News / Polish teachers on Strike. [62]

I am a teacher of English at a high school near krakow, Poland. Out of about 35 teachers 5 didn`t go on strike, including me. Why?

There were 3 postulates of striking teachers: increase salaries by 50%, keep curent regulations concerning earlier retirement, and preserve the Teacher Carta.

I would like a pay rise, sure, I don`t mind early retirement. But I reject the Teacher Carta which makes it practically impossible for the school principal to fire a lousy teacher.

I have met a few lousy teachers in my life. In my own school I had to write an official complaint and ask our principal to intervene in case of a totally incompetent biology teacher. Such interventions had been made before, but hadn`t helped much because she is incorrigible. And nothing can be done because Teachers Carta protects her.

Another case concerns my oldest son`s primary school. Parents have already written to the principal a few times asking him to replace the incompetent teacher. Already in the first grade!

Sorry, guys, I don`t want to hurt you if you are good teachers, but the truth is there are too many lousy teachers in Polish schools. I am saying it both as a teacher and a parent of 3 children, one of whom goes to a state school.

Pay rise is certainly a nice thing but it won`t improve the quality of teaching and general standard of education in Poland. Bad teachers will grab happily it but will carry on with their incompetence, laziness, lack of education (Do you remember the scandal last year with the teacher who ordered kids to repeat loudly: Columbus was Polish!).

The Teachers Carta must be abolished, in my opinion.

Life / Kashubia, Kashebe and Kashubians. . . [23]

My impression is very positive. Last year we went to Kashuby region for summer holidays and it was great. Yes, it`s true they have their different language, but the culture seems more or less the same.

Besides, I remember from the books I have read about WW2 that most Kashubians considered themselves Polish and refused to become Volksdeutsche.

Life / Kashubia, Kashebe and Kashubians. . . [23]


Yes, we were there too and saw the monument.


You mean, they fought on Nazis` side. But Gunter Grass seems a true German to me, doesn`t he? Did he ever consider himself Kashub?


I didn`t know about those customs.

News / Polish teachers on Strike. [62]


Teachers defend the Teacher Carta because it grants them incredible privileges, e..g, life employment regardless of the effects of their educational performance at school. Simply speaking, after signing a job contract, a lousy teacher can`t be removed from school.

Besides, 18-lesson-per-week timetable is also a great privilege. Everything above it is treated as overtime and paid seperately.

I am against the Carta because I can see how badly teachers are spoiled by it. They really need some incentive to improve their work. In the market economy negligent idle workers are fired because there is no room for parasites and loafers. Either they correct their ways or they remain jobless for the rest of their lives. I think the same should apply to teachers - why not?

Why do I stand up against the majority? Apart from being a teacher, I am also a father of 3 boys, the oldest of whom goes to second grade in a primary school. There were problems in the first grade already, but recently it has gotten so bad se that the parents are going to demand the removal of the class teacher.


This is a real story, it happened in the primary school in the village of Stopy in northern Poland. The female teacher got angry when some pupils started expressing their doubts about her incredible beliefs, so she ordered them to repeat the infamous sentence loudly several times. Fortunately, one pupil recorded the whole event and later the evening news made a big scandal out of it. The teacher was fired by the local authorities which supervise schools in the area.

To make it funnier, while they were looking into the matter to check teacher`s competence, she withdrew her earlier assertations about Columbus being Polish and claimed he was American or English instead.


The school system is run by the Ministry of Education which operates from Warsaw and issues all important regulations concerning country`s education in general.

The expenses are paid by local authorities. I am not sure but those expenses are partly refunded by the Ministry and the amount of the refund depends on the amount of students in local schools - the more students, the higher refund. I promise I will ask in my school about it. I will let you know.

There are no seperate taxes for education.

The education standards, programmes and requirements are set by the Ministry again.
When it comes to exams, there are big ones run on the national level, the same for all students (e.g, written matura exams are prepared by Central Examination Board), and others, which are prepared and applied differently in each voivodship (administrative districts) by local exam boards.

News / Polish teachers on Strike. [62]


Yes, I am Polish, of course. How could anyone take me for a native speaker working in Poland? It is a great compliment LOL However, I am fully aware of my faulty artificial language I am producing here but I can`t help it, I am too old to change. Certain consolation is that my language performance still rates high compared to other non-native teachers` in the country. LOL


Weeding immortal undesirables or making them boost their motivation is indispensable to make the Polish education professional.


