Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Lycée - yippee!!
Thank you so much Ziemusz. Yo sho nuff is da man!
Lycée - yippee!!
Thank you so much Ziemusz. Yo sho nuff is da man!
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Yes I wondered why he didn't use that facility but as I've often said I'm not a techno person so I thought maybe your keyboard had to be set up a certain way to avail of it. All I know is that my keyboard is just a regular 'English' one but you can do the Polish characters here on the forum using the Polish letters provided.
Yes I wondered why he didn't use that facility but as I've often said I'm not a techno person so I thought maybe your keyboard had to be set up a certain way to avail of it. All I know is that my keyboard is just a regular 'English' one but you can do the Polish characters here on the forum using the Polish letters provided.
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Everything I can to......do what exactly? By the way how come you don't have the right keyboard for writing Polish when you're Polish? Doesn't that make life difficult?
you are trying everything you can.
Everything I can to......do what exactly? By the way how come you don't have the right keyboard for writing Polish when you're Polish? Doesn't that make life difficult?
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Actually do you know what's really funny? We both spelled szkoła incorrectly!! Isn't life wonderful Poggy? One should never take it too seriously.
As to what they teach in Polish primary schools:
You don't learn a foreign language in Polish primary school to the level where you could study it at university. You do learn that in a secondary school.
skoła
szkola
Actually do you know what's really funny? We both spelled szkoła incorrectly!! Isn't life wonderful Poggy? One should never take it too seriously.
As to what they teach in Polish primary schools:
what you did in school is not that relevant (in Poland we all do that in primary school -
You don't learn a foreign language in Polish primary school to the level where you could study it at university. You do learn that in a secondary school.
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Oh Poggy, Poggy, Poggy, my dear child. At a quick glance there are three verbs in Lyzko's sentence.
You mean skoła podstawowa?? That's weird. Don't you mean secondary school?
I don't. I don't generally comment on the language skills of anyone on this forum. Ironside and I are now established sparring partners and being Irish, I have to give him a bit of a roasting at times. His English is great. One of the interesting things about speakers of English as a second or foreign language is the variety of styles they have and as a matter of fact it's the flexibility of English that very much allows for the formal or informal style of expression. Ziemowit has a charming slightly old world way of talking, Ironside is much more colloquial and coloured by his years spent amongst native English speakers. If they were on horseback Ziemowit would be wearing hunting pinks and cantering, and Ironside would be bareback and galloping. As for yourself, you'd be red in the face, huffing and puffing, struggling with the reins as though they were a set of bagpipes and would probably would never make it out of the stable yard.
Oh I have plenty of that alright.
Whether you like it or not Poggy, an educated native speaker of English (or indeed any language) will be accepted as an 'expert' in its use.
Hackneyed old phrase that, but hey my man, bring it bro! Ah the language of the streets...........
Oh Poggy, Poggy, Poggy, my dear child. At a quick glance there are three verbs in Lyzko's sentence.
primary school
You mean skoła podstawowa?? That's weird. Don't you mean secondary school?
you pick on Polish speakers here for making trivial mistakes in English
I don't. I don't generally comment on the language skills of anyone on this forum. Ironside and I are now established sparring partners and being Irish, I have to give him a bit of a roasting at times. His English is great. One of the interesting things about speakers of English as a second or foreign language is the variety of styles they have and as a matter of fact it's the flexibility of English that very much allows for the formal or informal style of expression. Ziemowit has a charming slightly old world way of talking, Ironside is much more colloquial and coloured by his years spent amongst native English speakers. If they were on horseback Ziemowit would be wearing hunting pinks and cantering, and Ironside would be bareback and galloping. As for yourself, you'd be red in the face, huffing and puffing, struggling with the reins as though they were a set of bagpipes and would probably would never make it out of the stable yard.
if you have the audacity
Oh I have plenty of that alright.
English language which you claim to know well enough to assess its mastery
Whether you like it or not Poggy, an educated native speaker of English (or indeed any language) will be accepted as an 'expert' in its use.
you can dish it out but you can't take it
Hackneyed old phrase that, but hey my man, bring it bro! Ah the language of the streets...........
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
I answered that question yesterday at 9.56, post no 1,472. You'll enjoy it. I wax lyrical about Jean Ferrat amongst others. Ah la belle France!
I didn't bother to mention Irish but of course I had fourteen years of that in school. I'm not at all fluent, very rusty I but I could have a bit of a chat as Gaeilge with correct grammar.
What about you, what languages have you learnt and what levels have you reached?
