Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Often "manners" simply don't work with certain people. What I do in that case rather than become angry etc. (as you suggest that I do!!) is merely affect a foreign accent in English of the language which I'd like to speak, e.g. a Polish accent in Poland or a German accent in Germany etc.. At this point, most become totally flustered and automatically switch back to their native languageLOL

Language / I truly admire you / You truly admire me? How do you say this in Polish? [9]

1krona,

Du faar inte oversatta ord for ord! You cannot translate word for word, even when the expressions are similar. Try to find a different way of saying the same concept in Polish:-)

Det ar bara ett foreslag:-)
marekzgerson@yahoo

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

For the umpteenth time, TheOther, I'm in total agreement with that statement! However, I will continue to become peeved so long as foreigners who in the reverse expect, yet DON'T, hear a perfect Polish, Dutch, Swedish...from myself as a non-native speaker of those languages, insist on switching to an often equally imperfect English as their "small way" of compensating for the language barrier:-) For G_d's sake people, kindly admit to second language interference and apologize for it before launching into an English filibuster about the virtues of one world language or some such nonsense. This honestly grates on one's nerves.

We ALL should be learning from each other. Often, I get the uneasy feeling that certain Europeans in particular feel they must do the "teaching", whilst the rest of us outlanders do all the "learning"!!

Life / Do Poles have a problem understanding American English? [76]

Right on, Monitor, and rarely any movies of the highest quality of, say, a Hollywood black-white classic with snappy dialogue and acting which reflected a higher standard in society! The average Europunk nowadays knows only Bruce Willis, Sly Stallone et al., little if at all pre-1982. This is a crying shame. Even late Seinfeld's considered some arcane, useless antique to the Euroyouth. Cultivation's being eroded to such an extent that it seems people so little any longer but, eat, sleep and fornicate to excess, leaving the art of conversation way back on highway One.

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

The Other, my "attitude" arises from, for example Dutch or Germans who take this 'look-ma-no-hands' approach to communicating in English! The less care taken in using English compared say with myself using Dutch, German etc..., the ever more lopsided the communication scale becomes, thereby cheapening language alltogether. If Nordic folks take the tone that they're practically Anglophone anyway (which, by the way, they aren't), so who cares how they speak English, the entire language becomes one mass garbage heap.

Contrary to what all too many people believe (including MANY right here!!!), American English is no more solely a Rambo-like collection of vulgarisms, grunts and filler words than British English is nothing more than stagey-sounding RP.

Surely there must be a middle ground:-)

Life / Do Poles have a problem understanding American English? [76]

You're referring then to "Pidglish" otherwise familiar as Pidgin Polish, a mishmash of old-fashioned countryside regionalisms combined with US-slang and sloppy grammar, right? I recently met several US-born Polish-Americans who began speaking in Polish once I told them I knew the language. To be honest, much of what they said I couldn't much make out.

Perhaps a Polish native speaker would've had better luck:-)

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

McDouche, the Dutch and the Germans APPEAR to know English "better" than many mainland Europeans merely because they're more skillful in concealing their native accents, that's all. They're guilty of the same wanton vulgarities and infractions as the rest of the lot, make no mistake:-)

Here again, Wulkan, I must roundly disagree with your assessment of the level of difficulty presented to native English speakers by Estonian and Hungarian. I found even Polish slightly more 'transparent' than either of the former owing to the almost completely lack of 'cognate' vocabulary with which to anchor the Anglo-Saxon learner.Polish still uses much Latin and Greek, Estonian and Hungarian typically don't!

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

I haven't as of yet, Wulkan. Will keep ya posted though:-)

@Michał, jeszcze nie dostałem odpowiedźi na moją minęłę wiadomość. Wciąż proszę o przykłady tych wyrazień!

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

Thanks, Wulkan! My remarks yesterday were actually intended for Michał:-)

Language / Extremely Hard - Polish the hardest language to learn [226]

"...where some of the syntax of expression are pronounced similarly...."

Could you possibly provide examples of 'some of the syntax of expression' which are pronounced similarly? Are you perhaps referring here to like-sounding grammatical constructs, maybe prepositional usage which might cause confusion for Poles learning English, e.g. "to be in THE office" (być w biurze) vs. "to be in office" (być urzędnikem), i.e. "to be an office holder" etc...

:-)

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

Interesting that you find German above all to be the "hardest" language to acquire. Is German not your mother tongue? To me as a bilingual German-English native speaker, German is much more precise than English as a rule, if not exactly always "logical"LOL German therefore should be easier for your than either Polish or particularly English, no?

Oder vielleicht weiss ich nicht, worauf du hinaus willst.
:-)

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

While Polish is indeed similar in many respects to German as I've stated before, fluency will take time, much as it did for me.

