Life / SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT POLAND AND POLISH SOCIETY [297]


Well said! I bow to you, Sir (or Madam, as the case may be) :-)
BTW, the dinner I cooked today (eclectic Polish-Czech-crazy cuisine) made me fall in love with myself all over again ;-)

Life / SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT POLAND AND POLISH SOCIETY [297]


I do not feed the troll. I merely watch his endearing antics.

Life / SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT POLAND AND POLISH SOCIETY [297]


The above shows your great, encompassing tolerance for other's people choices and decisions. All the other people simply passed her by, thereby showing their neutrality and tolerance, whilst you simply had to prove your point.

But - I will not feed you further, TROLL.

You are one of the most professional trolls I have had the pleasure of observing. Carry on. I can't wait for more.

Life / SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT POLAND AND POLISH SOCIETY [297]


That's how democracy works.

Life / Why there is always around a horrible smell of sweat in Poland [188]


Then if you ever come to London, I can show you things you've never seen before, and I ain't talkin' about historical monuments here ;-p


Karaluch?

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]


Not sure I understand your question? Rephrase please?

Language / Is the term 'Polak' derogatory?? [254]

"...przejdziem Wisłę, przejdziem Wartę, będziem Polakami..."

Love / Ten things to remember when you have a Polish girlfriend [79]


Could you elaborate? I don't understand the secondary school vs high school differentiation, and I have no idea of what "break" you might be speaking. Like a period of free time, or what?

Am puzzled.

Language / Polish people: did you struggle learning English - differences between both languages [75]


I wouldn't say this makes English more difficult than Polish - or any other language for that matter - because I yet have to come across a language without idiom, slang, dialect etc.

On the other hand, you are right in pointing out that the English learning curve is much gentler at the start, but then abruptly shoots upwards with the introduction of more sophisticated vocabulary, phrasal verbs, the more complicated verb forms etc.

English works great as a "survival language" and many people leave it at that. That's a pity, but also it's the only reason English now has the status of a lingua franca. Believe me, I would really struggle if I had to study French or German for global communication ;-)

(I did study German and gave up at the adjective + noun inflection stage) ;-(

Plus NEWSFLASH: eng is obviously a troll, but quite an enjoyable one, wouldn't you agree?

Study / "MAGISTER" OR "MASTERS DEGREE" - ARE THEY THE SAME? [75]


I wish you would take your rose-tinted glasses off.
The Poles learnt all their dirty tricks in the area of private education from the so-called West. There are tons of colleges and universities all over Europe and the US which specialise in "teaching" "students" AKA manufacturing graduates on a purely "you pay, you pass" basis.

My son has just taken his matura exams and I was surprised to find out that they are not as crappy and easy as they are made out to be by some. I think my own matura exams were a lot easier and less stressfull overall.

Study / "MAGISTER" OR "MASTERS DEGREE" - ARE THEY THE SAME? [75]


The old matura or the new?


You could say the same about any graduates anywhere in the world. Some universities are good and some are bad - so?

Genealogy / IS SWAROVSKI POLISH? [19]


1. It's not a root. It's an ending.
2. Many Slavonic languages have surnames ending in -ski /-sky.

Genealogy / IS SWAROVSKI POLISH? [19]


and that would be because...?

Genealogy / IS SWAROVSKI POLISH? [19]


Czechs used the letter "w" in their spelling (not any more). He was born in Bohemia, his name could easily be Czech, why would you assume he was Polish? I guess he was Austrian with a Czech ancestor or two somewhere along the way (there are lots of Austrians with typically Czech surnames).

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Sarcasm. Are you capable of detecting it? ;-p

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Because no other Slavonic language has inflections, genders, or tenses. And no other language has them either (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German etc. etc.). And it's perfectly easy to master Chinese or Japanese ideograms - I could do it in a heartbeat. How about Asian languages? I can assure you they have a load of interesting features. Somehow, to some people, English has become a yardstick of what a "normal" language is, while it is, and has been for at least a thousand years, a kind of patois or pidgin, tending to accumulate vocabulary from other languages while simplifying its grammatical structures to the point of invisibility (which makes communication very easy) - a sort of international baby talk, if you will.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


And the 16th century was 200 years ago? Please be at least slightly consistent in your claims ;-p


When? And who attended the school? The poor started attending any sort of school about 200 - 150 years ago. Which is not the 16th century.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Sure, no doubt Latin influenced Polish, esp. in certain areas of vocabulary.

