History / The restoration of Polish cities from WW2 destruction [123]

Yes, I consider it a barbaric act to move the buildings from towns and cities of western Poland (which were rather well preserved as Germans fled those territories without much of a fight, reorganizing their defense at Odra) - the sad result of that is for example Głogów. Warszawa is still an extremely ugly city outside of the Old Town, which makes all of it all the more shameful.

Living in a small town in western Poland, we are restoring the town from four decades of communism more so than the war itself, many older buildings turned into ruins due to negligence...

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I don't think there's such thing as objectively difficult. The student's background is of highest importance in determining the language's difficulty - a Slovak would speak Polish in no time, whereas a Chinese would probably struggle to grasp even some basic concepts. But ultimately anyone can learn any language, commitment is the key.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Brad Pitt

History / Where did the power of Poland vanish to, since... let`s say, some 300 years ago? [180]

I think it's a combination of many things. Liberum veto, which lead to parliament losing any sort of legislative or decisive power. The King and his crew were stripped of any power, too, so basically there was really no one to rule the country. The second big factor would be extremely conservative society and lack of any innovation, on any level of human activity (technological, constitutional, economical, military etc.) - Poles were merely followers, and even then they adapted innovations much later than everyone else. It basically wasn't a modern country anymore at the time

Frequent wars weren't unheard of at the time, many countries had many ongoing wars.

History / Where did the power of Poland vanish to, since... let`s say, some 300 years ago? [180]


I think you should learn some proper manners, buddy. Otherwise people will ignore you, as I'm going to from now on.

History / Where did the power of Poland vanish to, since... let`s say, some 300 years ago? [180]

Bratwurst Boy, are you really German? I find it incredible that you tolerate this mud-throwing. Anyway, ignore this extreme nationalists. The way Europe is nowadays, we should all become like brothers for each other. Powinniśmy stać się dla siebie braćmi. Wir sollen Bruder ein fuer einander werden. :) (I hope it's correct, been a while since I studied German:))

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Fixed. I hope you don't mind it, I figured you're studying Polish and the corrections serve educational purposes, not to humiliate you Study the subtle differences between stać się and zostać!

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


That's a rather embarassing mistake I made correcting someone else!

Slavic languages wouldn't be different languages if they were all the same. They are still easier to learn for other Slavic language speakers than for Germanic or Roman language speakers, since the grammar concepts and a lot of vocabulary are similar. That doesn't matter that the student can or should slack off, it just means he might have easier time memorizing grammar structures and vocabulary.

Language / Polish slang phrases - most popular. [606]

Literally "zaprzyjaźnij się z moimi wargami sromowymi", but it would sound off and break the mood most likely. Or maybe not, depending how you say it. Generally though such naughty phrases should be made on the fly rather than be memorised.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Out of curiosity, could you list some of those corny expressions?

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I think we Poles like to use idioms a lot, also in our own language they're very frequently spoken. But maybe your Polish acquaintances indeed overuse them.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


The "bad" guys have to belong to some organized crime organizations (mafia or at least a small gang). Because the access to guns is somewhat more difficult, you don't have any psycho waving a gun. Isn't it funny that all these famous mass shotouts in public places (schools etc) were either in the US or Germany?

I'd feel a lot LESS safe if I knew anyone on the street could have a gun. Besides, I'd have a very difficult time shooting someone, even if in self- or relative's defense.

Language / Polish versions for English words? ! [34]

I think there are very few (relatively) natively Polish words in Polish language, most of them were borrowed at some point. Which is not a bigdeal, the world around us evolves, so should the language and the simplest way for that is to import words along with technologies/phenomena that they are described with.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Is there something wrong with having a heavy nonAmerican or nonEnglish accent? Collin Farrel has very heavy Irish accent and yet is a very popular actor.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I'm not a teacher though and won't struggle to remove my accent as it'd be entirely pointless - I've never had any problems with native (or non-native for that matter) English speakers comprehending me and I'm not ashamed of my origins.

I also had a pleasure to have classes with various native English speakers for 9 years, it's only 1 hour a week, but a great experience nonetheless.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I'm settling for a low standard, it's just that practicing the standard English or the standard American accent (if such exist) would take me years probably and would turn out to be a useless skill as I have no immediate plans to travel to UK or the US. I'd rather commit that time to improve my German or French.:)

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


I'm afraid that's not possible. :( I just don't have the patience anymore for that. When I was a teenager, I was reading English novels, playing video games, watching movies etc. and translating every single word, so that my vocabulary is rather extensive (and on the university I was studying exclusively from English textbooks), so even if my grammar is far from perfect, I'll never be able to match that knowledge and fluency in any other foreign language, maybe only if I moved there...

