Life / Giving tips in Poland [235]


it's phenomenal alright!

Life / Giving tips in Poland [235]

olaf wrote:


no it wasn't. maybe try and read page 3 of this thread, most of the conversation moved to the tipping policies/habits in America. i wasn't even part of the conversation at that point. i decided to chime in because it was an area I'm familiar with.

i'm also familiar with tipping in Poland. the waitstaff makes a pittance, and bartenders generally get goose egged nearly every time.

Life / Giving tips in Poland [235]

convex wrote:


Tips, hands down, for both bartenders and waitstaff. Sure, if you get a job at a lamo restaurant with no traffic, getting paid a decent wage is better, but I simply never worked at such a place. I made my bones for the first year and then went to where the money was.

I knew bartenders in busy NJ clubs or, of course, NYC clubs, that would clear $1500 in cash just working Thursday/Friday/Saturday nights. Sure, during the off seasons they'd pull maybe $700-$900, but that's still above the national avg. salary.

Life / Giving tips in Poland [235]


J-walking is illegal too, but I've never gotten caught doing it.

laws shmaws. there are lots of laws convex. countless times I would work a shift and everyone would belly up to the bar to eat and drink while the waitress sat on her hands for the night, resulting in her literally going home earning maybe $12-$14, far below min. wage.

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

no probs.

from one man to another, i'd like to ask you some questions about your Polish classes.

I've never taken an actual course, just studying on my own, conversation with my fiance/friends, language exchanges, constant reading, etc.....but never a structured course at a school.

what's it like? how are lessons structured? how large is your class? is it done differently than typical English classes?

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

Seanus wrote:


Because we're having this conversation, i'll correct it.

krzesla is the plural form of krzeslo, which is a neutral noun. hence, dwa krzesla.

Life / Giving tips in Poland [235]

Delphiandomine wrote:


you don't get it because you don't know what you're talking (whining) about.

Waitstaff in America are on a different pay-scale. if you have a regular job, yes, there's a minimum wage, but waitstaff and bartenders are an exception. when I was bartending about 8 years ago, the waitstaff earned $2.15/hour, in the NYC area. The current pay rate in America is still under $3/hour for waitstaff/bartenders. Sure, some places pay a little more if they have someone that's been there a long time or if the bartender gets little traffic at the bar but does a lot of service bar work (meaning making drinks for all customers in the restaurant, they generally pay more because he/she wouldn't make as much in tips) but the restaurant is not obligated to pay any more than that measly sub $3/hour pay rate. THIS is why waitstaff and bartenders alike demand tips, because without it, after working an 8 hour shift and getting home at 4:00 a.m. they'd be earning about $20.....before taxes.

but it's ok Delph. If you had lived in America for a while, you'd know these kinds of things. I guess not everyone has the luxury of speaking from experience.

beelzebub wrote:


exactly. just like all us English teachers out here not reporting any of our private lesson income, proofreading cash, translations, etc. etc.

I bartended for years at several restaurants, and my job went like this: I get paid a small hourly rate and I keep ALL my tips. Most of it was in cash, and the bills that were charged, the customer would write on the receipt how much the tip was. At the end of the night, I simply took that tip money in cash from the register at night. That is what I was instructed to do by my bosses, and that's why I did. I walked home with hundreds of dollars in a single night in greenbacks, and paid taxes only on my tiny hourly wage every two weeks. The waitstaff operated in the same way.

And that's how most restaurants operate with tips in America.

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

Seanus wrote:


then your post was misleading, at least to me.

Seanus wrote:


Was it? your comment to my correction was "It isn't przyjechali though, is it?" Maybe I just don't get your humor. Like I asked the first time, what did you mean by that?

Either way, I don't care. for the record, I'm not one to play grammar police. it's generally arrogant and petty and often times sidetracks the conversation. Look through any of my posts....I don't do it.

After all, we already have a certain someone on this forum that does enough of that for everybody ;)

I was simply using Gregrog and you to bolster my post because I knew how excited Delph would be to see that I am, at the very least, moderately qualified to comment on Polish ;)

The more that guy comments on my posts and makes these blind assumptions, the sillier he looks.

