Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


Now there's an idea for the class-room.

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


Is, unless you don't like English at your picnics! :) Sorry, now I'm just being pedantic!

And yes! English pronunciation is a total mess, often times you simply have to learn word-by-word rather than following some strict guidelines.

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


Oh no! I thought I could get back to cleaning but then you brought me back. There is no ambiguity in just saying "Moja mama jest zimno" surely? I suppose this is simply a different between our languages that cannot be explained very well because our language shapes our thought patterns too. In English there would be no ambiguity like this because of articles.

Zazulka, those examples are fantastic! Even though rather odd, it just entirely omits the needed verb and alters the noun to compensate.

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]

Ah well I understood that apart from Ślicznie :)

Anyway, thank you everybody for all your help. Sorry for hijacking the thread, and OP - I hope you're question was answered in our flood :)

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]

Unfortunately I only understand a few words from that :) As I mentioned, my Polish is atrocious! I have not studied it for around a year. That's not saying much when my previous "studying" was about a week spent reading "Colloquial polish: a complete beginners guide" doing the first two chapters, and the first two chapters of the University of Pittsburgh course. Since then, the small things I've learned have been a result of absorbing things from my life here in Poland.

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


Avast! It makes sense! You crazy Polish people and using adverbial forms with only an implied verb! I will go sit in a corner and cry now, thank you :)

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


:) That makes a bit more sense. But then it means that we don't have the full context of the original sentence, because the statement "Dziewczynie jest zimno" is then in response to a question or general concept, and not simply "That girl is cold", am I understanding that correctly? "Kocie jest zimno" And does that only apply to animate nouns, or do you have to use instrumental for inanimate objects too?

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]


Wouldn't that be "Mężczyźni są zimne" ?


Ok so that's an issue with the gender of the adj, not the case isn't it? So is zimny the masculine form of 'zimno'? Because zimne is neuter, so I would have thought zimno would be masculine.

'Chłopak jest zimno'
'Piwo jest zimne'
'Tamta kobieta jest zimna'


Yes I know this. This is why I gave the example to illustrate my point, but you're explanation is a little better. Sadly still doesn't answer OP's post.


Ah yes, of course! I used a pronoun and a noun not an adjective. My mistake :( But the second and third part about 'teacher' and 'good teacher' is correct?

PS: I kind of hijacked the OP's post here, sorry!

PPS: And I was just linking a little more about your explanation NorthMancPolak. That's actually very helpful in understanding the case system a little more when you put it into the perspective of English

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]

I occasionally get questions from my students that leave me dumbfounded, it happens :) Lyzko, I completely understand that point. It makes sense, though a more simple explanation would just be if there is the verb "być" and we define the original subject, that additional noun and it's accompanying adjectives must be instrumental too, right?

"On jest Mężczyźna" - He is a man (Not common presumably, but in case of questionable gender and for the sake of an example)

"Ten mężczyźna jest nauczyciel" - This man is a teacher
"Ten mężczyżna jest dobrym nauczycielem" - This man is a good teacher

At least I presume that's correct? Still doesn't answer the original OP's question though I think :) Maybe the OP's statement is an answer to a question, not just a statement about a man.

Language / Polish case question (Mężczyzna jest zimno? or Dziewczyna jest zimno?) [70]

I'm not an expert in Polish and my Polish is frankly atrocious. But, I have always read that with simple constructions (which the op's example is), we should use the nominative case, right?

"To jest samochód"
"Ten samochód jest biały".

So why not "Mężczyzna jest zimno" as he says? Which case is it and why is that case the appropriate one for this simple construction? Is it really instrumental Lyzko? Because with most lone adjectives we also use nominative form right? e.g.. "Ola jest piękna" 'Ola is beautiful' not "Ola jest piekną". We would use instrumental with the verb być, if for example it was something like "Ola jest dziewczyną". 'Ola is a girl'

Study / Top Language Schools to Work for in Warsaw? [32]


Yes and sadly that's not the largest problem. It's reached that point whereby students (and in fact, schools) are shocked that tutors would dare ask for more than 40zł for an hour of their time. After all, why should they pay more when they can hire a fresh-faced "yeah, I can teech innit" sixth-form graduate for 20zł an hour to fund his nightly beer runs with his new Polish bird? Country life is looking more appetising :)

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]

1000zł a month on food? :) Are you shopping daily in Piotr i Pawel? We don't eat anything special either, but we certainly don't starve and we probably 'eat out' as it were maybe 4-5 times a month. I don't budget particularly well so I couldn't tell you my exact expenditures, but it's likely between 400 - 600 a month for two (plus two cats).

It would be nice to know what you plan on doing here - as others have mentioned above, lessons dry up this time of year. Due to cancellations and rescheduling in the last two months alone - both with schools and private lessons - I've earned only around 60% of my usual salary, not that it's a major problem - it's given me a lot of time to get ahead with preparing lesson materials. That being said, I did move to Poznań in October 2010 and didn't start searching until mid-December. By mid-January 2011 I had around 5 classes a week, so enough to scrape by.