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

I know plenty of Dutch people, and they don't seem arrogant at all. We always talk in English and the conversations are very smooth usually, I'd say they're statistically much better in English than other mainland European nations. In fact, I worked in Northern Belgium for 3 months and only learned a handful of words in Flamish/Dutch (they're almost the same language) as I could always speak in English! (I was a student at the time and my job was helping in organizing beach parties during Summer - one of the best times of my life :)) In Germany or in France there's much lower probability of meeting people speaking English.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

That's my problem, too, as I learn a lot from watching movies or reading message boards and it's hard to determine for a non-native what is colloquial and what is considered more formal.


Fixed :)

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Nie jestem na Ciebie zły, ale poprawię:P "Proszę nie bądź na mnie zły! Ogólnie Twój angielski jest niezły" <- "Inaczej" jest poprawnie, ale w tym przypadku nie pasuje :) We say in such cases "in general", not "otherwise".

I think everybody saw Trainspotting, at least everyone who met at least one Scott in his life as every Scott asks if you saw that movie.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Now that's a perfect sentence. :)

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


"pasuje w tym samym kontekście"
ten sam = the same
sam = alone

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Obawiam się, że nie. "Tak samo" jest używane do porównania dwóch rzeczy/zjawisk itp. opisanych przymiotnikiem lub przysłówkiem.
Przykład: Dzisiaj pogoda jest tak samo nieprzewidywalna jak wczoraj.
Today weather is as unpredictable as it was yesterday.

"Tym samym" ma dwa znaczenia. Pierwsze to po prostu "ten sam" w mianowniku:
Jacek okazał się być tym samym typem, co ukradł mi portfel tydzień temu.
Jacek turned out to be the same guy who stole my wallet a week ago.

Drugie znaczenie wyrażenia "tym samym" jest podobne do "zatem". Używa się tego wtrącenia z reguły w mniej formalnych wypowiedziach.

Jacek został zatem wybrany majtkiem roku. = Jacek został tym samym wybrany majtkiem roku.
Jacek was therefore awarded with deck-hand of the year title.

"Ten sam" i "taki sam" są z reguły równoważne, czasami jednak trzeba rozróżnić ich znaczenie. "Ten sam" ma za zadanie wskazać dokładnie jeden obiekt pojawiający się przy różnych okazjach, podczas gdy taki sam ma wskazywać identyczność różnych obiektów.

___________________________

I'm afraid that's not the case. "Tak samo" is used to compare two things/phenomena etc. desribed by an adjective or an adverb.

Przykład: Dzisiaj pogoda jest tak samo nieprzewidywalna jak wczoraj.
Today weather is as unpredictable as yesterday.

"Tym samym" has two meanings. The first one is simply "ten sam" in mianownik:
Jacek okazał się być tym samym typem, co ukradł mi portfel tydzień temu.
Jacek turned out to be the same guy who stole my wallet a week ago.

The other meaning of "tym samym" is similar to "zatem". It is used in general in less formal statements.
Jacek został zatem wybrany majtkiem roku. = Jacek został tym samym wybrany majtkiem roku.
Jacek was therefore awarded with deck-hand of the year title.

"Ten sam" and "taki sam" are typically equivalent, though sometimes you have to discern their meanings. "Ten sam" is supposed to point out the object appearing in different situations, whereas "taki sam" is supposed to to point out non-distinguishable features of different objects.

edit: haha, beaten by two minutes

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

Thanks, I think both should be helpful. Thwough it should be narzędnik where I wrote mianownik! I can't edit anymore!

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]

I am not impressed by this gevernment job. They were too passive and did too little to modernise the country (too little reforms) especially in the last year, when the president's veto was no longer an excuse.

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]

The public debt in Poland has skyrocketed in recent years, which means that we'll hit the 60% limit soon and will have to have surplus to regulate that debt, which will slow down Polish economy significantly in a couple of years. I don't know which is worse - to have the economy stagnate now or in future, maybe if the worldwide crisis will endup soon we won't need state's money all that much.


Very few reforms have immediate effect. In case of reforming higher education system and supporting science, it certainly is necessary, we have to make our country more innovative, otherwise we'll have very little to offer in future when salaries will go up and cheap work force won't Poland's biggest advantage.

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]

Assuming PO wins the election again. I didn't vote for PO in 2007 (I did in 2005 though), but I was glad they won with such a huge margin as I thought it meant more legislative changes. But no, they did much less than they should have.

National debt is relatively small, but we set the 60% limit for a reason, we don't want to wind up like Greece or Japan.

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]


It's Americans who withdrew from the deal. All for the better though. We don't want American troops on our soil, Russia could easily overwhelm that shield, the threat of attack from Middle East is far fetched and nonexistent, the only thing that shield did was introducing tensions between Russia and Poland.

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]

What could he do? Put embargo on American products?

News / Achievements of the Tusk's Polish government [532]

Are you sure there were no phone calls?