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Posts by Magdalena  

Joined: 15 Aug 2007 / Female ♀
Last Post: 27 Mar 2015
Threads: 3
Posts: Total: 1,837 / Live: 1,527 / Archived: 310
From: North Sea coast, UK
Speaks Polish?: Yes
Interests: Reading, writing, listening, talking

Displayed posts: 1530 / page 1 of 51
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Magdalena   
28 Feb 2015
Po polsku / "Co sądzita" - zwrot w języku polskim (Oscar dla "Idy") [15]

równie łatwe do rozszyfrowania jak na przykład:

teraz mam bizi ale jak superwajzor da mi ofa to wypełnię tę formę i będę aplikować o hauzing benefit
albo
na lancz kupiłem sobie czikena w boksie
albo
weź trawelkę i jedź metrem bo w mieście jest straszny trafik, przy okazji stopapuj sobie telefon
Magdalena   
30 Jan 2015
History / The sketch of scenes in Poland in 1970 [7]

boy who, with his delicacy and sensitiveness, is very incongruous in contrast with his collective peers.

why would you think such a story is specific to Sixties/Seventies Poland? if anything, it would be much more believable as a contemporary story, methinks. people back then read "difficult" books and discussed the philosophical meaning of life much more than they do today - and were in general encouraged to do so by the education system. in many circles, if you didn't know Cortazar from Camus you faced a social death! ;-) so your assumption that a sensitive schoolboy would stick out like a sore thumb awash in a sea of troll-like brainwashed communist brutes is not really completely right... you might wanna push your story back to Stalinist times to achieve that effect.
Magdalena   
29 Jan 2015
Love / My Pole bf is flirting with an old friend from high school [12]

He hasn't "cheated". The exchange with his friend sounds like a lot of rather silly banter and teasing. Of course, if they ever take it further, it might well turn into flirting. It also depends on whether him and the Polish woman were ever romantically involved in the past.
Magdalena   
27 Jan 2015
Travel / Being Transgender and visiting Wroclaw [467]

This may be hard to believe

It's not hard to believe at all. The results of the parliamentary elections were not kept secret, after all :-) We also had an openly gay MP (Robert Biedroń) who is now the mayor of Słupsk. You really don't have to read the Economist to know that... ;-)
Magdalena   
25 Jan 2015
Life / Whats with going to sauna naked in Poland? [41]

if you choose to go to the sauna, you also have to accept the fact that clothes are not really much of an option. if you're not comfortable being buck naked, you can always cover up with a towel.
Magdalena   
25 Jan 2015
Language / How to say "It Was Staged" in Polish [9]

staged by - zainscenizowane przez

staged at - wystawione w

if you quoted the whole sentence I could be more specific.
Magdalena   
19 Jan 2015
Genealogy / The Name "Kasis" [7]

a misspelling of "Kasia" perhaps? otherwise no, not Polish.
Magdalena   
7 Jan 2015
Love / Polish Pet Names For Girls. [156]

Władysława (Władzia) is a Polish female name that nothing to do with "Johnny". Two tips:
1) Given names don't always "translate" - Władysława is a typically Polish name and has no foreign equivalent. The Polish equivalent of John, on the other hand, is Jan.

2) Never trust online translators; especially in language pairs like English-Polish, where the two languages are very, very different.
Magdalena   
5 Jan 2015
Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

what's your original name? it might sound pronounceable enough to Polish ears as it is. or, if you are male, you could call yourself "Sławek" which is a form of Sławomir (to keep with the Glory meaning). the female name "Sława" also exists (see Sława Przybylska) but is almost never used, so you would stick out if you used it.
Magdalena   
4 Jan 2015
Genealogy / Bernatowicz surname? (I am starting to wonder if anyone in my family was American?) [85]

If so, could my ancestor's last name could have been just that and his son got Bernatowicz as stated previously?

