Language / [ jak wiele razy / ile razy ] [12]

This is then the reason why Poles typically make the mistake in English of saying "There are too much (rather than "many") students." etc..

Your point is of course completely well taken, Ziemowit!

My point however was not that "Ile" vs. "Ilu" have nothing to do "mięsko -vs. mięskonieosobowy", but rather with the concept of singular vs. plural in itself which varies sufficiently between most Slavic and, say, Germanic as well as many Romance languages as well:-)

Study / Which language to learn in my university course? Polish Or German? [35]

By all means, researchers, learn German if it's practical for you to do so! Don't rely on their English. Frequently, it's NOT about communication if they're saying things you don't understand (or vice-versa):-)

My point earlier yesterday was simply that Germans, Norwegians and many other Europeans especially often OVERestimate their English skills so that it's almost laughable! To be sure, their frequent reticence in speaking English with educated native English speakers is that their poor English would be shown for what it is, rather than what they think it is or even should be!

Monitor, it's not a truism (Binsenwahrheit) to state that the more you practice a language, the better you'll get at it; it's the truth:-)

Try it some time, it'll work wondersLOL

Language / [ jak wiele razy / ile razy ] [12]

Doubtless Michel Thomas is giving but the bare bone basics, much as Pimsleur, Berlitz or Rosetta Stone would.
Unlike Spanish, French or Italian, Polish is a language on which one really must keep one's mind in the beginning and well on up through intermediate as well:-) There are few shortcuts or mnemonics as there are for English, damned near zero clear-cut explanations as in German.

Polish, like Icelandic, must be learned one structure, indeed practically one word, at a time!

Language / [ jak wiele razy / ile razy ] [12]

Similar, but naturally not exactly parallel. Polish uses either "Ile" vs."Ilu" in order to distinguish between "much" and "many", whereas in French "Combien", Spanish "Quanto(s)" etc., the form of the construction never changes:-)

Quantities in Polish represent the infamous "counting quirks" of the language which are RARELY a straightforward affair! Often, their application can be hair-raisingly perplexing to the foreignerLOL

Language / [ jak wiele razy / ile razy ] [12]

"Ile"/"Illu" is "How much/How many

Polish sometimes doesn't make the identical distinction as we do in English between singular vs. plural. Only the endings as well as the context will normally indicate such, e.g. "Ile to kosztuje? = How MUCH does it cost? vs. Ilu studentów jest w klasie? = How MANY students are there in [the] class? For the latter, Polish typically uses the singular form "jest" instead of "są", even though "studentS" is clearly a plural concept in English:-0

Study / Which language to learn in my university course? Polish Or German? [35]

"Or languages are your profession."

D-U-H-H, monitor!! You FINALLY catch on, eh?! No, in fact I started out in life as a salesman, yet after encountering soooo many multilingual Europeans doing such humdrum jobs such accountant, grade school teacher etc.., I thought to myself long ago, when then should I have to be a foreign language major to speak German, Dutch, Swedish, Polish etc...?? If a Belgian plumber visiting the States claims to know more English than I Flemish or French, who is he?? He can butcher MY native English language, while I have to speak his with precision??!

I'm merely trying to even the playing field as much as I possibly can.

If the entire world in fact speaks broken English, then at least (I say for the umpteenth time) kindly admit that you're all PRACTICING, not speaking English the correct way it should be spoken. If you never learn, your English will never improve. If good English is not your goal, why bother speaking it?

What's more, if you honestly think you're communicating in English and you really can only be lulled into false security by ignorant, non-native English chat, you're really living in a fools' paradise.

Study / Which language to learn in my university course? Polish Or German? [35]

As a matter of fact, I lived for several years (spaced out, not all together) in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and for a little over a month and a half, in Spain. I didn't find it necessary to use English in any of these places since I knew it would be a disaster! DId my message before last leave no impression whatsoever as to what all too often occurs when foreigners translate from their mother tongue into English??? I'm certainly not stopping any of you from using English where and whenever you darn well please. Just be aware, you're actually practicing English, not just using it, so at least for heaven sake accept a bit of correction every now and then!

You also inadvertently hit the nail on the head (Du hast eben den Nagel auf den Kopf getroffen) regarding native vs. global English. The fact that a Turk for instance enjoys practicing his English with a Pole, a German, a Russian, a Chinaman or another Turk as opposed to a native English speaker, is the problem right there. It's those "less common words" you mention which make one's English sound literate rather than semi-literate and/or plain unintelligible!! If we lose our language, what then will make us in future any different from the four-legged variety of animal?

