Language / Does anybody know of a list of Polish-English False Friends and True Friends? [60]

Winston Churchill was a false friend :)

Language / Idiomatic Polish [65]

An idiomatic expression for today:
"wyskoczyć jak filip/Filip z konopii" (to jump out like a hare/Phillip from hemps - the spelling with maiuscule "f", Filip, has been common, but according to the linguists, filip here is an old Polish word for "zając" = a hare, not a male first name) - it means to come with something out of the blue, to say/propose something surprisingly enough, and usually this "something" isn't connected with the previous discussion.

Food / Mother of all hangovers....Polish Beer! [71]


Aren't Lech and Tyskie made by the same company (Kompania Piwowarska, of course with some foreign owners/shareholders)

Law / Online Payment in Poland [13]


Do you speak (or at least read) Polish? If not, then the whole project might be too hard (as you'd need too much things translated).


Well, I think it hasn't much to do with the transaction costs. (althoug I don't have a first-hand experiences and information) I believe eBay simply screwed up, they entered our market (with the localized Polish version) too late, Allegro was already well-established and trustworthy (as much as online auctions can), being on the market for several years, it had a big client base, so nobody was rushing to sell/buy at eBay.

Besides (according to my friend, a regular seller at Allegro) eBay started badly in Poland, they had some serious problems (technical or organizational - the whole comments system was flawed and people were abusing it to boost their positive image as sellers), so many people, who checked them out of curiosity, returned to Allegro that was running more smoothly.

I'm sure they'll do well in the future, because they are big enough elsewhere, but they lost much time, just like for example PayPal, not present in Poland for too long, and when they entered the Polish market, you could basically only use them to pay, not to receive money. I opened an account with them but was disappointed with the limited offer, so I used them a few times and forgot about my account :)

And another problem with eBay and similar foreign companies (not depending on them, but influencing the market) are the spedition costs of European posts to Poland, I don't know if it has changed, but for years it was twice cheaper to send from Germany to let's say Sicily or Greece than to Poznań that is only 300 km away from Berlin.

Law / "FART" shop in Poland - WHAT DOES THIS SHOP SELL? [55]

Fart shop in Poland is not a problem, what is bugging me is the Norwegian lightbulbs company that sells its product with the original name (Osram) in Poland. I'm sure they had been informed what it meant before they started their business here.

Language / Idiomatic Polish [65]

Just one, I don't want to make a long list,
Pluć sobie w brodę (to spit in one's/own beard) = to regret

Language / Ukrainian language similar to Polish? [236]


Witam was. Rozumiecie mnie po ukraińsku?
of course the Russian word (that I remembered from my school times) ponimat' was useful in this case :)

Language / The Polish language - it's bloody hard! [210]


no cheating? then congrats, this sentence is 100% correct (also stylistically)

Life / Mobile phone companies in Poland [21]


Yes.

Life / Which on the list of Polish girl's names do you like the most? [67]


Yes, you are.

Life / Which on the list of Polish girl's names do you like the most? [67]

I like Julia and Klaudia on that list (also Izabela and Emilia, but less).
And you could create a poll (with single or multiple choice option), there's such an option when you start a new thread.

Food / Poland's Patyczki (meat-on-a-stick) [33]


that would be "paluszki", but I agree with pgtx, it sounded like szaszłyki description (if a voice from a vegetarian matters), maybe "patyczki" was a regional/dialectal name for it used in some areas.

Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]


I'm afraid your boyfriend went to the cabbage in disguise of pierogi, in order to make you less worried about his cabbade-addiction :)

Language / Word order; simple & continuous tenses; definite/indefinite articles [13]

1. you're more or less correct, not only verbs, but also nouns are highly inflected, so you usually have a few options in Polish sentences, although some word orders sound more "natural" and some are used in very specific contexts (like poetry) or to to put an accent on a part of the statement. Generally, we tend to use the "simple" word order (subject + verb + object) the most.

another (short) thread about Word Order

2. Usually rendered with the verb aspects (imperfective and perfective)
"niedokonane"/imperfective - repetitive, incomplete actions, often correspond to continuous tenses in English (kupuję = I'm buying, kupowałem = I was buying)
"dokonane"/perfective - usually complete actions often correspond to simple tenses in English (kupię = I'll buy, kupiłem = I bought / I've bought)

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions from that simple rule: https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/language/share-perfective-imperfective-verbs-17963/

3. A tough one for Slavic learners, as there's no such thing, we usually don't need any distinction, unless the context really requires it (then for "the" you can add in Polish "ten (masculine) / ta (feminine) / to (neutral)" = this. And for "a/an" you can use in Polish "jakiś/jakaś/jakieś" = any/some), but the articles are definitely a foreing concept for a speaker of Polish, and it takes much time and practice to understand the need in English for those pesky little words.

https://polishforums.com/language/use-articles-21114/

Life / School system in Poland? [59]


I have no idea if these schools are good, I don't live in Poznań, it's just what I found on the net:

pbis.edu.pl - Poznań British International School[/url]

and another one (it's rather a Polish school, their web page seems to be still under construction)

I Prywatne Liceum Ogólnokształcące - IB School No 1002

akademiasmyka.pl - A kindergarten[/url]

Food / Your all time favourite Polish Dishes! [108]


OMG, I'm busted :(

Food / Your all time favourite Polish Dishes! [108]

Voted for Placki Ziemniaczane, but Barszcz and Pierogi (all of the vegetarians types) come close, too bad you can choose only one option in the poll :(

Food / Confusion over flour names in Poland [46]

An older (and very short) thread about flour types in Poland: https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/food/maka-flour-help-krupczatka-14348/

Life / Polish films... where to find them? [51]

That's new to me. I download some volleyball matches from rapidshare, and it's really nothing like you say :)
You choose a link with file, then the option "free download" (no need for a Premium User paid account) and wait about 90 seconds, put in a code (4 characters - letters and digits), if you're lucky and they're having happy Hour you don't even have to wait those 90 seconds.

