Language / Use of swoj [23]


nemo iudex in causa sua not nemo iudex in causa eius - Polish is similar to Latin in that respect -rl]

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


I didn't make myself clear - where I live the word 'torebka' can well be used in place of 'reklamówka' - rekalamówka can actually be a not so big plastc bag with no graphics on it

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


no, it isn't


torebka can well be used instead of reklamówka - it's not that torebka is only purse and that's it - a small paper bag is also torebka

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


actually it's the best place to travel on a spider :) I bet you wouldn't want to tranvel IN a spider, would you?? :)

look how beautifully green eyes it has - I know they are a couple too many ;) (click on the image to enlarge it)

History / What proportion of the Polish population collaborated with the Nazis? [125]

it is mostly in the interest of those who run the US that the Eurozone falls - for the same reasons the US invaded Iraq - which is it will secure the US dollar will remain the most important international currency being used for oil trade

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


politeness or rather respect, well-meaning, gratitude can all be expressed in other ways than polite language forms

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


while this is the case among the native speakers of Polish (a lot of distance when people are not familiar with each other) foreigners are in practice generally excused for not conforming unless they turn to really elderly people who are not really accustomed to being addressed in the second person and are much less tolerant often (or they happen upon a really haughty person which is quite rare) - I think my mum's generation (60 year olds) is already quite tollerant to being addressed in the second person save for certain environs (ticket offices, some public officers)

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

it's not really an option in a dormitory, you see

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


the thing Sidliste you are not living here and can perhaps miss out on certain 'feelings' -

the reasons why I discourage people from starting with pan/panis from the very beginning are - a) it is counterintuitive for a speaker of English which is just another way of saying that the natural form for an English speaking person is to address people in the 2nd person b) it alters a lot in a sentence - you need to used different forms of verbs - pff confusing c) people like Pam who learned Polish from speaking with their Polish friends are familiar with the regular 2nd person address ('możesz mi pomóc') and are not familiar with the formal mode of address d) other more or less significant reasons e) you have to be consistent when you start out with the formal register - shifting between the registers during a conversation can be cofusing and unpleasant for a Polish interlocutor f) in most cases if you engage a person face to face (this is not really the case with most ticket offices in Poland mind you) the person will not get offended seeing that you are a foreigner

so eventually untill you are actually well versed in Pan/Pani mode and feel natural with it I'd say don't even start out with it, just speak the way it comes natural to you (for speakers of some languages other than English (continental Spanish? Japanese?) the pan/pani address can be more natural from the beginning)

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


was 'suka' supposed to mean 'słuchawki'? :P

Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [415]

they are worthless piece of papers

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]


na pociągu as when travelling is incorrect it should be w pociągu

but pam correctly has put iść na pociąg - to go to catch a train - 'na' in this situation is used like in 'iść na koncert' - to go for a concert

ah - another remark - pam - don't worry about pan/pani - unless you are talking to an older person (like 60) or happen upon a haughty exemplar people will not be generally offended if you don't address them pan/pani - the thing is if you start with pan/pani you have be consistent with it - so don't start with it

Language / "Hilarious" Mistakes? (Esp. Across Polish and other Slavic Languages) [83]

I remember a time when milk in Poland was ubiquitously sold in quite soft hermetic plastic bags - you couldn't postawić/wstawić it do lodówki as the thing could not stand unless put into some container before (like a 1-litre broad jar the type that's use for Polish style dill pickles) - so you could only połozyć it or włożyć do lodówki

so in general you can położyć/włożyć do lodówki things that can't stand - objects which stand stoją in Polish are those that are quite high - bottles, jars - they can however also lay leżeć when they are overturned but I guess it is pretty much the same in English

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]


if she used to live in London drank water froms Thames water and was alright she can probably be perfectly fine on Gdańsk water ;)


you did :P go figure ;)

and seriously - the quote utility sometimes wrongly attributes user name's - it used to very common before

Real Estate / Moving to the Katowice area soon! Safe neighborhood for an Irish man? [38]

buy an old cheap used car in Poland instead - you can pay not much really but don't expect it to last - and you won't have and old avarage car vandalised unless in some really bad neighbourhoods (but I'm not really familiar with Katowice or Śląsk in general)

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

in some cities yes - but not all cities - some cities have excellent tap water (Częstochowa, Opole, Olsztyn, Bielsko-Biała) - the worst thing is when a city draws it's watter supply from a major river by filtering through the valley sediments


exactly

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

tap water is not good in every average city in Poland - I wouldn't drink tap water in those areas of Gdańsk that draw water out of shallow Wisła valley wells (you of course guess that the water in fact comes from Wisła and is only filtrated naturally through the ground which doesn;t eliminate chemical contamination mostly) - and I think it is most of Gdańsk that has water from Wisła - I know Wrocław invested heavily in carbon filters and extensive installation to ozonate water and in the result tap water in Wrocław at least tastes good (but I still wouldn't drink the water on regular base - I have reasons enough to believe it is not even enough to clean water of most chemicals for it to be really good for your health) - however AFAIK Wrocław is the only city in Poland to have serious carbon filtering installation

your manager already advised you tap water in the dormitory is not good drinking water - and occasional brown coloration is not your most concern (though it is of health concern as the porous and geleaous iron hydroxides that form this coloration are like a sponge and harbour a lot of chemical impurities the water carries) - if I were you I would definitely go for buying my drinking water in 5 litre bottles in supermarkets (it's plain water not carbonated) - the bottled water comes from areas where there are no major pollution sources that are outside of major river valleys - in fact most of that plain table water sold in supermarkets comes from deep wells - and the price of that water is not a real burden too - a 5 litre bottle costs around 3 PLN and for a single person it's enough for some 3-4 days (even more if you drink less) - if you want to stay on even healthier side buy a small (max. 1l) bottle of mineral water every day - there is a good variety of mineral water in Poland - you can have only mildly mineralised waters or water really loaded with minerals of various composition - suit your tastes

