Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

I've found that Brits aka the English can appear to laugh at themselves more readily than certain nationalities, seeming to be more ironic and sarcastic.

The key difference though (among many) between Brits and Poles is the degree to which the latter respect the almighty Catholic Church along with the ever present trappings of religious imagery throughout the country. Most Brits, both Catholic and Protestant, keep a distance to overt expressions of organized Christianity in my experience:-)

Maybe this is why the late, great Andrzej Wajda occupied almost a folk hero-like status in Poland; he touched the soul of the country's fractured relationship with their faith after Communism (as well as after its collapse)!

Work / Is there anybody who work for Atos in Bydgoszcz as a foreigner? [32]

bakkalgazi,

As I already indicated to you in my private mail of late, knowing English for study abroad, such as in the UK, Canada or the US is more than expected. However, if you're seriously seeking employment in Poland, knowing Polish aka the target language of the country in question is an absolute MUST!!!

Your English so far looks passable, but for academic or professional purposes, it could use much improvement:-)
On the other hand, being that you're seeking work in an international environment where nearly no one's first or even second language is English most likely, it's doubtful that anyone much cares about your level of English. Sad but so.

News / The Polish film director Andrzej Wajda has died. [4]

That's for sure:-) He and Andrzejewski were the two toweing figures of post-war Polish cinema.

"Andrzej Wajda nie żyje. Niech żyje Andrzej Wajda!!"

Language / The "end piece" of a loaf of bread in Polish [80]

In English, "quite close by (to) Cracow" would probably be the best translation.
:-)

UK, Ireland / P60 UK Upload - Brexit and Polish people's contribution to the British economy [48]

Although Britain above all aka Mrs.Thatcher quite a while back, was less than thrilled with the very real prospects of German reunification, I really don't think that Brexit will contribute to Germany, Poland, France etc.. all summarily exiting the EU in lockstep:-) Having said all that, Hungary just announced one in a series of anti-immigrant pieces of legislation, Merkel's in real danger of losing come 2017, and good ol' comfy, liberal Denmark has been starting to feel the pinch of Muslim immigration etc.. Still, those countries NEED the EU, as Britain herself could find over the course of the next ten years or so.

I DO think that the Brexit has begun to have a frightening backlash among foreign-born migrant workers in the UK, and this is something which PM May will have to seriously address, sooner rather than later which might well be too late!

Language / In search of Mówimy po polsku audio files [6]

@johnstol,

Am a son of the 60's myself (.....come the next five years or so, soon to be IN my sixtiesLOL), but only wished to caution you as to the pretty crass changes in speech which have occurred since '66, in Polish as well:-))

Language / Polish Language Exchange Thread [133]

Hey, Rich!/ Cześć,Panie Ryszku!

I teach English as well, although not on Skype, not yet anyway:-)
Certainly be interested in exchanging thoughts on methodology, since I teach English, German, and have tutored Polish professionally on occasion, more US-born beginners, at this point.

Poles tend to learn other languages more phonetically than Anglo-American native speakers, I've found. As English is so chaotically UNphonetic, Americans at any rate seem to learn by reading, rather than by listening.

That's been my experience though.

Hope to hear from you, if and when you have a chance.
marekzgerson@yahoo

Language / In search of Mówimy po polsku audio files [6]

I never used that book, but I'm here in the States. To be frank, that's a fairly old textbook and the language has changed quite a bit since then.

Guess though for bread-and-butter basics, such as grammar, it'd be allright. Slang and colloquialisms however, might get you more of a good laugh than an earnest respone these days:-)

Not knocking the book in itself, only the 60's are a long ways away.

I'd try bookbox,com for almost any language. The plethora of on-line material for Polish also is rather staggering!

History / Polish-Hungarian border exchange? [60]

Hungary's Orban merely seems to be putting into action, what PEGIDA, AfD, PiS, and Le Front Nationale have up till now only been talking about!

Merkel's party might well falter come mid-next year.

History / Polish-Hungarian border exchange? [60]

Hey, Germany doesn't want 'em either, apparently. Yup, this'll cost Merkel the election.