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

Seanus wrote:


if you're aware of it, why did you write it. oh, I almost forgot, I'm not qualified enough to comment on Polish. I'll let someone more qualified I guess point out your mistakes.

Seanus wrote:


i simply don't know what you mean. do you know a better way of saying it?

Ironside wrote:


don't you think it's a little strange Ironside, hell, this question goes out to everyone, that Delph refuses to answer these questions EVERY SINGLE TIME? And Ironside, you're the second guy that tried answering the questions FOR him because Delph refused to. After he wrote all that nonsense to me last night and I challenged him right back, with THE SAME CHALLENGE I'VE BEEN GIVING HIM FOR MONTHS, as always.......crickets. It's not being "obsessed", it's simply having someone mud slinging your posts, and when I try for a rebuttal, mind you the most basic, simplistic questions you could imagine, he ignores it. Every time. At this point, I'm amazed other posters haven't asked him to answer the questions, just to get it over with.

He loves to dish it out but when the table is turned, he runs away with his tail between his legs. What a Nancy.

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

Seanus wrote:


pies is a masculine word, hence "ten pies", but when using a verb to refer to more than one in the past, it is in the feminine form, but still a masculine noun technically. for example, "podobaly mi sie te filmy". film is masculine, but you don't use a masculine form.

Gregrog wrote:


dzis, przyjechali dwoch mezczyzn.

Delphiandomine wrote:


funny you should mention.....are you ready to answer my questions now Delph?

EVERYBODY has seen that you ducked them all.....again. You must have them memorized by now, along with the rest of the forum pappy, but here we go, round and round.

Dear Ole' Delphiandomine, I would like to know, because you love to talk about who's qualified to have what job, or talk about certain subjects, etc. etc., please tell me, for the umpteenth time:

Where were you born?
How long have you been in Poland?
Do you have any Polish blood?
What is your nationality?
What is your native language?

when you answer these questions, maybe i'll consider commenting on your constant assumptions about how qualified or not I am.

COME CLEAN my dear.

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

what a completely absurd and pointless argument you all are having.


call it what you want. i call it inefficient.

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

you can, however, count radios.

5 radios anyone?

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

z_darius wrote:


Me? Avg. education. And of course I go beyond 9. I simply stated the basic ones to show that 3-5 is an awfully inaccurate estimation.

z_darius wrote:


I couldn't agree more, but there are several people on this forum that won't agree with that statement.

z_darius wrote:


you're dead on with that.


why? how is it less complex than Irish English, Scottish English, Australian English...?

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

s_darius wrote:


3 to 5? no way.

I go.

I'm going.

I went.

I was going.

I have gone.

I've been going.

I will go.

I will be going.

I had gone.

There's 9, and I don't think an average day has gone by in my adult life not using all 9 of those.

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

Regarding Polish, I think what makes it, at the very least, seem horrendously difficult is the mountain you need to climb in the beginning. That's Polish in a nutshell. Polish gets easier and easier for me every day because I hit the books hard during my first year to learn the seemingly impossible case system. For most people, they never accomplish that.

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

Olaf wrote:


no, it's not my style. pappy is a regional thing where i'm from, it's no different than buddy.

Olaf wrote:


this has nothing to do with sarcasm. i wasn't suggesting there was any.

just asking good ole' Delph to answer the same questions he's been refusing to answer for months. what's the matter Delph? credibility concerns?

watch and learn. he'll duck the questions, yet again, by cutting and pasting some stuff I wrote earlier by strapping on his aforementioned Captain Sidetrack suit. it's old hat for me by now.

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

Rikad wrote:


and this, as you have just seen Rikad, simply should not happen in language. imagine if you were to tell your friend what just happened, that a gaggle of poles were standing around arguing how to say, "I'm going to Szewce/I'm in Szewce". Those exact situations I have seen soooo many times.

if you are writing things like this Olaf:


...than you are simply missing my point.

