Life / $3,000-$4,000 a month - would we have enough money to live in Poland? [273]


If you are speaking of 3000 $ to 4000$ US DOLLARS a month, yes you have enough and i would even add plenty !

Most Polish household DO NOT HAVE such amounts per month .
Of course we are not speaking about a Deluxe way of life but a fairly good one ,in my opinion.

Law / Some advice needed on NOT having my personal tax allowance deferred to next year [6]

Do you really need residency status? in Europe if you stay or work less than 6 months in a country you may still be under your permanent residency fiscal status. Right or Wrong?

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]

inkrakow
My question was more about who pays what in a building rather than who owns what and my surprise at the fact that people just pay their czynsz /maintenance fees by receiving a bill without any explanation.

In the US and anywhere in Europe, one expects to be able to check the maintenance costs of a building per year and with all details and it is customery to receive a lot of documents and copies of the total cost per year for electricity ,water, cleaning fees of the buidling in which you own a place+ a meeting for the co owners.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

Skilled manual workers such as plumbers make good money in big cities such as Warsaw and Krakow ,they definitely make more money in average than non manual workers ( exept for the Polish Notaries who are real bandits)....

Study / Quality of Polish classes for foreigners [7]


Then the best is to have individual Polish lessons. I know of a very good teacher of Polish located in Warsaw who speaks several Languages.

PM me if interested.

Food / Are there any real kebab shops in Gdansk? [20]

In Krakow kebab shops are absolutely everywhere which is a pity because i would prefer zapiekanki shops .
Moreover they do not serve lamb kebab, as a matter of fact there is no lamb available in Poland at a butcher's or supermarket that i know of.

Study / Quality of Polish classes for foreigners [7]

I would think that the University of Warsaw has good qualified teachers of Polish.
However:

The most important thing in Language Training Lessons is to know how many students per class because if the class has more than 6 students ,forget it, there is no way you can learn a language let alone Polish which is pretty difficult if you are going to be in a group of over 6 students.

Pick up a school where you can learn in a mini group if you want to be able to pronunce correctly, be corrected and get the teacher's attention.

Real Estate / Thinking of buying an offplan Luxury Property Wroclaw [79]


Stay away from off plan property in Poland! Too risky and stressful.Just browse on PF and you ll see that most developers were either dishonest or the flats are not built in time. Do not forget you are trying to buy in a post communist country where ( thank God not very body) many developers associate capitalism with cheating clients and Polish laws are not protecting real estate clients at all like anywhere in Western Europe.

There are hundreds of great places which are already built in Wroclaw and not too expensive so just look around and avoid stress and risks!

Travel / Restaurant reviews in Poland. [86]


Yes this one is quite good however the problem in Krakow is that Polish restaurants are amazingly well decorated and with a great atmosphere however their Polish Cuisine is not great compared to when cooked by the Poles at their home!

Tell me about one single Polish dish which was better prepared and served at a Krakow restaurant than one from a Polish home?

There is no Culinary school in Poland I believe and "Chefs" in Krakow restaurants do not seem inspired by Polish Cuisine, I am even wondering if just anybody can just be hired as a cook at a restaurant serving Polish specialties...

Bars and Pastry shops ( cukernia) are great though...

Language / Polish - individual classes or course? [15]

My best experience is with the school [blocated ul. Bronowicka[/b] ,I studied in a mini group (5 students max) the teachers were amazing and the book excellent .

Actually the book+ Cds is called Hurra Po Polsku 1, Hurra Po Polsku 2, Hurra Po Polsku 3 and the school pedagogical team ( sponsored by the European Union!) created those books.

henceforth they follow the " official" 6 language levels established by Europe in 2001 :
A1/A2(Total beginner or False beginner)
-B1/B2( Intermediate)
-C1-C2( autonomy)

The focuss was on speaking skills, grammar but not taught in a boring way, role plays, basic vocabulary etc.
I am not sure they have sessions in Winter but over the Summer they are packed for they also organise accommodation in Krakow if needed.

Anyway it was fun!

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]


You are right however if we follow this approach, almost everything young people study is worthless:
Philosophy, Art, Sculpture, Literature,psychology ,cinema...

So what do you advise ? To just focuss on Business MBAs or technical Diplomas ?

In my opinion if the young man studied plumbing in Warsaw and go back to the US he would make a lot of money too , but knowing the American society anything works as long as you want to work hard, even psychology.

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]


Depends.I have a Polish friend on a Fulbright finishing her PHD in Psychology at NYU , I don't think she 'd have any problem finding a white collar job such as an HR in the US.

Which means that you can start your studies in Europe and then apply for scholarship in the US.

I had not realized that Klaud was only 18 so I fully agree with Fuzzytickets that teaching polish kids would be the best option.( Still a good idea to bring from the US English language books for kids)

Work / Cost of Living, Average Salaries and Job sites in Poland [263]

You could take a course to learn to teach English as a Foreign Language and get a TEFL diploma in the US prior to your relocation in Poland.

There are many ads looking for English Language teachers in Language schools on Justlanded .com or Website ESL café,Expatsin Poland etc ,I think or once you have the degree you may also post some ads.

Beeing fluent in both English and Polish will surely help !

Also you may offer your services on Gumtree Warsaw to get private students , i think you can charge around 50zl per hour ( not sure about the going rate in Warzsawa) but you should be pretty overwhelmed !

Also make sure you bring in your luggage a LOT of ESL Books because in Poland they are very expensive.

Good luck

News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]


I am wondering why because Poles had for decades the reputation of beeing excellent manual workers but also very good urban planners, architects etc.

Isn't it because the skilled labour force emigrated to the US and Western Europe?
The Krakow-Zakopane road took ages to be completed , crazy.

