Life / Question about hot water in Poland and the use of water heaters? [52]


I was thinking that the heating system water might be full of anti-corrosive chemistry and other such things. But then most Poles I've talked to can't believe anybody drinks tap water...

Life / Water from wells in Warsaw - Safe to drink? [24]

On my first trip to Poland we stayed with my wife's Aunt and Uncle. When I said I was going to the kitchen for a glass of water Ciocia offered me tea, coffee, soda, milk, hot chocolate, and anything else she had in the house or could send Wujek out to buy. When I said "No Thanks, just a glass of water." and continued toward the sink she (5'3"?) tried to wrestle me (6'6") to the ground while yelling for my wife to come talk some sense into my head.

This was in Chorzów, near Katowice. Maybe all the mining and heavy industry in the area had something to do with it.

Life / Question about hot water in Poland and the use of water heaters? [52]

Hi mcm,
I don't know much about oil burners, but I keep hearing that coal and wood are the most economical way to do things here. Underfloor heating seems to be popular now so it might have been around 10 years ago. Are you sure it's not forced air? If you are thinking of buying the place it would be well worth your while to pay a specialist to come have a look around. And tell him about your plans for a log burner and ask about a chimney. We just had a fireplace installed and fixing the chimney was the most expensive and time consuming part of the process!

Witam w Polsce!

Life / Question about hot water in Poland and the use of water heaters? [52]


I didn't mean to stir up so much ****.
My first year as a resident in Poland was spent in Chorzów. Not a place known for the purity of its tap water. And I was speaking about the attitudes of the Poles I had talked to about tap water quality, not about the actual quality of the water. Sorry if I introduced a badger to your underwear drawer. :->

News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]


OMG!!!! There ARE pingwins walking the streets of Poland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


While looking for a house in Poland I came across an ad for a house that had "gas, water, electricity, telephone, internet, and the possibility to install an indoor toilet"

USA, Canada / A typical Polish American wedding [25]

Come on, we all know that in the US or Canada people would say "You must have gone to a lot of trouble to make such beautiful costumes!" and in Poland they would say "What? You can't afford a new suit?" lol

Life / Typical Examples of Polish Parking Entitlement (post yours) [57]

I always get pissed when I see cars parked over the lines, but then I remember times when the only place left to park was straddling a line and the cars that started the chain reaction were gone by the time I got back to my car. There's my car looking like some of these photos .....

History / Why have Poles contributed so little to Academics? (Particularly Science) [180]


I would say that winners of the Nobel prize are also a minority.

News / Polish Diaspora - many of these 20 million actually speak Polish? [79]


Actually, nationality is a fairly new concept. Ethnicity is a much older concept.

Love / Advice Please! Meeting my Polish boyfriend's parents!! Gifts, customs... [105]


Yes, you sound like someone concerned with respecting the customs and mores of a place you are about to visit. Hehehehe
Anyway, flowers for the mother and a bottle for the father seem to be standard. The better the booze the more points you will score. Doesn't have to be Wodka, but if Wodka, Chopin or Bellevedere.

My wife says:
"Firm handshake for the father and kiss mamma's hand." (Corney, maybe, but it worked for me.)
"Eat whatever is offered. And praise to the heavens anything home-cooked."
"If you don't speak Polish, nod, smile, and say OK a lot in response to whatever is said to you."
Also, most Brits seem to think Poles over heat their houses a lot. Even as an American who spent the last 40 years in California I think they over heat a bit.

Oh, and learn to sing "Sto lat". If you're there for more than 3 days an occasion while arise in which it will be appropriate.

News / Polish hero pilot lands 767 without wheels. (Warsaw) [191]


Seems it was a LOT stewardess who broke her leg. I guess you'll have to find something else to bash yanks about.

Classifieds / English cuisine week in Lidl shops in Poland [203]


Errr, uhhhhh, Maybe Italian??????

Classifieds / English cuisine week in Lidl shops in Poland [203]

Wiki says: "The English word scampi is the plural of Italian scampo," and we know Wiki is never wrong!
Ok, I'll check a few more places...

I think this may be a case of British/American false friends.
To me, scampi is a style of preparation (butter, garlic, white wine...) and it seems like to Brits it's a kind of fish.

News / Polish hero pilot lands 767 without wheels. (Warsaw) [191]

I like it

News / Polish hero pilot lands 767 without wheels. (Warsaw) [191]


The problem wasn't staying up in the air, the problem was landing. I don't know if 767s can dump fuel or can only burn it off, but even if dumping was possible the citizens of Warsaw might not appreciate having an hours worth of fuel dumped on them.