I learned Polish too as a first-language German speaker, learning it in fact using German as the source language. While the concept of gender as well as declension were already a given, the counting quirks and phonological shifts etc.. took me for a loop! Moreover, learning to think in a foreign language is always a stumbling block, much as you must have struggled to learn to think in English having German as your mother tongue. Occasionally, I even see faint traces of first-language influence in many of your English posts:-) No offence meant.

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

Often, Poles simply aren't used to foreigners either speaking their language, namely Polish, correctly. The converse is that many are even LESS used to it being mangled. We English native speakers are so used to our language being merrily mutilated by self-assured, yet less than competent, foreign native speakers, that we both don't really mind it any longer, make an effort to understand their broken English, or (most often the case!), pretend that we understand when in fact we don't because we really don't care.

In Poland, if a Pole honestly can't make heads or tales of what you're saying (and they don't know English or know it adequately), they'll pursue the discussion until they've arrived at reasonable clarity. The Germans will frequently do the same, often breaking into a chorus of fractured English in an attempt to get to the bottom of what is really meant.

Americans especially, will usually shrug their shoulders as if to say "Forget about it!"
:-)

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

Poulson, "Proszę o herbatę!" sounds more polite:-)

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Jon, just leave him be! Remember, you can never call a fool, a fool, you can only get him angryLOL

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Calm down, guys! This is supposed to be 'civilized' forum, neither a gabfest nor a boxing ring. Let's stop being so primitive and talk things out.

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

Sooooo true, jonny boy! We call them politiciansLOL

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

I can recommend a frightening (if authentic!) film from and about the period "Przesłuchanie" (The Interrogation), made in around the late 50's. However, it's in Polish:-)

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

In that case, they should post what they mean (as opposed to what they THINK they mean), and mean what they post!

One more of umpteen instances of sloppy thinking and faulty logic; just another day here on PFLOL

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

The most what, jon? Killing?! If sheer numbers of those killed in the name of Father State be the criterion by which dictatorship is judged, messrs. Amin, Stalin, Mao, and particularly Pol Pot have Hitler beat by a country furlong:-) Hitler was simply less random in his choice of victim.

History / Communism, was it the best form of government Poland ever had? [68]

By what criteria then does one establish the "best" from the "worst"? This is not unlike another thread about whether Polish is the "HARDEST" language in the world. It's equally infantile as it sets up an already fallacious premise that there exists some platonic form of rule which is "better" than another!

Even the comparison between Poland's Communist regime and Hitler's Nazi dictatorship is like comparing apples and oranges; same tree, different fruit. And in the end, is not any fruit-bearing tree judged by it's fruit rather than by its roots?

Study / British Council CELTA in Krakow, how would you rate it? [60]

Good luck finding any without bribery! It's that way across the board in the New York Tri-State area thanks to scores of unwanted immigrants smoothing the way for such jobs:-)

Study / British Council CELTA in Krakow, how would you rate it? [60]

The level of English among supposed English "instructors" where I teach is appalling! Many are Russian or Polish transplants and while a degree from Kisniew University might well hold water in Moldowa, the same can't be said for here in the States:-)

More to say about this.

Polonia / German police aggresively manhandle Polish citizens? [16]

Police everywhere often tend to over- rather than under (let alone just plain ol') react. They also can be a bit on the alarmist side, by no means only in Germany. They wouldn't be heroes otherwise:-)

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [318]

I knew it was a transliteration, wiseguy, I was only joking:-)
If you don't understand "groaners", you essentially don't really understand the flavor of American English!

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]

If you prefer, I certainly can "extend" this endlessly fascinating discussion to indeed include the prospective impact which rock music had on Messrs. Dutschke & Co. the Baader-Meinhof folks, the Red Brigade etc. Rock IS most definitely about rebellion, something relatively unknown throughout much of Germany's long history, and the long-haired adherents of giving the conservative establishment the middle finger quite clearly listened to the new, jolting rhythms of the rock 'n roll beat.

Why not?

To my knowledge, Russia underwent a similar history of repression and subjugation at the hands of the ruling elite. This is where an interesting parallel might emerge:-)

News / POLAND to have its own automobile brand (back), the SYRENA! [36]

The total "POLar" opposite then (pardon the pun, he-he!) of the old East German "Trabant" or Trabi; anything but luxury:-)

History / Poland must get back Lwow, Wilno and Brest back [318]

If per happenstance Poland DOES manage to seize Brest back from Russian hands and ends up having to provide emergency victuals to its population, wouldn't that technically be considered "brest feeding"??

Sorry, I couldn't resist ^^

News / POLAND to have its own automobile brand (back), the SYRENA! [36]

Well then, I guess I do. Funny, thought the spelling was different somehow. I see we've cleared that up! Didn't realize that Korean Daewoo was also producing Polish carsLOL Guess their own market wasn't large enough, eh?