The Polish highways will be built by Chinese companies I heard, so it will be great if you think about Shanghai and Beijing highways and roads.

Polonia / Going to Paris for 10 days, any hints? [14]

Make sure you visit the CHEZ CHARTIER restaurant ( metro Station Grand Boulevards) , cheap and an institution dating back from ages, also in the same arrondissement the famous passage Choiseul, passage Verdeau

Take a stroll on the romantic Canal St Martin ( metro station: Gare de l'Est).
For cafés and funky trendy admosphere, go to rue du Faubourg St Denis ( metro Strasbourg st Denis) café le NAPOLEON ( the owner is French from Polish origin) and for the best home made French fries and beer on the same street the restaurant-café : LE CADRAN DU FAUBOURG.

Bon voyage!

Work / Moving to Europe from US (hopefully to Poland). IT, Programming, technology market? [13]


For this kind of money ( although it does greatly depend on the exchange rate between the $ and the zloty) you will be working like mad in Poland and problably would not even be able to enjoy this great country and everything it has to offer in terms of social encounters, bars, restaurants etc.

i would advise you to accept a big pay cut so that you don't sign a highly paid but still slavery contract.

News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

I read an article on the Wall street journal, no wonder why Poland needs to raise taxes: blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/11/25/poland-gets-new-warning-about-public-finance/

Apart from that the growth is 3.5 % and Polish exports are soaring so compared to Western Europe I find that it is pretty good .

Henceworth I do not understand at all the silly or condescendant title of this thread, where does the author come from ? A really fast growing country i presume, ( from China ?)

Real Estate / Buying a flat in Krakow; prices are still falling? [200]


I also agree, this is absolutely true !

Food / WHY IN POLAND PEOPLE DON'T USE ICE? [142]


The Polish way is the best for your body because if you drink cold water when it is very hot you heart needs to pump much more and one should drink lukewarm beverage or hot drinks when it is very hot ( like people living in the desert).

I know it is really unpleasant but we should avoid drinking very cold or icy drinks when it is 90F.
In the US they have air conditionning EVERYWHERE so no problem!

Work / Wage and Salary rates in Poland [37]


You cannot just convert currencies in the absolute, you need to match them with the local prices and standard of living, in Spain i am not sure teachers make much more than that?

Not to mention the millions of people all over Europe recruited as " trainees" and who work full time and many years for peanuts replacing normal employees...

USA, Canada / A Canadian citizen overstayed Visa in Poland [35]


Why are you judging this poor chap who is asking for advice ?
He just wants to go back to finish his studies and was not aware of our bureaucratic nightmare, if by any luck he was a European he would not have any problem.

A local school made a lot of money with his application and he is not taking the job of any Pole , on the contrary his application reinforces the reputation of excellence of those Polish medical and Dentistry schools so let's be a bit nicer.

I fear that there are no immigration lawyers in Poland like in Canada but BrownRuffrider you could always try to ask the school for their support and get in touch with the authorities to try to defend your case.

Work / No English Speaking Jobs in Poland...At All? [34]


The only way you could do that is to be hired with an "expat contract" by an international company with headquarters abroad ,then you would mainly deal with English speaking departements or you may try travel insurances hotlines or any company with English speaking hotlines maybe( Phone companies,It etc)

News / Is it possible that Polish president was assasinated? If so then, by whom? [921]


The Polish Extreme right( Radio Maria) loves this theory of a KGB/Russian plot against the former Polish President, nonsense but the Extreme Right always cherishes the idea of persecution, it helps them getting votes...

News / Russian air traffic controllers ignored communication protocol of Polish pilots? [194]


This is exactly what i first thought when i heard about the tragedy , i immediately thought about a deficit in language communication and understanding since in Russia air traffic controllers do not get any English language training , not sure about the Polish pilots 's knowledge of English either.

What a terrible conjonction of multiple factors:Key members of the government flying all together in a 20 year old soviet plane, fog and weather conditions ,not speaking or understanding a common language.

When I am on a non English speaking country flight i very seldom understand the flight attendants' blabla in English( apart from Scandinavian crews) because their local accent is so strong and as most people I just tune out so if I can easily imagine the chaos in a situation of emergency...

Travel / Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective [269]


The irony of life, Darius, there is indeed a member of this forum who is seems very racist ( an understatement) and who bears almost the same "name " as yours , he probably does not know that Darius is a typical Persian name and neither does he know where and what Persia is !

It is really funny!
You are right , the vast majority Polish people is not at all racist or unwelcoming , in general as we know ,respectable people are respectful.

Travel / Live Music in Krakow or Warsaw [15]


Try U Muniaka on Florianska ,they always have excellent Jazz bands .
Polish Jazz is great, good atmosphere and drinks.

Real Estate / Buying Property in Poland is out on Amazon [7]

Mamdom are really professional and the manager is very friendly, it is just that they charge exorbitant prices and people who would deny it are either employed by this company, or friends ,family or simply very very wealthy.

I have myself asked them some quotes for interior fit and honestly they were much more expensive than other companies in Krakow.
Please note that i am only speaking about their interior fit services.

Food / Do Polish restaurants use dead dogs fat as a delicacy for you to eat? [41]


And so what? Why does it put Poland in a bad light ? Just because some disgusting people tried to fool consumers but slaughtering dogs and using their fat does not mean the whole Polish nation does it.

Besides a lot of Coreans and Chinese ( mostly old folks but still) love dogs and bears and whatever flies or run and some Japanese love eating whales and some French frog's legs.

In Europe we had mad cow disease for years because some disgusting English and Irish farmers fed their cows with flour made of animal carcasses.

This is much more criminal than selling dog 'fat because this greed provoked the deaths many people....
don't you think?