I dont think cashiers will ever judge you for saying good morning when entering store, for us its just sign of good manners. People just say it without thinking
Or if you're more comfortable with it you could greet them with English or even Japanese. My polish friends always told me that the greeting itself is what's important not the language it is said in. I'm just going with "hello" for younger staff and "good morning", "good afternoon" or "good evening" for people older than me since respecting older people is important in Poland (they even use honorifics : Pani, Pan etc. That's not something done in English so I was really confused at first)
LOL your thoughts about polish language are very funny and very true :D. I think we talk a lot bc we think that if we have company it's impolite to be silent bc it might be seen as being rude. So we talk to let someone know we are acknowledging his presence.
I often watch youtuber "Dave z Ameryki" (Dave from America). He is an American of Polish descent, of course he speaks English and Polish. He often says that Poles speak quietly, much more quietly than Americans. Now he is in Spain and he said that Spanish people speak so loud that you have to shout to your interlocutor because it is so loud everywhere.
Do you know that in Polish we pronounce vowels exactly as in Japanese, the only difference is that they are always short. And Polish is spoken by up to 60 million people worldwide, not only Poles or people of Polish origin but also by many Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians.
Radzę zmienić tytuł filmiku na polski/ dodać wersję po polsku, wtedy powinno wpaść trochę więcej wyświetleń! Ludzie lubią takie dyrdymały typu jak ich język brzmi dla obcokrajowców, algorytm powinien zrobić swoje😊 lubię twój kanał także fajnie jakby trafiał do szerszej publiczności bo mało u nas Japończyków chętnych poopowiadać o życiu w Polsce oraz Japonii
It's funny to me that you say Polish sound more energetic than Japanese because, as a Pole, I feel the exact opposite. When you have double consonants, like "まって！","やっぱり！" it sounds like you put a lot more energy into exhaling with those words than poles do. And I agree we just talk in one big stream. We have long words, longer than Japanese or English so we talk for longer too.
8:05 - That word you don't know is "zimno" and it means "cold". I'm not surprise you are hearing it a lot - polish people love complaining about the weather. Love your channel, keep going! Greetings from Poland :)
My Ukrainian friend said that my native language (Latvian) sounds similar to Polish. I told her to shut up because Polish is Slavic language, while Latvian is Baltic. However, the sounds in Polish are very similar to Latvian :))
When you look at indo-european tree diagram you can see that Balto-Slavic languages had quite a long common development ..so that's why they can sound similar ;))
Well, but even though Baltic languages are a distinct family, their closest relative is Slavic family anyways :) Also many sounds tend to be shared just because of being close.
8:03 "zimno" means that now is quite cold. And "ciemno" means that now is quite dark. I wrote 2 meanings of 2 words because I'm not sure what you said, but I think it was "zimno".
Very interesting topic. I was wonder many times how Polish language sound to people from other countries especially from Asian Regions where they use more "soft" pronunciation. Im also glad to see that you go with your own opinion about topics you try to speak about instead of saying only nice things. After all it's the reason we are watching. To see whats your point of view and not try to convince you to like something that you have full right not to like. I hope you enjoying your stay here. As much as I myself would like to move from here this country still have nice things that i will miss after. I look forward to watch more videos and wish you the Best.
Last part was funny because of what I heard from another japanese YT. She was surprised that waiters didn't talk to her in polish after she said Dzień dobry... They sticked to the english even tho her polish was completly fluent. She didn't even try to stay with polish and also changed to english. It's not rude at all if they react in one way (speaking polish)or another (staying with english) because they don't know you and everything they can is just to guess. You guys are way to shy and you have to react by saying anything to make you comfortable. Action -> reaction. Be flex, be chilled, be polish :D
Ohh, it's really fun experience to hear about Polish form foreigner :D I think that you can greet witch "Dzień dobry" and then tell that you don't speak Polish we usually would appreciate that you speak to us in our language ^^ but you don't have to. We don't mind this that much ;)
Poles are talkative (or not) in variety of different social situations. - We are somewhat less approachable early morning. Some Poles may be grumpy, annoyed or just snarky. Not everybody, just some of them. - When meeting somebody entirely new Poles' reactions may vary from openess to - rare but still present - closed, nearly xenophobic reaction. Most of us though will enjoy just spending time with somebody from Japan. Some people here are simply fascinated by Japan. Naturally, fascination makes some people strive to any contact and they will be exhilarated. - Some Poles (including me :D) talk a lot when they're nervous or they want to impress somebody. Outside of these situations, Poles are, in fact, pretty expressive and they tend to share a lot of unasked information. We digress, treating the conversation as a form of entertainment itself, where both parties love to entertain themselves. It's like going out with someone but instead we're not going anywhere, just trying to make every single minute a small break from work or other mundane activities. - Regarding these cashiers saying "Dzień dobry"... that's a tricky thing because they're literally told to say that to everybody. Some Poles are also avoiding cashiers and clerks on purpose, just to skip that fake (at least in their minds) greeting culture. In the end if you're not feeling confident about your Polish, just nod your head slightly to the person saying "Dzień dobry". And if you're feeling handsome that day, go for a smile :D
I'm polish. For me Japanese sound hard and like an orders in the army 🤣, but when Japanese girls talk in polish like Japolka - it sounds for me like a milk with honey 🤩
I studied Spanish in school for about 7 years then Japanese and Chinese for the last 3 years 😂😂and now it’s so hard to self teach myself Polish I have to retrain my mouth all over again
I'm not sure if everyone does that, but if you talk to someone and they talk very quickly and not clearly, sometimes I interrupt them, make the same sound śźżćśćśćść (4:27) and say "speak slower because I don't understand anything" Idk if this is rude, at least they don't have to say same thing twice😂 Edit, 5:14 My friends often tell me that I speak too loud and that I should be quieter, but for example, not on the bus or in a public place, just with friends 6:55 thanks, i guess 😂 8:03 could be "ciemno" or "zimno", first is dark (example its dark outside) and second is "its cold" (same, its zimno outside) , do widzenienia is just goodbye 8:35 Just dont say anything, "dowidzenia" when you are leaving is good enough, no bad impression
I don't think Polish people talk fast, but maybe that's because I myself talk super fast (my dad compares me to a machine gun when I talk). But we can talk quite a lot and the thing is, we kind of "interrupt" each other as we talk. I can't explain it well, but there was a video on youtube where guy was explaining things about Poland (something like dos and don'ts in Poland) and he called that "polite interrupting". Like, when someone is talking and you suddenly find this right moment in their speech to interrupt with your own response. It's a bit difficult to learn because we do it automatically. Guess it just comes with practice. About Japanese - for me it sounds rhythmic and clean. Like a sound of a cart riding through a country road? Something like that. Polish is often compared to trees on a windy day btw, because of all the "sz cz ś ć" sounds. I guess I could call Japanese cute, because it is generally very pleasant for me to listen to.