I answered that question yesterday at 9.56, post no 1,472. You'll enjoy it. I wax lyrical about Jean Ferrat amongst others. Ah la belle France!
I didn't bother to mention Irish but of course I had fourteen years of that in school. I'm not at all fluent, very rusty I but I could have a bit of a chat as Gaeilge with correct grammar.
Atch
5 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Are you for real?? You actually believe that nobody in Britain, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc, can speak another language to your level of English. What an utterly daft thing to say - because do bear in mind you said 'any'. So let's just dismiss all those English speakers who've passed proficiency exams in other languages or who work as translators or interpreters. I know at least three English people with extremely fluent, idiomatic, colloquial French. One of them was educated at the Lycee (can't do the diacritics on this keyboard) in Notting Hill in London, lived in Switzerland for years and now lives in France. My own sister is a very fluent speaker (she lived in France) and her German is native level (she's a translator). I have two cousins working in Brussels and another living in Paris. How do you think they manage? 'Mais oui, ma petite, but bien sur their French or German weel be but oh so pedestrian compared to my fabulous Eeenglish which is of the most fantastique'. InPolska: specialised subject Me, Me, Me, Myself and my general Wonderfulness.
I doubt that any English native speaker (in PF or elsewhere) can speak ANY other language the way we non English natives here do speak/write English ;).
Are you for real?? You actually believe that nobody in Britain, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc, can speak another language to your level of English. What an utterly daft thing to say - because do bear in mind you said 'any'. So let's just dismiss all those English speakers who've passed proficiency exams in other languages or who work as translators or interpreters. I know at least three English people with extremely fluent, idiomatic, colloquial French. One of them was educated at the Lycee (can't do the diacritics on this keyboard) in Notting Hill in London, lived in Switzerland for years and now lives in France. My own sister is a very fluent speaker (she lived in France) and her German is native level (she's a translator). I have two cousins working in Brussels and another living in Paris. How do you think they manage? 'Mais oui, ma petite, but bien sur their French or German weel be but oh so pedestrian compared to my fabulous Eeenglish which is of the most fantastique'. InPolska: specialised subject Me, Me, Me, Myself and my general Wonderfulness.
Atch
4 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Ziemowit is Polish, Poggy (isn't that a lovely diminutive for your name? See, we have them in English too). I've had a few disagreements with Ziemikins over the last year but he's a thoroughly decent chap and I'm very fond of him.
Why would I think that? Answer on A4 lined paper by tea time Friday please, at least two pages.
By the way you're doing quite well with your English, far better than I ever will with Polish, I'm sure of that. You just have to work on your social skills now.
You think confronting Polish person will be easier
Ziemowit is Polish, Poggy (isn't that a lovely diminutive for your name? See, we have them in English too). I've had a few disagreements with Ziemikins over the last year but he's a thoroughly decent chap and I'm very fond of him.
you feel you are above us
Why would I think that? Answer on A4 lined paper by tea time Friday please, at least two pages.
By the way you're doing quite well with your English, far better than I ever will with Polish, I'm sure of that. You just have to work on your social skills now.
Atch
4 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
This is part of your hoity-toity nonsense that doesn't endear you to other members. I think that's upper-intermediate to advanced level, is that right? Firstly I would say that you don't need that level to have an idea of how easy/difficult a language is. Once you get beyond basic level in any language, and you have a modicum of intelligence/common sense, you can see what's stretching before you. If it makes you feel as if you need to go and have a lie down then you know where you are in terms of difficulty.
All I can say is that I did French and German for five years each in secondary school and took Hons level exams in both so I suppose that's upper intermediate. I was reasonably proficient in French back then. I got an A. I still don't know how I managed that. I couldn't do it now that's for sure! I had a bit of a head start because my mother was quite a good French speaker. She was a member of the Alliance Francais (sorry can't do the cedilla or any accents on this keyboard), and I heard French at home from an early age, she loved French music. I used to sing along phonetically having no idea what the words meant but I loved the sounds and like most children picked up the accent quite easily. I still remember the songs and the words, could sing you a few bars now! Charles Trenet (il plu dans ma chambre, a very child-like little ditty,I liked that one!), Jean Ferrat ( 'Je n'ais pas le coeur a redirer, on ne voit pas le temps passer' I loved his voice though some people unkindly say that he sounds like a goat), Georges Moustaki (la fille aupres de qui je dort'. That's from Voyage). Do you know the songs InPolska? We could form a girl group with Roz!
