Posts by skorsteinsweep

skorsteinsweep

25 Jul 2013

Language / Przeszłem, przeszedłem [4]

Often, without even thinking about it, I say przeszłem instead of przeszedłem, wziąść instead of wziąć. And this isn't a typical mistake for an Englishman, Poles do it too, although not as often as I do :D

Where does this annoying mistake come from ? I often mix endings with similar words and people often correct me, and it's getting increasingly annoying. Are there any other similar sort of mistakes you make ? I do hope I'm not alone :D

skorsteinsweep

25 Jul 2013

Language / Przeszłem, przeszedłem [4]

A friend was once horrified to hear me say 'na razie' to a colleague who outranked me so I stopped saying it to higher ups.

HAHAHA, hierarchy problems :D
Poles do have something with that, it's as if some people are higher ranked in society than others, and should be listened to, even though there is no particular reason for it. I often also get a "foreign pack" impression - I behave normally, put on a smiley face and generally speak in a very friendly way to everyone I meet, whilst the person I'm speaking to often looks bemused by my behaviour, and seems to ignore most of my gestures and comments, and sticks to the things that matter in the conversation in a very strict way. In England you don't get this, you can speak openly even to strangers if you're lucky, but in Poland you've got to stick to the pack, if you know what I mean, you can only speak like this to people you know.

skorsteinsweep

19 Aug 2013

Life / Why do people think that I'm Polish ? [92]

I can see for example that some people on this forum are Polish. I see this because of their dodgy English, that looks like it comes from google translate. Yet, for some unknown reason, they maintain they are English, or American, or whatever else they claim. However, I won't say any names, because they'll start attacking me, and try to suggest I'm Polish LOL