For a moment I thought I would be angry as a polish person, but then I listened to what you were saying and I was like: yes😂😂😂 I love hearing you describe what it sounds like to you, and I am happy you also considered if it sounds louder or faster because you were unfamiliar with the words- something I think about too. Over all I hope you enjoyed your stay in poland. (I also experience the oh if I say a greeting really well, they will think I am fluent in their language- but in sweden)
So, you're telling us we sound like mosquitoes 🦟, bees 🐝 and flies 🪰 talking to one another while meeting in a meadow on a sunny day. That's sweet 😂 ...
Yeaaah, our language can be difficult to understand. Especially when we speak fast. Just yesterday I met with my two friends, one of them is an American who moved to Poland like 3 years ago (mind You, he still doesn't know Polish, haha), but when the two of us Poles were talking he tried to understand us and he heard words which were never mentioned in a converstation. So it's sometimes hard to distinguish certain sounds and words. Even us Polish have a problem with that too sometimes and we have to ask for clarification.😃 Also to Polish people German sounds like gibberish, we most likely will understand English, Czech or Slovakian without previous knowledge of that language rather than German. This is most likely due to mutual intelligibility phenomenon though. About speaking a lot, it depends on a region, in some regions people are more open and talkative in others they tend more to themselves. Btw once You get down rz/ż, sz, h/ch, s, ś, ć, c etc., it will go down smoothly for You to learn! It would be good to have someone to teach You too. 😊 It is very much annoying to me too when people speak loudly on their phone in public transport like tram or train, or in public in general, this also ties to our upbringing, more people nowadays grow up in a careless mindset sadly. Overall great video, love them very much. I'm sending bunch of virtual hugs! ❤
No offence Ken but when you say that you don't speak polish that cashier must suppose it is for real ;D. I think accent is no shame and all people are a bit clumsy learning other languages than their native one. If you keep going you'll be able to have a small talk with cashier with confidence ;). Cheers, you're awsome and thank you for all your toughts about Poland that you share.
polish people also think Japanese speak fast. My family always said that was their impression ;) I feel like your language is usually taken in 2 ways in Poland either it's loud and fast or really cute. I've grown up watching anime and listening to Japanese in general since like 11 so I never had that unbiased eye I can only guess from what others say but definitely what I always noticed was the lack of intonation which is important in Polish. Other people notice the flatness too. It almost sounds weird when you put too much emotion into the Japanese language to me cause of the lack of intonation but I feel like it's really unique
That was a very cute video, very positive! And I think I agree with everything you said. I'm glad that you hear our language this way :D It's difficult to explain how I hear Japanese by texting (I've been learning Japanese for one semester now) but it feels like someone is rapping very fast XD you hear lots of sh ch and it feels like we're pouting all the time - I hear lots of syllables being repeated as quick as possible, with a strange intonation, very emotionally but I have no idea what each type of intonation means. Are you asking me something? Are you angry? Are you interested surprised happy sad disappointed? I have no idea, it all sounds very chaotic and like someone was trying to say a lot at once hahahah I hope you also realize that it's how I hear it, I love the language and studying it is a pleasure but it's so different from Polish that I have a hard time speaking, even though the grammar doesn't seem too complicated for now.
Wow, I'm actually really impressed with how accurate your observations about the Polish language and the way Polish people speak were! I agreed with pretty much everything you said about it and it even made me realize some things I didn't even think of before. Funniest thing is that it just so happened that when you were talking about how fast we speak I could hear my sister in the room next to mine talking on the phone and she was indeed talking really fast 😂 And about worrying about people thinking it's weird when you come into a store and don't say hello or dzień dobry or anything like that, there really is no reason to worry about that, it's actually pretty common to only say it once you come up to the checkout to pay for whatever you're buying, at least in my experience :) Usually it's the cashier that greets the customer first, though it can be the other way around as well. And of course saying thank you and goodbye as you're leaving the store. I really doubt anyone would judge you for going about it like that.
I think it's totally fine to greet in a grocery store in English. Most people understand it at this level. At the same time, it's a sign of which language you prefer to address you.
I love to teach foreigners that in polish language we can say every noun as normal, cute and sometimes even more cute. Like: ziemniak, ziemniaczek kot, kotek, koteczek samochód, samochodzik You can literally name any noun and there is a cuter version of it. We also do that with names like: Kuba, Kubuś Anna, Ania Stanisław, Staszek, Stasiu, Stasieniek - this one has 3 softer versions.
Sometimes I watch Japanese dramas. The actors don't speak fast, but sometimes I get the feeling that they are "chanting" the words. Like a general to his subordinates. Especially in older movies. You have to go to mass at the Polish church. Preferably on a Sunday when there are a lot of people. You will hear a noise like in the forest during the wind ... People "rustle " saying ;) Like szszszczczśćszczszśćsz..... :D
Greeting while entering the room is very important. It's a matter of respect and good manners. Of course if you go to a big discount store nobody will care but in general is polite to say "Dzień dobry" or "Hello" (even if it's in English everybody understands that and maybe it won't put you in the uncomfortable situation of somebody carrying on in Polish.) I think it's also fine to say that you are learning the language and do not speak well yet. Not everybody (especially the older generation) speak English but they will for sure make an effort to communicate with you. To be honest it happens to me while traveling. I am always learning some basic words like "good morning" or "thank you" and some people take it as knowing the language. Then I am just smiling and saying that I am a tourist and they switch to English.
My husband is Japanese. We live in Poland. He thinks Polish poeple are just loud and they aren't embarrassed when they are heard by other people. It is their mentality. It also concerns Australians among whom he lived for 18 years.
