News / German legal discrimination against Polish speakers [209]


JAWOHL!!!!!

If the state feels the need to intrude on parent/child conversations, then it's the state's responsibility to find translators to help them in their snooping.

News / German legal discrimination against Polish speakers [209]

Unless there are credible accusations (that can be made public and/or verified) there is _no_ reason for the state to be monitoring visits with his own children. Period.

And the state has no business decreeing what language parents can speak to their own children in. Period.

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


It would make sense if they really were concerned about illegal immigration. It does fit my hypothesis that most parts of the government could care less, and in fact finds the presence of a large illegal population convenient for various reasons (they make nice scapegoats, pliable low wage help and being illegal the government has a 'hook' on them that they can use whenever they want - doubtless they'd like to have something on everybody that could be selectively enforced).

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


I hope you're not presenting this as a good thing. I personally think English as an international lingua franca is a bad idea, not least because it's my languagend I don't enjoy listening to any old words slapped together any old way, which is what you're describing. blechh

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]

I'm still looking for evidence that the US government (as opposed to the US people) care about illegal immigration at all, they mostly seem wildly for it. (Nothing posted on this thread seems applicable in that regard).

This makes me suspect that the number of overstays is not relevant to the question at all (and keeps me in my conviction that the real reason for visas is related to income generation.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


I figured out 'middle roundabout' relatively easily (rondo śródka) but I really had to think about 'old meadow' (talk about unhelpful translations!).

Oddly I've noticed that some Polish people find it disappointing when native speakers use Polish terms and don't have special unique English names for pecularly Polish items.

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]


Translating into a second language is about 10 times harder than translating into your own as there's almost no way to become fluent enough in a foreign language to develop a sense of style and euphony that can match that of native speakers. Typically translation into a second language, even when grammatically okay can sound heavy and/or dull or just stylistically off. I used to do proofing for a translation office's Polish to English work and 90 % of the changes I made were related to style (or fine grained vocabulary or set expressions the translator didn't know).

Unfortunately there aren't enough English speakers who are competent enough in Polish to meet demand and there's no sign that the situation will improve. There's EU money for schools to help train Polish to English translators but not much interest on the Polish side.

Back on topic, I will say that I sometimes do the opposite and import Polish words into English (when I think the other person will understand)

"I put it in the szafa."
"She as in the stolowka the last I saw her."
"I need to renew my zameldowanie."
"Is she still marudzic-ing?" (yes I heard myself say that recently)
I also sometimes add Polish diminutives to words.
"Do you want some wine-ik?"
etc etc etc

Life / WHY ARE POLISH CALENDARS SKEWED? [42]


Both Sunday and Monday as the first day of the week are arbitrary and not given by nature (especially for non-Chrisitans comme moi).

For me, Monday as the first day makes sense. The very religious might have different opinions.


there are fewer months than days of the month and fewer days of the month than years. Month day year makes sense from that viewpoint (going from the set with the smallest number to the set with the largest). That said, I've come to prefer day-month-year (by length of period instead of number of discrete members).

Life / WHY ARE POLISH CALENDARS SKEWED? [42]


środa isn't a good example, but wtorek, czwartek and piątek (second, fourth and fifth respectively) all point to Monday being the beginning of the week in Polish and no name points toward Sunday being the first day of the week.

Of course, there's no objective universal answer as to what day begins the week and in some languages (portuguese? vietnamese?) the numbering is different and indicates that Sunday is the first day of the week. But in Polish the numbering definitely indicates Monday as the beginning.

Life / WHY ARE POLISH CALENDARS SKEWED? [42]


So..... God rested on a Monday? Then why do the rest of us have to go out and work?

Language / WHY THE HELL CANT I LEARN POLISH?? [64]

My advice:

Keep studying but don't expect real progress until you're in Poland. Once you're in Poland, find something to do that brings you into contact with people that don't speak English or won't want to go to the trouble of accomodating your linguistic disability. The intimidating grammar becomes easier when you have to say things to be understood.

Find a way to volunterr with some social group, a hobby or try to learn something. I might suggest social dancing classes (a big deal now with the popularity of dancing shows on TV). Many or most of the people there won't speak enough English to deal with you and you'll have to use your Polish and hopefully have fun and meet people.

Language / Anglos don't distinguish kasza from Kasia? [22]

I can usually say them okay but I don't hear the difference (except before i or y) or unless i'm concentrating really hard when someone is saying them together.

But the functional load of the difference in connected speech is small enough that you can learn to understand everything without hearing the difference.

Work / Will it be easy to find a job within 6-10 months of moving to Poland? [41]


How easy would it be to find a job for a Polish person who moved to Serbia with excellent English but only basic Serbian?