I am not talking about asking an average Englishman something like, "could you give me a quick and concise explanation of when to use past simple and when to use present perfect?"....I am talking about simple, silly stuff that a 5 year old should have command of, yet adults often times do not because of no other reason but the inefficiency of their language.

and for those of you touting B2 and above proficiency levels in Polish, puff your chest out all you want, but rest assured, if native speaking Poles are getting stumped on silly meaningless sentences, you can be most confident that you are subject to this happening to you 100 fold.


we already discussed "Szewce", but for the hell of it, I'll give you another one, just for $hit$ and giggles:

One of my first experiences with the absurdity of Polish grammar was when I asked random Poles throughout the course of 2-3 days, how do you say "5 ears"?

I received 4 different answers to that question from I'd say 7-8 Poles. Yuck it up all you want about how they "probably weren't educated" or some crap like that, but every one of those people had the infamous Polish "master's degree" and were over the age of 25. Besides, even if they were 14 year old kids, something that basic has nothing to do with education level. Just pure common sense in your own language.

Inefficient folks.

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

Of everyone on this forum, I would be willing to bet not one of you, excluding the Poles of course, even comes close to FCE level in Polish, regardless of how long you've been here.

There. I win.

Next thread.

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

Mark Twain didn't speak Polish, therefore, I disregard his comment.

Lyzko wrote:


i can't go along with this argument. of course, someone who speaks a romance language is going to have an easier time learning another romance language, but when looking at languages as a whole, some are simply less complex than others.

Lyzko wrote:


again, i gotta disagree. do you know how many times I've asked Polish people "how do you say, "______", and they simply had no clue? I'm not talking about something complicated or a difficult English/Polish equivalent, but the simplest things. Or better yet, getting 3 different answers from 3 different Poles. OR, the countless Polish people living abroad that left Poland in their late adolescent years or early teens, and now, when in their 20's and 30's have lost their touch and cannot decline their words properly anymore. Again, not making this up, but I speak from experience with meeting people that match that exact description.

For example, I recently asked a native Pole, "so if the name of the town is Szewce, how do I say 'I'm going to Szewce' and 'I'm in Szewce'"? That question to a speaker of nearly any other language would look at you and say, "That's the dumbest question I've ever heard, you simply say (in whatever language) "I'm going to/I'm in Szewce!!!" BUT, when I asked it, the native Pole looked at me, chuckled and said, "I don't know! I gotta think about it....hmmm....." And to me, that's absurd po prostu.

Basically, Polish in my opinion is utterly inefficient. I would never make a claim like that without being thoroughly convinced and after hitting the books and seeing countless instances where Poles are struggling to say the most basic thing but can't because they're getting hung up on the grammar....but I see it all the time.

Whether it's a Spaniard or an Irish guy or an Indian woman or a Puerto Rican or a Korean man or Dutch woman or an Italian man.....every single one of them after studying Polish for a few months is going to come to the same conclusion: Polish grammar is utterly ridiculous.

I've never studied Hungarian, Finnish, Czech, etc., but I don't really think it matters. I'm simply talking about Polish, and I think I'm pretty on point with what I'm saying about it, at least most Polish people seem to agree.

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


excellent. i stand corrected, i forgot there's a feminine forum.

i guess you further proved my point. it's THAT easy to make a grammatically incorrect sentence in Polish, especially with numbers.

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

Mafketis wrote:


for 99% of all people who claim to speak some polish, this is exactly the case. they learn polish and disregard all declensions, proper usage of the polish numerical sytem, gender, miejscownik, which verbs require which case, etc. etc. and in the end, their Polish is crap. my first year in Poland i did nothing other than study basic words and grammar grammar grammar till I puked from grammar. in the end though, what it gave me was a grammatical basis for all new words I learned thereafter. After 3+ years in Poland, my vocab is still small but my grammar allows me to adopt new words and use them rather quickly. The hard part is mostly over and now I mainly study vocabulary for the grammar comes quite naturally now, aside from maybe counters of words I haven't heard yet.

Seanus wrote:


saying "you don't need to think about the endings all the time" and "Polish" in the same sentence is an outrage.