But: what about all those humble folk who never had the chance to learn any Latin at all, let alone speak it every day? I dare say they formed a whopping 70 - 80% of the general population. What language did they speak? And was it in any way different, grammar-wise, from the Polish spoken by the upper classes?


You seriously mean to tell me that Latin was used for everyday communication i.e., when discussing the weather, asking about the price of grain, or chatting up ladies at a party, in 18th - 19th century Poland?

Latin was the European lingua franca throughout the Middle Ages, but its influence had pretty much disappeared by the end of the 17th century. It was mainly replaced by French.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

No evidence = no plausibility.

Sanskrit also has inflections, does it mean Sanskrit was modelled on Latin? I just like my facts straight.

;-p

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Evidence please.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


I think you didn't quite get my point. I was trying to show that in every language, there are "easier" and "more difficult" bits. For any Slav, the English tense system is an absolute nightmare - probably comparable to what Anglo-Saxons think of inflections ;-)

Also, kindly remember your messy and illogical list of irregular verbs, the multi-tiered system of conditionals, and last but not least - phrasal verbs!

Take off, take on, take out, take in, take away, take for, take from, take to...
Look up, look down, look away, look into, look out, look for, look after, look to...

Plus your bewildering array of idioms and collocations... ;-P

The fact that difficulties in English lie elsewhere doesn't make English "easier" than Polish overall.

English is much more user-friendly at the start, granted. You only need a very rudimentary grasp of grammar plus a handful of verbs and nouns and off you go. This is one of the most important reasons it has been so popular for so long.

Nevertheless, once you try to read a novel or have an intelligent conversation in English...

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Yeah.

I will have read - przeczytam

I would have been ready - byłbym gotowy

Have you had dinner yet? - Jadłeś obiad?

If she had had more time - gdyby miała więcej czasu

etc. etc.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


I would rather say that it's a clear sign that Polish is a living language and like any living language is constantly evolving. I am sure your student friends would think twice about the grammatically correct forms if they were supposed to complete an exam test. Spoken, informal language never corresponds directly to written, formally correct ideals set down in textbooks. I am a translator so I try to be as grammatically correct as possible in writing, but in speech - I probably say any old thing that comes to my mind.

BTW - czwórka, ósemka dzieci / z czwórką, ósemką dzieci is a correct alternative to czworo, ośmioro
Dwójka, piątka, setka osób etc is another way of counting people (as groups of two, five etc).

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


A typical mistake, influenced by "pięcioma" (probably).

Dwiema dziewczynami / dwoma chłopakami
Trzema dziewczynami / chłopakami
Czterema dziewczynami / chłopakami
Pięcioma dziewczynami / chłopakami

poradyporady.fora.pl/gramatyka,3/czteroma-punktami,66.html


I can't figure out how THAT happened ;-)
I quoted from Fuzzywickets' post and you appeared as the quotee (or whatever the correct term is)...

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


- z ośmiorgiem dzieci

Language / Do Poles prefer US American or UK English language? [147]

I have a mid-Atlantic-almost AmE accent and I would never trade if for a British one ;-p
I think it's very convenient to speak AmE in the UK if you are a foreigner (that is, not Anglo-Saxon). People have no idea where you come from, and you don't get labelled automatically ;-)

BTW, I absolutely love southern US pronunciation. I once talked to a guy from (if I remember right) South Carolina, and I couldn't get enough! I could have listened to him for hours, even if he were just reading the telephone directory...

Life / Babcia or Busha - any social class difference? [359]


Babi, babicka - is Czech for Gradma. Maybe you have Czech roots?

Food / Healthy polish food? [134]


I second plk123. Get a Polish cookbook - and I don't mean a cookbook written in the UK or USA by someone whose great-grandmother once stood next to a plate of pierogi. I mean a typical Polish cookbook written in Poland by a Polish person for everyday Polish use. For example "Kuchnia polska". And start reading, preferably with the introductory recommendations about what constitutes a healthy diet.

BTW - kiełbasa with butter?! Don't let your imagination run wild ;-p

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


I would say this incorrect form is restricted to children and to the very, very uneducated - on the other hand, "incorrect" forms are very often used for fun. Us people with a complicated language like to take liberties with it and push it around a bit sometimes just for the hell of it :-)

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Easy: ona poszła, on poszedł - ja poszłam (F), ja poszedłem (M)