It's not going to be any easier for you in Poland.

On the other hand, you should be able to become very fluent in Polish very quickly. It's not so hard for speakers of other Slavic languages (except Bulgarian and Macedonian maybe). You'll still might have to start with something like a call center.

Also use google to find any Serbian (or other ex-yugoslav) communities in Poland (and or to find Serbian companies interested in Poland).

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


Thank you for your thoughtful and very polite response. It might interest you to know that IME = in my experience (in other words I'm not making claims about 'everyone' just a majority of those people I've known). And I never claimed that Polish people don't like szarlotka, just that it's not at all the same thing as apple pie (despite often being translated as such).

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


Well Americans grill too, though not necessarily that well. I'd say that Polish people are better at grilling than Americans, but barbecue is another experience entirely for anyone who grew up with it (some Americans mix the two terms too, but purists make a distinction).

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]

none of those pictures are of a barbecue (which requires smoke from wood and not just charcoal).

And barbecue marinade is nothing like anything used in Poland (which is very good, but it's not the same thing).

This is a barbecue smoker: this is another:

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


There's a big difference between 'grill' and 'barbecue'

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue

And I meant that IME Poles don't much like American Bar-B-Q (esp with marinated meat) _or_ anything in English cooking, two separate dislikes. Yeah, I could've been a little clearer.


Parties held by Americans, to which Polish friends are invited. I've been to several, though not in the past few years. Most Polish people never got past their initial reservations about pumpkin pie (or sweet potatoes, which aren't potatoes at all).

And by 'white bread' I mean this:

blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/imgs/white%20bread.jpg

which has a very soft mushy texture (not at all like tosty). I've never met a Pole that liked it, most say things like 'biała wata' and 'nie da się jeść' about it. I tend to agree with them.


No, true apple pie is baked: homemadeapplepie.net

And the crust is nothing really like the top or bottom of szarlotka.

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]

IME Polish people take rapidly to Mexican food but don't like barbecue very much (or much of any English cooking).

Pumpkin pie was also not a big hit at Thanksgiving parties I've been to in Poland.
The biggest turn off however is soft white bread, which almost all Poles react to with something like revulsion.

And apple pie is not jabłecznik (a kind of cake and not a pie at all). I've never come across American style pie (with the right kind of crust) in Poland. Also, American style biscuits are unknown (as are their British cousins scones).

Polish food that IME most Americans find it hard to make friends with:
anything in aspic - especially fish,
any salad with fish hidden in it somewhere,
herring in almost any form,
kaszanka,
almost any other organ meats,
flaki,
słoniny,
metka łososiowa,
Polish cheesecake (too! dry! and eek! raisins!!!! what's with the raisins??????),
anything with lots of poppyseeds (I even like poppy seeds in small quantities but I've never been able to really enjoy makowiec).

The _idea_ of golonka and czarnina is not so appealing to most Americans, but IME they do enjoy them if they try them.

Food / What's on YOUR Wigilia table? [20]

Main highlights:

aperitif, not very Polish : coffe flavored ouzo

main meal was more Polish:
Christmas eve 'barszcz' (kasza gryczana, dried mushrooms and żurek)
Herring in oil and onions in a roll,
Herring in sour cream with horseradish,
Panga (breaded, fried) - can't stand muddy old carp,
Cold sauerkraut with onions and apples,
Dried fruit compote (figs, apples, raisins and plums)
Hungarian semi-sweet white wine (tokaji harslevelu)

desert wasn't so Polish either, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Language / Why in the world there are three ways to write simple U ?!?! [54]


sz is the basic spelling and ż and rz occur as morphonemic variants (when the underlying sound is considered voiced for etymological or morphological reasons) in specific environments that aren't hard to learn.

but ś and s (as in się) are very different from sz to Polish ears. Just because _you_ can't hear the difference between Kasia and kasza doesn't mean Polish people don't. They do as hard as that may be for you to believe. But don't feel bad; I don't hear the difference either even after living in Poland for over 10 years. I still understand all of the evening news I just hear fewer sounds than Polish people do.

Similarly, the vowel sounds in bad and bed or bod and bud can be very difficult for Poles to distinguish when they come in the middle of a sentence. You can hear them fine, speakers of lots of other languages can't.

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


Do you really think that Polish people are that stupid?

Why emigrate to a failing country with a failing currency (goodbye world reserve status! time to start paying the bills!)

Most Polish people who are inclined toward economic emigration have already left (for the UK, Germany or Scandinavia or any other EU country where they can find a toehold).