Need I further remind you concerning your post that had I not studied languages other than English, I'd scarcely understand some of your syntax, expressions, as well as vocabulary, e.g. "save" instead of "secure" etc...

Only by "translating BACK" into whichever language your interference was coming from was I able to make sense of the entire message, I hate to disappoint you:-)

Study / Which language to learn in my university course? Polish Or German? [35]

And which language, pray tell, is the bleedin' bloke going to use when going shopping in Poland? English?? Then you have a case of two non-English native speakers desperately trying to make themselves understood to one another in a language other than their own, like the blind leading the blind:-)))

G-d help him!

Study / Which language to learn in my university course? Polish Or German? [35]

I'll have to put in my two sense, once again!

Above all, when studying (certainly when living) in any country outside one's own, learning the language is paramount, BAR NONE!!
While English may well be considered the universal language, I defy anyone to go to Austria or Germany and hear English spoken as it's supposed to be spoken/written etc.. It's a living joke.

I further defy anyone out there in cyberland who's typically never even studied or been exposed to German to make heads or tails out of the following which supposedly passes for English:

German: My colleague means you are on the woodway. German kitchen are the worstest. Why make you nice words about it?

"Translation": My buddy thinks you're all wrong. German cooking's far from the best. Why do you like it so much?

Plus there's all this culture stuff which almost never comes across in English, but instead can frequently appear rude, vulgar and aggressive, although it's usually not meant that way at all.

Motto? Do your best to at least try and learn the language of the country. In the end, it'll be worth the effort.

Life / Latin VS Polish cultures. [13]

"Mestizo" simply means "mixed", European-white, i.e. Spanish and Native American.

Life / Latin VS Polish cultures. [13]

Archiwum, "Latin" here refers specifically to a nationality or group of specifically Spanish/Hispanic-speaking people, NOT to the Latin language. Romansch as spoken in Grisons in Switzerland was the furthest thought from my mind:-)

Language / Dla Anii or Ani? [17]

Thus spake our resident expert(-ess)!

I'm hereby satisfied.

Language / Dla Anii or Ani? [17]

Sounds good to me too, boss ^^

Language / Dla Anii or Ani? [17]

Ok, I see.

Well, figure it's all a matter of usage. I'll chalk it up to the sheer vagueries of Polish for us outlandersLOL!!!

Language / Dla Anii or Ani? [17]

"Anna" would be "dla Anny" though, or am I incorrect as per the paradigm?

Language / Dla Anii or Ani? [17]

It'd be "dla Anii" if the name were "Ania"!

Anglia > w Anglii (NOT: "Angli")
Gruznia > w Gruznii
etc..

Language / Ukrainian language similar to Polish? [236]

Kinda tough NOT to do, as Poland, along with the rest of Europe, is darn well mired in itLOL

Polonia / Any Poles who have lived and worked in Germany recently? [18]

"And Germans require a minimum knowledge of the language from asylum seekers.."

Well, let's be thankful for small favors, shall we! Indeed they damned well should, shouldn't they. In the end, that's seems to me the very least the latter can do for the German state allowing them to come to, work/live and stay in Germany:-)

When visiting Germany last during the end of the '90's, beginning of the millenium, I encountered in Berlin numerous Turkish-owned-and-run establishments (usually tailor shops) whose personnel spoke little to NO German whatsoever. I found this both irritating as well as frustrating. Was I supposed to address them in Turkish, considering none of them even understood English??

Imagine then the vaunting frustrations of the average German citizen feeling like a stranger in their own country!

Polonia / Any Poles who have lived and worked in Germany recently? [18]

And that, Polforeigner, is a mistake of the German government! If we require English, albeit ANY kind of English, in order to live and work here in the US, why then shouldn't the Federal government of Germany do the same for Geman, their national and native tongue?? How can one survive in another country without knowing how to communicate in the target language? Expecting Germans to automatically switch to broken English is as presumptuous as expecting all Brits or Yanks in their respective countries to automatically switch to "highschool" German, as an example! It's nice to know more than one language, yet oughtn't the guest accommodate the host??

Think we all know the answer to that silly question!

