News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

It depends here on what you term "old approach", pawian. If what you mean is that Ukraine should continue to remain the dumping ground, that is, whipping boy for Kremlin bullying, obviously the answer is no.

Love / Do women like strong men in Poland ? [39]

I'd have to agree.
Having observed social behavior, to this day, a woman is still usually greeted by a man with a hand kiss (not really a kiss) whereas a man to another man, with a bone-cracking grip!

News / Ruling PiS party tried to cover up eco disaster in Odra River [88]

Going back even further to Communist times, most of Eastern Europe was ruled by leaders who couldn't have given a rat's ass about the environment!

Former East Germany was a huge offender in this respect. The town of Bitterfeld was in fact a sort of poster child for the damage done to its surroundings during the old era.

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

The point is that both countries have pursued a degree of so-called "neutrality" bordering on isolationism! Nice to see a sea change in the government of at least one of them, finally a sense of teamwork, being members of the club, not merely of some abstraction known as "Europe".

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

Swedes have mixed reactions though. Haven't had contact with Finns of late, but I think historically the Swedes rather enjoyed their reputation for neutrality, much like the Swiss (with whom they're sometimes confused here in the States) and are not big joiners.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Quite so.

Food / Polish Christmas Eve Dinner recipes [84]

A Polish friend told me that "kluski z makiem" or "Noodles with poppy seeds" is an exclusively Christmas dish. Is this correct?

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Yes, as well as at border crossing areas! Frequently,
the very young would translate for their parents into English for the customs officials,
rather than into Polish and German.

In Germany, I read that the recent arrivals would simply use
the app for daily transactions:-)

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Precisely, Cojestdocholery!
However then, it was indeed considered a border area as ruling countries often changed hands so frequently, often one might not have known literally day to day to which country they belonged.

Quit being such a contrarian.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Nor can I.
I understand though that Ukraine is currently
looking for English teachers.
Now I understand how Ukrainians seemed
to have no language barriers when crossing
over into Poland or Germany. They used the
"Speak & Translate" app almost exclusively:-)

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Thanks, Lenka! Yes, of course. I ought to have remembered if for none other than
sheer mnemonic reasons cf. "Krystyna"/"JustYna", whereby a "y" always succeeds
a "t" in native Polish names, never an "i" as in Italian or Spanish.

True. Maf knows very good Polish and his English
explanations of orthographic as well as grammar stuff
aren't too shabby either:-)

Please stick to the topic

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

@Maf,
In my opinion, Szczecin DID have a pleasant looking Old Town. The point again though,
is that her reactions were clearly marred by cross-cultural interference!

Had she actually understood what I was saying, she might have answered with
"You think so, Mark? I guess I'm so used to it." or "Well, it's not my favorite spot.."
and the like.

@Lenka,
It may be hard for you to actually conceive of a young American who spoke on various
levels of Polish, but by the same token why should I believe you or any other poster
here on PF? Certain facts we merely take on faith. Furthermore, I'd already mentioned
in prior posts that my Polish was nowhere nearly as practiced as it is now. On the other hand, her
English was basically limited to American-style vulgarity and riddled with errors.....which I politely overlooked,
I might add.

K-R-Y-S-Z-T-I-N-A. Merely a typo the other day.

@Bobko, I fail to grasp what you find so "stupid" in my post, but I'm sure I will LOL

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [440]

Quite, Milo!
Kedem Sweet is one of the bettter ones, at least here in the US.
Dry kosher Reds are also known, though far less popular in my experience.

Life / Poland's concord of cultures [86]

There I couldn't agree more.
Most food on the Continent is simply made with superior ingredients, rather than mass-produced.

Until perhaps only the past thirty years or so, the English, like the Americans, were never known for their cuisine.

All the wealthy landed gentry used to brag that they employed French cooks:-)

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

The obvious point is that I was attempting to make normal small talk with a Polish woman whom I'd first met in the States and with whom I later met up in Szczecin!

She was practicing her English with me, yet refused to confess the fact that she was missing what I was saying, that's all. Polish was naturally the language we both had in common, but Krzysztina was simply being obtuse.

Are you by any chance trying to play the Devil's Advocate here?

Love / I am a black girl in a relationship with a Polish man but I have many questions. [21]

@Blackgirl212
Firstly, I must commend your daring and dedication to make the relationship work! As far as learning about Polish culture first hand, learning the basics of the language is always key, whether it's Polish, French, German or what have you.

Obviously, it's doable. However, don't be fooled by your soon-to-be significant other's ministrations regarding his abilities in English. Often, it's merely impressive PR and little else.

You be the final judge as to how seriously you wish to pursue your relationship. Cross-cultural differences will indeed come up, don't let anyone here tell you they won't. Finally though, you have to decide whether they remain merely differences or instead become barriers:-)

Life / Poland's concord of cultures [86]

When I finally made it over to Poland in the mid-'90's, the food was obviously much more familiar to me than the language!

