Study / When will Polish schools start to recruit for September 2011? [23]


This is fairly accurate. I work for Bell and take home about 3500zl a month, from which I pay 1400zl for a two room flat in the Old Town, plus gas, elecrticity, internet, and health insurance. I sub-let a room to a cllege student-we both like the arrrangent and have been sharing the fkat for two years. That's another 500zl a month. I also teach private lessons, and that brings in another 1200zl or so a month. So I guess I get about 5000zl nett a month, less expenses for the flat, and in June I'll get paid for a lot of overtime this year. I don't live a lavish lifestyle, but it's comfortable and I like my job and my school.

I'm only telling you this because you'll starve if you work for a public school and you should know that there are alternatives.

Real Estate / Poland house prices recovered faster - Summary of 2010 [89]

Yeah, it depends on what other similar houses in the area have recentlly sold for, and on what a buyer is willing to pay for it. The only bullshit here is your insistance that it's a Ponzi scheme, which it's not. Do your research, man.

Language / Need Advice On Polish-English language barrier (my Polish boyfriend and his family) [59]

Esperanto is useless. Just got a begiining Polish book like Hurra Po Polsku or czesc jak sie masz. start studying, speak Polish as often as you can, ask Lukasz to help, and in 20 years you'll be able to order a beer in a bar. :) Just kidding. There's a book: 301 Polish verbs that's also very good. Be patient. Polish is a difficult language to learn.

Real Estate / Poland house prices recovered faster - Summary of 2010 [89]

And proprty markets which consist of transactions at an agreed upon price between buyers and sellers are not Ponzi schemes. If you need the classic example of one, google Bernie Madoff. His was a 50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Real estate in Poland or anywhere else is not. If a buyer pays an inflated price in the hope of subsequently making a profit but doesn't, well, that's just a poor decision on his part. It happens everywhere.

Study / When will Polish schools start to recruit for September 2011? [23]

Yes, it really is that bad as a teacher in the public school system. I have several Polish friends who teach and the highest monthly income I've heard about is 1450zl. Private language schools are the way to go if you want to eat.

Life / A little over $10,000 and wanting to move to Poland ... any tips?? [18]

As an American in a Schengen zone country, you'll only be allowed to say for 90 days unless you have a job and get a work permit, etc. I really don't see how that will be possible for you, but enjoy your three months!

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

You'll soon find that Polish pancakes are in no way, shape or form what you used to eat in the US. I've been following this thread from the beginning. Don't worry. You'll be fine. It's all in the mind.

Language / Polish - Absolute Beginner Questions. Study plan. [75]

In my opinion. this won't work in Polish, because the grammar is much more complex than in English. If you don't have at least a basic knowledge of Polish grammar, you won't be able to understand a lot of what you hear.

Language / Polish - Absolute Beginner Questions. Study plan. [75]

This is SO true! As one of my books (Cześć, jak się masz?) says: Gramatyka jest waźna.

I started with Polish in 4 weeks (that's a laugh!), then got the abovementioned book, 301 Polish verbs, and Hurra!!! po polsku.

Language / Need help with the Polish idiom about the weather in March [10]

grubas, i wasn't trying to teach you Polish. I'm not that presumptuous. I was just telling you what my students told me. As you suggested, maybe it's a regional thing. I sure don't know.

And Ziemowit, I see what you're getting at. Hey guys, I'm just trying to learn.

Language / Need help with the Polish idiom about the weather in March [10]


Dokładnie. and idzie luty podku buty-here comes February, put horshoes on your boots or something like that.


po, not co. my students did the correction this morning. Thanks for the help guys.

Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]

I have 5-6 private lessons a week. I charge 50zl an hour and I've never advertised. All my private students are referals and I won't have lessons with someone I don't want to work with. My "rules" are pretty simole. We either have lessons in my kitchen or in a coffee shop or pub, but pubs and coffee shops are only for daytime lessons. I don't ask them to pay in advance nor do I have a 24 hour in advance cancellation policy. Things happen in life unexpectedly, and if either one of us wakes up sick in the morning and can't make the lesson, we just notify each other. The one cardinal rule I have is that if they don't show up for a lesson and haven't notified me, they're no longer my student. This has happened only once in four years, and it happened on the first lesson. That's not a bad record, and it's why I prefer referals to advertising.

Work / Do Polish workers get cheated on hours? [15]

I think it depends on the company and the kind of work they do. I have been teaching English in a few companies here, and that's what they have told me. Some do, some don't. It was the same in the US. It depends on the job.