News / Polish hero pilot lands 767 without wheels. (Warsaw) [191]

There aren't many things for an engine to snag on right beside the runway. They like to design them that way. :->
More likely would be if he came in rolled to one side and only one engine scraped. He seemed to bring the plane down with equal weight on each engine. While watching the recording I kept thinking "This is how it's supposed to be done, but 'this is reality!'"

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

I HATE it!
With subtitles I might learn something, but lektor obfuscates the English to the point that I have no clue what's being said. And the English peeks through just often enough to distract me from trying to figure out the Polish. But I guess if my Polish was good and my English wasn't I might like it. :-<

I did see a funny kabaret skit about lektor for a scene with lots of foul language. Everything came out as "terra ferra"(sp?)

Language / Kurwa? at end of every sentence [51]

I almost never heard the word in Chorzów. But here in the country.....
One bright light is that I can now understand about half of what the neighbor says. Every other word.

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]


You get paid more writing a script for a lektor than you do for writing the same dialogue as subtitles?


But there was a movie theater or two. But then the American movies I've seen in Polish theaters have all been subtitled, not dubbed. Is that the general rule, or have I just not seen enough movies here for a fair representation?

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

No worse than when the joke doesn't come across at all. I saw a magazine with a picture of a dog sniffing at Kaczinsky's feet and a balloon in Polish that I could actually figure out said "This guy has a cat!" I had to ask my wife later why that was funny.

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]

I ask my wife to give me literal word for word translations of Polish phrases into English so that I can get a sense of how Poles put words together. She refuses. Maybe she's too proud to speak English poorly.

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

I think Shakespeare requires subtitles even for most native speakers these days. Or maybe we could do modern English lektor on top of the original.

Romeo: What light through yon window breaks?
Lektor: Who threw the lamp through the window?

btw, is it lektor or lector?

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]


Huh?

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]


So what's wrong with at least giving me the option of turning the demned thing off? On cyfra+ Discovery Science gives you the option, but the Discovery channel doesn't. Go figger.

Oh, and according to my wife "having a cat" is an idiom for being stupid or crazy. (Not sure which) Maybe like in American English "having a cow"?

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]

This is not the case with my wife. There are some gaps in her knowledge (British and other regional slang drives her up the wall!) but overall her English is excellent with just enough accent to give her speech a hint of the exotic. It isn't that she can't, it's that she won't. She thinks it's a method with no value. End of story.

Life / Gifts from Poland (I'm returning to my country after a year in Poland) [36]


Which did you hear about and which came from personal experience? Hehehehe

If you're going somewhere you can take agricultural products... What about the smoked cheeses they sell up in the mountains? I'm not sure how they taste, but they look great!

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]


In a year and a half here I don't think I've watched any broadcast TV. All cable or satellite. The smarts for choosing sound and subtitles are all in the decoder as far as I know.

Life / Polish dubbing in movies; why is it so that on polish television all the films are dubbed? [135]

Maybe I should organize a march on ul. Wolności.

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]


Well, in 10 years living in the US (which, despite what some of the yank bashers may say has quite a few native English speakers) the general consensus was that her English was excellent. And as far as "educated" goes, I worked for 30 years at a college where doctorates were pretty run of the mill. What I was asking her to do was the simplest word-for-word translation, and she insisted on giving me idiomatic interpretation. Your argument might be valid if she insisted on the opposite.


"This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put."
WC (more or less a quote)

Language / Need Advice On Polish-English language barrier (my Polish boyfriend and his family) [59]

Why do I keep seeing things like this on PF? I get the impression that at least half of the more prominent posters are professional or semi-professional language teachers. And yet the "get your gf/bf/in-laws to teach you Polish" comments go unchallenged! I am an educated, well read and fluent native speaker of English, but I suffer no illusions that I would be a good English teacher. Teaching requires skills, knowledge, and education that I and most bf/gf/in-laws do not have. I can, and have served as a tutor or maybe sparring partner for people learning English as a second language. I can answer some specific questions and help people get comfortable with speaking English but I would hate to be a student with me as the teacher!

When somebody asks "How do I learn to speak Polish?" the answers should be either "Find a good teacher." or "Learn the way Poles do. Trial and error and endless repetition." keeping in mind that being older it may take you 3 or 4 times as long as the 5 years or so it takes them to achieve basic competence.

Quoting myself:"Teaching requires skills, knowledge, and education.." and I forgot the most important thing. PATIENCE!