You were talking about extroverted, talkative people and it's true that majority of Polish population is like that. My advice: Don't be afraid of cutting them off when they talk or talking over them! It's just lively conversation for them. Logically it's polite to let someone finish what they're saying but it's also polite to let someone else talk sometimes, so if they don't do that then why bother being polite 😅😂 Also, if you walk into the store you can smile and nod, then they will know you can't speak Polish and they probably will find you sweet! 😁
How Polish sounds like is quite known. For most people outside Central Europe, Polish resembles rustling sounds. Someone once said that Polish sounds like two bushes fighting. As a Polish person, obviously I can't be fully objective about it, but I understand why people think that way. As for Polish people being talkative, maybe in comparison to Japanese, they are, but generally it varies. I know quite few Poles like myself who don't talk much. I love how Japanese language sounds like. It's very distinctive and definitely has a different flow from other languages. Sometimes is monotonous, sometimes more vibrant, and sometimes is somewhat staccato.
Honestly I don't think cashier has a bad impression about you when you dont tell them good morning .I think just Polish people have that face expression like ,I will hit you in anytime or something .But when you ask something I think they will be helpful anytime if they don't have bad day in the end we are all people
@Ken/ Solo Japanese Style interesting video. Japan has influenced other cultures in language, and countries like Portugal🇵🇹 (arigatou~> obrigado, pan~> pan), Germany🇩🇪 (arubaito-> arbeit), and the Netherlands 🇳🇱(kouhi, kuredeto kaado-> coffee, credit card) have found their way into the Japanese language due to their commerce with the Land of the Rising Sun. It recently came to my attention from a friend of partial Polish heritage that the Polish and Japanese came to each other’s aid during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5 and in WWI on 1918. I bet there was a language exchange between the two nations. During WWI some Japanese took in some Polish babies for a time to save those children from the invading Russians. When the Polish children had to return to Poland after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, they begged to stay in Japan. Even today, the Japanese president visits Poland in part of their shared bond from over a hundred years ago. Perhaps there are Polish people children of those ancestors there who have shared this fascinating history with you? Question: are there words or phrases the Japanese adopted from the Polish during their close kinship?
"zimno" means cold, "ciemno" means dark. Im not sure which one you were trying to say but the first one is said something like ” ジムノ ” while the other one ” チェムノ ”
You might see this pattern of going up and down while speaking because most of words have an accent on the second from the end syllable ex. dzięKUję, przePRAszam, doBRAnoc
we talk a lot and we do "aaa", "eeee" "yyyy" cause it means im still talking/gonna talk just need to remind myself something and will continue, pause could mean im done talking so someone would saw chance to interrupt me :D
Don't Japanese also not make direct pauses when they speak? I mean I learn Japanese from a native speaker and he quite often says "あの" or "えと" when he's thinking about what next to say. The Polish "Eeeee" fulfills the exact same purpose. Thinking about what next to say.
Yeah Polish people talk loudly Imagine being on a school break in highschool. It's hard to hear each other so we talked even louder. It was almost yelling 🤣
Polish 'eeeee' or 'ahhhh' means the same as Japanease "Eto, sono"? I mean if You have to think what to say we saying "eeeeee" "yyyyyy", but Japanease people saying "Eto... sono..." :D. Am i wrong? And one question from me to You. What will happend if ill go to Japan, and say to the store worker "Konnichiwa/Ohayou/Konbawa"? They will think that i can speak Japanease? "Watashi wa poorando-jin desu, demo ne... I cant speak japanease" xD
from what i've heard from other people, Japanese people usually assume that you don't know Japanese well and talk to you in English anyway XD but I think cashiers don't really start conversations in Japanese conbini cuz they have set phrases what to say to the customers
It is quite cute to see you speak japanese xd and also interesting thoughts! Never noticed that we talked so much, and about that "yyyyyyyyy" instead of silence, it might be becouse if you go silent then you're finished speaking or it just sounds awkward - so to "yyyyy", or "aaaaaaaaaaaaaa" we go xD (but a lot of polish ppl make fun of like public figures doing that becouse it might mean that you either don't know words (which... yeah no, you don't want them to know that), or you're just unprepared for speaking or performing (even worse that not knowing/forgetting words)) also, if word or sentence ends with a higher note, it makes it a question!(not always, but most of the time i think) is it similar in japanese?, or do you have someting else that like, i don't even know
I think that cashiers think you can speak polish because you can pronounce „dzień dobry” (good morning) perfect, and taking into account that we are very hermetic county (~95% poles?), we would assume that you know polish. As someone suggested, try using english „hello” instead - everyone would know what you mean but they won’t talk to you in polish
I will prove your point that Polish people talk a lot by also writing a lot! 😣 You have to forgive me, I just have so many thoughts! So about interrupting it's a very clear cultural difference of what is expected/considered rude or polite in Poland and in Japan. In Poland using phrases like "uhm" "aha" "oh yeah" etc is very common I'd say. In linguistics it's called hedging! Apparently women tend to do it more than men and it's a signal that you're listening to what the other person is saying, you're paying attention and really processing it. If you're not used to that, it might seem rude, but for us it's respectful. A matter of perspective! Another thing about talking a lot and not letting a pause in conversation - I personally find it very awkward if there are pauses in conversation so maybe culturally we tend to have that impression as Poles? I think letting yourself pause without anxiety is great, it'd do us well to adapt it from the Japanese. As for the volume... I guess in comparison with the rest of Europe, especially the warmer Mediterranean countries we're not that loud but I feel like culturally Slavs can be quite loud. I personally get loud when I get excited, maybe it's less of a taboo here? But in places like public transport people will give you the stink eye for being too noisy. And about intonation - that's very very interesting! Cause from what I know about Japanese the intonation is kind of important to the proper pronunciation of words, while in Polish it's basically free. The words that you gave as examples could be pronounced in many different way without seeming off but intonation in Polish relies basically on the emotion you're trying to convey. However the stress of the word (almost) always has to fall on the last-but-one syllable. So that also influences the intonation for sure. It's funny when you said you can pronounce words in Japanese with no intonation because I heard plenty in the sentences you said! That's the bias of the native speaker I guess ;D The melody of Japanese is very lovely, I always found it soothing how stable and rhythmical it sounds. And it can sound plenty cute to polish speakers too! And I haven't thought about us moving our lips that much but now I'll pay attention to it 😆 I think polish people pronounce vowels very clearly - maybe to make up for all the tough constants that we have xD That's the end of my lecture (xD), thank you very much for sharing your thoughts in the video, it was very interesting!