Life / Winter in Poland? [160]


Yeah. Just before Sylwester I slipped on a snow covered patch of ice and broke a rib. I was wearing boots, but they didn't have spikes on the bottom. :) Now I just walk very carefully when it's icy.

Life / Winter in Poland? [160]

I agree with evrything said above. I wear a baseball cap most of the year to keep the sun out of my eyes and the rain off my head. When it's a little wamer but raining, I wear a light North Face waterproof jacket. In winter I wear a stocking cap. It's fine.

I'm from San Diego and with the right clothes, I've had no problems with winter weather.

BTW, to my California mind, it doesn't get hot in Poland, just comfortably warm, though my friends would disagree with on on that. :)

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]

I meant a couple of hours a day for the rest of his life! :) That's my plan!

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]


Why not give it a try? It'll keep your mind active, and else are you going to do with a couple of hours a day?

Language / How hard is it to learn Polish? [178]

1. Damned difficult. I'm still learning.

2. Polish in 4 Weeks. Ha!!! Hurra Po Polsku. Help from friends.

I had 2 years of Latin in high school, majored in French at my university, studied Italian for a year at the same place, picked up some Spanish while living in San Diego, and learned decent Japanese (not the characters though, except for the phonetic alfabet) while there in high school. Polish is by far the most difficult language I've ever tried to learn.

I don't think you'll get from square one to advanced in a year, but any progress you make will make both you and your grandmother proud. Good luck!

Law / Karta Pobytu - how long can i stay temporarly out of Poland? [30]

Simply renew, but remember that you have to apply for a new one at least 45 days before your current card expires. Permanent residency can take 5 years or more to get.

Travel / Is Gdansk worth a visit in Poland? [33]

I live in Gdansk. You'll love this city, and your hotel, although rather expensive, is in a perfect location to explore the Old Town. PM me me if you want some more info, and tell me what you want to do while you're here. I'm always happy to help visitors to my city. And there is no bad weather, only bad clothes. :)

Food / Let's Play a Game-Name a Polish Food (and if you like it or hate it) [12]


Tripe soup. I like it plus bigos, golambki, golanka form time to time, karkowka cooked with Knorr's seasoning. One thing I absolutely hate is carp.

Work / Native English speaker from the US better than from the UK to find a job in Poland? [24]


Not true at my school which has five locations in Poland. BTW, the school also requires a university degree and a CELTA or equivalent.

Language / déjà vu in Polish [23]


All my students who mispronounce vu tell me that's how they were taught in their French classes in high school. One even argued a little about it, even though she knew that mu uni degree is in French and my spoken French is excellent, although these days it's a little rusty from lack of use.

Life / How many Americans live in Poland? [13]

I know of four in Gdansk, not including me, two in Sopot, Warsaw and Poznan, and one in Radom. Interestingly enough, two of them own pubs. :)

Travel / Restaurant reviews in Poland. [86]

Gdansk

Pueblo opened another restaurant here a few months ago (there's already one in Gdynia). It's in the Old Town just minutes from my flat, and since I love Mexican food but haven't been able to find anything halfway decent (El Paso in Oliwa is one example) I had to try it. Very good food, almost-almost-as good as what I was used to in Southern California. I try to go there once a week-it's that good. The pork fajitas, 29zl, are very good. You get a very small dish of chips and salsa, but the salsa is good. The refried beans and rice leave something to be desired, but the guacamole is excellent.

Strangely enough, in a country where pork is so popular, they don't serve carnitas. I'm going to recommend this as an addition to their menu the next time I'm there, which will probably be this weekend.

News / Smoking ban in Polish bars and restaurants (AT LAST!) [400]

It's being enforced in the pubs I go to in Gdansk. No smoking signs in all of them and the staff telling people they have to go outside to smoke. I see groups of smokers outside pubs and restaurants when I walk around the Old Town, so it appears that enforcement by owners is pretty universal.

I smoke, and rather than join the discussion about the rightness or wrongness of this law, I'll just accept it and live with it. It's not a big deal to me.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

But they're right. And I'm speaking as an American who teaches from British books but also teaches the differences between British and American English. Most of my students prefer an American accent, which they say is easier to understand, but in my classroom they healthy a healthy dose of British English because that's what's predominantly spoken in Europe, even though the accents are more more American than British. Go figure. Bit I'm siding with delphiandomine and Harry on this one.

USA, Canada / Moved back from Canada to Poland:). Here are the reasons why. [868]


So is this American. My bedroom window is always open a little, even in winter. It makes for better sleeping.

Food / Cornish game hens in Poland? [13]

Good question. I haven't seen any, and I love to cook them. Anybody?