News / The Economist: time to rethink old notions about Poland [67]


Jarosław acted on the mafia's advice who knew the PiS would loose the election to the Civic Platform; that is how Jarosław and company were ousted by the mafia (life according to Think Twice).

USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

I was only once in America. It was a luxurious Mariott hotel in Florida. Everything was splendid: airport at Orlando, motorways, hotel, swimming-pool, Cap Canaveral museum (but the Disneyland was a little boring and too many people there had hamburgers and coca-cola at a time), even the small tornado at a distance was fine. Since then I am of an opinion that everything in America is fantastic, even tornados (seen from a distance) are fantastic!

USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]


OK, I'm not going to interfere with the thread any more, but please notice that although I think everything is great in America, I neither count hamburgers nor coca-cola among the best things Uncle Sam may offer.

USA, Canada / Do you speak English? Have you lived in America? New LOVE/HATE list......... [144]

bbq beef

According to what you've said on similarities between America and us, Poland should be soon applying to join as a 51st state of the union.

Considering the other side, however, you should admit that Polish people would certainly not be consuming such a plenty of coca-cola and hamburgers on a visit to a Disneyland. That is one of the major differences, I think.

Genealogy / William Alexander, 1850, Krunicza, Prussia, Poland [11]

Given the exact date of his birthday and the territory, the case is not hopeless. The crucial thing should be identifying the correct name of the village Krunicza.

What comes to my mind now is "Kruszwica" for Krunicza. Is the spelling of Krunicza in the record with the exact "cz" in it?

Language / brakować, braknąć, zabraknąć [9]


First of all, they only come in the 3rd person singular. The dictionary says:
Braknąć is an imperfecive verb: "Brakło mi tchu / Brakło nam odwagi".
Brakować is an imperfective verb, too: "Brakowało nam odwagi / Tego tylko brakuje!".

Frankly, I don't understand why the dictionary says "braknąć" is imperfective. I feel it as a perfective one. "Zabraknąć" is described in the same dictionary as a perfective verb.

Genealogy / William Alexander, 1850, Krunicza, Prussia, Poland [11]


Krynica is what comes to mind, indeed. But if we stick closely to what was indicated as the territory of his birth, neither of the towns/villages of Krynica shown in the given Wiki link matches this except one. If the territory was described as "Prussia, Poland", we should only cover those Polish lands grabbed by the Kngdom of Prussia in the partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795 which in 1850 still belonged to Prussia. These are: Grand Dutchy of Poznań, almost the entire province of West Prussia, and the land of Warmia on the territory of East Prussia. This only exception mentioned is the now resort village of Krynica Morska (taken over by Prussia in 1772), but I doubt if anyone originating from there would have been associating "Poland" to "Prussia" in reference to this town, as it had never been ethnically Polish until the end of WWII.

History / Can Poland allow itself to refuse Slavija? [32]

If Russia is in it, Poland would surely say 'no'. Russia is too big and powerful, and she would certainly wish to dominate Poland and the rest of company in such a confederation, so we would say: "No, thank you; we just know you too well, you Russian bear and our so dear friend. Please go away and form a federation with the Scottish and the Welsh, they just dream of being liberated from the oppressions of the English".

If Russia is out of it, Poland would surely say 'yes' to it. Poland would welcome all other Slavic nation under her leadership and guidance (although not under her control, as Russia would have done it). Maybe Poland would feel inclined to invite along the Scottish and the Welsh people as well, telling them: Come on, be not so stupid to continue for ever in this ridiculous alliance you've been in for so long. Think of a brighter future for yourselves and your children".

Language / Declension of młody and stary [9]

No, it wouldn't. You'll say: młode i stare kobiety; młode i stare zwierzęta, so you'll use the plural adjective młode when refering to the niemęskoosobowy gender.

You'd say: młodzi i starzy mężczyźni, młodzi i starzy żołnierze, so for the męskoosobowy gender it is the młodzi form.

For a mixed group of people, you'll use what you use for a group of males: [ten] chłopak i [ta] dziewczyna; oni nie są starzy, oni są młodzi.

Language / Old Polish Vs New Polish [29]


Generally, I agree that most of his language is comprehensible today (but he is a rather remarkable exception, other authors of the epoch are not so "clear" for a contemporary reader). Let's consider one of his poems, commemorating the erection the first fixed wooden bridge over the Vistula river in Warsaw in the times of King Sigismundus Augustus in 1573.