One last thing - I also liked what you said about Poland being the only European country you have reference for, because lots of these could also be just European culture shocks. I wonder what your opinion would be after getting in contact with more European cultures.
Very cool video btw can I ask you why in every anime people before went out the house tapping a top of their shoes against floor, is that real thing or just anime stuff, and if that first then why is so. Does it some tradition, religious stuff, or just to correct your shouea
@@kensolojapa btw can I ask you one more thing because now I making a story were due to a help that witches gave to axis WWII last longer and in this history Japan not gave up after drop atomcis bombs just after civil war lead by fair and change the rules but it's my problem because I heard that you are very loyal to your ceaser/rulers and now I wonder if it's possible that you would upraised if they would decide to continue a war after sometting like drop atomic bomb. Ohh and one last this is the name Gin kaze has any strange meaning in your langue since I don't know Japanese at all and don't want to make mistake
I would never think that how polish sounds to someone who doesn't know it! Also i want to addres something, what encourged you to come to Poland? Did you hear aboud is somewhere? And i do think that japanese form whoever speaks sounds cute😁
It feels weird to me that you're saying Italian sounds different from other European languages but all others sound the same. Because for me there are a few levels of separation in how different languages sound, and Italian doesn't really stand particularly apart there: Firstly, Bulgarian, English and Russian sound totally different from all others because of their heavy vowel reduction (vowels lose their qualities and become indistinguishable when not stressed). Pretty much all other European languages have little to no vowel reduction (just like Japanese does). Second, there are language groups separated by region that have some distinct features in how they sound: Mediterranean languages, Slavic and Baltic languages, French and High German languages, Scandinavian languages. Third, each individual language has its distinct sound. You need some getting used to a particular language to start to hear how it's different from all others. Then lastly, many languages have a variety of dialects that also sound differently. I'm now living in Cyprus and I can hear whether a person is local or from Greece even though I don't really understand Greek apart from a few words and phrases. So, for me out of the languages that you mentioned, English stands apart the most while Italian is rather similar to Spanish. P.S. Thanks to your video I now have a slightly better understanding of how Japanese sounds, and that's great! Thank you!
Believe it or not, but for most polish people japanese sounds really loud. Only people who watch anime or are studying japanese can prove them wrong. I do think that japanese is cute. Especially when I'm watching romance anime 😄. I'm waiting for your next video! Ganbare ganbare senpai! 😁
There is one thing that I don't agree with and it's that we can't speak without intonation. We can, but it sounds monotonous. Usually when someone speaks like that they give off impression of being bored, uninterested, tired etc. so when we talk with someone we care about or if we want to give a good impression that's when we intonate. Also it kinda hurt when you said that all of european languages sound the same to you, but I understand where you are coming from since it's similiar for me with lots of asian languages :) Take care, hope to hear more from you soon!
Once you approach the cashier you can say “przepraszam, nie mówię po polsku. Proszę pan/pani mowić po angielsku?” Problem solved 😂 if you get a “nie”, they’ll probably show you the amount you need to pay and that’s it. Don’t panic, I know it’s easier said than done, but I imagine myself in Japan and I know I’d have the same problem, so I get you. About them being too talkative, I’d say that’s more like an European thing, I’m Portuguese and we talk a lot too and also super fast 😂
No one will judge you if you say Dzień dobry and that you don’t speak Polish I think it’s cute that you know flew Polish words or phrase and use it. Fist Japanese language sound for me exotic and strange but with time I find it more cute and interesting.
Actually, knowing the language changes perspective a lot Aren't you interested in learn some more polish? It would be much easier for you to understand a lot of things
I dont think cashiers will ever judge you for saying good morning when entering store, for us its just sign of good manners. People just say it without thinking
👍👍
Or if you're more comfortable with it you could greet them with English or even Japanese. My polish friends always told me that the greeting itself is what's important not the language it is said in. I'm just going with "hello" for younger staff and "good morning", "good afternoon" or "good evening" for people older than me since respecting older people is important in Poland (they even use honorifics : Pani, Pan etc. That's not something done in English so I was really confused at first)
LOL your thoughts about polish language are very funny and very true :D. I think we talk a lot bc we think that if we have company it's impolite to be silent bc it might be seen as being rude. So we talk to let someone know we are acknowledging his presence.
Yeah 😁😁
If you think Poles are talkative, I would be curious to see your impressions if you visit Spain or Italy :)))
True 😂
Im from poland No poles arę not talkative
I'm from Poland i can say we aren't as much talkative as it says
I often watch youtuber "Dave z Ameryki" (Dave from America). He is an American of Polish descent, of course he speaks English and Polish. He often says that Poles speak quietly, much more quietly than Americans. Now he is in Spain and he said that Spanish people speak so loud that you have to shout to your interlocutor because it is so loud everywhere.
I can’t imagine what American is like 😁
Do you know that in Polish we pronounce vowels exactly as in Japanese, the only difference is that they are always short. And Polish is spoken by up to 60 million people worldwide, not only Poles or people of Polish origin but also by many Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians.
Radzę zmienić tytuł filmiku na polski/ dodać wersję po polsku, wtedy powinno wpaść trochę więcej wyświetleń! Ludzie lubią takie dyrdymały typu jak ich język brzmi dla obcokrajowców, algorytm powinien zrobić swoje😊 lubię twój kanał także fajnie jakby trafiał do szerszej publiczności bo mało u nas Japończyków chętnych poopowiadać o życiu w Polsce oraz Japonii
znaczy polacy to lubią, bo inne kraje mają to w dupie
Polacy w domyśle.
It's funny to me that you say Polish sound more energetic than Japanese because, as a Pole, I feel the exact opposite. When you have double consonants, like "まって！","やっぱり！" it sounds like you put a lot more energy into exhaling with those words than poles do. And I agree we just talk in one big stream. We have long words, longer than Japanese or English so we talk for longer too.
8:05 - That word you don't know is "zimno" and it means "cold". I'm not surprise you are hearing it a lot - polish people love complaining about the weather.
