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


Heh! Good one! Although Germany only showed an interest in places like Turkey after WW2 actually began and they probably would have been seen as valid strategic targets for their war effort rather than simply steps to world domination. I really must read up a little more on this sometime.


Your knowledge of Mein Kamp is impressive. Did you write this from memory? No matter! I see that Hitler had territorial ambitions, and that he wanted Germany to become a world power but there is a difference between a world power and dominating the world. Germany was until recently a very powerful exporting nation but it didn't need to occupy half the world to do it.


Ha ha. You probably don't see the irony in what you've just written here

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


I was wondering about this. I suppose at the time, Germany felt they were being encircled by other allied / neutral powers - England, France, Poland, Scandinavia - and so Hitler wanted to move in to Czech. Austria etc to secure Germany and open routes to Italy and the Med.


The Nazis hated Poles. Just learn to live with it.

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


He he!


I was wondering about this myself. Homosexual behaviour is prevalent throughout the human race and apparently a number of animal ones too. The key issue is what can be defined as homosexual behaviour. Of course a bunch o leather chap wearing mustachioed musclemen getting a bum chain going in a nightclub is very homosexual but what about holding another man's hand, hugging another man or kissing him on the cheek? Or when someone like Wroclaw Boy admires another man's body at the gym, does that make him a botter? If he were living in parts of Asia, he could kiss another man without any comeback but if he did it in Poland or the Uk the chances are he'd attract the wrong sort of attention.

No, there is no such thing as homosexual people, there is only homosexual behaviour, which is in turn defined by one's society. The potential to act like a botter is in all of us but most don't do so because it is considered unacceptable.

The idea of genetically gay people and straight people is repellant. It relegates people with different habits to a different genetic class, usually a lower one.

History / Why communism failed in Poland? [275]

Communism kept Eastern Europe non-competitive for a few decades. It also bankrupted the country and gave a huge compliant workforce to the countries that 'won' WW2. In that sense it was successful.

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


Oo I like you. You can call me Bubbles.


I suppose so. It's a good system if the teacher isn't overworked and has a rough idea about what they want to achieve, but as you know, most state school teachers don't have either luxury - they simply flop the book out and run through the exercises. A friend was writing a teacher's book to accompany a course and the publishers were relentlessly purging anything that looked too 'interesting', preferring instead to have 'You opens the book, you asks the students the answer, you tells the students the answer, you does the next exercise' and so on.

Teachers rely on the book and treat it as gospel. Publishers look at this reaction and continue to produce the same material and on it goes. Coursebooks are one of the great conservative influences in ELT.

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


Yeah - they don't appreciate you putting effort in. I find I have a choice - I spend over an hour planning and they don't care, I flop something out of a coursebook and they don't care. What's the fricken point eh?






Lordy lordy what's with all the grammar? I know it's easy to present and students find it easy to quote but why is everyone so obsessed with it? Isn't there more to the language than making a stream of 'accurate' sentences? One of the reasons I think we don't do that much grammar at school in the UK is that no conclusive link has been shown between a declarative knowledge of grammar and the standard of L1 production. Encouraging students to use the language creatively has far more benefits and fosters language diversity.


Are you sure about that? The nomenclature 'past' and 'present' for the tenses come from Latin but as English carries very few case or gender markers, I can't see how you can analyse English in a Latin way.


Quite probably, but then again there are so many exam books that blow. The only ones I've liked were the Gold series. I had some magic hours with those beauties. And my students did too if I may be so bold. The new 'Objective' series looks sort of OK. Upstream, however, sucks big donkey cock.


Hmm I wonder if I gno you....

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


Well that wasn't your original sentence but for the benefit of the other Poles reading this kind of construction is often substituted for a prepositional phrase such as "She'll have been in the operating theatre for 3 hours" or maybe "She'll have been under the knife for 3 hours" although both are artificial.


It's interesting that you mention coursebooks as I firmly believe that they are one of the great evils in ELT today. If exams are the engine that drives the market, coursebooks are the fluffy dice and leopard skin seats that dress it up. 90% of schools and teachers rely far too heavily on them and they often perpetuate outdated theories of learning and teaching to guarantee market share. Sure one or two books have come out that are worth a peek (Cutting Edge, Inside out and English File are the best) but most are so dreadful you end up praying for a team of Fascist brownshirts to add them to their 'to burn' list.

Most successful coursebooks offer an easy ride for the teacher, not necessarily a rewarding learning experience for the student. what's the name of your book? I'll review it here for you.


I gno where you're coming from man...

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

I was wondering whether to mention it - I think she's trying to make a point of sorts

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


None. If you get a decent student and give them something useful then you don't need this 'grammar chart' you speak of.


Does a hammer need a degree in engineering to do its job? Does a horse need a driving license? Of course not. The teacher is at the disposal of the student - the student practises and the teacher offers feedback and motivation. Grammar explanations are the last recourse because they don't work.


Why would you ask such a pointless question?

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


And if the English teacher is an English native, is this not suitable?


Use of jargon is another way the teacher feels more secure.

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


More or less. But then again everyone has language - the teacher is hired to help someone improve theirs, nothing more. It sounds to me that you have some desire to prove yourself more capable then the student for some reason. This is common amoungst graduates with basic insecurites about their role.

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


Not necessarily. Students and staff want to speak English, who else is there? People in the street?

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

Language / what is the difference between prosze and poprosze? [39]


Finally someone comes up with something interesting on this thread. Thanks!

