Work / I have a "zero" chance to succeed in Poland - I do not have a degree! [93]


I know. And the amazing thing is when the employer genuinely can't understand why his firm is so crap when he's got bargain bucket staff who leave when they can get more money, his children / wives / cousins in the top positions and the rest of the workers have got Masters degrees that were given away in Christmas crackers.

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]


.. and a lot of them now are interested in learning English. Some HE institutions do an EU programme called the Uniwersytet Trzeciego Wieku ("the university of the third reich" or something) for pensioners and the English programmes are very popular.

Then again, if you count words like Hello and hamburger as English, I doubt there's anyone in Poland who would be an absolute beginner these days.

Life / 800 thousand Polish women are victims of domestic abuse yearly [180]


OK why did she put the pudding on the window sill when she knew there were two starving boys next door? Pretty rubbish story if you ask me.

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


No they can't. Jews from Ethopia are the same race as Jews from Asia?

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


I wouldn't if I were you. This kind of thing happens all the time and people go to prison for it.

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


They probably had a teacher leave at short notice or meybe they've won a new contract. either way this could be just what you need. Good luck!


Take a guess. I ain't saying no more.

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


Are you saying that there is a real chance of the whites say in Britain being supplanted by the untermensch black and brown races? I must tell the Fuhrer.

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


To be fair, these schools are very good at drawing people in, and if you're new to the profession you don't appreciate the utter depths to which a school owner will sink to scape a couple more zloty. They are simply ruthless bastards.

I knew someone at Bell and he was paid cash in hand. Another at IH. None of them are above it


True. There's a kind of predator-prey pathology in teaching which even older and more experienced teachers suffer from. It's pathetic seeing middle aged women cowering when some jumped up little prick starts stamping his feet around and muttering about contracts and paying 20 zloty an hour or whatever.

History / Why communism failed in Poland? [275]


Exactly. I heard NATO messed up the power grid in the bombing and then sold the restoration contract to a British company. Very lucrative number for them.


Good one! How do you say it in Polish?

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


Great idea. I could be the pimpalicious daddy

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


Well, now you can see what pondlife your 'PC' trolling posts have attracted to the board. Methinks you should go back writing erotic fiction about meeting Russian nymphomaniacs under the arches and save the political commentry for non-virgins who gno of the world.

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


You talking to me?

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


They can, but it might be difficult to find one that will at the moment (school year's coming to an end). I heard a rumour that you can stay in Poland as long as your visa is being processed (I'm not sure though) so as long as you can find an employer who is wiling to employ you, you're off the hook from the day the process begins.

If you're really worried, perhaps it's best to fly back to the States and try again next year? Speak to your embassy.

Food / Krakow Restaurant Recommendations [17]


I'm fond of ckbrowar, although it admittedly is more Austrian cuisine. It's a microbrewery too and you can get a 8L column of beer delivered to your table. Perhaps not the most romantic night out but the beer is good.

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


Well, your school sound like the bunch of sharks who are sadly only too often found in the Polish EFL sector. The chances of getting your money back are slim at best. I'd try to treat it as a lesson and not beat yourself up too much about it. Some people are just bastards.

True, in the old days you could nip over into Germany or Czech to recharge your visa but I'm not sure if it would be as easy to get into Ukraine as this is the EU border and they're paranoid about immigrants.

If it makes you feel any better, I flew out of Warsaw once a few yeas ago after overstaying 1 month on a work visa and apart from a stern talking to at the airport from one of the border guard it hasn't had any repercussions. Although they do admittedly take a little longer when checking my passport these days...

Sorry - Hopefully someone here can help a bit more!

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


I have and I went further than the Bible. Shelley's right - the Egyptians paid Egyptian farmes (and some migrant labour) to build the pyramids, or rather they were housed, fed and watered in nearby towns while the pyramids were built. A lot of them would have seen it as their sacred duty to provide for the king's afterlife as he was divine and by extension, looking after him meant pleasing the gods and looking after Egypt. Apparently, the Egyptians were HR geniuses in that respect - organising the worker into grous, giving them achievable targets each day and rewarding appropriately. he best gangs got extra beer etc.


And as Darius says, Poland was hardly a democracy in the past (and arguably still isn't a true democracy - When was the last time you voted on a piece of legislation?). A lot of the peasants would have been bonded labour to their feudal lords.

All of the above states were multicultural (Babylon was THE prototypical multicultural state) and Greece was the most democratic we've had so far. Poland's generally been OK as far as freedoms go but let's not overdo it.

News / Poland..wake up to a multicultural world [1059]


Rome? Greece? Babylon? Egypt?...

Love / Chatting up Polish girls in the street. [60]


Sounds like a BOBFOC - Body off baywatch, face off crimewatch. Common in Newcastle.

Language / Iterative and semelfactive verbs [37]


Makes up for the relatively puny vocabulary I suppose.

Work / Any non-shafty English schools in Poland to work as an English native speaker? [36]


I'm sorry to say this but, yes it is. The Polish EFL market is full of more cowboys than Blazing Saddles. You can try working for the bigger franchises (Bell, IH. EF, Empik etc.) and there's little chance they'll rip you off but you'll probably be paid less. I've never worked for a totally straight school over here.

Language / adding się [21]


Dude, the explanation doesn't get simpler than 'a marker of xyz.' This is another reason why people shouldn't get too bogged down in grammar explanations when learning a language. I'm hassling about this because I'm actually quite interested in finding out why myself...


Good question. I think it moves after modal expressions like -

Muszisz się uczyć!

Probably other things too. I'm buggered if I know why.

Language / adding się [21]


I don't mean to be rude, there must be a better explanation than "sometimes it means each other, sometimes it means themself, sometimes it doesn't"? It doesn't seem a conclusive explanation.

Perhaps agency?

uczyć - teach (agent)
uczyć się - learn (no agent)

Love / Is sex with Polish guys different to sex with English guys? [173]

You'll be fine!

Language / adding się [21]

We had this debate on another thread but I can't find it. I think it's connected with agency (maybe a marker of ergativity) but the brains here said something different.

Love / Is sex with Polish guys different to sex with English guys? [173]


Can you cook?

Life / 800 thousand Polish women are victims of domestic abuse yearly [180]


But it is still very common -

"In over two-thirds of the divorce cases in Poland, women file the suit. The court finds the woman at fault only 3 percent of the time. The most common divorce causes are alcoholism,extramarital relationships, a spouse showing no interest in the family, physical cruelty, and new situations that emerged in recent years, such as drug addiction and confession of homosexuality. (excerpts from Warsaw Voice)"

polishsite.us/lifestyle-and-entertainment/family-and-children/107-divorce-rates-in-poland-and-other-european-countries-eu-report.html

Life / Divorce rates in Poland [26]


No, not everyone in Poland is married. Duh.

Food / Bison Grass [7]


Damn that looks good. I'd probably leave out the figs though along with the sugar and lemon. Definitely keep the venison. I'll stop eating animals when they stop making them out of meat!

In the meantime, check this website - the latin name for bison grass is Hierochloe odorata and you can buy it online. You can also order the seeds but be careful the bison don't come to visit if you try growing them ;)

chilternseeds.co.uk/chilternseeds/211/moreinfo/d/hierochloe+odorata/pid/31514512

Life / 800 thousand Polish women are victims of domestic abuse yearly [180]


I never really followed that - I guess God doesn't like women much. Also where did they get their hair cut?

Food / Bison Grass [7]

Damn those baskets would smell good. :)

I can't see people cooking with it though. I guess mjg is keeping bison ;)