible for people of Polish ethnicity to claim to be "English", and no-one will know. My sister is one of those people - she can't speak a word of the language, has nothing to do with Poles except for close family, despises Polish people generally, and calls herself "English".

I, on the other hand, have always maintained contact with Polish family, speak the language fluently, and am very aware of my origins. Both of us were born in the UK. I call myself Polish, but I am also very proud to have been born in England, and will never hide or deny this fact. I never call myself English, but I have no problem calling myself British (despite the fact that our recent Government would like us to feel ashamed of this, lol). But none of this changes the fact that I am simply NOT ENGLISH.

I suppose the test could be: what would a Nazi-style person or organisation class you as, if they used every medium possible to find out who was really who? In my case, I'd be up against the wall (as would my sister, lol) as we are clearly very ethnically Polish!


Considering how much R1a DNA we share with Brahmin Indians, that's more accurate than you think! Why do you think Poles think they are so superior, lol ;)

News / UK might have anti-Polish socialist Prime Minister [29]


Absolutely, and why do you think they imposed so many taxes on us? It's all preparation for the "non-Muslim" jizyah tax which would eventually be imposed on us! The irony is, if Labour had got their way, the Church Of England would eventually also have become illegal, and the Queen would probably be executed - if that isn't treason, then what is? Yet instead of watching Labour MPs swing, the only thing "hung" is the Parliament.

News / The EU's 1 Trillion Dollar Rescue Package [144]


Depends on how you define "fairer".

If it means that people who worked hard for their qualifications are forced to support the stupid, lazy or useless through high taxes, then yes, that's "fairer".

If someone breaks the law by getting pregnant underage and is rewarded with benefits and free housing for decades, while someone who can't afford to have kids pays high taxes to support the aforementioned benefit-breeder, yet cannot afford a decent place of their own, than that's "fairer".

If someone who works hard and runs a business, but is denied life-saving cancer drugs and dies, while junkies are given methadone and housing free, then that's "fairer".

If you support a Government which believes that if someone won't work, then someone else can support them through taxes, resulting in both having a similar disposable income (despite the fact that the latter had to work all week to get it), then that's "fairer".

If someone who worked hard to get an education and earns a decent salary can only afford to flatshare, while unemployed recent immigrants (or unemployable layabouts) are given a house with a garden by the council, then that's "fairer".

If that's "fairer", then I'd rather live in a system that's "less fair", thank you very much. And those of us who helped vote the socialists out last week obviously agree!

Travel / Eating out - where to have my first Polish meal in Warsaw? [10]


I'll second this, it's far better than the other branches, and the waitresses are better-looking too, lol.

News / ANTI-POLONISM IN EUROPE [39]

heh :)


my Chorley Cakes are nice, lol

News / ANTI-POLONISM IN EUROPE [39]



Taking things far too seriously is also a frequent problem on this forum ;)


lol. that's more like it. :D

See? Germans aren't all humourless sunbed-pinchers ;)

Life / Why are Poles in other countries called "Plastic Poles"? [168]


It's her choice. But the only reason she can be like this is because UK Poles are white, and live in a (just about) white majority country. If Poles had dark or "non-European" skin, I imagine she would definitely feel differently about her "non-existent" Polishness.


So being proud of your origins makes you a Nazi, but telling me to **** off to a country I've never lived in (because I'm proud of my origins) doesn't? Poland has little going for it, so why on earth would I move there?


Who mentioned "purity"? Not me.

But like many of us over here, I'm sick of being told I can't have pride in my non-British, but European, ethnic origin, while the whole country bends over backwards to accommodate cultures which are not only non-European, and some of which are indeed very hostile towards European culture. I'm proud to be Polish AND British, and any leftie or Yank who tells me I'm not "allowed" to say this because it's too PC can **** off!

News / The EU's 1 Trillion Dollar Rescue Package [144]


Where would Poland be without EU money?


Then why can't they be "resilient and hard-working" in Poland, and turn Poland into a world economic power in the process? Exactly, they can't be... which is why so many go abroad and work in businesses created by others.

Life / Why are Poles in other countries called "Plastic Poles"? [168]

@STFU
Can't argue with that, really ;)

Language / Does anybody know of a list of Polish-English False Friends and True Friends? [60]

Pies.

English: filled pastries.

Polish: dog.

Not a "Polish Dog" btw, that's something they eat in the USA, haha :)

History / How Polish history is viewed by other countries textbooks [124]


Renaming them stupid things like "The Triangle" and turning them into faceless shopping centres doesn't help much, either ;)

Life / Is the word "Polack"rascist? [185]


It's an ethnic slur, not racist (note the correct spelling :p ).

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]


lol, spot on. I was going to jokingly say "you can join me in Northern Moor if you want, lol" but he's gone now and he probably wouldn't have got the message anyway, haha.


Me too, no drive-by shootings here! :)

Work / Trojmiasto Job Forecast in Five Years [8]


Clue: shipbuilding won't be one of them ;)


tbh he would be far better off learning Mandarin rather than Polish, future wars or not ;)


I still haven't forgotten the skills I learned in the textile industry, so combined with what I'm doing now, I am pretty much guaranteed work during the next war, haha :)

Life / Is the word "Polack"rascist? [185]

"Polak" isn't offensive, but "Polack" (pronounced "POE-LACK") is, but it's an American thing really isn't it.