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 [1050]

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?

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1050]

Get a grip....

At least mine's firm at the wheel, Delph!
Plenty of people say/sing that. Don't judge everyone by the under fifty crowd:-)

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

Well stated, Maf.
Thanks, as always for your input! Sadly, I couldn't agree with you more.
All the pity.

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

Reality?

Why then does "Europlish" continue to sound/look as it does?? Think that I think it's just a Polish problem?
Was once in what passed for an English class in Berlin quite a few years back, the so-called guest of an erstwhile girl friend
who was currently teaching at a high school in the Borsigwald district.

My friend walked into the class and proceeded, with a decided German accent, to elucidate some of the finer points of English pronunciation, later on

(unintentionally, no doubt) torturing my ears even more with some 'expert' knowledge of American idiomsLOL

Thought I would die laughing inside, yet naturally maintained the proverbial composure under pressure.
When class was over, Noelia rushed over eagerly to where I'd been sitting throughout the lesson, and asked me what I thought of her instruction.

As still a friend, I smiled broadly and said, "Just fine. Thought for a moment I was in San Fransisco!"

How could I possibly have hurt that poor girl's feelings?:-)

By the time "students" are finally released from their clutches and sent on those long and frequent exchanges, much of the damage has already been done and although sixteen through eighteen, for instance, is darned young in years, it's starting to get old in terms of fluid second-language acquisition.

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

English exams, English exams! If the teacher's nonetheless a Pole, probably some state-salaried "refrigerator monster" from the good ol' Commie days, who
speaks Poglish, perhaps took some English courses in the UK, yet isn't a native speaker, all the exams in the world aren't going to break the cycle of government-perpetuated and sponsored mediocrity!!

Think anybody will ever spring for some native US or UK teachers for kids UNDER twelve so at least they'll hear authentic English BEFORE they enter university?

Long overdue, of course, because it's expensive and/or the state's simply too damn cheap.

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

These then are authored by the BC in the United Kingdom, right?

Solid point, Maf. I wasn't able to enlarge unfortunately and so couldn't see right away for which age group the instruction was
intended!

Life / Mishmash facts about Poland and Poles [187]

Aha, much appreciated. Thank you.
I can now see the English/ German intereference in my Polish, much as the converse on occasion in your English!

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

Problem is though, the textbooks appear to be written almost exclusively in Polish! How then will the learners of English become immersed in the target language unless either a native English instructor, at the very least, a target language text, is used regularly?

For very young learners, I can understand, but as for more advanced high schoolers, I can't imagine how.
Guess it depends on the school system, funding, and so forth.

Life / Mishmash facts about Poland and Poles [187]

Dzien wagarowania, pawian? Somehow can't imagine a "National Hooky Day" here in the US!

Never knew that. Thanks:-)

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1050]

Roughly, "Three cheers for....."

"Sto lat!" = Gesundheit! (After someone sneezes) or "For he's a jolly good fellow....!" when congratulating somebody upon their marriage, for example.