Yes, but the most annoying about low moral are trifles. E.g., Polish teachers never start their lessons on time. They wait till the bell rings, then still sit in the staff room for some time, and only then they start taking their books, class registers, keys to classrooms. Thus a few minutes of each lesson are wasted. I know teachers who come 15 minutes late for their lessons and don`t care.


Of course there is Polish Ofsted. Central and local ones, e.g., each voivodship has one. But they can`t do much because the Teacher Carta fully protects teachers. They only intervene when a flagrant breach of law takes place e..g, a teacher hits/beats a student, or turns out to be a pedophile, or comes drunk to school, or posts her nude photos on the Internet, or makes indecent propositions to teenage girl students, or abuses students to such an extent that one commits a suicide(all those cases happened in Poland recently).


Yes, the lack of motivation is a problem. I am the best example LOL- instead of being very good which would be a piece of cake for me, I am just good because I don`t care. Besides, to provide for my family I have to teach in 3 different places, so it is impossible to focus on one place and do better because there is not time for it.

As for talent, it is another problem. Teachers in Poland have been underpaid since time immemorial. It caused a very negative influx to the job - many people who didn`t know what to do in life after finishing their studies or they were unable to do anything useful took up teaching as the easiest solution, purely by accident. Today those accidental teachers stick to their positions and defend the Teacher Carta because without it they will have to seek another job.


Have you ever tried?

Teachers can make a very decent living out of teaching English in Poland. Parents became aware of the importance of English in early 1990s and they have been sending their kids to courses and hiring private teachers ever since. Practically, in Poland nowadays there are no pupils/students from 6 to 20 who don`t learn English. It creates great job opportunities. Besides, there are a lot of adults who neglected their foreign language education while at school and today they have to make up for it quickly because job recruitment requirements change for more demanding evry year.

So, you can bring home a lot of bacon from teaching English in Poland. But there is one condition. Are you a good teacher? I mean the one who is able to lead a student through his/her foreign language acquistion course in an efficient and effective way, not forgetting to introduce humour and nice atmosphere so that your students don`t even notice they are learning (the greatest reward is to hear your student(s) say: What? The lesson is over? How fast time flies...) ????

If so, you will never be jobless in this country. Your phone will be busy with clients calling and begging for lessons. Isn`t it a tempting vision? LOL


I have never thought of emigrating anywhere. I would never be able to earn the same money abroad as I earn in Poland.

But, nothing comes for free. As I said, I work hard in 3 places, from morning till evening, including Saturdays, for 9 long months every year (the remaining 3 months are vacation, national holidays and religious festivals). LOL

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]

Attacking neighbours to grab their land, recources, people has been a common phenomenon until today. Do you remember Yugoslavian wars in 1990s?

That Poland was attacked by its neighbours was nothing unusual. When Poland was strong, she attacked her neighbours too, e.g., Russia in 17th century was almost conquered by the Polish army, and Poles occupied Moscow for over a year.

What was unusual is the fact that a big country in Central Europe allowed its neighbours to dismantle it like a Lego block construction. I am talking about partitions. They took place because over centuries Poland had grown weaker, while her neighbours grew stronger. And the Polish elites did nothing about it. The Polish state was unable to achieve such basic things as a strong regular army paid from the state treasury because it was always empty. The ruling aristocracy and gentry didn`t want to pay taxes in fear of the king`s power becoming too big.

Besides, the industrial development took place in our neighbours` countries, while Poland still remained a rural country. No wonder Poland was unable to produce enough arms to supply the army. Polish soldiers during a few Polish Risings had to use scythes. Against carbines. Later they had to use horse cavalry whereas Germans had tanks in 1939.

1863, the January Uprising, Forging Scythes



History teaches us that a weak country which is unable to defend itself is attacked and devoured by stronger neighbours.

It is good, though, that after being devoured by various predators, Poles refused to be digested by them.

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


Hey, you are diminishing the Polish contribution in Russia`s history. :)
After all, it was Poles who successfully invaded Russia and occupied Moscow for a year or so. Nobody repeated that stunt afterwards. Germans never got to Moscow, while the French did enter it but had to leave immediately.

The Times of Trouble is a term that Russians invented to describe a period of civil wars and the Polish intervention in the beginning of 17th century. The story was made into a film by Russians: 1612. There are a few nice scenes with Polish winged riders. When a Russian child saw them, she cried out: Mommy, look, angels!

But they weren't angels.