Love your channel, keep going!
Greetings from Poland :)
My Ukrainian friend said that my native language (Latvian) sounds similar to Polish. I told her to shut up because Polish is Slavic language, while Latvian is Baltic. However, the sounds in Polish are very similar to Latvian :))
No R tho.
(For what i know)
LOL
When you look at indo-european tree diagram you can see that Balto-Slavic languages had quite a long common development ..so that's why they can sound similar ;))
rather latvian to POLISH bjacz.
Well, but even though Baltic languages are a distinct family, their closest relative is Slavic family anyways :) Also many sounds tend to be shared just because of being close.
8:03 "zimno" means that now is quite cold.
And "ciemno" means that now is quite dark.
I wrote 2 meanings of 2 words because I'm not sure what you said, but I think it was "zimno".
zimne cieplo
Got it!!
zimno 寒い
ciemno 暗い
Very interesting topic. I was wonder many times how Polish language sound to people from other countries especially from Asian Regions where they use more "soft" pronunciation. Im also glad to see that you go with your own opinion about topics you try to speak about instead of saying only nice things. After all it's the reason we are watching. To see whats your point of view and not try to convince you to like something that you have full right not to like. I hope you enjoying your stay here. As much as I myself would like to move from here this country still have nice things that i will miss after. I look forward to watch more videos and wish you the Best.
Yeah, that expression "soft" is really nice!!
Try to improve your English, mainly sentence structure, not easy to comprehend
As a polish person im very proud of you! I love Japan and all of the tech in Japan.
Last part was funny because of what I heard from another japanese YT. She was surprised that waiters didn't talk to her in polish after she said Dzień dobry... They sticked to the english even tho her polish was completly fluent. She didn't even try to stay with polish and also changed to english. It's not rude at all if they react in one way (speaking polish)or another (staying with english) because they don't know you and everything they can is just to guess. You guys are way to shy and you have to react by saying anything to make you comfortable. Action -> reaction. Be flex, be chilled, be polish :D
😳😳
Ohh, it's really fun experience to hear about Polish form foreigner :D
I think that you can greet witch "Dzień dobry" and then tell that you don't speak Polish we usually would appreciate that you speak to us in our language ^^ but you don't have to. We don't mind this that much ;)
Poles are talkative (or not) in variety of different social situations.
- We are somewhat less approachable early morning. Some Poles may be grumpy, annoyed or just snarky. Not everybody, just some of them.
- When meeting somebody entirely new Poles' reactions may vary from openess to - rare but still present - closed, nearly xenophobic reaction. Most of us though will enjoy just spending time with somebody from Japan. Some people here are simply fascinated by Japan. Naturally, fascination makes some people strive to any contact and they will be exhilarated.
- Some Poles (including me :D) talk a lot when they're nervous or they want to impress somebody. Outside of these situations, Poles are, in fact, pretty expressive and they tend to share a lot of unasked information. We digress, treating the conversation as a form of entertainment itself, where both parties love to entertain themselves. It's like going out with someone but instead we're not going anywhere, just trying to make every single minute a small break from work or other mundane activities.
- Regarding these cashiers saying "Dzień dobry"... that's a tricky thing because they're literally told to say that to everybody. Some Poles are also avoiding cashiers and clerks on purpose, just to skip that fake (at least in their minds) greeting culture. In the end if you're not feeling confident about your Polish, just nod your head slightly to the person saying "Dzień dobry". And if you're feeling handsome that day, go for a smile :D
I'm polish. For me Japanese sound hard and like an orders in the army 🤣, but when Japanese girls talk in polish like Japolka - it sounds for me like a milk with honey 🤩
Had same impression especially when watching elder movies with Toshiro Mifune XD
for me chinese sounds more easy than japanese
本当に面白かった。😂ポーランド語を真似た時に笑ってた。
似てましたか？😂😂
He's right as Polish is a hissing language .
We have many hissing sounds .
@@bigloaf7982 *hiss*
I studied Spanish in school for about 7 years then Japanese and Chinese for the last 3 years 😂😂and now it’s so hard to self teach myself Polish I have to retrain my mouth all over again
Very insightful.
I'm not sure if everyone does that, but if you talk to someone and they talk very quickly and not clearly, sometimes I interrupt them, make the same sound śźżćśćśćść (4:27) and say "speak slower because I don't understand anything"
Idk if this is rude, at least they don't have to say same thing twice😂
Edit, 5:14 My friends often tell me that I speak too loud and that I should be quieter, but for example, not on the bus or in a public place, just with friends
6:55 thanks, i guess 😂
8:03 could be "ciemno" or "zimno", first is dark (example its dark outside) and second is "its cold" (same, its zimno outside) , do widzenienia is just goodbye
8:35 Just dont say anything, "dowidzenia" when you are leaving is good enough, no bad impression
I hope I helped with something 😂
Yeah I hear that sounds 😂
I don't think Polish people talk fast, but maybe that's because I myself talk super fast (my dad compares me to a machine gun when I talk). But we can talk quite a lot and the thing is, we kind of "interrupt" each other as we talk. I can't explain it well, but there was a video on youtube where guy was explaining things about Poland (something like dos and don'ts in Poland) and he called that "polite interrupting". Like, when someone is talking and you suddenly find this right moment in their speech to interrupt with your own response. It's a bit difficult to learn because we do it automatically. Guess it just comes with practice. About Japanese - for me it sounds rhythmic and clean. Like a sound of a cart riding through a country road? Something like that. Polish is often compared to trees on a windy day btw, because of all the "sz cz ś ć" sounds. I guess I could call Japanese cute, because it is generally very pleasant for me to listen to.
I see!!
Pozdrawiam. Dziękuję za film!❤❤
For a moment I thought I would be angry as a polish person, but then I listened to what you were saying and I was like: yes😂😂😂
I love hearing you describe what it sounds like to you, and I am happy you also considered if it sounds louder or faster because you were unfamiliar with the words- something I think about too.
Over all I hope you enjoyed your stay in poland.
(I also experience the oh if I say a greeting really well, they will think I am fluent in their language- but in sweden)
So, you're telling us we sound like mosquitoes 🦟, bees 🐝 and flies 🪰 talking to one another while meeting in a meadow on a sunny day. That's sweet 😂 ...