Those who might want to go to the US are those with family connections or those with a bug in their bonnet about the US which is not most Polish people anymore. The US has lots _huge_ amounts of credibility and desirability in the last 9 years.

The total net Polish illegal immigration to the US if visas were lifted would probably not excede that of of illegal migrants from Mexico in a month. (two months tops).

And you haven't addressed my point : what real world evidence can you offer that any politican who matters cares anything whatsoever about illegal immigration, the US political establishment is firmly in _favor_ of illegal immigration and you have to be deaf, dumb, blind or in a coma to not realize that.

I know that Polish people outside of Poland _love_ to criticise other Polish people and portray their country of origin as worse off than Bangladesh, but please, take off your blinders and look at this little thing that some of us like to call reality.

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]

For the record, I wouldn't be surprised if the mystery swede wasn't a Pole expelled in 1968 (largely an inter-party fight, in which unfortunately a lot of innocent bystanders were collateral damage). I also wouldn't be surprised if it were a neo-nazi (probably a bigger problem in Sweden than Poland) or an apolitical control freak who gets off on the idea of having access to things that no one esle does. In other words, whoever it turns out to be, you likely heard it from me first.

And, again, for the record, Polish neo-nazis officially qualify as the stupidest forms of life on earth, liable to lose a pub quiz against a team made up of a box of hair, a dead guy and a fly rescued from someone's beer - the nazis hated slavs almost as much as jews and made it abundantly clear that that they were next after the jews and roma and queers and crips.

In conclusion, by and large with welcome exceptions, people suck and do stupid, horrible things all the time, no wonder God wanted to drown us all before s/he wimped out.

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]


And just who the f*ck cares? All it would show is that neo-nazis like theives, hardly surprising.


Note to self: Never hire Norwegians to guard ...... anything, really.

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]

I said the argument could be made, not that I make it.

Look, the portraits were to be used as evidence in support for nazi theories about the genetic inferiority of Roma. To the extent that she did what Mengele wanted, she was in fact complicit in persecution of the Roma (yes she was also a victim herself, but that doesn't mean she wasn't complicit in victimising others, even if she was only doing so to survive).

I'm not criticising her, I'm pretty sure I would have done exactly the same thing in her place. But there are moral and ethical arguments that the historical importance of the pictures outweighs her rights as an artist, especially since these weren't an expression of her artistic vision, but produced specifically to be a very small cog in the nazi propoganda machine.

This is not a pure case of victim (babbit) against victimizer (museum), but a much messier case with gray areas all the way around. The museum was forced to make a legal argument about a case where the law is essentially useless. So it made the argument that it could find, which was pretty ugly, but the museum's case is stronger than the legal argument in my opinion.

And she's dead, so the argument is moot now.

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]


Then you could make the claim that her portraits made her an accomplice in persecution of the Roma and therefore she had no right to any benefits from them (like receiving the portraits back).

News / The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign theft from Oswiecim, Poland [240]

"We found the sign(s)"

"Fvck, I don't think those are the right ones."

USA, Canada / REFUSED A HOLIDAY VISA TO THE U.S CAUSE IM POLISH [323]


No, I no longer live there, probably never will again. And it wasn't till I began living outside the US that I began to understand certain things about US policy.

Can you name me some mainstream politicians (like any of the presidential candidates last time around) who were in favor of limiting immigration? Against amnesty?

You're talking about popular sentiment among the population. But almost no politician with national aspirations will publicaly deviate from the common dem-rep line that unlimited immigration is a priority and that enforcement is more about plausible deniability rather than any concern for maintaining border integrity.

Earlier this year, there were worries about a a fvcking plague from Mexico and they _still_ refused to think of closing the border. It doesn't get much clearer than that where priorities lie.

Language / Usage rules of ł in the Polish language [30]

It always sounds like English w.

But it can occur around sounds that the English w can't, as in robił, English w can't appear after the ee sound at the end of a word, to get it right say ee (as in see) followed by a very short oo (as in too) sound.

It occasionally isn't pronounced in colloquial speech.

Between consonants jabłko (usually pronounced as if written japko)

At the end of a word after a consonant as in poszedł (usually pronounced as if written poszet)

The ł can be pronounced in those words but it sounds very formal and most people don't bother most of the time. If it's pronounced it sounds a lot like a very short, unaccented oo sound.

jabłko (YAH-boo-koh) poszedł (POH-she-doo).

Life / Ripped Off in Poland? - Expose here: [185]

I used to know US libel law somewhat, and technically whether or not it is true is irrelevant as to whether it's libel, it's just that if it's determined to be true then it is legally permissible libel.

Irrelevant here, just thought I'd throw it out there.