1612
youtube.com/watch?v=1VKkc1CVSAc

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


Yes, the Swiss were able to defend and then keep their independence. Probably the mountains helped a lot as a natural barrier to aggressors, but beside mountains the Swiss were also indomitable warriors. Though Polish gentry was obliged to answer the king`s call and go to war in times of trouble, they prefered a quiet life in the countryside. That is why, in 18 century, the most militirised country in Europe (10% of the Polish population was gentry - the descendants of medieval knights) was unable to defend itself and fell prey to its more determined neighbours.

What a paradox, really.


Yes, it was impressive. But before it there had been millions of victims and a ruined country. If the Polish elites had been wiser, more patriotic and less corrupted in the past, Poland would come out much better.


You can`t hear or understand whining because it is in Polish. But it takes place quite frequently. It is true, though, that mostly mature people like discussing Polish past misfortunes, occupations, betrayals by "friends," ingratitude of allies etc etc. Younger generations don`t care.

Yet, Polish schools still infuse this kind of rememberance patriotism into students. We were talking about scythes as the main weapon of Polish insurgents. Look at the school play about Kosciuszko Insurection

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


Nope.
Germans, when it became obvious they were losing the war, began drafting everybody. It means they closed an eye to the fact that Poles who lived in Silesia or Pommerania regions considered themselves Polish. They were drafted anyway. Most of them deserted to the allies` side. The Polish Army in the West was regularly supplied by such Wehrmacht deserters, there was a special consent of American and British headquarters for that process.

At the end of the war, Germans started drafting Russian POWs or volunteers into elite SS forces.

So, once considered Untermenschen, Slavic people were used by Germans as a last resort to continue/prolong the war.


LOL, come back to Poland in 10 years`time, you will see the difference....

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]

I will gladly help you supplement your historical knowledge. It seems to be incomplete.... :)

The Deutsche Volksliste categorised Poles into one of four categories:

* Category I: Volksdeutsche-Persons of German descent who had engaged themselves in favour of the Reich before 1939.
* Category II: Deutschstämmige-Persons of German descent who had remained passive.
* Category III: Eingedeutschte-autochtonic persons considered by Nazis as partly Polonized (mainly Silesians and Kashubs); refusal to join this list could lead to deportation to a concentration camp

* Category IV: Rückgedeutschte-Persons of Polish nationality considered "racially valuable", supportive of the Reich (e.g., collaborators)

Let`s look how it was done in Silesia region:

The remaining population of the interwar Silesian Voivodeship was inscribed onto the Deutsche Volksliste (DVL, German National List). The DVL's groups I and II contained 300 thousand persons of indubitable Germanness and the groups III and IV one million potential Germans. Berlin extended full citizenship only to the members of the groups I and II. The rest were mere state-members. But as Staatsanagehörige they could not be drafted into the Wehrmacht. With the opening of the eastern front in 1941 the need for soldiers became so acute that the group III (comprising about 940 thousand persons) were granted with Reichsbürgerschaft (Boda-Krężel, 1978: 13-20).

In general 300-400.000 people were conscripted by Wehrmacht in Upper Silesia, which contained a high number of German minority, ,many against their will by either forcing them to sign Volskdeutsche lists or signing them on them without their agreement.

Names very often appeared on the Volksliste without the consent of the owner. Very often fear promoted people to sign and often, given the harsh terms of the Nazi occupation, the promise of better conditions were enough incentive for people to sign up. Franciszek Janikowski was a Pomeranian who had been conscripted to the German Army before joining the Polish 1st Armoured Division. His appearance on the Volksliste was typical:

"My father worked on the railways. He had no land and no fortune so he was afraid. When they took them away in 1942 and asked who doesn't want to be Germanised? Nobody answered. My father signed and, as he told me later, he thought: I have a son ..."


Polish deserters from Wehrmacht who joined Polish Army were estimated at 83.000.
Out of those 60.000 were from Upper Silesia.

Links to above info are here, unfortunately some are in Polish, but there is also one in German.

A site about Polish Armed Forces in the West
angelfire.com/ok2/polisharmy/chapter3.html

The hostages of war - a magazine article

"I didn`t want to go to that army" - memories of Silesians forcefully drafted into Wehrmacht
alfa.com.pl/slask/200501/s10.html

The historical forum, the thread`s title is Poles in German Army.
odkrywca-online.pl/pokaz_watek.php?id=385407

Polen in Wehrmacht, a site in German
www1.ku-eichstaett.de/ZIMOS/forum/docs/kochan.htm

An article entitled DUAL CITIZENSHIP IN OPOLE SILESIA IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Life / The materials used for house building in PL, most popular? [10]


In Poland full bricks or hollow bricks are used.

broken link removed

Language / example for "bronić" [12]

Why do you need so many people to defend you? Do you have any problems?

