Most Polish people have a very hard time understanding Russian and vice versa. The two languages only have about a 55% lexical similarity. On the other hand Czech, Slovak, and Polish have a higher similarity. I can understand and converse decently in Czech and Slovak. Ukrainian and Russian are both languages that I speak 100% fluently and so is Polish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would also say there is probably a good deal of disincentive for the Polish to want to understand Russian due to national pride and the former Russian occupation of their country and then being forced to learn Russian under communism.
Sorry for such a late reply! A friend of mine was born in a small town in eastern Poland which is on the border with western Ukraine. He understands a little Russian but he speaks Ukrainian quite well. Most older Ukrainians from these border towns are fluently bilingual in Ukrainian and Polish. We speak to each other in Polish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Better late than never . But good to see you back around these parts! I believe Ukrainians are also pretty good with Polish because, at least in ye olden days, so I'm told, a lot of their TV came out of Poland. Or more properly, a lot of the TV they were able to pick up was from Poland. With cable and satellite now it's probably a different story.
Poles are rather split on Ukraine and Ukrainians. Both nations despise Russia for different reasons, but during the second World War Nazi Ukraine spent two years between 1943 and 1945 slaughtering Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, both of which had been Polish territories, in an effort to empty the region of people and therefore claim them for its own. Many Poles are understandably upset at the influx of Ukrainians who fled the recent war with Russia and flooded into the country, seeing them as invaders taking jobs and benefits that rightly should go to Polish workers. That Ukraine still has numerous monuments up to its Nazi figures such as the infamous Stepan Bandera is a sore point in relations between the two countries. Really the only thing keeping them right now from going to war with each other is their mutual hatred for Russia, but over the last few years I've read that the Polish government hopes to reclaim territories in Western Ukraine that were annexed from Poland during the war.
I have four Polish shave creams, two of which—Lider and Wars—have become my favorite. Lider has a nice citrus-lime scent, whereas Wars combines citrus, cedar, and sandalwood. I think tomorrow I'll pick one of them to do my daily shave, ha ha!
Long story short: lingering resentments over WWII (Volhynia and Eastern Galicia Massacres, 1943-1945) combined with Polish workers' anger over Ukrainian "refugees" taking jobs at far lower wages than what local laborers are willing to settle for. The Poles are basically fed up with the Ukrainians mooching off of their country while they wait for the war to end.
I was simply responding to someone's remarks. I follow current events in Poland, so it's in my area of interest and I wanted to put in my two cents. Now as for Polish shave creams, like I said, I really like the ones I've gotten. I also managed to get my hands on some unopened tucks of Wizamet PolSilver and Iridium Super blades, N.O.S. These are the ones made in Poland, not the Gillette-owned iterations made in Russia. Now I'm looking for a solid Wizamet vintage razor that doesn't have plating issues or problems with the barn doors, ha ha!