German - I was quite good for the first three years and then I just lost interest and began to find it really tedious and I hated the grammar. The length of the sentences and the clauses was mind-numbing. I found German much more difficult than French and remember scarcely a word of it whereas with French I can still read an article in a newspaper for example and understand most of it. But to converse en Francais mais non, ma petite, c'est vraiment impossible!
Yes, as I said earlier, basic English is easy but as many of us agree, true mastery of the language is not.
@Atch: how many languages do you know at C1/C2 level?
This is part of your hoity-toity nonsense that doesn't endear you to other members. I think that's upper-intermediate to advanced level, is that right? Firstly I would say that you don't need that level to have an idea of how easy/difficult a language is. Once you get beyond basic level in any language, and you have a modicum of intelligence/common sense, you can see what's stretching before you. If it makes you feel as if you need to go and have a lie down then you know where you are in terms of difficulty.
All I can say is that I did French and German for five years each in secondary school and took Hons level exams in both so I suppose that's upper intermediate. I was reasonably proficient in French back then. I got an A. I still don't know how I managed that. I couldn't do it now that's for sure! I had a bit of a head start because my mother was quite a good French speaker. She was a member of the Alliance Francais (sorry can't do the cedilla or any accents on this keyboard), and I heard French at home from an early age, she loved French music. I used to sing along phonetically having no idea what the words meant but I loved the sounds and like most children picked up the accent quite easily. I still remember the songs and the words, could sing you a few bars now! Charles Trenet (il plu dans ma chambre, a very child-like little ditty,I liked that one!), Jean Ferrat ( 'Je n'ais pas le coeur a redirer, on ne voit pas le temps passer' I loved his voice though some people unkindly say that he sounds like a goat), Georges Moustaki (la fille aupres de qui je dort'. That's from Voyage). Do you know the songs InPolska? We could form a girl group with Roz!
German - I was quite good for the first three years and then I just lost interest and began to find it really tedious and I hated the grammar. The length of the sentences and the clauses was mind-numbing. I found German much more difficult than French and remember scarcely a word of it whereas with French I can still read an article in a newspaper for example and understand most of it. But to converse en Francais mais non, ma petite, c'est vraiment impossible!
you would know that English is the least difficult
Yes, as I said earlier, basic English is easy but as many of us agree, true mastery of the language is not.
Atch
4 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Well I don't think it's half, InPolska, more like a third I'd think, but of course I know about the influence of French on English you daft moo!! That's one of the reasons it's so easy for an English speaker to learn French.
By the way, do you know that about half of "English" words including of course words used daily come from ... French?
Well I don't think it's half, InPolska, more like a third I'd think, but of course I know about the influence of French on English you daft moo!! That's one of the reasons it's so easy for an English speaker to learn French.
Atch
4 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Yes but as John pointed out:
Basic English is really quite easy hence the fact that even
can learn it. But note how their command of the language falls apart when they try to use advanced vocabulary and tenses and that's just the tip of the iceberg - ah there you go now, that's an example 'tip of the iceberg'. English is enormously rich in similes, phrasal verbs and euphemisms, not to mention slang and that's even before one looks at dialects and local usages of the language. The speech of native speakers is literally peppered with them. Sometimes we communicate almost entirely in this way: 'For God's sake, would you ever come down off your high horse and give us a hand with this?' says one Irish man to another or a thirsty person might say 'I have a mouth on me like Ghandi's flip-flop'. Lyzko pointed out another factor which is the existence of multiple words having the same yet slightly different meaning:
Desk is not the same thing as a lectern or pulpit. Desk is a writing table, lectern is a desk/stand for reading and pulpit is not really any kind of desk, more of a stand and is specifically for speaking from. Oh and Lyzko don't forget bureau!
When I was being interviewed for a job teaching EFL many years ago the interviewer asked me which level I thought was the most difficult to teach and I replied 'intermediate without a doubt'. Basic English can be acquired quite quickly and students are pleasantly surprised at their own progress but when they get to intermediate they often exhibit a kind of syndrome where they spiral downwards into depression and desperation! The brighter ones realise at that point that they've only begun to scratch the surface and feel really overwhelmed by the vastness of the language and how much there still is to learn.
And that's just the spoken language. What about the spelling?? Very challenging.
Polish is not that difficult Levi. The phonetics of it are straightforward. Once you've learned them you can read and pronounce any word correctly which is a great boon when learning the basics. Some of the sounds are tricky for a non-Slav to master and they may never do so, but having a foreign accent when speaking a second language is not uncommon. As long as you're not mangling the word completely and people can understand you. The grammar is a different matter. To me Polish noun cases are the big stumbling block. I think it's very rare for any native English speaker to master those.