Get set for "The Frauke Petry Show"!
lol

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

The first spelling is incorrect on BOTH sides of the Pond:-) Some American snobs started calling "Berkeley" California, "BARKELY", some even think that in the UK, a "jerk" is called a "JARK"LOL))))

D'you believe it?
:-)

History / Polish-Hungarian border exchange? [60]

As of today, your Orban Viktor has hereby rejected a vote to allow any more migrants into Hungary, thereby being the first European nation (EU or other) to take such draconian measures:-) Other countries are sure to follow!

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Neither have I:-)

Think someone's confusing the Poles' status with that of the Turks and other so-called "guest workers"!

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

And the pity of it is, the proud Poles take their culture with international seriousness (Chopin, Mickiewicz, Słowiacki) and the Mexicans don't!
The literacy rate in Poland is miles higher than in Mexico as well, and so the analogy isn't quite fitting:-)

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Hear there's jobs as cherry pickers in Kabul)))) And ya don't even have to know English:-)
lol

Study / How long can students stay in a university in Poland? [11]

"Professional" aka Life-long (LOL) students are by no small measure confined to Poland, but can be found in extremis, for example, in Germany, France, and Italy as well:-)

This is financially a tremendous drain on the state!

Genealogy / Is it possible there is a Slavic soul trapped in my body? [8]

You've become a Slavic Schmetterling-RaupeLOL

(Nonsense German, but the two words individually mean "butterfly" and "caterpillar".) Where after all does a butterfly come from?
:-))))

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Betcha can't wait to start learning Pashto (or Deri)!
:-)

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

If you bothered to READ my post, Johnny, you'd have noticed I was referring to TV-land, NOT necessarily to the "real world".

:-)

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

"..The Skye was the limit."

The Isle of Skye, you mean?
lol

Haven't a clue as to what you're talking about, Marther. Maybe you and Mr. Crow here should get together for nonsense fest:-)

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Isn't it much the same with ex-pat, monolingual Anglos abroad, many of whom spend literally years in their adopted country and barely learn the language:-)

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

As far as Poland is concerned, the more homogeneous the society, the more jealously guarding of her original ethnicity, culture, and language:-)
Germany is, or at least was, much the same in the latter regard!

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

I was mistaken then:-) Appreciate the correction, Pol! Many black minstrel shows however WERE in fact nothing more than whites masquerading as blacks, particularly in very early vaudeville.

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

"...all-black..(played by two white guys, if memory serves me right):-) Yes, unfortunately I have. Most embarrassing!

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

Polish women are taken in by the gallant, that's true! Polish men do cut a nice impression at first glance, and I'm even saying this as a man))

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

Johnny, every homogeneous nation has her own personal agenda as to how her country ought to look. The US as well back in the '50's, with "Dick & Jane", TV programs such as " The Ozzie & Harriet Nelson Show", "Father Knows Best" etc.., well into the late '80's, presented an unrealistically lilly white America which may have once existed for the broad population, but surely is and was clearly out of step with the changing times.

Furthermore, I've always maintained that it's never the race, but rather the CLASS of representatives which the general population sees of that race.

If America saw solely or even mostly the British-educated children of Nigerian diplomats as representative of the black race, there never would have been any "racial problems".

If well-off Caucasian Europeans saw migrants as respected, target-language speaking doctors, teacher, lawyers and honest businessmen instead of down-and-out poor, illiterate, non-target language speaking beneficiaries of the welfare state, again, there wouldn't be an issue.

After all, perception IS reality:-)

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Harry, Johnny doesn't know even less about much of anything, except to prove that he deserves whatever foul mess Donald Trump dishes out to the idiotic US electorate, should the impossible happen and he become president!

The English don't like much of anybody who's not English, so the Poles oughtn't necessarily feel singled out.

Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

"Mixing" races is not toxic!! How governments often pit one ethnicity AGAINST another sheerly for economic gain, THAT'S toxic:-)

Genealogy / Is it possible there is a Slavic soul trapped in my body? [8]

Thought for years that there was a Teutonic soul trapped in my body (only much later to discover it was only indigestionLOL)

The Russian melos is far different from the Polish "dusza", even though both use essentially the same word! Motto: not all Slavic souls are one, any more than one can generalize about the "Germanic" soul either for that matter:-) Danes, Germans, Swedes, and Dutch are considered "Germanic", yet are almost as different as Poles from Russians are from Czechs and Bulgarians!

Genealogy / Angela Merkel is partially Polish. Her family name could be Kaźmierczak [208]

Possible, but none too likely:-)