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

it seems your father's path to Anders's army (Polish Army in Italy) was a complicated one - he must have been conscripted into Wehrmacht early (in 1941 most probably or even earlier) - then captured on the eastern front by the Russians in time to be allowed to join the Polish Anders troops in Russia (i can't remember that that well but it was formed sometime in 1942) - then he must have left the Soviet Union with Anders army in 1942 - the Polish troops were in such a bad shape that it took good couple of months before they became combat ready - they were transfered from the Middle East to Italy and fought in the ranks of the British VIII Army

I was convinced that your dad got captured by the Allied forces in Italy as were thousands of Silesian conscripts from Wehrmacht of whom many were offered to join the Polish army in Italy and many chose to.

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

one point is worth mentioning jochemczyk - the Silesian conscripts in Wehrmacht were all spread out in German units (maybe a couple of guys per company/battalion) - there were hardly any (if any at all) Silesian units in Wehrmacht - the German military believed they would defect en messe if whole units were formed of them - and they were right

btw Silesian Wehrmacht POW's in Russian hands became the major part of the 'Polish People's Army' that was formed in Russia in 1943 - again most had no qualms to fight Germans for a change

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hd_DuEU6Mvg

I wouldn't call that supermarket music - when was it last when you listened to 'Shepherdmoons' and 'Watermark'?

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]


well they had a choice - they could have stayed in allied POW camps if they felt strong allegation to Germany or for whatever reason - Polish army only recruited those who wanted to join (we are still talking about Slavic Silesians)

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]


yes, I do believe in that - in a way it was pretty easy for me to believe in that as I experienced related things and the teaching I introduced you to is just a small part of large body of teaching I find reliable based on my personal experiences - but one thing should be said - believing in things is not enough - I can believe rock music is harmful to my soul but can still listen to it occasionally - simply believing is not heeding - they say even satan believes in God (and they also say even satan can be saved - it's a matter of revising some choices)

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]


yes it is - it's not me who came up with that - and I liked jazz before - the mechanism why rock or jazz music gives you pleasure is explained here:

the article is lengthy but the explanation is there (just be patient and read on)

ok I this is the most telling bit but I recommend you read the whole article

The basis for this new musical culture is music based on the syncopated beat, which breaks the rhythm of life. This forces the spiritual light into the lower chakras, where it is released in a violent action. As explained elsewhere, the chakras are designed to release light, and therefore it feels good when light is flowing through them. So even if light is forced through the chakras, the flow of light will still produce a pleasurable sensation. This is what causes people to feel pleasure during a violent release of light, whether this happens through rock music, certain forms of sex or other activities that force the light through the lower chakras. When a man is raping a woman, he feels pleasure, but I am sure you agree that doesn't make rape right.

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

do you mean that RMF FM and Radio Zet are state sponsored? nah

btw contemporary music is overrated - the true Music is Mozart Haendel and Enya ;)

to be true actually I would have to state that off-beat type of music (most pop, all rock, jazz and blues) is a spiritual poison - if anyone of you are into spirituality

(I can give you hints where to search for into on that)

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

the last decent Polish bit I heard was this ;)

youtu.be/mw-boSbDiKg

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

DP (displaced person) problem arose when the concentration and labour and POW camps in Germany (and not Italy) got liberated by Allies from what I can gather -

but maybe you are right about those Silesians though I seriously doubt it - I know from a particular book that some surely did fight after joining the Polish army in Italy - maybe you can find Bohdan Tymieniecki book or memoirs in English (the guy was a tank commander and he writes about Silesians who were transfered to his unit - one particular became his gunner as he had served as a gunner in the German Panzerwaffe before) - I don't know any English source on that (and actually no detailed historical Polish source) and I'm not in a shape to start a search now

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]


that actually sums up what a musical void Poland is - her best talent have to sing foreign songs and in foreign tongues - croggers you really should have chosen Bulgaria and not POland ;) (Bulgaria is a proper Slavic country)


well, it's a public secret that Violetta Villas was actually born Wilhelm Chałupa ;)

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

I guess our Liverpudlian friend will now succumb to despair and move out of this musical inferno Poland is ;)

Life / Do Polish people have a good ear for music? [90]

the last Polish person who had an ear for music died 2 years ago (and she was very old already) ;)

I think it is now pretty clear for you why you have never heard of a Polish musical group never mind a singer :P

Life / Help me find this Polish band and song.... [117]


youtube.com/watch?v=f6wB4a98gmg

the video contains the melody you just need to wait for a while

it's siwy koń, siwy koń, malowane sanki, pojechał, pojechał do swojej kochanki (or pojadę ja nimi as they sing)

perhaps you can google the whole lyrics when you type 'siwy koń, siwy koń, malowane sanki' + 'tekst piosenki'

siwy koń - grey horse
malowane sanki - painted sleigh