Polonia / Any Poles who have lived and worked in Germany recently? [18]

Hmmm,... interesting.
Honestly had no idea. Guess I'll have to do my level best to remain more au courant:-)

Language / Przeszłem, przeszedłem [4]

It's more or less the same with "poszłem" vs. "poszedłem". The former is still "Polish", only it's pure slang, whereas the latter is "grammatically correct", i.e. proper Polish:-)

Polonia / Any Poles who have lived and worked in Germany recently? [18]

Thought I'd read some years back that Germany was one of the countries within the EU that wanted to mandate language competency in the German language as bare minimum prerequisite for employment as well as study in the FRG.

I see I was mistaken:-)

As it is, do YOU as a German national believe that such a test/exam would necessarily "limit" freedom of movement within the EU? If so, how then? I'm merely curious! Thanks

Frankly, if there isn't in fact such a language test as the type I described, I bloody well think there should be! We in the US let every Tom, Dick and Harry over our borders.Maybe we should do as Canada has been doing for years; give each new applicant for immigration an IQ as well as a national language test. This would certainly weed out the mentally feeble along with the just plain unqualified.

Not that there's anything wrong with being mentally feeble. Yet, shouldn't first crack at accommodation through job search etc. be given to the mentally able first? Furthermore, if there's no language standard, there's no communication standard either:-)

Polonia / Any Poles who have lived and worked in Germany recently? [18]

I'd like to second Monitor's salient observation in point three; a foreigner's merely average knowledge of German equals no knowledge. While this is essentially the polar opposite of, say the US, where even knowing the barest basics (with an impenetrable accent to boot!) will get one by, Germans are typically impressed only by expert technical expertise in a specific field, plus the prerequisite language skills needed to explain it. If all the foreigner knows is how to say "hello", "thank you", "Where's the railway station?", the German partner will probably just as well use English:-)

Monitor, a follow-up comment. Does the German government yet require foreign employees and/or students within the Federal Republic to pass a "language exam" (Spracheigungspruefung) in order to be allowed to work as well as complete higher education in that country? I thought I read once that it was going to be (or indeed already was) mandatory.

Please clarify:-)

Life / Latin VS Polish cultures. [13]

Generalizations are merely truths which have "gently" overstayed their welcome, that's all:-) There's nothing wrong per se with generations. Often they're useful pegs upon which to hang our experiences.

Apologies, misswrote last post: "There's nothing wrong with them per se."

Life / Latin VS Polish cultures. [13]

I agree, f-stop. However, the weather theory is scarcely consistent. The English for instance live in as cold and often unseasonable a climate as the Swedes or the Germans, yet the latter above all usually get QUITE A BIT "overheated" in discussion, particularly if WWII comes up ^^ The Swedes are more like the English than they are like the Germans.

It has though often been put forward that colder-climate cultures, such as Poland, are more outwardly creative and feverishly excited than people from, say, much hotter climates, such as the Spanish, Greeks or Brazilians etc..

Language / Polish language grammar books [59]

Bąk is indeed excellent (his last name incidentally means "fart" in slang PolishLOL!), particularly good with charts and tables:-)

Life / Latin VS Polish cultures. [13]

Generalizations are usually tempting, but off hand, I'd say that for me the major difference lies in the concept of 'time management' between Latinos (including non-Hispanic Brazilians!) and Northern Europeans, e.g. the Poles. Polish people tend typically to respect time, that is, business as well as social appointments. Such cannot as often be said for most Latins, for many of whom, time remains a fluid element, to be bent as preferred depending on its expediency at a given moment:-)

Work / Under the table work in Warsaw and Krakow for 21y old Canadian female [7]

Sound advice.

Work / Under the table work in Warsaw and Krakow for 21y old Canadian female [7]

I'd have to agree here with Foreigner on this one!

You'll soon find the table has shorter legs than previously imagined:-)
It could be acceptable, such type of jobs in Poland, but certainly not everywhere on the continent, Germany as an example.
There they say "Schwarzarbeit, Schluderarbeit!" = Under the table work equals slipshod work.

Just a word of caution.

Love / I Love a Polish Girl (I'm from India) [28]

Learning English certainly should be your priority right now, and not Polish. Oddly enough, I agree one-hundred percent with you!
Only thing is, your intended beloved is Polish, rather than English, Canadian, Hindustani or American. English therefore may prove of little avail. Her English may be allright, then again, it may be great/good enough, and then again it may stink.

In the end, you have to be the judge which language you will use between yourselves:-)