Posts tagged with "internet"

Polish Expat Bloggers

Posted by Anna No Comments
Dec 28 2009

It always amazes me how many Poles in recent years have packed up and moved to the UK and Ireland. Sometimes I feel like the last Polish person left alive who hasn’t even properly visited the “islands”, because no, transferring between Heathrow and Gatwick doesn’t count, or does it? I will remedy this glaring oversight in 2010 when I visit Birmingham for about a week in August (any readers in or around Birmingham who would like to get together and have lunch, or a non-alcoholic beverage, please let me know!).

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, Poles in the UK. There are thousands of them. Or is it millions now? And it seems that despite the bad economy, more and more are heading there. Personally, I know only two people who chose to return to Poland in 2009, and about ten times as many who got on a Ryanair flight with all their dreams and belongings reduced to one piece of checked-in luggage. But as I am a professional nomad myself, it’s not really my place to pass judgment on them and dissect the reasons why they decided to leave Poland.

What interests me are their experiences in the UK. Why? Oh, I’m nosey and real life stories are so much better than soap operas.

Luckily for me, it seems that just about every Polish expat on the “islands” is busy documenting his or her life in a blog. Most, actually – almost all of those blogs, are written in Polish and detail the boring, mundane events of boring, mundane every day life.

What surprised me was how many (many) of those Poles in UK complain, and what they complain about (everything). I know that narzekanie (complaining) is one of our national traits. No, wait, it’s not a trait, it’s part of our Polish genetic makeup. Nobody complains like we do. We’ve turned complaining about life, universe and everything into an art form.

But where was I? Ah yes, Polish expats blogging. Mercifully, since most of the blogs are written in our obscure national language, their readership is also almost exclusively Polish. There are, however, a few brave souls that decided to blog about their experiences in the UK in English. And maybe because they blog in English, they don’t complain as much as the rest.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to know just what those neighborhood Poles are up to, now you can – check out thesee blogs:

Anglopole’s blog is somewhat spasmodic, but still offers a nice glimpse of what a Polish person in the UK does and thinks.

Polka on the island writes a bit more frequently and also covers a wide variety of topics.

If you are a Pole abroad and blog in English, or in a mixture of languages about your daily life na obczyźnie, please take a minute and leave a comment – if you don’t mind, I’d like to feature your blogs next time we talk about this subject.

And yes, if you think I’m a blog addict, you are absolutely right. I love them, I read them, and I write them. Kocham blogi, piszę blogi i czytam blogi – jestem blogowym nałogowcem.

Polski on the internet – guest post by Barb

Posted by Anna 3 Comments
Aug 7 2009

A couple of posts ago I asked you about your Polish language adventures on the internet, remember?

And our fabulous guest blogger – Barbara from Canada prepared this piece about her experiences w polskiej sieci.

Polski on the internet – by Barbara from Canada

As most of you know, there are very few good sites dedicated to teaching or supporting the study of the Polish language and its culture (except this one, of course).

For the grammar purists in the room, Learn Polish with Sam and Biluś is a pretty good site. The authors are not native Poles (but are serious students) and present the material in an organized and detailed manner. One of the things I like about the site is that the authors often share useful charts and exhibits from their own studies. One of the drawbacks is that the site is not regularly updated. (Anna’s comment – not regularly updated – that’s a big, fat understatement – this year they’ve only posted 10 entries so far.)

Another site which I use extensively is www.polishforums.com. The grammar resources are pretty thin, so I use it mainly for general knowledge about Poland. The forum contains a lot of information, but “filters” are required. One of its obvious shortcomings is political correctness (poprawność polityczna). Be aware, some topics contain very raw emotions and comments.

Although it is easier to be introduced to Polish culture with the assistance of a native or an experienced ex-pat, there comes a point when you just want to venture out without the help of a guide. To be confused, puzzled and a little disoriented all on your own. To not have someone apply context to behaviours and intentions. Short of a trip abroad (which is coming later this month), I wanted to get a feel for the people directly. So, I started frequenting various Polish websites and forums.

In the on-line women’s magazine (magazyn dla kobiet) www.kafeteria.pl, I found short articles (artykuły) about daily life in Poland. Although the articles were sometimes interesting, I learned MUCH, MUCH more from the comments (komentarze). It didn’t take long before I wandered over to the “forums” section and that’s where things got REALLY interesting. What I mean to say is, I would read a certain topic and all its related posts, then I would sit back in my chair and mutter “really!?!”. I also learned a lot of words and expressions that couldn’t be found in dictionaries. :)

Probably the oddest site I frequent on a regular basis is a Polish website dedicated to the learning of English. Seems like a strange place to learn Polish, right? I help by correcting people’s writing, answering questions, basically assisting where I can. What do I get out of it? I have carved out a little niche for myself and made a few friends. I get to practice writing in Polish. I am also working up the nerve to post a sample of my speech, which I hope will be analyzed objectively. I don’t want to suffer the platitudes of overly-polite Poles that say “jak na cudzoziemkę, mówi Pani bardzo dobrze po polsku.” AAACK! I have been a rather difficult task master on the English forum and I’m honest in my feedback of others. In return, I hope to receive the same objective appraisal. A few Poles may hazard a couple of honest comments. Problem is, I’ve found that Poles are just too damn polite and wouldn’t want to risk hurting my feelings. :)

Anna’s comment: Poles polite? It’s because you’re a foreigner! You should see how we just love to trample the feelings of our fellow countrymen!

“W internecie” or “na internecie”?

Posted by Anna No Comments
Jul 31 2009

So…. The Lexiophiles Best Language Blog contest is over, and this year it was an immense failure for us. Or rather, for me. Last year, Polish Blog came in 6th. This year, 71st.

Oh well, I guess the novelty of Polish Blog has worn off, and it’s my fault too, because I haven’t told you about this contest and didn’t beg you to vote for me.

But that brings me to this question – what other internet resources do you use in your Polish language adventure?

With the overload of information on the internet, I know you can find stuff on just about anything. And that includes język polski. But which ones of those many resources are worth reading and using?

I have to admit, I am rather clueless here. I know that a few of you frequent other blogs, I know that some of you write your own blogs (as Pinolona and Island1 do). And then if you add to that language forums, discussion forums, and what-not forums, you can end up with a sizeable list of Polish-themed goodies on the internet. But the question is, which ones of those are worth your time and aggravation – as it often happens with discussion forums?

So, let’s share our “język polski w internecie” experiences! But since I have little to share here, I have to, once again, depend on you.

Oh, and before I forget. It’s “w internecie” in Polish (in the internet), not “na internecie” (on the internet). But don’t worry if you’re like me, and prefer to say “na internecie”. And from what I’m seeing, this mistake is becoming more and more popular. But as one friend very patiently explained to me, these two expressions actually mean something different.
Different? Yes, there is a difference, I agree (I just like to annoy my friend) but it’s so slight that most people don’t even realize it. But hey, that’s Polish for you.

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