Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Eh, no. Simply, they are gay people, nothing to do with race. You have drawn weird and totally abstract parallels.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

And the moon is one big illusion, right? Only visible to those on coke???

Irons feels more strongly than I do about homosexuals stemming from nature. Sorry, some see it as a genetic aberration. I see it as part of the process of diversity, a fact of life.

There are no homosexuals, that's absolute nonsense!! Of course there are.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

That was just wrong what that guy did. Plainly perverse. Poland may have the potential for that. So many toilets here have highly translucent windows (bordering on transparent some of them) and an absence of locks.

I can imagine how enraged he was.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Yeah, but people naturally celebrate differences. It's what gives them a greater sense of identity.

Still, sexuality is a private matter, I agree. I don't go to work and tell my (female) colleagues what I did the night before. It would be wrong. That's not what I'm there for.

I'm not into those gay parades at all, too many queens :( Still, I can turn a blind eye and respect their right to do it.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Still, overpopulation is a growing concern in many parts of the world. If the number of gays rose to 50%, then alarm bells may sound. However, there are plenty heterosexual couples to keep the human race very much alive.

Nuclear power has far more devastating potential, believe me. Or famine.

UK, Ireland / Inverness Polish Association meeting [10]

I'd agree with that, Rafal. I find Scots very similar to Poles in ways.

UK, Ireland / Inverness Polish Association meeting [10]

I find people from Inverness very tolerant and accommodating. There's a noticeable change of attitude when I'm there. Aberdeen is hostile in many parts.

UK, Ireland / restaurant in elgin [7]

Well done for helping out, barrach. If you are a golfer, I hope you enjoy Hardhillock, it's a cracking course :)

News / Poland embraces new effort to fight anti-Semitism [138]

LOL, I can understand most of it. Very true in many parts :)

News / Poland embraces new effort to fight anti-Semitism [138]

Well, it needn't be exclusively one. Ethnic perhaps more.

Life / Homosexuals in Poland / Hands off (PETITION) [797]

Mr Bubbles seems to have been reading Catholic Daily, I think he was joking with the above. In the eyes of the RCC, homosexuals are accepted but homosexual actions aren't. Hmm....

I agree with your sentiments Irons.

News / Poland embraces new effort to fight anti-Semitism [138]

With difficulty, and you? ;)

News / Poland embraces new effort to fight anti-Semitism [138]

Who was it that once said, "I'm not anti-Semitic, I just hate the Jews"?

It'd be interesting to meet some Jewish people in real life, see how they are.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Please read my post again, Randal. Then ask me again if you feel the need. Thanks :)

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Still, I had no idea what the past perfect was when I stepped into the classroom to work for NOVA. Natives just don't know the labels.

Another point is, the AmE Vs BrE dimension. I reckon I know AmE pretty well, having watched a lot of American TV and spent time with Americans. They almost never use perfect tenses, especially the past perfect. Even in large parts of Britain, it is redundant. It just shows the more elastic nature of time/the relationship between two past actions.

For example, I wouldn't even have known to teach things like, 'I didn't eat yet'. In school, I'd've felt that to have been wrong. Still, as my exposure increased, I came to see that it was used widely. Brits would say, 'I haven't eaten yet' instead. There have been quite a few occasions in class where I was thinking, how on earth would my friend teach this when he doesn't even use it? One could easily argue that Americans have to fight that bit harder to get to grips with the labels.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

I had the best possible opportunity to test out the theory during my observations in Japan. This time, I was the observed. I could only use English and I had to teach vocab related to colours. I asked them for white things to tease out what they knew. When they didn't know, I suggested something like sugar. Even this can cause complications as you have to make sure, unambiguously, that they know you are referring to the sugar in your making a cup of coffee gesture. I believe that straight translations work as the nuance is not different. I often just said satou (sugar) or shio (salt) to make it clear and save time. They paid a lot for lessons.

Where you can trip yourself up, as you correctly mentioned Wrocław, is in where you half understand something. You just don't venture into forbidden territory, you stick with what you know or can safely conjecture. I don't even delve into the intricacies of Polish grammar for that reason. Also, they learned that stuff elsewhere, at school usually.

History / Fall of Communism in Poland [33]

They really did blow with the breeze. A communist to me is synonymous with a disloyal weirdo without a cause other than control.

History / Why communism failed in Poland? [275]

More than likely southern. Who wants an imposed ideology? The Poles saw it as something new but soon learned of its shortcomings.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Mafketis pitching in with a top-notch commentary. Nice one lad. I've watched teachers who are bi-lingual non-Poles. They really got the respect of their students. Depending on the teacher, it can sometimes be like an Us Vs Them scenario with normal monolingual natives (non-Poles). The students are relieved to know that their teacher speaks Polish but won't use it. It's a comfort zone and they feel that they will be understood better.

Also, it allows the students to use Polish after lessons when they are tired. Out drinking for example. My staff are happy as they can conduct meetings in Polish with me. I respect their efforts in English and they respect mine in Polish.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

I disagree, Wrocław. I keep it latent for the most part, holding it in reserve for opportune moments. This could take the form of humour, cultural understanding or linguistic nuances.

Native speakers are there to maximise STT (in most schools). Knowing Polish has helped me immeasurably though I do encourage students to express things in different ways until I understand them in English.

Snob value is not the issue, effective teaching is.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

I agree with that. If I didn't know Polish, I can think of a fair few situations which would've been quite a bit trickier. You are a perceptive lad Randal.

Sorry, if you are dealing with only one nationality as I do now, it is a definite plus to KNOW Polish. I use it sparingly as they are not there to hear it. The occasional joke is very much appreciated.

Life / City Pole versus country Pole [27]

Country Poles tend to be more traditional. Naturally, they suspect foreigners more.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

The key is not to get into that position ;)

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Yeah, it may be the start of something really positive. You may really like it.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Having a degree in business helps. My management degree has helped out in private lessons.

As a native speaker, having a chat is key. Without it, they may feel cheated.

History / Chopin's Birthday - 1st March and Death [12]

Raise some Chopin vodka for Chopin ;)

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Liberalism doesn't creep into my teaching, at least I don't think it does ;)

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Precisely, you want a lesson to be memorable for them. Light-hearted lessons make them come back for more. I'd happily sacrifice achieving well in pedantic criteria for striking a chord with your group and maintaining their interest. I'm lucky enough to do both but I put it down to experience, nothing special, just exp.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

It's good when you get that latitude. The best teaching comes when you create your own lesson plans and have a vision for the lesson. I have some pre-prepared classes which is fine for when you are pushed for time but it's better to use your own imagination. Tutoring is good in this respect, it gives you more leeway.

Work / New English 'teacher' in Poland (I have no qualifications). [119]

Very true, some teachers who have qualifications make teaching about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Matching personalities to their proper careers, one of the best comments I've read here in a long while. Correct, Randal. I've been thinking about this. It doesn't really matter the money you make. If everyone went in pursuit of money jobs, we'd have fighting and a loss of skills. People like watch repairers, garbage collectors and cleaners are not well paid but where would we be without them? There are many important roles in today's society and getting the right personality for the right job is the most important thing.

Again Randal, I tip my hat to your comment. Here's to those that earn little over 1000PLN a month but do a sterling job!!