Just to conclude my Polish husband prefers to speak English as he says he finds it easier to express himself more concisely.
a language that allows communication
Yes but as John pointed out:
it's possible to communicate adequately using just a tiny fraction of the huge and subtle vocabulary
far from being the same as mastering the language
Basic English is really quite easy hence the fact that even
semi-neandertals
can learn it. But note how their command of the language falls apart when they try to use advanced vocabulary and tenses and that's just the tip of the iceberg - ah there you go now, that's an example 'tip of the iceberg'. English is enormously rich in similes, phrasal verbs and euphemisms, not to mention slang and that's even before one looks at dialects and local usages of the language. The speech of native speakers is literally peppered with them. Sometimes we communicate almost entirely in this way: 'For God's sake, would you ever come down off your high horse and give us a hand with this?' says one Irish man to another or a thirsty person might say 'I have a mouth on me like Ghandi's flip-flop'. Lyzko pointed out another factor which is the existence of multiple words having the same yet slightly different meaning:
e.g. "desk" vs. "writing table" vs. "secretary/anoir" vs. "lecturn" vs. "pulpit" etc..., each one from yet a different root origin,
Desk is not the same thing as a lectern or pulpit. Desk is a writing table, lectern is a desk/stand for reading and pulpit is not really any kind of desk, more of a stand and is specifically for speaking from. Oh and Lyzko don't forget bureau!
When I was being interviewed for a job teaching EFL many years ago the interviewer asked me which level I thought was the most difficult to teach and I replied 'intermediate without a doubt'. Basic English can be acquired quite quickly and students are pleasantly surprised at their own progress but when they get to intermediate they often exhibit a kind of syndrome where they spiral downwards into depression and desperation! The brighter ones realise at that point that they've only begun to scratch the surface and feel really overwhelmed by the vastness of the language and how much there still is to learn.
And that's just the spoken language. What about the spelling?? Very challenging.
Polish is not that difficult Levi. The phonetics of it are straightforward. Once you've learned them you can read and pronounce any word correctly which is a great boon when learning the basics. Some of the sounds are tricky for a non-Slav to master and they may never do so, but having a foreign accent when speaking a second language is not uncommon. As long as you're not mangling the word completely and people can understand you. The grammar is a different matter. To me Polish noun cases are the big stumbling block. I think it's very rare for any native English speaker to master those.
Just to conclude my Polish husband prefers to speak English as he says he finds it easier to express himself more concisely.
Atch
3 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Well of course he's here, not because he wants to discuss anything, but because he wants to have a row with someone. And he won't be disappointed! It's a little hobby for the child anyway, keeps him out of worse mischief hopefully.
Well of course he's here, not because he wants to discuss anything, but because he wants to have a row with someone. And he won't be disappointed! It's a little hobby for the child anyway, keeps him out of worse mischief hopefully.
Atch
3 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Ah Ziemowit, hello dear. I see we posted almost simultaneously. Great minds and all that........
Ah Ziemowit, hello dear. I see we posted almost simultaneously. Great minds and all that........
Atch
3 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
I am.
I see you're another speed reader. Here's what I said about my Polish skills in that post:
Why oh why don't people pay attention when they're reading??
Are you a native English speaker?
I am.
Is your Polish perfect?
I see you're another speed reader. Here's what I said about my Polish skills in that post:
my own Polish is cringe-inducing
Why oh why don't people pay attention when they're reading??
Atch
3 Feb 2016
Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]
Yes you would. You once got very cross with me for correcting your spelling (which I never normally do to other adults but you were being patronising and deserved it).
You make loads of errors in spelling and grammar which sometimes render your own posts less than comprehensible. The meaning is there only through the context, for example:
You mean communicative.
Completely meaningless.
Meaningless but I can gather from the context that you meant to say 'complimenting'.
Meaningless but no doubt a typo.
Now that's just a sample of your errors in the above post, there are more. One of the features of your own English Ironside is that your command of syntax and grammar deserts you big-time when you get over-excited. I've noticed that many times. Calm down or you'll have a stroke before you're fifty. And one of the nice things about Ziemowit is that he continues to want to learn and improve his English skills, it's one of the reasons he visits this forum. He's humble enough to know that he can still learn something.
I have to finish by correcting a mistake you make all the time because it's driving me absolutely nuts: stop saying 'end off' as a conclusion to posts. It's 'end of' as in 'end of the story'.