Food / History of the Polish potato (what did Polish people eat before?) [17]


Probably because it is in the same family as deadly nightshade (so are the tomato and tobacco)

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

Agreed. It could be argued that in a good business English class you're only teaching them to express their ideas in English. The problem is that a lot of specialist language has some 'cultural' content which also needs to be presented, especially when dealing with legal texts....

Than again, most Business English isn't worth much. Publishers like to produce books that appeal to as many people as possible and 'Business English' is little more than lyceum English for grownups - English with a suit on if you will. As it's so broad, I'd guess that well over 75% of the content of a typical Business English course is irrelevant to the student, as I'm sure you're aware!

News / Polish engineer beheaded in Pakistan. [347]


Europe cringes at Bush 'crusade' against terrorists

"On Sunday, Bush warned Americans that 'this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile.'"

George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism
Rev. Rich Lang
Trinity United Methodist Church Seattle.

"For example:

1.. Mr. Bush consistently sends signals to his right wing religious base. In last year's State of the Union he exhorted: "there's power, wonder working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people". It's a phrase from a well known Communion hymn "there's power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb". Bush brings together the holiness zeal of Christian evangelicalism with patriotic fundamentalism. The core belief system of this 'civic gospel' goes something like this: The United States was founded as a Christian nation with free enterprise as the only economic system truly compatible with Christian beliefs. These religious values are today under attack in America. "

informationclearinghouse.info/article5648.htm

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


Everyone can learn a language. It's only a question of motivation. The teacher might not have the time or opportunity to spend on learning a language. Whats important is that they can inspire / assist their students in learning the language themselves, not their own ability with L2, although admittedly it will make their job easier if they are bilingual as they will be more aware of the students' problems.

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


Yes you put it like that I can see that lawyers and rocket scientists have it easy when compared with a language teacher. So why would a student who isn't keen on learning the language approach you to pay 50+ zloty an hour for English practice? Or are you talking about forcing groups of children through language classes they would rather not do?


Good on you man. Just choose your book and you're away. Ask the punter (sorry Seanus - recipient of the catalysation experience) if they have a book they use already, head down the book shop and off you go. Later on when you get to know them better you can try fishing articles and stuff off the internet and you'll pick up a few ideas as you go. Some of the best classes I've done were before I went on training courses...sigh...

Remember to have a chat (sorry again Seanus - pre course needs analysis / placement interview) about why they want to learn English, what their interests are, what they don't want to do and stuff like that.


No, I've spent the last decade in a hut in a small village in Poland listening to Disco Polo and doing English for cows. You?

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


Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, Seanus. The learning process is a natural one and can easily be achieved by a switched on student. The skill in 'teaching' comes with the higher level organisation of syllabi, course aims and so on. Individual lessons are a pushover for the outgoing confident beginner.

Now would be a good time to review the other thread about Polish organisational skills!

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


Seanus refuses to accept that teaching is a moronically simple process that anyone these days with a coursebook and some free time (and maybe a photocopier) can do.

Most Polish teachers do a 'pedagogy' course as part of a Philology degree and then go off to teach English. Unfortunately, as I'm sure Seanus is aware, Pedagogy is the study of how children learn things and the course content is hence of little use when teaching grownups. Most teachers fall back on courebooks outside the classroom and so in that respect, Lost! is more or less on a equal footing with most of these graduates. In fact he could well have an advantage in that he has real life experience of the language in use and possibly other areas of expertise he can bring to the lesson.

Any teacher who waves their hands around mysteriously, muttering darkly about the secret techniques hidden the profession is doing nothing more than justify their salary to themselves. If Lost is approachable, consistent and provides an appropriate level of feedback he'll be more popular than Lech Walesa at a Gdansk workers' reunion.

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


What kind of qualifications? Pedagogy?

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


If the student is switched on and well motivated then the teacher needs no teaching qualifications. Just set them an appropriate task and give them some constructive feedback. If you're not too confident and the student is pretty crap just flop a coursebook out - that's what most Polish teachers do!

Charge AT LEAST 40 zloty!!!! The coursebook / photocopier will pay for itself in a couple of sessions. Remember that confidence is king in teaching and good luck :)

News / Polish engineer beheaded in Pakistan. [347]


A good question. The government at the time probably bought into the Iraq invasion thinking there was a lot of money to be made along with the potential to make close ties (possibly as a negotiating counterweight to the EU) but they got screwed - all the favours went to the US / UK.


Indeed... George Bush was only too keen the whip the religious right into a fervour over the upcoming war with the Muslims, because let's face it, that's what it was sold as - not a war against Al Kaieda or Iraq.

Language / 'Ruhanna' Is this a rude word? [12]

Well, they do chuckle to themselves after they say it...


... and that could well be why!

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


No it's not. Perhpas you mean oxymoron?

Love / Whose Life is it? Polish girlfriend under family "house arrest" [224]


Typical whiney Polish man response. "No no no it wasn't me! Mummy!" Pfah. Harry, you speaketh the truth.


Sorry, Ireland32, Shelly's hit the nail on the head here. There's as much chance of her being imprisoned against her will as she would be in the UK. Make of that what you will. In the long run you're probably better off without her but if you're still worried then contact the Police and give them her address.

Love / Polish Mens Must Have For Fashion (military clothes?) [16]

I got one of these the other year actually. They are soo practical on a hot day. My wife doesn't like me wearing it though, along with my Hawaiian shirt and Warka cap.

Food / When did kebab and Vietnamese "bar" come to town? [15]

I've been here a little over 10 years and I've never known a time without them. What did they have before? Milk bars I suppose....