Szlakiem Jedi

Don't ban me yet! I'm human, no spamming bot!
: )

This is going to be a difficult and weird thread. Hm. To begin with, I've seen link to your webpage small time ago on one of the English sites about Star Wars. Accidentally, honestly, as I'm not even a user there.

I spent few days "reading" the content here. Translating all the text with mighty Google Translate, reading it all and I just admire the stuff here. I've played in many different environments, searched for other clans in your country, but nothing as good as your stuff. Or others just aren't so translate-friendly. ; )

Let's get to the point. Polish language. Is it really that hard to learn? Do you think it's possible to learn the basics in about 6 months? Besides my native French, I can speak English and Spanish fluently, and basic Norwegian, so I sure have some advantage.

I guess that's the only OOC board. Lol.

First of all, I must admit I am extremely surprised and flattered at the same time. Especially since you are not a lone case. But let's get down to your question.

Answering it is frankly a bit problematic. On the one hand, you surely have a good basis to learn Polish given your obvious linguistic skills. On the other, it is not that simple. It is definitely possible to become familiar with basic grammar rules and vocabulary in 6 months. The problem is, i am not sure if it is a sufficient level. Given the profile of our organisation we use a lot of different styles - at the same time: complex and serious descriptions and some stupid, crazy characters who use various slangs or make mistakes in language on purpose. It would be quite hard to get all these subtleties and therefore fully enjoy the experience. I have studied French for quite a while, several years in fact, and I am still not comfortable with some more sophisticated forms of writing. I must also point out that using Google Translate during the play is a really bad idea - it requires too much time and is not accurate at all.

Having said all this negative and discouraging stuff I can however give you a glimpse of hope. I find it moderatly possible that after acquiring the basic understanding of rules and vocabulary (including all polish versions of Star Wars specific words) you would be able to create quite a convicing character who simply cannot speak Galactic Basic well due to some reasons stemming from his or her past. You could then learn on the go simply by playing this type of character. It would be hard and challenging but I guess it could work. The only problem would be writing a good story and application in general. It would have to really convince us that your level of Polish is decent enough to make it work. However, after spending some time on it I can also see it working.

Long story short: it would be really hard but if you want to commit to this task and spend a lot of time learning the language I don't see any true obstacles.

Or maybe we will just create an english-speaking section :)

And really... verbs, nouns and adjectives, all of them have many different forms that depend on the form of another word in the sentence.

I know what you're speaking of. Norwegian is similar in this way, but it's Germanic language, so it's easier to learn for someone already knowing English. On the other hand, I've started learning English when I was... 22. Yeah. (We don't really give a damn about languages in France)

You know... You learn language for 6 months, and after 3 months you think this RP doesn't suit you. :P

Definitely not... At least story-wise, system-wise and stuff. I'm too old to switch hobbies and I have too much experience roleplaying to have my preferences switch now ; )

The problem is, i am not sure if it is a sufficient level. Given the profile of our organisation we use a lot of different styles - at the same time: complex and serious descriptions and some stupid, crazy characters who use various slangs or make mistakes in language on purpose.

That's what I fear actually. It's easy to play with slangs and "damaged" grammar when you're a native, and it depicts some lower class people perfectly. But for a foreigner... Sigh.

I must also point out that using Google Translate during the play is a really bad idea - it requires too much time and is not accurate at all.

Google Translate isn't that bad as it sounds, I can easily read throughout your Reports and Tasks with it without much problem, but in character it's bad, I know. Too slow. : )

character who simply cannot speak Galactic Basic well due to some reasons stemming from his or her past

There are so many species that had little touch with Basic-speaking galaxy, that it wouldn't be a problem. ^^

Long story short: it would be really hard but if you want to commit to this task and spend a lot of time learning the language I don't see any true obstacles.

I like learning languages, so it would obviously be just a choice to learn any new language, and choosing Polish just for the sake of additional motivation. I don't have any "useful" language to learn besides those with insane alphabets. : ) And the idea is so literally insane I actually like it just because. Lol.

After giving it a bit of thought I came up with some ideas that may be incorporated into RP quite well. Since we basically assume that Basic = Polish your race can communicate in English to make the introduction easier on you. What is more, I actually think that an in-game translator (Polish->English with messages on your priv) would a cool motive. It would obviously be a very realistic and at the same time refreshing element and, despite being a bit time-consuming, I believe it would be quite cool. If you really are so dedicated to this task we would be more than happy to introduce such features to make it easier for you.

I'm trying out Polish right now. I think it's about three days since I've started... It's not THAT bad, really.

The basic grammar rules in your language are just terrible. Conjugations are a DISASTER. On the other hand, words themselves are really simple. Honestly, they're just so similiar to English it's really surprising, at least from viewpoint of someone like me.

It's real fun so far. I love learning languages, and Polish is just so terrible, it's a funny challenge.

Good to hear, that you are actually having fun :).

You can indeed find many similarities due to many Latin words still being used nowadays, both in English and in Polish, so knowing basics of Latin can be helpful too.

The problem with language acquisition is that at first it goes really fast and satisfactorily, you learn simple vocabulary, basic grammar, you find out that you can actually communicate something and it's like yay! I can ask where the toilet is and tell how many siblings I have and I know all the forms of "to be" and 30 other most used verbs, in no time I will speak this freaking laguage pretty well.

And then, the more you learn, the more you realise that there are countless other things you don't know. It's like climbing the ladder - the higher you are, the better the view of how big the world is. That's usually the point when you start getting frustrated and bored. The progress is getting slower and the things you are weak at are more obvius to you. But, I think, that's the case of any skill you want to master, not only the language. Getting the basics is pretty simple and awesome, going advanced is hard work, blood, sweat and a lot of swear words :D

Anyways - I wish you good luck. Having you on board would be a funny experience for all of us, so I keep my fingers crossed for you.