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


I meant those people who had mixed heritage or were Kashub and Silesian. Many were put on the list against their will, many joined voluntarily to avoid repressions.They felt Polish, but were drafted in Wehrmacht anyway.

Now, imagine, if your best soccer player, Podolski (born in Poland), was forcefully drafted into the Polish army although he is German now, wouldn`t it be the same as what Germans did with Poles during WW2? :) :) :)


There weren`t too many Polish politicians ready to take up such positions. Poland didn`t have its Petain or Quisling and it is a reason to be proud.


Yes, it might be the case.

Study / Last Day Of School in Poland [4]

I always take my camera. In result, I don`t know where to keep all those photos.

You forgot to mention there`s a lot of cheek kissing. Here are pics from the last day of school for the third form in April.

Travel / How to Go from Szczecin to Krakow? Drive?, Train?, Bus? Fly? [8]


Last year we drove from Krakow to Wolin which is above Szczecin on the map. The whole journey took us 9 hours. We set off at 4 am when the traffic was little. We took the highway from Krakow to Legnica near Wrocław, then headed straight to the north to Szczecin. There were a few breaks to fill in auto gas and straighten the legs.

We need to subtract some time from my 9 hour ride because we went farther than Szczecin destination. But taking into consideration that you are not a driver accustomed to Polish style of driving (which is seen as aggressive by foreign drivers), I estimate you will cover the route Szczecin - Krakow from 10 to 12 hours if it is in the morning with low traffic.

PS. The route is very simple, you can`t get lost, just driving straight ahead on international roads, that`s all. I was also concerned but later didn`t regret.

PS2. We were going on holiday to the Polish seaside last year.

PS3. The highway Krakow- Wrocław is a fast connection but beyond it you will lose a lot of time driving through towns and villages which don`t have by-passes.

Language / POLISH LANGUAGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGLISH [11]


The list is a bit longer but do not expect any revelations.

Vodka comes from wódka.
Pierogi.
Mead comes from miód.
Kielbasa.
Polka.
Mazurka.

That is rather all.

Travel / What is it like in Jastrzębie-Zdrój? [6]

Ufortunately, it is true. My wife`s distant family live in Jastrzębie, we went there once and never wanted to come back again. We went for a walk among blocks of flats and that was the biggest attraction available.

It is a sad grey place built after WW2 with two working coal mines. Or three.

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


If you call bigger villages towns, then it is a correct statement about Russia.

If we stick to the notion that a village is a village and not a town, then we have about 70% of the Russian population living in urban areas.

globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?IndicatorID=30&Country=RU
As you can see from the chart, 90% will be in 2100.


Feeding the world by Russia is a dream.....

First of all, Russia hasn't got enough good soils. Unfortunately for Russians, Russia is not Ukraine :) :)
Secondly, Russian climate doesn't allow good crops (either too cold or too dry) in agriculture.

Now, the matter of peasants.

Russia hasn't the class of peasants because they were exterminated by Stalin or turned into socialist farm slaves for kolkhoz purposes. We all know that when kolkhozes existed during communism, the Soviet Union (with Ukraine!) was never able to produce enough grain to feed its peoples. Large quantities of grain were imported from the USA and others, and it wasn't the problem of the climate or soils.

Today the kolkhoz mentality is still prevailing among farm workers, who are neither farmers nor peasants. They don`t own the land, so they don`t care about work.

That is why Russia won`t be able to feed not only the world but also itself in the nearest future, it already has to import a lot of food today, just like in times of the USSR.

cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html

News / WAŁĘSA DEBATE RAGES ON... [9]

You repeat this sick b....t about Jewish origin of Walesa because you really believe it or because it serves some ironic mockery purpose?

News / WAŁĘSA DEBATE RAGES ON... [9]

Dear Joe, are you really so credulous as to believe everything what is said on the Internet? If I say that Martians landed in Krakow, Poland, will you also happily spread this info to your family and friends in America? Wouldn`t you be afraid that it might be not true, and in result they will think low of you? :) :)

The problem is that such lists of true or alleged Jews in Polish political life are most commonly found on crazy nationalistic sites. We shouldn`t use them as reference if we want to stay serious.

Besides, I would never trust Babylon who considers Świat wg Kiepskich, a cheap sit-com about drunk lumpenproletaryat, the best Polish comedy ever. :) :) :)

News / WAŁĘSA DEBATE RAGES ON... [9]

I see. You are just trying to figure it out.

Yes, it is true that most people on that list have some Jewish origin. But they are true Poles, anyway. They live and work in Poland, speak Polish etc.