And yes my own Polish is cringe-inducing although people are very kind and tell me 'ale bardzo ładne Pani mowi po Polsku'. I don't though! 'Endings, endings, endings' my husband sighs. 'Your endings must be clear'.
correcting some grammatical errors even in my posts I wouldn't mind it at all.
Yes you would. You once got very cross with me for correcting your spelling (which I never normally do to other adults but you were being patronising and deserved it).
You make loads of errors in spelling and grammar which sometimes render your own posts less than comprehensible. The meaning is there only through the context, for example:
clear and commutative.
You mean communicative.
he wouldn't usurping himself position
Completely meaningless.
you are complaining Lyzko
Meaningless but I can gather from the context that you meant to say 'complimenting'.
coping masterpieces
Meaningless but no doubt a typo.
Now that's just a sample of your errors in the above post, there are more. One of the features of your own English Ironside is that your command of syntax and grammar deserts you big-time when you get over-excited. I've noticed that many times. Calm down or you'll have a stroke before you're fifty. And one of the nice things about Ziemowit is that he continues to want to learn and improve his English skills, it's one of the reasons he visits this forum. He's humble enough to know that he can still learn something.
I have to finish by correcting a mistake you make all the time because it's driving me absolutely nuts: stop saying 'end off' as a conclusion to posts. It's 'end of' as in 'end of the story'.
And yes my own Polish is cringe-inducing although people are very kind and tell me 'ale bardzo ładne Pani mowi po Polsku'. I don't though! 'Endings, endings, endings' my husband sighs. 'Your endings must be clear'.
Atch
27 Jan 2016
Feedback / Is it Polish forum or foreign forum? [159]
No Ktos, what you mean is that they do not fit your criteria. Poles, like other nationalities in the developed world are a diverse group of people. They may share certain cultural experiences but they are individuals.
you do not fit the criteria for belonging to Polish community
No Ktos, what you mean is that they do not fit your criteria. Poles, like other nationalities in the developed world are a diverse group of people. They may share certain cultural experiences but they are individuals.
Atch
20 Jan 2016
Feedback / Is it Polish forum or foreign forum? [159]
I'm not sure if it's funny........I have a strong sense that this poor child Ktos is on meds of some kind. Have you noticed how he disappears for quite long periods of time (probably when he's taking his meds) and then shows up again in a lather about something and sounding completely delusional (probably having ditched the meds). Mind you, like most people with mental health issues he's very expert at dodging direct answers to direct questions.
One of the funniest threads for a long time...
I'm not sure if it's funny........I have a strong sense that this poor child Ktos is on meds of some kind. Have you noticed how he disappears for quite long periods of time (probably when he's taking his meds) and then shows up again in a lather about something and sounding completely delusional (probably having ditched the meds). Mind you, like most people with mental health issues he's very expert at dodging direct answers to direct questions.
Atch
4 Jan 2016
Food / British food products in Poland? [334]
Bird's custard powder, Bisto, Colman's mustard immediately spring to mind. My local supermarket in Warsaw stocks HP Sauce but I'm not a fan of that. They also have Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce which I like. They're in the International food section. The Worcester sauce is in the Japanese section!! Do you have a Carrefour in Wrocław? My husband is Polish but he loves Colman's and Bovril which we also can't get here. I also miss being able to pick up a tin of Golden Syrup and a decent sized drum of baking powder; the tiny packets here with about two spoons of baking powder drive me nuts.
Bird's custard powder, Bisto, Colman's mustard immediately spring to mind. My local supermarket in Warsaw stocks HP Sauce but I'm not a fan of that. They also have Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce which I like. They're in the International food section. The Worcester sauce is in the Japanese section!! Do you have a Carrefour in Wrocław? My husband is Polish but he loves Colman's and Bovril which we also can't get here. I also miss being able to pick up a tin of Golden Syrup and a decent sized drum of baking powder; the tiny packets here with about two spoons of baking powder drive me nuts.
Atch
26 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Ireland saves the day again Polly! Christmas ends officially on 6 January. Decorations come down then. It's said to be bad luck to leave them up after that. It's known as Little Christmas and also Women's Christmas especially in Cork and Kerry where the men take on the housework for the day and the women often meet for an outing or lunch party. When I was a child the Three Kings did not go into the crib until 6 January as they supposedly did not arrive in Bethlehem until then. It was very annoying to a child, as they were beautiful figures so my lovely mother used to line them up on the table near the crib to show them making their journey........I was a lucky child.
What about the fabled British (12 Days of Chrsitmas)
aren't there any customs connecetd with it anymore?