I don't know a lick of Japanese, but if I had to guess, I doubt that when you say "with nihon" or "on nihon", or "i don't have "nihon", it's still "nihon", every time. not the case with good ole' Polish.

2 bottles = dwie butelki
with 2 bottles = z dwoma butelkami
on 2 bottles = na dwóch butelkach
I don't have 2 bottles = Nie mam dwóch butelek

You can never take a number for granted because at any moment while in context, it can change which not only makes speaking properly difficult, but comprehension tough because you need to get used to hearing someone say the exact same damn word but in several different forms.

I'm sure you've seen the web page discussing how Polish is the hardest language in the world where the author displays the "17 ways of saying the number two" in Polish. The kicker is there are 17, not including case changes, meaning he doesn't list drugiego, drugiej, drugim, drugich, drugą, etc. etc. putting you well over twenty forms.

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

Seanus wrote:


i think the point was that if it takes so long to learn Polish, what's the point of putting in so much effort if the payoff isn't there.

in the end, if you're not marrying a Polish person, or plan on staying here for your whole life, there are better, more productive and certainly more lucrative things to learn than Polish.

just off the top of my head, if I had chosen say France and lived there for 5 years, I'd come back to America speaking absolutely fantastic French, and I could probably find a job with it in a big city. Polish.....you can't even become fluent with it in that amount of time, let alone find a job with it in America....certainly not one that's gonna pay well.

Basically, in today's times, it's difficult to convince someone to study Polish, even when they live there.

Life / Fat People in Poland? [161]


is this a joke?

in general, the avg. polish man/woman under the age of 25 seems to be thinner in Poland, but it's merely lifestyle, not the food. have you taken a look at Polish food lately? everything is with bread, butter, fried, lots of meat and potatoes....hardly weight-loss food, and most Polish people eat it. the "other" food is too expensive.

in America, you can choose to be thin or fat, and eat all different kinds of food for around the same price, a big difference between America and Poland. also, there are over 300 million people in America, meaning if 20% of the population is fat, that's larger than the entire population of Poland, so fat people simply appear more in the media due to the sheer number (and size, haha) of their fat asses.

getting back to lifestyle: in America, once you are of driving age, you get a car. everyone in America works once they're 16-17 years old....owning a car is a necessity, not a luxury. in Poland, most people don't get their first car till they are at least 26-27 adn don't get their first job till they're finished with their "master's", so they all walk everywhere till they can finally afford an old used car.

The American infrastructure is set up to be fast and convenient. If you want to exercise, that's also easily accessed and readily available. some decide to exercise, some don't, but for the ones that don't, because of the infrastructure, the American will tend to be fatter simply due to less movement.

Also worth noting, when i'm in America, regardless of what city, you see runners and cyclists EVERYWHERE. In Poland, they're few and far between, especially amongst the older residents.

something I love about Polish culture if I may add is the number of times I hear, "i was in the mountains this weekend." outdoor people are OK in my eyes. they really have an appreciation for forests, trees, mountains, etc., and it seems to be countrywide.

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


define "fully".

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

Excellent.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Delphin, by your blatant disregard for my questions in my last post which you conveniently skipped past and commented on another post immediately following mine, until you respond, I can only assume that the information I asked for would lessen the credibility of your posts and be in some way self incriminating. you did nothing but challenge, quite directly, every other post of mine before that, but after a direct challenge, you have, thus far, balked on it.

still patiently waiting......

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


no, it's the norm.


why is america unhealthy. why.

other questions: how long have you lived in Poland? why are you here? what's your occupation?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Uuuuuuuuchhhh! just awful, people. you can't argue with blind patriotism. the same crap i see in America. I struggle to have conversation with most of the general population there as well for the same reason.....blind patriotism. arguing with this mentality is futile.