After the file is downloaded, you need to change your IP address, for me it's quite easy, I re-start the router and I can download the next file. Only sometimes the new IP is too close to the previous, so you have to repeat the process.

Travel / Mobile Internet in Poland (traveling for a couple of months) [17]

are you sure it's OK just for 1-2 months?

I found other offer from Plus:
...

Law / Obtaining PESEL, ID Card and Passport in Poland [39]


PESEL is a 11-digit number, where the first six digits mean your date of birth (in the order YY-MM-DD), so if you're born in 1981, May 17, your PESEL would be 810517xxxxx

Life / Any good Polish films to watch? [110]


Here are some older threads, from this forum, with recommendations:

https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/life/see-movies-18357/

https://polishforums.com/life/movies-english-subtitles-21467/

If you browse the Polish Culture section, maybe you'll find more threads.

Food / What exactly is Polish Bread? [67]


no such thing as average Polish bread anymore, too much variety (many bakers use those nasty "Western" raising agents too). Check the ingredients yeast = drożdże. If you buy unpacked bread (no label then), ask "Czy w tym chlebie są drożdże?" (use ivosoftware.com to learn the pronounciation of this sentence).

Language / Listening to music and learning Polish [45]


sample 01 is probably Justyna Steczkowska (I don't know the song, but I looked for the lyrics and it's a 19th century poem by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, and from google it seems that Justyna Steczkowska made a song of it). Here's the poem:

"W Weronie" ("In Verona", Romeo and Juliette theme)
1
Nad Kapuletich i Montekich domem, Spłukane deszczem, poruszone gromem, £agodne oko błękitu -
2
Patrzy na gruzy nieprzyjaznych grodów, Na rozwalone bramy do ogrodów, I gwiazdę zrzuca ze szczytu -
3
Cyprysy mówią, że to dla Julietty, Że dla Romea, ta łza znad planety Spada - i groby przecieka;
4
A ludzie mówią, i mówią uczenie, Że to nie łzy są, ale że kamienie, I - że nikt na nie nie czeka!

Edit:
If you want the English translation of the poem, you can find a video with the same song performed by Wanda Warska, she sings in Polish, but there are English subtitles:

W Weronie - Wanda Warska
youtube.com/watch?v=wsuRbAKgtF4

Sample 02 is Zakopower:
"Poziom adrenaliny" ("Adrenaline Level", about Tatra mountains
W Zakopanem, w Kościelisku, Dzianinie
widzi mi się, widzi mi się
W Chochołowie, w Bukowinie, na Klinie
i tak, i nie; i tak, i nie

Syćkie te dziedziny dźwignom ci poziom adrenaliny
Syćkie te dziedziny dźwignom ci znacnie poziom adrenaliny

Skrajny Granat, Kazalnica, Świnica
tu świstocek, hań kozica
Wierch Kasprowy, Pośredni Goryczkowy
wybijom ci śporty z głowy

Tynkowe Kominy dźwignom ci poziom adrenaliny
Tynkowe Kominy dźwignom ci znacnie poziom adrenaliny
Tynkowe Kominy dźwignom ci poziom adrenaliny
Tynkowe Kominy dźwignom ci znacnie poziom adrenaliny

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


I'm not an expert on "cool" kids talk, so I can't guarantee I'm correct about this, but I think it means "easily, taking something with ease, without stress" (in my youth times we were saying "na luzie")

(from English "light" as easy)

Love / How to seduce Polish girls: Tips and advice [118]

edit, no joking on people's love affairs :)

Language / WHICH AUNT IS THE WUJENKA IN POLISH? [9]

In modern Polish everyone is just "wuj/wujek", we hardly use those older terms like stryj, stryjenka, wujenka, at least not my generation, and I'm almost 40 :)

But you're wrong here. Sisters (both on your fahter's and your mother's side) were called "ciotka/ciocia", so in your case she wouldn't be stryjenka, but ciocia and her husband - wuj/wujek.

Stryj was only father's brother, stryjenka that brother's wife. I know it's sexist :)

Language / The Polish language - it's bloody hard! [210]

no :)
it's kurde (kurna too, but it's rare)

Law / How to have Certificate of authenticity of Polish driving license [14]

You don't get certificates to passports, ID cards, driving licenses, they ARE a certificate.

Your questions are rather chaotic :)
So let me get things straight:
1/ You're a foreign citizen (with a Polish driving license)
2/ You are staying in Poland
3/ You have/want to exchange your license

Then you should go to the office that issued it (called Urząd Komunikacji - there's usually just one in most cities, but in big cities there are more, you need to go to the one in the right district).

Edit:
Nevermind, I just found your other thread: so I'm afraid you might have chosen some "semi"-legal ways to obtain your Polish driving license, then I can't help :(

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

Mam nadzieję, że się będziecie smażyć w piekle.
(it means: "I hope you fry/burn in hell", that's what generally people think of hell, eternal flames, but if you explicitely want to use the word "to rot", then it would be "Mam nadzieję, że zgnijecie w piekle.")