Language / Which is harder: Pole learning Russian or Russian learning Polish language? [57]

The first obstacle are the alphabets (probably a Russian will be more eager to learn Latin Alphabet, because one can use it for many languages, rather than vice versa...) The difficult thing about Russian is the INTONATION: there are no rules, you have to learn the intonation of every word by heart, (unless it's not marked in an exercise text); but the pronounciation of words is easier than in Polish, except maybe "o" which is pronounced "a", when standing in front of a stressed sylable (that's the rule if I'm not mistaken).

The problems in Polish are totally different: intonation is easy going (rule: always on second last syllable), but due to many extra letters it's difficult to pronounce. I think the knowledge of FRENCH is helpful for pronouncing Polish nasals: ą =on, ę = en etc., whereas "£" is same like English "W"! The soft Polish letters ć,ś,ź have Russian equivalents thanks to the use of a soft (or hard) sign in Russian (which are put behind the letter. Nevertheless, the pronounciations are different, especially the hard and soft Russian "L", which are softer than equivalent Polish L and £ (nevertheless, Polish are used to write hard Russian L as £, which is not exactly the same, but is a good possibility to recognize it!). OKay, that's it :-)

Language / Learning Polish and Russian simultaneously, Is this a good idea? [10]

Well, if you have the time and the wits for it, just do it! Else better focus on one language. Concerning grammar, there are many parallels in Slavic languages, but the Cyrillic alphabet might be an obstacle (will take several months to learn it properly, I guess). More I will answer in: which is harder: pole learning russian or russian learning polish?

cheers!

History / What does it mean to be "Polish"? Why does Poland exist? [13]

Many questions at once... Reasonable if you are a patriot, (for communist logic surely not reasonable!)
1) Every nation's history differentiates from one another, but of course, Polish is special due to the incidents of let's say last 250 years.
2) Poland exists AGAIN thanks to its American friends, who achieved to defeat Germany in 1917-18: without their help, WWI would last surely longer and if there were a Polish state, then it would be very different (a vassal state of Germany, if at all...)

3) Every nation's purpose is to maintain its culture, language, history, guarantee its citizens equal rights, and an oppurtunity to thrive...

History / Polish Revolution 1830-31 " Józef Chłopicki" [5]

Germanball
maybe he was paid by the russians, who knows