Study / New idea for foreign students - help with getting familiar with Poland [4]

Absolutely!

The thing is too that acculturating goes a lot farther than just knowing the language. Having a solid background in the local economy, job market, yes of course local customs (both spoken as well as unspoken) and even recent history, can surely make one's sojourn abroad that much more meaningful, for themselves, but also for their Polish contacts. This shows sincere interest, not merely lip service, in learning to live in a foreign country.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Apt examples, what more need I say.

Himmler was a Bavarian, as was the late director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Both reveal that noticeable epicanthic fold.
My point is that the German Empire was rife for all sorts of cross-population currents over the early centuries of her evolution, Roman influence in the Rhineland, Gothic and general Nordic in the Schleswig-Holstein territory, Slavic in the East, possible Turkic/Tartar traces to the far southeast such as Bavaria.

On the other hand, the latter is completely absent on the whole from Great Britain, France, Denmark or the Netherlands, including as well the South of Europe, such as Spain, Italy, and Greece, interracial marriages notwithstanding:-)

Genealogy / Does "Ryszard" work as a surname in Poland? [37]

Our super's Ryszard and I typically call him "Panie Ryszku!" whenever we see each other.
Oh yes, forgot to mention we've got a Polish maintenance man now, fair English, yet speaks with yours truly solely in Polish.....except of course if my wife's present:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Appearance, in the chromosomes of the respective gene pool.
:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

High cheekbones and/or uneven facial fat distribution needn't automatically indicate Mongolian/Asian origins:-)
However on the subject of German, przelotnyptak, kaprys et al., I casually invite either of you or other interested parties, to kindly pull up an old photo of the late Christina Kaufmann.

She was a preternaturally beautiful half-French, German actress, similar in outward facial appearance to the above young lady....and of CIRCASSIAN heritage on one side of her family!

@kaprys, I'm well aware that "z pamiec(i)" is genitive, therefore the requisite final "i". Merely a slip of the ol' clicker.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

"Z pamieci"
Ever heard of a typo?? Thanks for keepin' me honest, kaprysLOL

Perhaps the not so disguised (erstwhile) epicanthic fold might reveal one time Asian background. No two people though look alike.
If anything, the "typical" Polish look is certainly as much a mixture of Slavic, Germanic, and Celtic as it is of Mongolian:-)

Study / 90% of Poles have university degree? [57]

Again though, it all depends on the university! A school is only as good as her faculty:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

I already have, kaprys, and I will admit too that the influence (if negligible) has to be sure been quite watered down over the centuries.

Nonetheless, even experts, more learned than either of us, will doubtless agree that certain traces may be seen among any number of Poles.
While I can't name percentages off the top of my head, that is, z pamiec, we've all known/seen Polish faces which clearly bare the reminents of some Asiatic, at least "Eastern", background. If we say we haven't, we're flat out lying!

Language / Your favourite Polish proverb? [16]

Gdzie kucharek szesc, tam nie ma co jesc = Too many cooks spoil the broth

Madry Polak po szkodzie = You're always smarter after the fact

Taki pan, taki kram = As is the leader, so goes the leadership

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Not only I share this observation, folks!
Just open your eyes.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

The Poles have a considerable element of admixture from the neighboring Germanic along with the Eastern Slavic, much of which shows a degree of Asiatic influence.

Study / 90% of Poles have university degree? [57]

"Learning" though is what separates us from animals, never forget that. Without the ability to communicate as literate beings,
what are we worth?? Just make room for us at the local zoo and have us move in with the four-legged fauna:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

I suggest you get a pair of specs, dude, 'cuz you ain't seein' straight!

Study / 90% of Poles have university degree? [57]

The degrees might be "worthless", the knowledge never goes out of fashion:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Never rule out DNA findings, even if the evidence might be a cover for something not specifically related!
There surely is a distinct Asiatic cast to many Polish faces. This is a fact, not a fantasy:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

No argument there, Ziem..
So much for my specious information, eh gang?
:-)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Need I remind an obviously intelligent person such as you that the "first" Slav, Rurik, was also the progenitor of the Swedes?
Case closed!

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Examples, please? See, now the shoe's on the other foot!

Genealogy / Eastern Germanic migration the Iron Age Goths - do modern Poles have Gothic ancestry? [8]

That I descend from?
If you're referring to the Northmen and their neighbors, I must disappoint you.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

I make no "claims", I merely quote from all available historical sources, available that is, to all who know how to read, moreoever, who understand what they read:-)

My comments aren't racist, and so quit projecting!

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

To my knowledge, my comments in that regard were merely direct observations, nothing more, nothing less. Do you need "research" to be able to judge whether somebody's nose has wart or not??!

LOL

There has been evidence that the Turkic invasion of Eastern Europe at around the era of King Jan Sobieski during the 17th century surely did' leave traces of Asiatic influence. This is a historical fact.

Genealogy / Eastern Germanic migration the Iron Age Goths - do modern Poles have Gothic ancestry? [8]

One can though definitely trace Celtic influence in Poland.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

What is inaccurate in my posts, pray tell?
Bet you can't name a single thing.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Simply review my posts and you'll have already answered your own question.

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]

No man's an island, Crow!
Even Tito wasn't completely "anti-" NATO, don't forget.

USA, Canada / The proper behavior an American should show when visiting Poland [159]

Completely understandable, and to a degree, I would concur from a purely personal point of view.
However, the older the Pole, typically, the more they have to say, and when you do run across someone over sixty who does know English, often their command of idiom is astounding, almost as though they practically grew up listening secretly to BBC television or radio, pronunciation notwithstanding:-)

USA, Canada / The proper behavior an American should show when visiting Poland [159]

What you're saying, Rich, is to avoid precisely those people most worth talking to in Poland!
Younger people generally speak a low-level variety of English, focus on only the most superficial, material of topics, and as with youth throughout most of the world, particularly here in the States, have precious little to say.

Older, non-English speaking Poles generally will know German, at least Russian, fluently, and if they have studied a foreign language, will have learned it with far greater care than those under forty.

This has been my recent experience with younger Poles I've met in Greenpoint, here on a visit to see family.

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

Quite untrue, przelotnyptak.
I base anything I post on thoughtful, considered observation. Certain generalization, as with stereotypes, do have a historical
basis in fact:-)

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]

Germany's geopolitical influence has waned over the decades, yet von der Leyen for a while, wanted to change all that.

USA, Canada / The proper behavior an American should show when visiting Poland [159]

I was last there in 1997, scarcely a terribly long time ago!
Same ground rules naturally apply: Know at least some local lingo, don't offer unsolicited opinions (..unless asked by the host), and be respectful of the customs.

This doesn't merely apply to Poland, but to ANY other European country. Never assume that your interlocutor knows English, much less "good" or "fluent" English, as it might not be the case (although often in university cites it probably is) and the conversation will end up a combo of "Immigrantese" or Globish gobbledygook.