History / Unforgettable quotes about Poland and Poles from Polish and world`s history and culture [99]

Always thought of Arthur Miller as a great playwrite. I didn't realize he was also perceptive in other areas of language too!
Thanks for sharing that quotation, jon!

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

Among desserts, I must confess to a weakness for jableczna with fresh beaten cream, yummy!

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

Italy, admittedly, I'd have expected such. Can't judge though the other places mentioned.
Not been inside a German school lunchroom in more than a decade, but there too, I can't remember anything
to write home about:-)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

Most institutional grub I'm sure tastes the same all over - LOUSY!!!

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

I once tasted some delicious fish dish when visiting Szczecin. I was told it was a specialty of the region, but have forgotten what it's called.

The only thing I do remember was the barszcz, and that name stuck!
:-)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

Polish-style red cabbage, that's the ticket!

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

You're right about that, paw! Anyhow, when I was last in Poland, I was much younger, plus, an inveterate speed walker:-)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

My ideal Polish meal would be: Zurek (or chlodnik) for starters with a main course of bigos, pierogi beneath some sour cream, pyzy, and a nice glass of any brand local beer:-)

After that, I'm set for the day!!

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]

Reminds me a little of the German "Stinkbesoffen wie eine Haubitze" = Drunk as a Howitzer
:-)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

...or more PolishLOL

Isn't there some old (children's) folk song, "Halinka, Halinka.......drabinka....", or something like that?
Perhaps I'm just imagining things:-)

...nursery rhyme, excuse me

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]

I can recall hearing "Spity jak bela!" = Drunk as a skunk!

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Gosh, she'd likely be at least 38 or so. This was over twenty years ago, at which time, she was about 19.

Yes, seemingly so. Pity too, as those are among my favorite Polish names.
Hope Krysia hasn't too been consigned to the scrap heap!
:-)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Thank you, kaprys. That's rather what I thought:-)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

How about "Aldona"?

Used to have many students with that name, now, no more.

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]

Our idioms, particularly those using phrasal verbs, e.g "get IN", "get OVER", "get BY", with all their seemingly endless figurative nuances, are probably as consternating for native Polish-born English learners such as yourself in much the same way as your verbal aspects like "pisac", "POpisac", "pisYWAC", "ROZpisywac" etc. are for us foreigners!

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

I'd tend to agree with your premise, Delph, only sometimes it's also a mater of student expectations, even before they ever come to school.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

I've found though that many teachers teach for the test simply because many students only study in order to pass their exams and little else!

Polonia / What about the Poles living in Germany? [65]

Many Poles whom I've met living in Germany, in general speak better German than English. No surprise there:-)

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

The emphasis on written rather than oral is especially pronounced in Asian society, above all, in S. Korea, Japan, and (Mainland) China as well.

Travel / Are Polish people as unfriendly as Slovaks? [84]

As I posted via "private message" some while ago, both Czech and Polish have enough false friends between them to choke a horseLOL
Needless to reiterate, some can be quite embarrassing.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

Yep, been through that before.

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1049]

Again respectfully, it all depends on the crowd with which you hang along with their level of culture:-)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Nonetheless, countless Polish males are named Jakub and Szymon, again, non-Jewish Poles to be sure:-)

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

Interesting, thanks Lri!

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

What about Semyon Jakub or Bogdan?

Travel / Are Polish people as unfriendly as Slovaks? [84]

Yes, perhaps. Then again, who is to say whether or not those represent the up-and-coming majority of today's young Poles?
I do spend a lot of time in Greenpoint discos, thus I speak from experience.

USA, Canada / Just got out of jail in California and met a young man of Polish ancestry whilst in prison [27]

Wariat, my dear, your handle is well chosen indeed.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]

It's the same old story, friends!

Americans, Australians, sometimes Canadians and Brits, are on vacation in any number of attractive tourist places, from Germany, Scandinavia, right up through Bulgaria, the Black Sea to the Baltic, and, lo and behold, somebody wants to impress the denizens with their (unexpected) knowledge of, even fluency, in the local lingo. The poor fella or gal opens their mouth and by the time they've not even finished the greeting/sentence what ever, the native of one of those countries has all but completed it for them...IN ENGLISH naturally, with such apparent ease, the Anglophone is floored into submissively giving in to the other's "superior" English:-)

We've become ever so spoiled, thus have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing Euro-English to take over like a cancer, spreading, metasthisizing across the continent, like some species of fungus.

Genealogy / Which Polish first names are considered unpopular / obsolete in Poland? [124]

I knew a "Thekla" once from the Cologne area (German, not Polish), only she spelled hers with an "h"!

Travel / Are Polish people as unfriendly as Slovaks? [84]

Again, can't much speak for Slovaks, but yes, often younger Poles (especially women) do indeed tend to have what might be perceived as a slight edge to their personality.

I suppose it's because they're tired of being condescended to by their wealthier European neighbors, realizing too that their English skills frequently lag behind other, more typically "desirable" countries such as Sweden, The Netherlands, even France. In addition, which person of any nationality wishes to be thought of as either a bone-head or a prostitute simply because of decades of negative PR?