Polish, language of future - Post-apocalyptic

We couldn't avoid it, Crow. My parents both learned German at school and my wife's parents are fluent in it as they have German parentage, being Silesian. A little German would help.

I proposed Japanese but everyone just laughed ;)

Translation is necessary, Crow. Discussions over tea and coffee need to flow so we have to make it work to the best of our ability. Getting our parents together is the main thing. They are both middle class and my mum is like her mum (very talkative), my dad like her dad (quieter). We can't let language be a barrier and my folks will do what they can to learn nice Polish :)

whatever your choice may be, i wish you all the best man. God knows that this Earth needs good people

Hvala, Wrona san! Scots and Poles really have more in common than we think. It's just a shame that certain idiots in both our countries don't see that but the good ones do :)

I will work hard to bridge the communication gap. Sometimes I get tired as a teacher but you can enjoy your beer at the end of the week, knowing that you gave 100%.

I hope Polish does spread. I can hear it almost as my native language. The commercials are on now and they speak VERY fast. I still follow as it has just become natural by now.

yes. i look forward in dissolution of Greater Britain and then merging of Scotland with Poland.


spread, spread

Certain powers would really like to stop that but it would be in the hands of the Scottish people if given a referendum.

I can't imagine the reactions of Baltic states either if you told them that they had to use Polish, esp Lithuanians.

Polish is still widely spoken in Lithuania especially in the Vilnius region where the Polish minority constitutes the majority, although Lithuanians tend to deny even the existance of Polish people there and like to call them Polonised Lithuanians (because it better fits their needs) rather than Poles.

Of course I don't say that Lithuanians should speak Polish, but someone should really do something with the problems of Polish minority in Lithuania which rights are still very limited (they have no rights to have bilingual signs and names of streets in Polish in mostly Polish populated regions) or in some cases even oppressed(they even cannot use their original Polish surnames).

Well, much of the architecture there is the same as here. I had a tour there a year ago. The common culture of yesteryear should lead to common ties but the tour guide did tell us that they have been trying to forge a kind of 'Lithuanianness' if you will.

Why should they have signs, btw? Why should they have street names in Polish? They are in Lithuania, not Poland, andrei. Should Albanians insist on Albanian street names in Kosovo after becoming the majority in parts? Is it theirs?

Cannot use their Polish surnames? Well that is just wrong. They should be allowed to. I almost felt like I was in Poland when in Vilnius and Kaunas. The old traditions should be honoured and there is little logic to Lithuania being so harsh against Poles. Maybe they felt bad after the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth but I can't fathom why.

Yes I've also heard that... They like to promote their pagan roots because most of them see the PLC period in a bad light (slow dissapearance of Lithuanian culture, being de facto controlled by the stronger partner in the union (or even Polish occupation in the POV of some) etc.)

Actually most of today's Lithuanians are de facto descendants of Samogitians and Aukshtotians rather than the original Lithuanians. Mainly because after the GDL (Grand duchy of Lithuania) swallowed the large areas of mainly Ruthenian orthodox lands from the former Kievan Rus it quickly get Ruthenised in the XV, XVI and XVII century - simply because the number of Lithuanians was far smaller than the population of the conquered lands. Later on after the union with Poland, Ruthenians and those Ruthenised Lithuanians have got Polonised in the XVIII and XIX century... And probably that's why there are even Poles there (I think that not many of them actually ever were ethnic Poles, but calling them Polonised Lithuanians is a big oversimplification and only the half of the truth) and why nowadays Lithuanians emphasize much on their culture - simply to retain their different culture and not being swallowed culturally (or in any other sense) by Russia or Poland.


Ever been to Opole region and Kashubia in Poland or to Lusatia in Germany? The minorities there have a right to have bilingual signs:
in Opole - Polish and German
in Kashubia - Polish and Kashubian
in Lusatia - German and Sorbian.
I don't see why Polish minority should deserve a worse treatment, especially when they constitute the majority there... damn, in Poland we even have granted places in the parliament for national minorities (most often 1-2 seats).


But they cannot... their surnames have to be 100% in tune with the rules of Lithuanian langauge (with their alphabet and weird endings added to surnames like: -us -as and the likes).


Well... the traditions of Poland and Lithuania are quite close to each other because of obvious reasons (we both were in one state for a long period of time).

The PLC is one thing which they feel bad about... but the main reason is probably our collateral relations in the XX century, especially before WW2.

Good point, andrei. Rarely do you see absolute equality in a set-up but they must remember that they signed up to it. They have to honour that commitment they voluntarily entered into.

Oh, as a I Scot, I can sympathise with their quest to carve out their own identity. However, that pursuit can exist in tandem with respecting the rights of others. It is an EU member and they have to accept that they will come into contact with other cultures. That's just part of the deal. In theory, they are almost as Catholic as Poland. This means sth IMHO. They are not Latvians who are far more mixed when it comes to religion. They need to acknowledge that there are far greater modern threats to their identity than Poland. There's a litote for you :)

That's true, andrei. I've been to Ozimek in the Opole region and I did see many German signs. However, I feel that Lithuanians, as you said, feel pressure from bigger powers and they are fighting tooth and nail to resist. Germany, being a major power, negotiated the Aussenliede and have more clout at the bargaining table. Lithuania likely still feels the strain of the times of the CIS.

Surely that breaches the right of freedom of name? ;) What they are doing is close to fascism, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Well, they remember Piłsudski's relentless efforts to get Lithuania 'on board'. Being of Lithuanian stock, he felt that he could pull the strings but imposing a vision on Lithuania in the interwar years was like, to quote Stalin, "trying to saddle a cow". What was their leader's name? It began with V, I think. He thwarted Piłsudski almost at every turn. Forgive me, I am Scottish and my knowledge of the PLC is piecemeal when it comes to a comparison with an educated Pole.

It just crossed my mind that since we have an abundance of ppl and a shortage of food, why not slaughter ppl in order to get rid of the shortage of food?

Polish is one of the least suitable language to replace English, if only for the near impssbl grammar.

And Seanus, pls don't go discuss this nonsense topic seriously. You'll only encourage Crow to start more of them.

>^..^<

M-G (pls, don't start threads like this again)

I agree with you.


If Churchill would live in Lithuania he would have to call himself Vinstonas Leonardas Spenseris Čerèilis rather than Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill :)


Augustinas Voldemaras?

M-G, I'm discussing things with andrei here :)

Voldemaras, that's it :) :)

Churchill would have liked that :)

at first Anglos invented jokes on the account of Poles. They smiled then. It was in English

Now, after apocalypse, imagine Anlo who speaks jokes on the account of Poles in Polish language. God has really twisted sense of humor

That's not even true. First victims of English jokes were the Scotch and the Irish.


Well, that's one thing God has in common with Crow.

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

see... Poles are just one of English victims


tiens