The case of Polański is different because he never denied his Jewish roots. The only exception is during the war - Polanski was hidden by a few Polish families from the Nazis, so he had to change his name.

As for Walesa, I have just read an article about him in the newest issue of the popular magazine Wprost. They reproduce the communist secret police personal data form on Wałęsa. Nationality - Polish. Citizenship - Polish. Denomination - Catholic.

He didn`t change his name. He was always Wałęsa.

When the issue becomes archive, I will post this picture.

Genealogy / I have got alot of Polish DNA [51]

Guys, there is a pool of genes which is typical for Slavic nations such as Poles, Russians, Ukrainians.

There is a thread about it in this forum.
https://polishforums.com/genealogy/people-dark-complected-others-light-6524/3/

A citation from Mrhappy`s post:

In terms of Y-chromosome haplogroups the Poles are quite "Slavic". In other words, they are similar in this respect to the their ethnic kin in the east, the Russians and Ukranians. The most common haplogroup in all three nations is R1a - the dominant haplorgoup in eastern Europe. However, the Russians and Ukranians generally carry more of haplogroup N, which is seen most often in Finnic and Altaic populations. This suggests that the eastern Slavs absorbed Finno-Ugrian elements as they expanded east from their region of ethnogenesis.

Western European influence on the Poles via Y-chromosome haplogroups has not been great. Haplogroup R1b, most often seen in Celtic and Germanic populations, is found at levels of 7-17% in Poland. The typically Germanic I1a is even rarer, occuring at less than 6% in Poland as a whole.

In appears that the German, Dutch, Scottish, French and Italian migrants of the middle ages left a much lesser mark on Poland's population than previously thought. Invasions of Poland by Germans and Swedes also appear to have been rather minor influences on the present Poles' paternal makeup.

Love / Polish Gay Life [142]


It is warm and open-minded on most occasions. If it isn`t initially, the police make sure it is.

Genealogy / I have got alot of Polish DNA [51]


Not really. 38 million Poles with their ethnic minorities, 52 million Ukrainians with minorities, about 150 million Russians with their ethnic minorities together make less than 250 million people. The world is populated by more than 6 billion people.

Genealogy / I have got alot of Polish DNA [51]

Aaaah, I see now!

Sorry I underestimated your erudition ... It won`t happen again :):)

History / Jews-Officers in the Polish Armed Forces 1939-1945 [52]


Yes, I read that about 10% of the Polish officer corps executed in Katyn were Jews.

Do you know if there is a monument or at least seperate gravesites to mark the Polish Jews participation in WW2 (apart from Ghetto Rising monument in Warsaw) ?

I know about some Jewish soldiers` sites in Poland but.....

this one is from WW1

and this one is in the military cemetery of the British Commonwealth in Krakow.

Language / When to use nic and niczego [7]

Both are correct but nic is shorter so it`s seems more colloquial than niczego. If you want to sound impressive, use niczego. :):) in the fashion of Mr Kononowicz who promised Poles: Nie będzie niczego/There will be nothing. He intentionally used niczego instead of nic because he was taking part in presidential elections and wanted to make a bigger impression.....

History / Jews-Officers in the Polish Armed Forces 1939-1945 [52]

Mazowiecki was Jewish? I thought it was right wing propaganda...

History / Jews-Officers in the Polish Armed Forces 1939-1945 [52]

Strange, because Mazowiecki has always been a confirmed Catholic, since 1950s.

News / What if Poland has decided to withdraw from the European Union? [54]


I don`t think so. The current Polish political elite, both from the ruling party and the opposition, know very well that the majority of Poles, without a few percent probably, support the Union. This support will continue for years, because thanks to European funds, know-how, investment and law Poland has been modernising quickly in recent years, the economic growth is 6% and the unemplyment has dropped.


It`s a bit hysterical statement. If the Union was anti-slavic, would so many Slavic countries have joined it? Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria...


Every nations has the right to promote its own development and economic success. Germany isn` t an exception, other countries are the same, Poland too. Who prevents Poles from achieving better results in Union than Germans??? Just because Germans work hard to develop their country, Poland should leave the Union?

I don`t think most Poles would like Poland to leave the Union. The advantages visibly exceed shortcomings....

FOund just today, an article from

polskieradio.pl/thenews/foreign-affairs/?id=85885

Poland most aided new EU state

Poland received two billion Euros from Brussels more in 2007 than in the previous year.

Poland's total aid was 5 billion euros net from the EU budget last year, more than any other EU new member state.