The way this would work, one of your distant ancestors would have the given name or nickname of Bernat (Bernard), and then he had a kid, and to differentiate between them, someone would call the child Bernatowicz (at this point it would still have been simply a nickname). Then, as the family multiplied, the nickname would become a surname.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name#Poland
Magdalena   
30 Dec 2014
Life / Polish traditions and customs? I'm writing a crime novel that takes place in Poland. [10]

Polish men shake hands every single time they meet each other.

Not all men by far; and many women choose to shake hands also. It all depends on the social context of the situation.

Sometimes men kiss each other as a greeting, like once on each cheek, but sometimes 3 times.
However, this is rare now and more confined to rural areas.

Men only typically kiss if they are family members getting together after a long absence or if they are exchanging Christmas or Easter wishes. Most find it slightly embarrassing and only do it because of tradition. A lot of women have the same attitude.

Women kiss each other on the cheek each time they meet.

Not true - I am a Polish woman and have lived in PL most of my life, and have never kissed or been kissed by my female friends as a typical greeting. Some admittedly do the "mwa mwa" thing where they kiss the air near their friend's ear ;-) but I would never say it's something every woman always does when greeting a friend.

You forgot to mention hand kissing (male to female) which is now very rarely done, and usually has either a flirty context or is reserved for very majestic old ladies, who usually extend their hand for a kiss as a matter of course.

All in all, all the above behaviours happen but none is predominant; Polish men do shake hands more often than say American men, but the handshake is not significant in any way, it's like saying "hi". As to kissing and hugging, surprisingly enough, I have been kissed and hugged a lot more often by my English friends here in the UK than by my Polish friends ever! ;-)
Magdalena   
30 Dec 2014
Life / Polish traditions and customs? I'm writing a crime novel that takes place in Poland. [10]

Some people will be more open while others will be more reserved. Don't rely on stereotypes. Is there any practical / real reason why your novel is based in Poland? Do you have any knowledge of the country? Have you visited? Because I can't imagine writing a novel set in e.g. Belgium (I've never been there). The only thing that comes to mind that could help you, apart from spending lots of time in Poland, is watching a lot of Polish movies of all genres to get an idea of how people behave.
Magdalena   
28 Nov 2014
Genealogy / Polish Surnames Anglicized? [48]

Tracking down a source going back many generations

is actually almost impossible.
Magdalena   
28 Nov 2014
Travel / Travel warnings for children of Polish citizens. [6]

Why did you apply for Polish citizenship

I was living and working in Poland anyway, but had Czech citizenship because I was born in Czechoslovakia to a Czech mother (my father is Polish). I had to carry my Czech passport and my permanent residence card everywhere as ID, which was a pain. So at some point I decided to take the plunge... ;-) Sadly, at the time dual PL/CZ citizenship was not allowed, or I would have chosen that.
Magdalena   
28 Nov 2014
Travel / Travel warnings for children of Polish citizens. [6]

ended up being conscripted, around 2007 I think.

I would still think there was more to the story. In other words, even with compulsory military service, the Army did not randomly search the streets for eligible young men; they would call you up using the register of citizens when you turned 18 and were not in full-time education. In other words, someone born abroad to Polish parents who happened to visit Poland would not be in the system at all; I can only imagine this was someone actually born in Poland, who had a permanent address in Poland and did not de-register prior to going abroad, and who then visited Poland after turning 18 and - wait for it - actually acknowledged receipt of the conscription letter (or whatever you call it) and turned up at the conscription office. Many young men used to avoid conscription while living in Poland by moving around the country and not accepting any registered correspondence, so a tourist from abroad would have found it so much easier! ;-)

As to Polish citizenship by birth, you still have to register the child's birth in Poland and apply for a Polish passport, otherwise how would the Polish authorities know? If you are an adult child of Polish citizens, but do not hold a Polish passport, you must follow a process whereby you prove you are entitled to Polish citizenship. I am half Polish and even though I lived, went to school, and worked in Poland, it took me a YEAR to complete the process when I wanted to switch form Czech to Polish citizenship.