NA MOST WARSZEWSKI [today: warszawski]
Nieubłagana Wisło, próżno wstrząsasz rogi,
---[today: na próźno potrząsasz rogami]
Próżno brzegom gwałt czynisz i hamujesz drogi;
---[today in this context: ... i przegradzasz drogi]
Nalazł fortel król August, jako cię miał pożyć,
---[znalazł sposób ... jak cię ujarzmić]
A ty musisz tę swoje dobrą myśl położyć,
---[sorry, sorry, I don't understand sentence, though I do understand words]
Bo krom wioseł, krom prumów już dziś suchą nogą
---[Bo oprócz ... oprócz promów ...]
Twój grzbiet nieujeżdżony wszyscy deptać mogą.

News / Polar bear attack - a Polish guy survived [38]


The Daily Mail is famous all over the world for its scientific surveys. Did they publish anything recently on Polar Bears eating out swans from ponds in England and Wales?

Travel / Poland trains in winter [7]

Avoid Poland in most time of the year!
[Only on the Tłusty Czwartek it is worth staying.]

History / Books on the Partitions of Poland? [5]

I don't know of any specific books on the subject, but every decent book on the history of Poland will tackle it. Any of the books on the history of Poland covering the relevant period by Norman Davis (a Welsh historian) will tell you the information on the partitions that you need (all his books were published both in English and in Polish).

Language / Gospodarzu, dostanę u was trochę jaj? [14]

It really depends on the type of the yokel and the type of the speaker. My mother would use the latter, my mother-in-law would undoubtedly use the former. The former implies a greater dose of "assumed" familiarity; it is quite nice and quite traditional, but it is becoming less common in my view.

Language / Gospodarzu, dostanę u was trochę jaj? [14]


It may well be:
Dzień dobry. Gospodorzu, a dyć macie jajków na zbyciu?

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]

Why don't we all move to California !?

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]


This problem - along with many others - has been discussed on PF more than once. People just don't bother to use the search engine.


Excellent! I've been laughing for about ten minutes as this inevitably associates in one's mind with "Chcesz łychą?". [Not that I would like to offend anyone, but looks like a jolly good piece of advice for those not wanting to use the search engine here.]

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]

Seanus
You seem to have lost your nerve, but you're right: no one should be called an ignorant for making even the very basic mistakes in a language that is not his mother tongue. Perhaps TIT has been critisizing you on friendly terms, "reproaching" you in a deliberately exaggerated way (I don't know, it might be attributed to a certain difference in mentality between the two cultures, Polish and British?).

By the way, the proper use of definite/indefinite articles gives away even those Poles whose command of English is pretty good. In the case of our friend TIT,


it would be the ommision of "an" before "English speaking country" or am I wrong?
-----------------
P.S. I've been posting this before I've seen the preceding post of TIT.

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]


... randomly a tense ... , I think

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]


Is "I just randomly pick a tense" better?

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]

I think the general rule on this forum as well as on other forums is not to correct someone else's mistakes, unless it is in the special context like the one here where people ask for advice or correction. It is impolite to correct the English language of a non-native person who gives advice. Likewise, it is impolite to criticize the Polish language of a non-Polish person who has a command of the language and expresses his or her views on a particular grammatical problem or usage of Polish in Polish (in other words, when that person presents himself as a "teacher" and not as a "learner" as is the case of Seanus here).

It is precious to receive advice on language, but we must consider first if a person is really asking for it. If not, it is best to avoid any unfavorable comment on that person's language abilities.

Work / Polish qualifications, what are they worth ? [137]


I think 'licencjant' isn't the equivalent of BA. It would be the Polish 'magisterium' which is.

Work / Why Poland employers are afraid of hiring any foreign nationals? [171]


It could have been true in the very narrow sense of the parents' behaviour. But I'm more inclined to assume that they wanted a teacher who would be able to explain the complexities of the English language and grammar to their children in Polish (not a very justified expectation, in my view). If you knew Polish sufficiently well to do so, then I should say you're right, they behaved like racists. But if you didn't know Polish well enough, I'd say their motives were more likely to have been "educational" rather than "racial".