Yeaaah, our language can be difficult to understand. Especially when we speak fast.
Just yesterday I met with my two friends, one of them is an American who moved to Poland like 3 years ago (mind You, he still doesn't know Polish, haha), but when the two of us Poles were talking he tried to understand us and he heard words which were never mentioned in a converstation. So it's sometimes hard to distinguish certain sounds and words. Even us Polish have a problem with that too sometimes and we have to ask for clarification.😃
Also to Polish people German sounds like gibberish, we most likely will understand English, Czech or Slovakian without previous knowledge of that language rather than German. This is most likely due to mutual intelligibility phenomenon though.
About speaking a lot, it depends on a region, in some regions people are more open and talkative in others they tend more to themselves. Btw once You get down rz/ż, sz, h/ch, s, ś, ć, c etc., it will go down smoothly for You to learn! It would be good to have someone to teach You too. 😊
It is very much annoying to me too when people speak loudly on their phone in public transport like tram or train, or in public in general, this also ties to our upbringing, more people nowadays grow up in a careless mindset sadly.
Overall great video, love them very much. I'm sending bunch of virtual hugs! ❤
No offence Ken but when you say that you don't speak polish that cashier must suppose it is for real ;D. I think accent is no shame and all people are a bit clumsy learning other languages than their native one.
If you keep going you'll be able to have a small talk with cashier with confidence ;). Cheers, you're awsome and thank you for all your toughts about Poland that you share.
polish people also think Japanese speak fast. My family always said that was their impression ;)
I feel like your language is usually taken in 2 ways in Poland either it's loud and fast or really cute. I've grown up watching anime and listening to Japanese in general since like 11 so I never had that unbiased eye I can only guess from what others say but definitely what I always noticed was the lack of intonation which is important in Polish. Other people notice the flatness too. It almost sounds weird when you put too much emotion into the Japanese language to me cause of the lack of intonation but I feel like it's really unique
That was a very cute video, very positive! And I think I agree with everything you said. I'm glad that you hear our language this way :D
It's difficult to explain how I hear Japanese by texting (I've been learning Japanese for one semester now) but it feels like someone is rapping very fast XD you hear lots of sh ch and it feels like we're pouting all the time - I hear lots of syllables being repeated as quick as possible, with a strange intonation, very emotionally but I have no idea what each type of intonation means. Are you asking me something? Are you angry? Are you interested surprised happy sad disappointed? I have no idea, it all sounds very chaotic and like someone was trying to say a lot at once hahahah
I hope you also realize that it's how I hear it, I love the language and studying it is a pleasure but it's so different from Polish that I have a hard time speaking, even though the grammar doesn't seem too complicated for now.
Also: これは very often sounds like kurwa to me xD
Oh, I'm relieved to hear that😁
Wow, I'm actually really impressed with how accurate your observations about the Polish language and the way Polish people speak were! I agreed with pretty much everything you said about it and it even made me realize some things I didn't even think of before. Funniest thing is that it just so happened that when you were talking about how fast we speak I could hear my sister in the room next to mine talking on the phone and she was indeed talking really fast 😂
And about worrying about people thinking it's weird when you come into a store and don't say hello or dzień dobry or anything like that, there really is no reason to worry about that, it's actually pretty common to only say it once you come up to the checkout to pay for whatever you're buying, at least in my experience :) Usually it's the cashier that greets the customer first, though it can be the other way around as well. And of course saying thank you and goodbye as you're leaving the store. I really doubt anyone would judge you for going about it like that.
Wow, thank you😁
Haha, you're welcome 😊
I think it's totally fine to greet in a grocery store in English. Most people understand it at this level. At the same time, it's a sign of which language you prefer to address you.
I love to teach foreigners that in polish language we can say every noun as normal, cute and sometimes even more cute. Like:
ziemniak, ziemniaczek
kot, kotek, koteczek
samochód, samochodzik
You can literally name any noun and there is a cuter version of it.
We also do that with names like:
Kuba, Kubuś
Anna, Ania
Stanisław, Staszek, Stasiu, Stasieniek - this one has 3 softer versions.
Sometimes I watch Japanese dramas. The actors don't speak fast, but sometimes I get the feeling that they are "chanting" the words. Like a general to his subordinates. Especially in older movies.
You have to go to mass at the Polish church. Preferably on a Sunday when there are a lot of people. You will hear a noise like in the forest during the wind ... People "rustle " saying ;) Like szszszczczśćszczszśćsz..... :D
日本語は太鼓みたいと思う．私は日本語の響きは大好き。ポーランド語は歌みたいですね？！
This was fun to watch
Thank you😁😁
You can greet casier in english like „hello”. They will understand the greetind but will not try to talk polish with you.
But they reply to you??
@@kensolojapa they will reply in english i suppose
Greeting while entering the room is very important. It's a matter of respect and good manners.
Of course if you go to a big discount store nobody will care but in general is polite to say "Dzień dobry" or "Hello" (even if it's in English everybody understands that and maybe it won't put you in the uncomfortable situation of somebody carrying on in Polish.)
I think it's also fine to say that you are learning the language and do not speak well yet. Not everybody (especially the older generation) speak English but they will for sure make an effort to communicate with you. To be honest it happens to me while traveling. I am always learning some basic words like "good morning" or "thank you" and some people take it as knowing the language. Then I am just smiling and saying that I am a tourist and they switch to English.
My husband is Japanese. We live in Poland. He thinks Polish poeple are just loud and they aren't embarrassed when they are heard by other people. It is their mentality. It also concerns Australians among whom he lived for 18 years.
You were talking about extroverted, talkative people and it's true that majority of Polish population is like that. My advice: Don't be afraid of cutting them off when they talk or talking over them! It's just lively conversation for them. Logically it's polite to let someone finish what they're saying but it's also polite to let someone else talk sometimes, so if they don't do that then why bother being polite 😅😂
Also, if you walk into the store you can smile and nod, then they will know you can't speak Polish and they probably will find you sweet! 😁
How Polish sounds like is quite known. For most people outside Central Europe, Polish resembles rustling sounds. Someone once said that Polish sounds like two bushes fighting. As a Polish person, obviously I can't be fully objective about it, but I understand why people think that way.
As for Polish people being talkative, maybe in comparison to Japanese, they are, but generally it varies. I know quite few Poles like myself who don't talk much.