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [440]

Do, Alien! You won't regret it, promise:-)

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

...and getting it wrong means that true understanding is missing, if we're talking here only about approximation rather than exact transference even of a simple message:-)

Marek: Ach, co za piekne Stare Miasto!

Krzysia: Mark, it's ok, we talk more English language.

Marek: Oh, I just remarked how beautiful your Old Town is!

Krzysia: No, why? Buildings are still same age as other buildings, I mean, like,uh, no not really!

Marek: Ahem, sorry Christina, I only meant that the architecture is so pretty.

Krzysia: I dunno. It's like we don't see any difference, sort ot...

Marek: Krzysiu, moze byc tu nie zrozumialas mojego zdania.

Krzysia: Hey, Mark! I f****** understand all what you talk, but it's stupid, you know!

Etc..ad nauseum.

Should I be barked at by a foreigner for speaking THEIR native language in THEIR OWN country??!
Clearly, my friend merrily misunderstood what I was driving at, yet was too stubborn to admit it. Such conversations I'm sure are repeated a bazillion times, yet few will admit it.

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [440]

South Africa has some fine kosher wines, as Johannesburg has a rather sizable Jewish population, of whom many are observant.

Regarding #31, I can't agree with you here. I find the taste in fact overly fruity.

Language / Cultural disparities shown through Polish and English languages [195]

Perhaps similar to the Italian, "Show me who you're seen with and I'll show you who you are."

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Again Mafketis and jon, I roundly concur, indeed thoroughly accept, the fact that there is not ONE "English" standard! My point is, has been, and always will be that whatever the standard, it nonetheless should remain a consistently high one.

Who would have thought when I was in school that the English language, pride of so many countries which speak her as their authentically native tongue, would somehow become the rubbish bin of language, the pit into which all the filth spewed forth by the lazy and ignorant?

There's British English, American English, Canadian English, and "Austrailish". Yet all four strive to maintain a commensurately engaging level of usage.

Compare US-American today with fifty or more years ago. Even within my brief lifetime of fifty-something, the language has been experiencing a sort of schlerosis, an Alzheimer's, before our very ears. Basic vocabulary such as "trestle", "siblings", "to fare" and so forth has practically disappeared from daily speech and the only way Millenials would ever recognize them, would be if they had unusally older parents.

@Bless you, Atch! From your click to his eyes.

Language / Cultural disparities shown through Polish and English languages [195]

In English, there's always "All that glitters is not gold."
However, you're right about that Korvinus, it's different.

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [440]

Not in the US! Here, Trollinger's a relatively unknown quantity, whereas Liebfraumilch or Gewuerztraminer are a dime a dozen.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Of course she'd "do fine" teaching English in Poland; no one would know (or hear) the difference vs. a native English speaker of similar background LOL

My Latka Gravas analogy still applies; he doesn't hear how he sounds in English and frankly, nobody around him really cares one way or the other! They figure he just sounds weird and so the heck with it all.

@Maf, French too is a pluricentric tongue, yet care and attention are taken by her writers, not to mention rank-and-file users, to ensure that her standard remains high, no matter how "creative".

Face it, folks. All of us are applying the eternal double standard when it comes to English and I'm getting pretty sick of it.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

D'you mean "cheAp", Alien? :-)

I couldn't disagree with you more. Would you or anybody here want a generation of English students to wind up speaking like the character Latka Gravas on the US '70's-TV series "Taxi"??

Clearly not, I hope and pray.

Moreover, precisely because English strives to be a world language aka "passport to the world", shouldn't we try to keep our passport in better condition?

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [440]

The best German Red I've ever tasted is the Trollinger grape from near the Stuttgart region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, more Baden than Wuerttemberg, if I'm not mistaken "zwischen Wald und Rebe" ('twixt forest and vine).

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Neither one is a viable option, in my professional opinion. Perhaps the issue will never be resolved, as it seems not only Poland, but many neighboring countries would rather save on top quality by getting cut-rate English teachers instead of digging deep and spending on the best.

A majority feel as Lenka that the insistence of native English instruction is silly, since as long as people "understand" a person, there's no problem. On the other hand, maybe the Brits are only being polite and expect less from a foreigner speaking English than one of their own.

My philosophy here is, if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all!

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

The point being that the average English teacher/instructor throughout much of Eastern Europe was for many years little more than an underpaid state-flunkey hack, at least in my experience over many years as both language school manager and instructor.

Hopefully, this is either changing as we speak or has already changed. If not, then the entire exercise is rather like a computer virus which infects the whole system and can never effectively be gotten rid of.

Similarly, even one teacher's poor accent, "artificial academic knowledge", and often sheer idiomatic ignorance can infect, in fact poison, a learner's experience by reinforcing the non-native teacher's errors year in year out.

In the long run, the poor student must later rely solely on the availability of educated English native speakers to undo the damage done by the non-native English speaking instructor. This is usually costly from a financial point of view and time consuming!

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Hmmm, then her English skills would most likely be rather suspect!
Unless she is a truly native bilingual in both languages and not merely in the language of academic instruction, I'd never hire this person to teach in my school if I were the principal.....no matter how low the price:-)