Ireland saves the day again Polly! Christmas ends officially on 6 January. Decorations come down then. It's said to be bad luck to leave them up after that. It's known as Little Christmas and also Women's Christmas especially in Cork and Kerry where the men take on the housework for the day and the women often meet for an outing or lunch party. When I was a child the Three Kings did not go into the crib until 6 January as they supposedly did not arrive in Bethlehem until then. It was very annoying to a child, as they were beautiful figures so my lovely mother used to line them up on the table near the crib to show them making their journey........I was a lucky child.
Atch
24 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
I've hardly had time to scratch myself today but must take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas. Love to everyone.
I've hardly had time to scratch myself today but must take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas. Love to everyone.
Atch
23 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Yes my dear husband performed the honours this year. He's a very efficient carp killer and I warned him beforehand about the terrible consequences if he damaged any of my precious bathroom fixtures!
No. Bringing home the live carp and keeping it for several days in the bath tub of cold water has been common practice for a long time.
Anybody ever do this?
Yes my dear husband performed the honours this year. He's a very efficient carp killer and I warned him beforehand about the terrible consequences if he damaged any of my precious bathroom fixtures!
This must be a new process,
No. Bringing home the live carp and keeping it for several days in the bath tub of cold water has been common practice for a long time.
Atch
22 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
It's about a hundred years older than that Polly, written around the mid 1800s. I imagine it was the recording industry that popularised it. It was recorded by the famous tenor Caruso sometime before 1920 which may account for its long standing popularity in Ireland as the Irish loved a good tenor and he was hugely popular with my grandfather's generation.
It's about a hundred years older than that Polly, written around the mid 1800s. I imagine it was the recording industry that popularised it. It was recorded by the famous tenor Caruso sometime before 1920 which may account for its long standing popularity in Ireland as the Irish loved a good tenor and he was hugely popular with my grandfather's generation.
Atch
22 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Aw, I'm so glad someone watched it, I thought it would be dismissed as nausea inducing sentimentality.
Now if we're in the mood for some music, here's the absolutely perfect song for Wigilia. I've not heard it sung in Poland but if it isn't it should be.
What would an Irish Christmas be without 'Oh Holy Night', the staple of every school and church concert and many a staff room sing-song in my teaching years. In every Irish school there seems to be an older teacher with a beautiful soprano voice to start it off. There may be younger teachers with an equally lovely voice, but Oh Holy Night is a badge of honour and always goes to the most senior staff! (I bet they have to advertise every few years, Junior Infant teacher required, ability to sing solo in Oh Holy Night a distinct advantage, must complete minimum ten years service before doing so'.)
Anyway it may an Irish favourite but nobody sings carols like the English. My mother once paid me the great compliment of informing me that I sang hymns with 'the true Protestant hoot'! And here it is from King's College Cambridge, Christmas Eve service of the Nine Lessons and Carols, it's a really beautiful arrangement so if anyone here is musical you'll love this:
youtube.com/watch?v=rYyhLkQV6no
Aw, I'm so glad someone watched it, I thought it would be dismissed as nausea inducing sentimentality.
Now if we're in the mood for some music, here's the absolutely perfect song for Wigilia. I've not heard it sung in Poland but if it isn't it should be.
What would an Irish Christmas be without 'Oh Holy Night', the staple of every school and church concert and many a staff room sing-song in my teaching years. In every Irish school there seems to be an older teacher with a beautiful soprano voice to start it off. There may be younger teachers with an equally lovely voice, but Oh Holy Night is a badge of honour and always goes to the most senior staff! (I bet they have to advertise every few years, Junior Infant teacher required, ability to sing solo in Oh Holy Night a distinct advantage, must complete minimum ten years service before doing so'.)
Anyway it may an Irish favourite but nobody sings carols like the English. My mother once paid me the great compliment of informing me that I sang hymns with 'the true Protestant hoot'! And here it is from King's College Cambridge, Christmas Eve service of the Nine Lessons and Carols, it's a really beautiful arrangement so if anyone here is musical you'll love this:
youtube.com/watch?v=rYyhLkQV6no
Atch
22 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Yes, for me as an Irish person, it reminds me of Good Friday, to tell you the truth! No red meat, no alcohol. In Ireland no alcohol is sold on Good Friday and I remember once the local branch of Tesco had to close because although they weren't selling alcohol, the off-licence section wasn't considered to be suitably separated from the rest of the produce. I remember the Gardai outside and the general to-do and hoo ha. It's very rare to see a Garda making a fuss about anything in Ireland, it's always 'that wouldn't be anything to do with us, that's a civil matter'. Anyway they managed to block off the area with some kind of make-shift shutters or something and were open again within a couple of hours. In a truly hilarious and typically Irish fashion hotels are allowed to serve alcohol on Good Friday 'as part of a substantial meal'.