@Peter - how many potatoes are you buying such that it costs 4zł? I bought enough potatoes to make 3 meals for 2 people for around 1.20zł in my downstairs delikatesy (I don't weigh them, I just shove the best spuds in the bag). It's certainly possible to survive cheaply here in regards to food, However, it depends on your ability to lower your standards. Carrefour makes for cheap shopping - jars of typical foods (gołąbki, pulpety, klopsiki, bigos) and packets of other things such as krokiety, kopytka, kasza, etc. My weakness is that I live directly opposite a McDonalds, so on those long days where I've been working from early morning and I don't get back home until gone 20:00, it's awfully tempting to indulge on the fatty goodness of a cheeseburger.

(p.s. the hyphen did not offend me)

Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

You can buy blow-up tobacco (20g) for 8.50zł or a Route 66 (I think) sack of 100g for 50zł. The cheapest tobacco I think is Blow up / Paramount. (8.50 - 9.50 / 20g). Seems bizarre though, the Polish don't seem to smoke it. Thus far I have never seen a single person rolling a [legal] cigarette. The reason it's odd is that a 20g pouch used conservatively can provide 60-80 roll-up's. When people are smoking a pack of Marlboro / Spike a day at 11zł a pack, it's not economical - especially for the Poles.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


Does that come out of your service costs? ;) Sounds like a nifty deal you have there - 2 hour lesson, lift to the location and meal included.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

I'd really advise against travelling to a student's home. It does seem convenient at first and when you have only a few (2-3) students a week it's quite practical and even enjoyable. Do you drive? If so that might make it considerably easier. If not, then like me, you will probably become very tired of it very quickly. I have around 10-15 private classes a week scattered throughout the city (Poznań) and some even outside the city. I would be extremely happy if my students came to me or my lessons were consecutively ordered. I could save from that around 25-30 hours a week or more on just travel alone. Think how many extra lessons, language study, etc. that you could fit into that time?

Work / Englishman seeking non teaching work asap - to stay in Poland or ..? [37]


But are they exploring all avenues, e.g. Gumtree, dropping CV's into language schools, sticking obnoxious papers over university campus message boards, etc? The demand for Natives seems to be quite high at the moment in regards to private lessons, but from what I've experienced schools are not prospering, at least in Poznań. One director was telling me about how the proposed changes to education taxing posed a big risk to their finances.

I think it's quite possible to make a living from private lessons but it will be extremely tiring. At first I was quite nervous regarding group lessons, but I found that in fact it was far more relaxed, particularly as you tend to ask a question you expect a short answer for and the class ends up waffling to each other for about 15 minutes.


Ah I've heard of that one too, but frankly, listening to moaning passengers all day would drive me into a deep depression. I was referring to the phone service. They have a call centre for German and English clients.

Work / Englishman seeking non teaching work asap - to stay in Poland or ..? [37]

Without knowing Polish, the job market for foreigners here is extremely limited. Perhaps there is a small opportunity to get a job in a bar or in a restaurant cleaning dishes, or anything that doesn't involve the slightest possibility of being spoken to by a Polish person. Judging by the OP's lack of answer to the question about qualifications, we're left to assume he has none (particularly as he "gave teaching a try but wasn't good enough"). The only other option is searching for some international company that needs native speakers to deal with phone calls. We have something like it in Poznań and one of my students work there, but it's not glamorous and the pay is terrible.

Work / Englishman seeking non teaching work asap - to stay in Poland or ..? [37]

As a fair few people have already mentioned, people won't be satisfied with a "teacher" who has neither the qualifications or experience necessary to suit the role. If teaching is something that you have a serious interest in, then perhaps you should enrol in a CELTA course? At the very least you should research the market, brush up your grammar, acquire some textbooks and spend some time writing and checking your own materials. If however, you came for the girl and teaching is your only available option for work because of a lack of qualifications or knowledge of the local lingo, then I'd recommend that you re-evaluate your decisions. I've only been in Poland for a year, but at least here in Poznań, I know that the market is very competitive and it's all about the connections! At first, I had to fight to get a [very] small client base and cooperate with some schools, but it's not enough. Now, my students recommend me to their friends and colleagues and I have not needed to place an advertisement for work in quite some time (I'm not saying that I would object to more hours though :)). With that in mind, if you have a reputation for being unreliable or unqualified, then you're not going to get far.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

She was about 50 ;) So not senile enough to let off

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

As probably mentioned before, 'hate' is a strong word.. If I hated Poland I wouldn't be here, love and responsibility or not.
But there are definitely things that 'irk' me so to speak. Some of them include:

- Rudeness on trams/public transport
- Jumping queues in a way that's so damn rude and idiotic it makes my blood boil (I'll write a story after the list)

- Cars going through zebras when there's a green, got knocked over once and almost knocked countless times
- Does the language count? No? Jaki szkoda
- People staring incessantly. Back in the UK you'd have your chops smashed if you stared like they do here.
- Not to generalise, but "chav-ness" (to invent a word there) seems to end at around 22/23 in the U.K, it seems to continue until death here.