I love how Japanese language sounds like. It's very distinctive and definitely has a different flow from other languages. Sometimes is monotonous, sometimes more vibrant, and sometimes is somewhat staccato.
Honestly I don't think cashier has a bad impression about you when you dont tell them good morning .I think just Polish people have that face expression like ,I will hit you in anytime or something .But when you ask something I think they will be helpful anytime if they don't have bad day in the end we are all people
@Ken/ Solo Japanese Style interesting video. Japan has influenced other cultures in language, and countries like Portugal🇵🇹 (arigatou~> obrigado, pan~> pan), Germany🇩🇪 (arubaito-> arbeit), and the Netherlands 🇳🇱(kouhi, kuredeto kaado-> coffee, credit card) have found their way into the Japanese language due to their commerce with the Land of the Rising Sun.
It recently came to my attention from a friend of partial Polish heritage that the Polish and Japanese came to each other’s aid during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5 and in WWI on 1918.
I bet there was a language exchange between the two nations.
During WWI some Japanese took in some Polish babies for a time to save those children from the invading Russians. When the Polish children had to return to Poland after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, they begged to stay in Japan.
Even today, the Japanese president visits Poland in part of their shared bond from over a hundred years ago. Perhaps there are Polish people children of those ancestors there who have shared this fascinating history with you?
Question: are there words or phrases the Japanese adopted from the Polish during their close kinship?
"zimno" means cold, "ciemno" means dark. Im not sure which one you were trying to say but the first one is said something like ” ジムノ ” while the other one ” チェムノ ”
You might see this pattern of going up and down while speaking because most of words have an accent on the second from the end syllable ex. dzięKUję, przePRAszam, doBRAnoc
I am from America and when I went to Japan, I noticed that Japanese people talked very slowly and with a lot of pauses in between sentences.
"zimno" - it's cold
I see!
we talk a lot and we do "aaa", "eeee" "yyyy" cause it means im still talking/gonna talk just need to remind myself something and will continue, pause could mean im done talking so someone would saw chance to interrupt me :D
8:07 that means goodbye
Japanese sounds so nice and it must feel great to have a Japanese girlfriend/wife .
8:05
the word you said is "zimno" it means "cold" in polish :>
Ken, you are a good lingwuist.
Don't Japanese also not make direct pauses when they speak?
I mean I learn Japanese from a native speaker and he quite often says "あの" or "えと" when he's thinking about what next to say.
The Polish "Eeeee" fulfills the exact same purpose. Thinking about what next to say.
Sometimes we say them but I guess there's a pause even though we say🤔
7:58
コンビニでhelloとかgood morningと挨拶すればどう？ the cashier will most likely answer in English as well!
Poland has good and cheap dental care compared to UK or Germany, so don’t be afraid and go to dentist
You are funny and japanese sounds cute to me overall. It is not depending on person who speak
"zimno" means "cold"
"do widzenia" is something like "byebye" but in more official way
For me, japanese and polish sound very similar. I don’t know anything about both, then it sounds the same.
We can judge if your Japanese sounds cute, but first you have to say "moe" in a cute way. ;-)
Yeah Polish people talk loudly
Imagine being on a school break in highschool. It's hard to hear each other so we talked even louder. It was almost yelling 🤣
Polish 'eeeee' or 'ahhhh' means the same as Japanease "Eto, sono"? I mean if You have to think what to say we saying "eeeeee" "yyyyyy", but Japanease people saying "Eto... sono..." :D. Am i wrong?
And one question from me to You. What will happend if ill go to Japan, and say to the store worker "Konnichiwa/Ohayou/Konbawa"? They will think that i can speak Japanease? "Watashi wa poorando-jin desu, demo ne... I cant speak japanease" xD
Sumimasen, nihongo ga wakarimasen wystarczy chyba
from what i've heard from other people, Japanese people usually assume that you don't know Japanese well and talk to you in English anyway XD but I think cashiers don't really start conversations in Japanese conbini cuz they have set phrases what to say to the customers
@@gableye5610 I mean, who in the world would want to talk to probably hunderds of people everyday?
@@Mastereks Makes sense
We might use it, I don’t know 😂
It is quite cute to see you speak japanese xd
and also interesting thoughts! Never noticed that we talked so much, and about that "yyyyyyyyy" instead of silence, it might be becouse if you go silent then you're finished speaking or it just sounds awkward - so to "yyyyy", or "aaaaaaaaaaaaaa" we go xD (but a lot of polish ppl make fun of like public figures doing that becouse it might mean that you either don't know words (which... yeah no, you don't want them to know that), or you're just unprepared for speaking or performing (even worse that not knowing/forgetting words))
also, if word or sentence ends with a higher note, it makes it a question!(not always, but most of the time i think) is it similar in japanese?, or do you have someting else that like, i don't even know
👍👍
kon'nichiwa nihonhito[?] idk how that would be so i think its how it would be
You don't need to say nihonhito😁
I think that cashiers think you can speak polish because you can pronounce „dzień dobry” (good morning) perfect, and taking into account that we are very hermetic county (~95% poles?), we would assume that you know polish. As someone suggested, try using english „hello” instead - everyone would know what you mean but they won’t talk to you in polish
Got it😁
I will prove your point that Polish people talk a lot by also writing a lot! 😣 You have to forgive me, I just have so many thoughts!
So about interrupting it's a very clear cultural difference of what is expected/considered rude or polite in Poland and in Japan. In Poland using phrases like "uhm" "aha" "oh yeah" etc is very common I'd say. In linguistics it's called hedging! Apparently women tend to do it more than men and it's a signal that you're listening to what the other person is saying, you're paying attention and really processing it. If you're not used to that, it might seem rude, but for us it's respectful. A matter of perspective!
Another thing about talking a lot and not letting a pause in conversation - I personally find it very awkward if there are pauses in conversation so maybe culturally we tend to have that impression as Poles? I think letting yourself pause without anxiety is great, it'd do us well to adapt it from the Japanese.
As for the volume... I guess in comparison with the rest of Europe, especially the warmer Mediterranean countries we're not that loud but I feel like culturally Slavs can be quite loud. I personally get loud when I get excited, maybe it's less of a taboo here? But in places like public transport people will give you the stink eye for being too noisy.