And here's a lovely video from Dublin Airport that will warm the cockles of even the hardest heart. At one point of there's a pair of really adorable little tots, I'd say they're about three years old, welcoming each other home and somewhere in the middle is a host of 'wholesome' Irish schoolgirls to delight Polly, carol singing in their lovely navy blue school uniforms:
youtube.com/watch?v=gyB8UMfVoWk
I really have to go and do something useful now, after nine o'clock and not a child in the house washed as we say in my part of the world.
IT'S ONLY WIGILIA THAT'S SO SPECIAL
Yes, for me as an Irish person, it reminds me of Good Friday, to tell you the truth! No red meat, no alcohol. In Ireland no alcohol is sold on Good Friday and I remember once the local branch of Tesco had to close because although they weren't selling alcohol, the off-licence section wasn't considered to be suitably separated from the rest of the produce. I remember the Gardai outside and the general to-do and hoo ha. It's very rare to see a Garda making a fuss about anything in Ireland, it's always 'that wouldn't be anything to do with us, that's a civil matter'. Anyway they managed to block off the area with some kind of make-shift shutters or something and were open again within a couple of hours. In a truly hilarious and typically Irish fashion hotels are allowed to serve alcohol on Good Friday 'as part of a substantial meal'.
For years the returning emigrants home for the festive season lent a very special flavour to the season.
And here's a lovely video from Dublin Airport that will warm the cockles of even the hardest heart. At one point of there's a pair of really adorable little tots, I'd say they're about three years old, welcoming each other home and somewhere in the middle is a host of 'wholesome' Irish schoolgirls to delight Polly, carol singing in their lovely navy blue school uniforms:
youtube.com/watch?v=gyB8UMfVoWk
An Irish Christmas
filled with laughter and smiles,
I really have to go and do something useful now, after nine o'clock and not a child in the house washed as we say in my part of the world.
Atch
22 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
And we're back! You're all at it again, not that you ever really stopped of course. You're like a little family of Jack Russells.
I was speaking figuratively, in that once midnight had passed, they would certainly have a drink,
but they weren't an especially religious family. When the children were young they were definitely taken to mass by their mother but I think once they'd all made their confirmation the parents considered they'd done their duty. There were definitely no gospel readings before Wigilia supper. I must check with him but I think that the men of the family didn't really bother about Midnight Mass but the women went.
I would say that it's common for Polish people to offer their Christmas guests/visitors a libation (lovely old fashioned word isn't it?). If I were visiting someone on the 25th I would expect to see the old glass of dessert wine being offered to the 'ladies' and a drop of the hard stuff or a bottle of beer for the men. The fact that alcohol is consumed as part of the festivities doesn't mean that people are alcoholics, though of course most extended families in Poland or Ireland have at least one bona fide alcoholic.
Anyway we won't argue about it. Let us put aside our wrangling and quarrelsome ways in deference to the season- ooh, I've come over all Victorian. Pickwick Papers, A Christmas Carol, God Bless Charles Dickens and all things Christmassy - God Bless us all, every one.
degenerates
run-of-the-mill booze-ups and pig-outs.
sanctimonious rubbish
And we're back! You're all at it again, not that you ever really stopped of course. You're like a little family of Jack Russells.
Surely at the stroke of midinight they first went to Midnight Mass and then started boozing it up
I was speaking figuratively, in that once midnight had passed, they would certainly have a drink,
but they weren't an especially religious family. When the children were young they were definitely taken to mass by their mother but I think once they'd all made their confirmation the parents considered they'd done their duty. There were definitely no gospel readings before Wigilia supper. I must check with him but I think that the men of the family didn't really bother about Midnight Mass but the women went.
48 hours? I know alcoholics do that.
I would say that it's common for Polish people to offer their Christmas guests/visitors a libation (lovely old fashioned word isn't it?). If I were visiting someone on the 25th I would expect to see the old glass of dessert wine being offered to the 'ladies' and a drop of the hard stuff or a bottle of beer for the men. The fact that alcohol is consumed as part of the festivities doesn't mean that people are alcoholics, though of course most extended families in Poland or Ireland have at least one bona fide alcoholic.