- Ticket inspectors on trams/busses, bunch of arrogant window lickers
- Beaurocracy, but I tend to avoid that avenue where possible.

Ah so the story.

So me and my partner were at McDonalds, waiting to get something to eat - we hadn't ate for over 12 hours and it was late so little time to cook.

We enter McDonalds and there's a bloody big queue. There were 3 cashplaces but only one queue. When a cashier called, the next in line moved over to it.

We'd been waiting something close to 15 minutes, and we were now 4th in line. Some old hag crawled her way up from hell for a BigMac, entered McDonalds, went in front of the queue to check the "menu". Then went straight to the cashier and stood there, looking behind her with a snobbish smirk at the long queue. Cashier comes along and starts taking her order. At least 10 people aurally voiced their displeasure. Me and my girlfriend had had enough and went to the cashier and said "Excuse me, but this woman just came in and skipped the entire queue, we have been waiting 15 minutes and you start serving her.. What the *****" Cashier looked gobsmacked, and the old bat said "Theres 3 cash places, why 1 queue, I didn't know", but got her food anyway and as she walked past the queue with her grub in hand, we heard at least 3 "stary k's"' and other obscenities along the way.

Bloody hell, the audacity of some people here never ceases to amaze me ;) In the UK never experienced anything like it, to jump in front of a queue is to the English is a crime equivalent to murder.

Law / How Much Does It Cost To Form a Political Party In Poland? [15]

And posting on a forum that you're 14, from the UK and wish to become president of Poland doesn't?

Language / "someday" / "kiedys" - Confirming some spelling and forms [11]

Thank you,

Is it only weekdays that become accusative following that prep in response to "when"?

Language / Is this true about Polish pronunciation of English (that some words sound identical?) [34]

Hopefully it is. It's a Bahamian island, so I'm not entirely certain. Either way, if I choose to use the material again, I'll settle for just Grand Turk island to avoid more mishaps. Have to be delicate sometimes, took me almost 5 minutes to calm one student's laughing frenzy at the sight of "shittim wood"

Travel / After 7 Weeks, why i loved Poland =) [22]

Oddly enough, many of the young ones seem to know how to ask for cigarettes, money for wódka among other unpleasantries. I had an (almost) violent encounter on the bus, when a particularly smug youth got on the bus, stood in front of the glass opposite my seat and glared down at me continuously without breaking eye contact. I called up my partner to vent my frustration, but he then started leaning in and being aggressive, when I stood up he was mumbling something (which actually turned out to be English) "U mad bro?" - his words. He eventually settled when I offered him the opportunity to get off the bus with me ("No, i no fight, you ok, happy be").

I never rely on anyone here to speak English, a large proportion of them often tend not to speak even if they know. Thus far, any experience I've had of trying to ask for help from people on the streets had ended poorly. Man eat man world in Poland (don't take my sentiments to heart though, it's probably just Poznań)

Language / "someday" / "kiedys" - Confirming some spelling and forms [11]


Sorry for the slight necro. But may I ask why it would be "w niedziełę" and accusative? (I know that you're correct, I just don't understand why) I thought when followed by the preposition w(in) something must become locative? even if it's a response to the question "when" I.e, "Kiedy będziesz napić? " - "W Wrocławiu"

Language / Is this true about Polish pronunciation of English (that some words sound identical?) [34]


I never let that one go ;)

I often hear troubles with sheet / shit, beach / bitch, leave / live too.. But always try to gently fix it with
"szit / szyt" emphasing the longer e sound in sheet. bicz / być, liw / lyw.

I gave one of my students today an article about the bermuda triangle conspiracy, and a plane flight to "Cockburn town" of Grand Turk Island.. My student saw it, and deliberately pronounced it wrong as "Kook burn". I had the dilemma of whether or not to correct her, but in the end didn't have the strength.

Language / Is this true about Polish pronunciation of English (that some words sound identical?) [34]


8. A rough-coated, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully.

By the way. Does anyone ever stare at a word for so long, or use it so frequently in rapid succession that you begin to doubt whether it's a real word? A few nights ago I was beginning to doubt the existence of the word "door" and just now with 'uncle".

Language / Is this true about Polish pronunciation of English (that some words sound identical?) [34]

From what I've gathered with my students, and my partner (whom is Polish) they can certainly differentiate the sounds when hearing them, but pronouncing them is another matter. Whenever my partner says something along the lines of "My ankle [sounding like uncle] is in pain" I always ask what's wrong with him. Aunt / ant is another. I am quite cruel, but with time I managed to get her to pronounce it perfectly with this unusual and crude sentence:

"My uncle ant's aunt had an uncle with a broken ankle after my uncle ant's aunt's uncle tripped over an ant"

Travel / Planning a trip back to the UK (Brighton) from Poznań. - Travel plan & costs. [6]


Well, perhaps then it's so astounding that it just slipped by your simple mind, seeing as we're - *shock horror* - on the internet! I suppose it was just quite silly of me asking people who live in Poland or the UK and/or travel between them if they may have some advice on the cheapest alternatives.


Thank you, I'll keep an eye out