And about intonation - that's very very interesting! Cause from what I know about Japanese the intonation is kind of important to the proper pronunciation of words, while in Polish it's basically free. The words that you gave as examples could be pronounced in many different way without seeming off but intonation in Polish relies basically on the emotion you're trying to convey. However the stress of the word (almost) always has to fall on the last-but-one syllable. So that also influences the intonation for sure.
It's funny when you said you can pronounce words in Japanese with no intonation because I heard plenty in the sentences you said! That's the bias of the native speaker I guess ;D The melody of Japanese is very lovely, I always found it soothing how stable and rhythmical it sounds. And it can sound plenty cute to polish speakers too!
And I haven't thought about us moving our lips that much but now I'll pay attention to it 😆 I think polish people pronounce vowels very clearly - maybe to make up for all the tough constants that we have xD
That's the end of my lecture (xD), thank you very much for sharing your thoughts in the video, it was very interesting!
One last thing - I also liked what you said about Poland being the only European country you have reference for, because lots of these could also be just European culture shocks. I wonder what your opinion would be after getting in contact with more European cultures.
Co myślisz o ryżu na Słodki? Może byś spróbował?
zimno means cold in english. i gotta aggre its a little bit cold in poland beacuse we are 1 country away from freezing cold russia
You can greet the cashiers in English if you are afraid the will speak to you in Polish 😁 I'm a shop assistant so I know what I'm saying haha
Very cool video btw can I ask you why in every anime people before went out the house tapping a top of their shoes against floor, is that real thing or just anime stuff, and if that first then why is so. Does it some tradition, religious stuff, or just to correct your shouea
Some people do, mayby our habit😅
@@kensolojapa Ohh, okay thnx
@@kensolojapa btw can I ask you one more thing because now I making a story were due to a help that witches gave to axis WWII last longer and in this history Japan not gave up after drop atomcis bombs just after civil war lead by fair and change the rules but it's my problem because I heard that you are very loyal to your ceaser/rulers and now I wonder if it's possible that you would upraised if they would decide to continue a war after sometting like drop atomic bomb. Ohh and one last this is the name Gin kaze has any strange meaning in your langue since I don't know Japanese at all and don't want to make mistake
I would never think that how polish sounds to someone who doesn't know it! Also i want to addres something, what encourged you to come to Poland? Did you hear aboud is somewhere?
And i do think that japanese form whoever speaks sounds cute😁
I showed the reason I came to Poland in the previous video!
@@kensolojapa I know sorry for asking, arleady watched it!
It feels weird to me that you're saying Italian sounds different from other European languages but all others sound the same. Because for me there are a few levels of separation in how different languages sound, and Italian doesn't really stand particularly apart there:
Firstly, Bulgarian, English and Russian sound totally different from all others because of their heavy vowel reduction (vowels lose their qualities and become indistinguishable when not stressed). Pretty much all other European languages have little to no vowel reduction (just like Japanese does).
Second, there are language groups separated by region that have some distinct features in how they sound: Mediterranean languages, Slavic and Baltic languages, French and High German languages, Scandinavian languages.
Third, each individual language has its distinct sound. You need some getting used to a particular language to start to hear how it's different from all others.
Then lastly, many languages have a variety of dialects that also sound differently. I'm now living in Cyprus and I can hear whether a person is local or from Greece even though I don't really understand Greek apart from a few words and phrases.
So, for me out of the languages that you mentioned, English stands apart the most while Italian is rather similar to Spanish.
P.S. Thanks to your video I now have a slightly better understanding of how Japanese sounds, and that's great! Thank you!
Zimno (the word you hear a lot) is cold
I laughed so much watching this 😂😂
😂😂
3×3 is 9 though
My wife says the same thing.
😂😂
Believe it or not, but for most polish people japanese sounds really loud. Only people who watch anime or are studying japanese can prove them wrong. I do think that japanese is cute. Especially when I'm watching romance anime 😄. I'm waiting for your next video! Ganbare ganbare senpai! 😁
Haha, really?!
@@kensolojapa hai hai Kore wa uso janai. Nihongo wa hontoni utsukushi desu
There is one thing that I don't agree with and it's that we can't speak without intonation. We can, but it sounds monotonous. Usually when someone speaks like that they give off impression of being bored, uninterested, tired etc. so when we talk with someone we care about or if we want to give a good impression that's when we intonate.
Also it kinda hurt when you said that all of european languages sound the same to you, but I understand where you are coming from since it's similiar for me with lots of asian languages :)
Take care, hope to hear more from you soon!
I meant Polish intonation is more noticeable👍
Psze psze psze kurwa ja pierdole!
Once you approach the cashier you can say “przepraszam, nie mówię po polsku. Proszę pan/pani mowić po angielsku?” Problem solved 😂 if you get a “nie”, they’ll probably show you the amount you need to pay and that’s it. Don’t panic, I know it’s easier said than done, but I imagine myself in Japan and I know I’d have the same problem, so I get you.
About them being too talkative, I’d say that’s more like an European thing, I’m Portuguese and we talk a lot too and also super fast 😂
That is tough every time...😅
@@kensolojapa gambatte, Ken-san! 💪
should be 'przepraszam, nie mówię po polsku' not per 'polaku'
@@埊 oh yeah, I know it's polsku, sweetie, it was the auto corrector :) JA mówię po polsku, więc...wiem, ale dzięki
@@埊 and Może not Proszę in second one
Tell them: nie mówię DOBRZE po polsku
No one will judge you if you say Dzień dobry and that you don’t speak Polish I think it’s cute that you know flew Polish words or phrase and use it. Fist Japanese language sound for me exotic and strange but with time I find it more cute and interesting.
Oki😁
For me Japanese sounds very fast. Faster then Polish 😅😁
3x3= 6 maths xD
why a
Hmmm maybe you should try learning some polish
8:32英語で挨拶したらいいと思います
了解です！😁
Japanese don't sound cute to me at all, it sounds like samurais are planning the battle :)
Actually, knowing the language changes perspective a lot
Aren't you interested in learn some more polish? It would be much easier for you to understand a lot of things
Ah. Ken, "kurwa" means f*ck, it's more intense that s*it😀 so be careful with this one👌
:D
Your japanese IS NOT 6 times worse, it's actually 9 times worse!