let me guess Delphian, you walk around saying how unhealthy america is and that we all eat at fast food joints, yet at the same time, you visit your mom on the weekend and she fries you up a foot long kielbasa with some greasy pierogi on the side. Oh, then it's time for cake. Sorry for the assumption, but it's my 1st to your several ;)

for those of you waving your polish flags, convinced it's great here and that my complaints about your country are false or inaccurate, misguided, "just another American with that typical attitude", then be my guest, go on thinking that way. after all, it's people like you in the population in Poland that keep the country going. as for the mass exodus of poles to other countries once Poland became part of the EU along with the open border policy now, along with the 4-5 million Poles living in America (imagine how many Poles would be there if America didn't require VISA's....), ask them what they think of good ole' Poland.

i didn't want this to turn into a comparison war, but as an American, it's always the inevitable responses one will get from Poles because they automatically assume you're saying outright, "America is better than Poland in every way," and take every criticism of their precious Poland to mean just that. But, in Poland's defense, for every ultra-patriot i meet here, i meet another Pole who can tell it like it is and speak honestly about their country.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

woooooooow. well, i guess some people are more patriotic than others.

let's go step by step here, because these replies are just off the wall.

comparing transportation in america vs. poland is laughable, and because you tied this comment in with relative convenience of a country, i'll approach this response like this: literally everybody in america, in their late teenage years, gets their driver's license and a car to drive. EVERYBODY drives in america. if you live in a major city, plenty of public transport, but again, many people even in the cities own cars. what could be more convenient than having your own car with big parking lots in every place you want to drive to? if you prefer to stand in the cold waiting for a filthy smelly tram or take those dreadful polish trains, prosze bardzo.

prices......YES, other countries in this world are different. enough said.

customer service: i can't believe you would even suggest that polish customer service is quality, and your example essentially is a worthless statement.

english menus??? wow, you are really starting to make some assumptions here, and you know what they say about assuming......
regardless, the fact of the matter is.....the only good food in Poland is Polish food, whatever the reason for it may be.......and it's a reason for a tourist/expat to complain about the restaurants. when you go to an Italian restaurant, you don't want to eat crappy Italian food. This is the point that is being made.

man, it's exhausting commenting on all these silly responses from you, they're so incredibly myopic that it's actually irritating to read, but I'll go on.....

I can't learn the language? Again, an assumption. Have you ever spoken to me in Polish? Fact of the matter is, you have no idea what my level of Polish is, and for what it's worth, it's most likely leaps and bounds beyond 99% of the other posters on this forum. With that said, I still reserve the right to say that Polish is a royal pain in the ass to learn, and this would fall perfectly into the criteria of this thread. Why is that so difficult to see.

Lekors.....UUUHH....again, what a non-statement you made. Listen up everybody, turn on your TV, get to a movie other than a Polish one, and tell me if there's a Lektor. What? There is? Ok. Let's move on.....

Public transport again.......and of course, yet again, a wrongful assumption from you, my dear. I have been living in Poland for 3 years, and STILL do not own a car. That's right. My horse is left foot/right foot, trams, buses, trains....you name it, I've ridden on it to get to work/friends/family/etc. I know what polish public transport is like, I don't need to try to convince anyone of it otherwise.

weather......are you even attempting to suggest that Polish weather is not total crap? Your basing this argument on an unseasonably warm November? I'm almost embarrassed for you at this point.

and as for business sense........not worth it, it's way off topic, and again, your evidence of this is not only inaccurate, but not applicable. even if it were true that most cars on the roads in poland were new, it has nothing to do with the country's business sense. honestly.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


I never said it was poland's fault. And for what it's worth, I was an avid Mt. Dew drinker in America, drank a can of the stuff nearly every day, and I can attest that Mt. Dew in Poland is basically not Mt. Dew, it's something completely different. Again, this has nothing to do with fault, it has to do with fact, but this is getting off of the original point i was making.


it's Poland's preference. Poland makes a conscious decision to use ketchup instead of tomato sauce, cream cheese in their sushi, etc. because they think it's what will sell. If the Poles are buying it, then hey, it's a good business decision, but for tourists/expats, they consider things like sauce-less pizza with corn on it and cheese that resembles something like rubber from a car tire, as gross. That's all I'm saying.


Never, but I've had the next best thing: Italian immigrants in the NY area. Imported Italian ingredients, real meats and cheeses, absolutely delicious, sold to me by a guy with a thick Italian accent.