Anyway we won't argue about it. Let us put aside our wrangling and quarrelsome ways in deference to the season- ooh, I've come over all Victorian. Pickwick Papers, A Christmas Carol, God Bless Charles Dickens and all things Christmassy - God Bless us all, every one.
Atch
21 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Husband says there was no drinking in his house before midnight but that at the stroke, the men were at the vodka bottle and it pretty much continued for the next 48 hours!
more drinking at a Polish Christmas eve supper than at a British Christmas day lunch.
Husband says there was no drinking in his house before midnight but that at the stroke, the men were at the vodka bottle and it pretty much continued for the next 48 hours!
Atch
21 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Well the Irish are fond of a drink of course but as I said:
Irish people are generally cheerful. After all I spent many Christmases in primary schools where there wasn't a drop of alcohol to be seen and we had crack in the staffroom!
But perhaps too much of the cheer comes out of a bottle?!
Well the Irish are fond of a drink of course but as I said:
filled with laughter and smiles, even in settings where there's no alcohol!
Irish people are generally cheerful. After all I spent many Christmases in primary schools where there wasn't a drop of alcohol to be seen and we had crack in the staffroom!
Atch
21 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
POLISH AND IRISH CHRISTMAS
An Irish Christmas is all about socialising. There are huge extended family gatherings and visiting of neighbours and friends. For years the returning emigrants home for the festive season lent a very special flavour to the season. Of course it's still the case that people returning for Christmas is a big thing but I think less so than in the 1980s for example when so many of the young had gone to England, Australia, USA, Canada etc. There were fewer cheap flights and they didn't make it home that often, it was a big deal coming 'home' for Christmas.
To me the Polish Christmas feels slightly sombre and sober compared to the Irish which is very high spirited, merry and filled with laughter and smiles, even in settings where there's no alcohol! The religious aspect is still important to many. Midnight mass is very well attended and again, the atmosphere there is generally a happy, joyous one with lots of beautiful carols, the singing is very important. That's another aspect of Irish Christmas, the music. Lots of talking, lots of laughter and the sound of music, that's an Irish Christmas to me!
POLISH & AMERICAN CHRISTMAS
POLISH AND IRISH CHRISTMAS
An Irish Christmas is all about socialising. There are huge extended family gatherings and visiting of neighbours and friends. For years the returning emigrants home for the festive season lent a very special flavour to the season. Of course it's still the case that people returning for Christmas is a big thing but I think less so than in the 1980s for example when so many of the young had gone to England, Australia, USA, Canada etc. There were fewer cheap flights and they didn't make it home that often, it was a big deal coming 'home' for Christmas.
To me the Polish Christmas feels slightly sombre and sober compared to the Irish which is very high spirited, merry and filled with laughter and smiles, even in settings where there's no alcohol! The religious aspect is still important to many. Midnight mass is very well attended and again, the atmosphere there is generally a happy, joyous one with lots of beautiful carols, the singing is very important. That's another aspect of Irish Christmas, the music. Lots of talking, lots of laughter and the sound of music, that's an Irish Christmas to me!
Atch
20 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
I think Polly that we're all a combination of nature and nurture but I think that in the end it's the genes that are the deciding factor. What I find fascinating is the differences between siblings raised in the same home environment and yet often so different to each other and that's why I think genetics are the decider. Siblings have the same gene pool but a different mix of those genes to each other so despite being raised in the same home by the same parents, they can be quite different to each other in character, interests etc. You know how even in appearance some children take after the father's side and some the mother's. Off-topic response to off-topic comment but hey, it's Christmas! Thank you Moderators.
pro-family. Others on PF seem less so and I wonder if that stems from personal experience or other reasons.
I think Polly that we're all a combination of nature and nurture but I think that in the end it's the genes that are the deciding factor. What I find fascinating is the differences between siblings raised in the same home environment and yet often so different to each other and that's why I think genetics are the decider. Siblings have the same gene pool but a different mix of those genes to each other so despite being raised in the same home by the same parents, they can be quite different to each other in character, interests etc. You know how even in appearance some children take after the father's side and some the mother's. Off-topic response to off-topic comment but hey, it's Christmas! Thank you Moderators.
Atch
18 Dec 2015
Life / All Things Christmassy in Poland [332]
Yes, they do that in Ireland too, being so small and with so much coastline you hear that even in the suburbs of Dublin; I miss that, you don't hear it in Warsaw.
the boats on the Thames blaring their horns
Yes, they do that in Ireland too, being so small and with so much coastline you hear that even in the suburbs of Dublin; I miss that, you don't hear it in Warsaw.