WHY POLISH PEOPLE DON'T USE THEIR NATIVE FIRST NAME WHEN ABROAD?

my ex was called Piotrek too and it always annoyed me when he told people his name was Peter because Piotrek isn't difficult to pronounce! The one name people always had problems with where I worked was Przemek, it took ages for people to get it right! As for surnames, well thats another story altogether!

I don't think Poles are ashamed of their given names, and we don't consider that some names are more or less civilized. We do know, however, that most English, or French or other not smart enough to pronounce those names properly. Therefore, changing the name to sound more, is a gesture Poles make towards language lazy people.

You're welcome.

I second that!!! Piotrek is not hard to pronounce at all...and generally people will catch on after a few times, but he's the kind of guy who wants to make things easier for everyone so he won't listen to me :)



So true-his first name isn't so hard, but his last name took some practice for me to get it right :)

LOL Language lazy people everywhere should appreciate this gesture :)

How about this - my name, as you know, is Magdalena. There is not a single fricative or affricate in sight (I mean those terrifying consonant clusters like "rz"). ;-)
In fact, my name is Hebrew and comes from the Bible, so it's recognized all over Europe.
Or is it?
I have had British people ask me repeatedly what my name was when I introduced myself:
they couldn't get it right - they would change it to Macdolena, Magalena, Madgalina, and other monstrosities! ;-(
I still introduce myself as Magdalena but am always prepared to spell it.
In the light of the above, I understand people with names like Katarzyna, Przemysław, Janusz or Marian (which is a man's name in Poland, but a woman's for English speakers), who decide to "change" their name for the sake of convenience.

lol lol lol

This was razor sharp.

Just for the record - all other people are not language lazy. When a Polish person introduces themselves with an English name, I always ask for their Polish name. In the beginning, it took a little practice, but as you practice more and more, you kind of develop a feel for pronunciation, and then it's not difficult anymore, so I think the 'language lazy' term is spot on.

:)

i found it is because it saves people trying to attempt to pronounce the name mainly within a work environment:)

Like Asia = Joanna
Katarynza = Kasia = Kate

depends on the person really and what they prefer personally

come on,sweeping generalisation there Darius, If people are given a choice between Greg and Grzegorz they will go for Greg, if they are told "This is my name,this is how I pronounce it" they will ,in most cases give it a good go,pronunciation may be a bit clumsy at first but I know very few Poles who speak English without an accent and hence may not say someones name precisely as a native, I dont considor this impolite or some sign of lazieness/stupidity, I just see it as part of the patch work of accents that make up the UK now.

on a tangent(ish) Does it anoy/grate on native Poles when you here the strange pronuntiations given to Polish last names in America/Hollywood,and for that matter the amount of women with mens surnames? ie ,er,Linda Kowalski(pronounced Cow) from croc' dundee?

The only time this actually happened to me was when I went to Poland and this girl named Kasia called herself Kate....Other than that it happens with Asians around here all the time, this girl named Hye-Won calls herself Ashley, its really random...

I am not ashamed of my first name.

Some people decide to change their names for practical reasons. Some names maybe hard to pronounce for the natives. Some people stick with their original names and some people yes change their name because they think it may somehow make them more native.

so you consider polish names less civilized or uncivilized? lol

I was just kidding there.
Still, sometimes I am surprised at the difficulty people have in pronouncing names. Mine is Dariusz. It confuses the heck out of so many locals here. If I drop the "z" then it makes it kinda easy for them. In the end, I give them just one try and then I suggest they use a name they are most comfortable with, and from then on I react to anything weird that starts with the letter "d" ;)

My wife's name is Agnieszka. As a nurse, she has to wear a name tag so by now she's used to people spending more time trying to read it than it takes them to read an entire sport section in the local paper. Pronouncing it to others doesn't help a whole lot, so she reacts to Agnes (she doesn't like that one), Aggie, Ageeshkah, Agzheeka and a host of other I can't even remember, but they start mostly with "ag"

Funny incident with an East Indian guy who asked me about my wife's name. When I pronounced it he froze for a second and then smiled. In a hindu dialect he spoke (related to Sanskrit) agni-shishka means "trial by fire"

I live in Poland and It happens the other way round too, my daughter is called Rhea (silent H) and introducing her to polish people never works out well, they cannot hear the Re we get Mia, Tia everything but Rhea, so now we introduce her using her family nickname much easier !

since i came to england i have been introducing myself with my real name.. english started to be very confused couldn't pronounce that.. tried simplify to pav.. i said 'no worries mate' to make them a bit better. they felt much better.. i don't mind.
pawel (pavew)

My girlfiend's name, Kasia. Short for Katarzyna. She likes to be called Katie when she is in the UK

My little girl's name is Kasia too. But in US it's Kaitlyn.

Nice name. Hopefully not too much scope for unflattering nicknames at school. KitKat is the best I can manage!

Lol that made me laugh mate, not in a fun poking kind of way but in a light hearted sense of humour way.

To be honest I don't see the point in the OP!!!

I have not read the whole thread so apologies if this has been covered in a post above but here in the UK WE DON'T ALWAYS USE OUR GIVEN NAME!!!!

William - Billy or Billy, Thomas - Tom, Patricia - Pat and so on.

So what is the original posters point? Was he just looking for an argument or something?