Work / Why Poland employers are afraid of hiring any foreign nationals? [171]


In the phrase "teacher of English" the emphasis should be put on "teacher" rather than "of English". Of course, he or she should know English very well, but it's not necessary for them to be fluent in English to be a good teacher. For example, my Polish teacher of English at the office where I work and where our employer pays for our lessons of English twice a week, isn't so fluent, but he's very good. I mean his methods are good, so he's able to teach you a lot even if he's sometimes not as fluent as, for example, myself. I imagine a native speaker of English may not teach you much if he's not a good teacher; you may simply be delighted to listen to the Queen's English of his/her during the lessons, but it would not necessarily mean you would develop this kind of language yourself; it's even possible that you may not progress much beyond the actual level of yours (especially if you don't make the effort in the learning yourself).

Life / Why Poles are so crazy about their country? [55]

I think not always and not all Poles are so crazy about their country. The sentences which you quote then refer to several brave Polish people whose personal courage and commitment to the cause they fought for was exceptional. I don't think you may say that of every man or woman in Poland (or anywhere else for that matter), but you formulate your question precisely in this way, but why? To provoke insults and attacks from those who constantly offend the Polish people and country on this forum saying that all what is Polish is crap?

Work / Why Poland employers are afraid of hiring any foreign nationals? [171]


Non vitae, sed scholae discimus, Harry? [Translation from Latin to English: Does everyone learning English does this for passing CAE or CPE only?]

Work / Why Poland employers are afraid of hiring any foreign nationals? [171]


Well, I might have been wrong in saying that my teacher isn't "so fluent". Here we come to the question of 'fluency". I think there's no clear distinction between "fluency" and "non-fluency". Is the native speaker always fluent? Not necessarily so. In the 1980s I met a Polish war veteran in a UK hospital who had been living in Britain since the end of the war and who was happy to hear me talking in Polish to him. The problem for him was that due to the lack of practice he was not able to respond in that language, though Polish was his mother tongue he was using every day until the age of 20. Was he fluent in Polish? No, he wasn't; and it was despite the fact that he was "born" into Polish.

Józef Korzeniowski, better known as Joseph Conrad, was he fluent in English? Yes, he was; and he was probably much more fluent in it than the vast majority of the so-called native speakers of English when it comes to writing. But after having opened his mouth to speak, he used to be immediately recognised as a foreigner, such a strong one his Polish accent was.

For me, fluency means that one should be at a near-native level. In that sense when I say "not so fluent", I mean you can recognize them as foreign to English when they speak. Despite that, my Polish teacher is fluent, although it may not necessarily mean that he knows all the proverbs and sayings in English as well as a native speaker would have.

Life / Why Poles are so crazy about their country? [55]


I am very much surprised to hear that such is the state of spirit in Germany. The notion of the German people singing proudly "Deutschland Deutschland über alles" still prevails in Poland, well, it has been prevailing until quite recently ...

Work / Why Poland employers are afraid of hiring any foreign nationals? [171]


This sentence has reminded me of another one: "Ze mazer iz in ze bazroom" (The mother is in the bathroom) quoted to me by a Swiss student whom I met in Scotland many years ago. Such was the pronounciation of his Swiss teacher! As our English accent was somewhat better than that, we both laughed a lot at this pronounciation while walking across wild hills around Ullapool. But we laughed even more when we walked onto a remote Scottish farm where we found five people having their afternoon tea and their gateaux: the three women were wearing blue jeans and the two men were wearing skirts, Scottish skirts, true, but skirts in contrast to the women wearing trousers!

Language / men.male - Polish pronunciation? [8]


I strongly disagree. I have never in my life pronounced or heard this word as menszczyzna. You never ever pronounce "n" in mężczyzna.

wymowa: IPA: [mɛ̃w̃ʃˈʧ̑ɨzna], AS: [mẽũšèyzna], zjawiska fonetyczne: utr. dźw. utrata dźwięczności · nazal. nazalizacja · asynch. ę asynchroniczna wymowa ę


I disagree again. Millions of adult people never arrive at good pronounciation just imitating and repeating after native speakers (only the children do). On the other hand, if you are aware of how your tongue should move (the best would be to see pictures of the movements of the tongue on a screen) and you then you repeat and make contrastive phonetic exercises, your pronounciation can substantially improve or even, if you make very decent effort, can match the one of native speakers.