Work / tram driver foreigner [31]

Sadly so, Rich, I'll give you that one.
It's all a matter of political clout, voting blocks,
that sort of thing.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

@Indeed, Milo!
Most people everywhere who are mandated to learn English, as with any required subject
in grade school, hate it and find it boring.

Save for the rare, gifted language maven who desires to absorb a language and do it
justice to a native speaker of that language, your run-of-the-mill foreign English speaker
will never actually internalize the language, riddled as it normally is with native language
interference, bolstered as a rule by bad-ass attitude and resistance to having to use it
instead of their mother tongue.

Exceptions to the above scenario are as rare as jewels:-)

Work / tram driver foreigner [31]

Righto. Never any argument on that score.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

Quite, Milo!
@Pawian, I'm relieved that you were exposed as a student, perhaps also as a pupil, of English
to native Brits and Yanks, I truly am.

Frankly though, it doesn't seem to have rubbed off entirely, hate to be blunt here.
Oh,well. You never stop learning. Dalej ucz sie! Cwiczenie czyni mistrza:-) Of course, that
goes double for my Polish!!

Work / tram driver foreigner [31]

Exactly! Spot on there, Atch!!
Speaking Polish in Poland's really just a no-brainer.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

@Pawian,
I only meant that you're purposely playing with language here, which is ok
by me, so long as you admit your error:-) Again, your English teachers were Poles
and so what do you expect??

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

Quite beside the point.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

The question was already answered when he asked how it can't exist in English after using it so extensively.
All of his English teachers in grade school were obviously Poles, not educated native English speakers, so
his surprise shouldn't come as one to us!

History / The history of Talmud and why idiots shouldn't read it [19]

@Torq,
My point is that the Talmud has gone through ever so many hands over ever so many
centuries and therefore will be understood differently today than in past times.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

A female Pole in English is merely "a Pole", no more, no less, frustrating as it may seem.

Work / tram driver foreigner [31]

Hello and welcome to PF!

In terms of "linguistic requirements" to work as a street car driver in Warsaw, I'd think a
knowledge of Polish would prove more valuable in the long run, don't you?

A foreigner in Spain without knowledge of Spanish probably today would have more
chance at communication in basic English than in Poland.

Merely a suggestion. Good luck in your job search.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

@Pawian,
I realize some find it cute, but "Polasses" for "Polki"
DOESN'T EXIST in English! Just say "Poles" and you'll
be fine.

@Rich, I just did:-)

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

@Rich, rogue Jews are scarcely the ones to quote as to justifying anti-Semitism!
Why not include Bobby Fisher, Jewish chess champ extraordinaire, well-known for
self hating anti-Jewish rants.

History / The history of Talmud and why idiots shouldn't read it [19]

First of all, much as with the Bible, the Torah has undergone
ever so much interpretation, re-writing, above all translation,
it is equally difficult to know what exactly is meant within her pages!

As with the Holy Scriptures, anybody can seize upon a passage in order
to make it fit their own philosophy, true or not:-))

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

Not always, johnny!
American Jews in particular have simply tried to mimic their money conscious W.A.S.P
neighbors and compatriots over the past hundred odd years.
Certain other groups didn't measure personal success by quite the same degree of assimilation.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

Many Israelis stop in Poland on their way to visit the US.
I know a number of Israelis who actually managed to learn
Polish! Quite impressive.

Interestingly enough, they also speak German,
although their background, that is, their parents,
came from Poland before emigrating to Israel.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

The question makes no sense.
How long?? As long as it takes.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

The point being that assimilated Polish-born Jews as POLES made sizable contributions
both to Polish as well as world culture, from music to science.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

@Rich, please refrain from your usual babbling! It's annoying and quite infantile.
If you don't know the meaning of "assimilated", then kindly look it up.

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [71]

Several weeks ago, my wife and I were in Greenpoint, Bklyn. at a local Polish street fair.
As soon as I opened my mouth, seeing I was clearly not Polish,a teenage boy roughly about seventeen or so, begins
pelting me with questions in almost impenetrably Polish accented English, "VAJ, YU ARR SPIKINK PAWLISH?" etc...

Rather than being irritated, the young man seemed thrilled that I was able to communicate with him in his native language.

Language / Is Polish amongst the best-sounding languages in the world? [123]

Polish certainly remains the most distinctive sounding
amongst the Slavic languages, if for no other reason,
those nasals along with the fact that modern Polish has
zero short vs .long vowels as exist in Slovene, Russian,
Croatian and Czech.

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

You know perfectly well what I mean, Rich, so stop trolling!

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [71]

@Joker, it's probably because they least expect it, especially from an American:-)

Life / Jewish culture in today`s Poland [158]

Apart from filmmakers such as Agnieszka Holland (although half-Jewish only on her father's side!), assimilated Jews have contributed
richly to Polish culture, while acknowledging simultaneously their Jewish heritage, e.g. Tuwim, Roziewicz, in literature or Jan Kiepura,once dubbed
"the Polish Caruso", Artur Rubinstein, Henryk Szerying in music, Kazimir Funk in science along with Stanislaw Lem in mathematics etc.
There are nearly too many for me to enumerate!

Life / A detailed description of the Easter tradition in Poland [41]

Isn't it also common in Poland as an Easter greeting "Wesolych Jajk!"?

Food / Poles have a more loving attitude to food than here in the UK [169]

Feasting holidays do draw the crowds to church, Rich and Pawian!
Drinking as well. Was it not St. Thomas who said, "A glass of wine for
thy stomach's sake."

Food / Poles have a more loving attitude to food than here in the UK [169]

Some people eat to live while others live to eat. Probably, the Poles, as
with the Italians and the Spaniards, fit into the latter category!

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [71]

Thanks for straightening me out, jon!
I sent you a private message about "sie" and sometimes
Polish native speakers can't understand me when I say it.
Since I don't want to take a chance with English, on occasion,
I've actually end up writing it down and then they understand LOL

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [71]

So true, jon!
Sorry, I meant before "Standard English", as of course there are Irish, Scottish, and Welsh varieties of "English" pronunciation:-)

Your analogy of "ugly" with "wood" suggests that your native pronunciation/accent is from the Liverpool area, e.g. "Luv,
*** over to the pub!" as opposed to that snooty-sounding, upper class, posh accent, am I more or less correct?

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [71]

Well, take for instance the English word "ugly". From my perception, I hear this word
pronounced in "Standard British" aka "RP" (Received Pronunciation) as roughly "Ahgluy"
vs. "Standard American". Polish, as with many European languages, has no phonetic equivalent
to the American short "u-sound".

Conversely for this reason, Poles probably can pronounce British far more easily than
American English, along with the other obvious reason of sheer language exposure to the UK
rather than the US.