I gotcha, but can't relate too well, I don't think many of the bands people listened to in high school here were nearly as technical, and cheesy lyrics were mandatory. Maybe not pseudo-profound, though. As someone who's currently writing lyrics, I totally get any tendency toward vagueness, but it sounds like that's not your beef. btw am I wrong or is the most common answer from Polish peeps upon finding out a non-native/foreigner is trying to learn Polish: "...why?"?
Look, I'm not some snob who only goes to select operas, provided that the lead can sustain something above E-flat. Frankly, I prefer music without vocals most of the time, or sang in a language I don't understand, so that it can be in the background without distraction. My other on-and-off interest are 'misheard lyrics' and the like. Send/post your stuff, please. Even if I won't like it, it's your fun and maybe I can help with The Algorithm :D. Why would you want to learn a language that's only spoken by 38-ish million people who all live in a country where anyone halfway educated has some B1-level of competency in English? It's like learning Russian, if Russian was less influential on surrounding/related languages and had even more exception-driven grammar. It's a good starting point, 'cause I can kinda get at least the gist of all Slavic languages from Russian to Croatian, but that's after 20-some years of exposure. Don't get me wrong, we have some dope literature, but the level of effort required to approach appreciation exceeds learning Archaic Greek to read the Iliad and Odyssey (and little else if anything, Archaic ain't the same beast as Attic/Ancient/Classical) or whichever sub-Saxon variant of Old English to read Beowulf (ditto). And, frankly, unless you plan to move to Poland, about as useful as either of those. It's universally appreciated when tourists/workers learn some Polish, sure. Even little phrases go a long way. But, in general, we're understanding of difficulties and sheer phonetic complexity. The only time I felt anything resembling contempt to someone not bothering was with a Turkish co-worker who, after living here for 5 fucking years, couldn't even do groceries without relying on his pitiful grasp of English.btw am I wrong or is the most common answer from Polish peeps upon finding out a non-native/foreigner is trying to learn Polish: "...why?"?
joie de vivre. you play for the love of the game and not to win. the only two things that can get you to learn a language as an adult is sheer necessity and love, and necessity only takes you as far as the grocery store and someday your kids might speak it. you need to love it because the more you learn, the more you discover you don't know. it's like the riddle of the hole: the more you dig, the deeper it gets. the stakes economically need to keep getting proportionally higher to justify the investment, but if it's not an investment to you, it doesn't matterWhy would you want to learn a language
All good points and nothing I could disagree with. Well put. However, I was trying to provide reasons why it feels odd to Poles, 'cause it is honestly a bitch of a language to master. Passion for culture or language is admirable, but perhaps more counter-intuitive than flattering when expressed towards one's own? By the way, I remember you asking stuff like 'how do you pronounce Ł' back in IRC days, so have some random trivia: you can guess with reasonable certainty someone's (and their parents) upbringing by noting if they can correctly pick tę vs tą (accusative and instrumental of 'this', respectively) because it's one of those rolls-off-the-tongue things that are difficult to correct later in life. I sound weird to most Poles due to aspirating 'ch', which is rather old-fashioned quality retained mostly by the elderly and folks from the rural South-East, and an artifact of being taught the language by my grandparents. Even hardcore philology students do declensions by the ear if they want to get it right, because the rules are like 3rd Latin (long list of rules and exceptions to stem endings and syllables) and Greek (consonant mutation) declension rolled into one, yet are somehow assumed to be understood by 4th graders :P.