BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Polish Culture English as a Second Language- Tricky Words

I won't even pretend that I am ever going to become competent in Polish, and I am very impressed with our forums friends who write so well in English.

Is hearing/speaking English the same, easier, or harder for you than writing it? I can translate a little written Polish with the help of my dictionaries (lol - and Jaga!), but my ear can pick out only a few words (bardzo, dziekuje)

In another thread <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> the English words boar, bore, and boor came up. The last one is pronounced slightly differently than the other two, which are pronounced the same way.

I thought of another trio where seeing the word helps, but they are all pronounced the same:

cite (to quote)
site (a place or, to locate)
sight (vision)

"He cited the article I wrote about sighting the site of the stork's nest."

Anyone have other tricky words? <img src="/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />

The gall of that Gaul for obstructing the Sun that fell on my son. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

**site (a place or, to locate)***

this is even more complex. I have always problems with "site" versus "side"

is it the "t" versus "d" problem?
as in
thread (list of related discussion posts) vs
threat (danger!)

<img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

sure,

thread and threat - I also confuse it often <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

how about hare and hair?

Sight--Based on recognition or cimprehension without
previous study. (Krakow is a beautiful sight in the
Springtime).
That which is seen (I see a ship on the horizon.
Aiming (I aimed my rifle and the target was in the
sights.

Site--The actual location of an object or building (this is
the perfect place for the new building),(this is the
perfect place for our holiday: This is a good place
to set up our camp). <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

GRAVE

A grave error was made when the grave was placed there.

There; Their
There--Can be used many ways (subjective).
Their--Usually denotes a multiple possesion and in "s" may
be added at the end (That is their boat).

Can be very confusing when used together (Their boat
is over there).
<img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Y'al--All

Y'all---1 or 2 people
All Y'all-- A whole bunch of persons.
<img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Nancy, you'd be surprised how well some of the people in Poland understand and even speak English. A friend of mine is 17 and can speak it pretty fluently. I was amazed when we were watching German MTV and most of the programs come from the U.S. and they just add subtitles. He was understanding everything that was said. What surprised me more, I played a stand-up comedy cd for him and he was catching almost everything except some pop-culture references like Kool-Aid and so on.

Here are some more:
right
rite

(What about some tricky polish???)
Pokoj
Pokoj

Moze
Morze