Love / Asking Polish Girl to be in a relationship [22]

Towarszysz.

I too have lived abroad, that is, in Europe as I'd mentioned to you in our limited correspondence and deeply share you feelings of seeming inadequacy as well as feeling condescended to by the locals, particularly of the female persuasion:-)

While never in Poland long enough to draw any conclusions regarding the inhabitants of the opposite sex, I can say with assurance that the Viennese won the medal for arrogance towards Anglophone foreigners hands down, giving the Berliners a run for their money.

Don't throw in the towel yet, dude! Wish I could give a less clichéd response, but see of you can hold out a tad longer and I'm certain your perseverance will pay off in the long run, even if the long run looks longer that one would have likedLOL

Love / Asking Polish Girl to be in a relationship [22]

@Kaprys and dolno,

Hate as I do to disappoint you both, my contacts were in the mid- to late nineties, the contacts whom I know are roughly 20-30 somethings, mostly recent arrivals from Poland within say a decade of each other, and finally, I was born in '60, therefore too young to have been in Poland during Communism:-)

Nice try
LOL

Love / Asking Polish Girl to be in a relationship [22]

I see Dolno, you and most people of barely average intelligence haven't yet conceived of the idea of somebody knowing
scores of people from a another country IN THAT SOMEBODY'S OWN COUNTRY:-)

I only grew up right near Greenpoint, Bklyn. for almost twenty years, and practically "lived" on Manhattan Ave. so geez man, get a clue!

Love / Asking Polish Girl to be in a relationship [22]

Simply put, Polish women can come across as super direct, sometimes blunt to a fault, who'll usually speak their mind candidly, yet without EVER meaning to be intentionally cruel or hurtful, this must be said:-)

In my experience when I was much, much younger and way before I was married, Polish women are often inquisitive and will wander into personal areas of inquiry, even upon first meeting!

And if they find out you know some of their language, matey, you'll have 'em practically eatin' out of your hand. They might though "interrogate" you beforehand as to why you learned Polish and so forth.

Best of luck, Towarzyszu!

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Well said, Iwonko! Hear, hear:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The reasons as I've stated to distractions on this forum why Poles have such lousy English instruction!
If there aren't any standards, there isn't going to be any effective learning now, is there?

Language / Polish-American Grandma used to say this word! [18]

And "dupA"? We all know about that one:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Admittedly unimportant, Iwonko, I was merely being sarcastic in order to counteract or neutralize Rich's ignorance:-)
Actually, in smaller European countries, principally in Scandinavia, the number of "workmen" or "tradesmen"
I've met over the years who were as well-read as they were good with their hands, was amazing! More power to such people.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

And the English gave us flush toilets, so what else is new?
I recently saw an ad too, in front of a new condo going up right on our block:
"TENANTS WANTED, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!"

lol

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

A philosopher might say, "Get used to the dark!", much as a practicing Christian Scientist might claim, "The illness
is all in your mind!"

Seriously though, in any society, there's call for both professions as well as trades.
After all, if an electrician or plumber can neither read not write aka communicate effectively,
his know-how isn't worth squat:-)

Work / Business in Poland - should I expect some dirty tricks? [26]

The US sure ain't perfect, but the title of the thread was concerning dirt tricks, and I merely answered in the affirmative, based on my experience with Eastern Europeans here in the States. Bribery was a way of life in their countries and thus it fit neatly into ours:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The more educated, Rich, the more people will realize the degree to which most are taken advantage of.

Work / Business in Poland - should I expect some dirty tricks? [26]

Poland was no different from all the rest of the Black Market, especially under Communism!
You acted like an honest, babe in the woods, deer in the headlights....you were dead meat.
Poles, like the others, had to finagle in order to survive.

These are FACTS, not fairy tales:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Wrong again, Rich!

If someone is politically "connected" etc. naturally allowances will usually be made to somehow get an unqualified person in to any
position. We all know that.

However, as I've mentioned numerous times here, but to deaf ears and blind eyes, myriad successful non-academics have credited
success in their chosen careers to a solid liberal arts education, especially in areas such as philosophy and English Lit.
Last time I checked, Richie, learning to think, expound, and reason out loud, were prerequisites for any lawyer worth their salt peter:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Although many here in the US are choosing the latter option, preferring trade schools for their children (especially their sons), and foregoing a traditional liberal arts education.

While both are equally deserving, I feel those parents are being more than a little short sighted.

History / Study Shows Irish Voters Rejected the Nice Treaty Referendum Due to Poland's Entry Into the EU [80]

And apparently now the Poles are the other European country (after, of course, France) spearheading an effort to help rebuild Notre Dame.

Work / Business in Poland - should I expect some dirty tricks? [26]

Dirty tricks in Poland??!

You've got to be kiddingLOL

History / Study Shows Irish Voters Rejected the Nice Treaty Referendum Due to Poland's Entry Into the EU [80]

St Patrick wasn't even Irish, but a Roman slave brought by the English to Ireland:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

If those doing the evaluating are teachers, educators themselves, I'd have no problem!
As for myself, been through numerous evaluations, passed 'em all handily, never once gave it a second thought.
If you're goofin' off in class, then I suppose you do have reason to become extra defensive:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Without a thorough grounding in philosophy, modern languages, classics or composition, the only practical "profession"
one might hope for is juice man for the mob. Hear it pays real well too:-)

Seriously though, the number of successful lawyers, physicians and other non-academic professionals who ended up as philosophy
majors in college is more than I can shake a stick at, with both eyes open!!

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Don't forget, school inspectors are also easily bribable:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The crass difference between the public vs. private sector, Iwonko! Those who can't do, administrate. Those who can't administrate, teach. Those who can't do either,

become entrepreneurs so they can get paid for screwing everybody else over, above all, their employees. Trust me on this one, I've done both, and both have their downside.

See post #116:-)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

I tend to agree with jon about this.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

In the States though, this type of merit-based system has had practically zilch success! Why? Because hot-button performers such as affirmative action along with "diversity counseling" often result in Unqualified instructors/professors in position in which they are clearly out of their depth.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Who then determines whether or not a teacher is "great" or "average", Spike? Some dipso bureaucrat from Sejm, perhaps barely sat in a classroom for long, making professional decisions about those about whom he knows nothing whatsoever, moreover, who's probably never logged in teaching hours in their life, sitting back

collecting a nice fat pension, having sat for umpteen years on some cushy Commie-Era sinecure??

Terrific! That's why the country's in such trouble.

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

So long as you don't desire to discourage others such as Lori from learning, enjoying, and using her new-found Polish skills,
I wish you well, Rich:-)

Happy Easter, buddy!

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

Granted, as throughout practically all of the known world today, English IS the lingua franca numero uno, taught, spoken, used!! In my experience, I always listen BETWEEN the text aka the lines of my interlocutor, be it in Poland, Hungary, Germany or bloody Timbuktu, for that matter.

Poles will use English, on the whole, much as you and I might use basic arithmetic to figure out a bill, in all probability with our fingers, if mental computation fails us, which it often does, I'm sure:-)

Interactions in English with the average European are generally only slightly higher than same between Americans using their limited knowledge of high school Spanish, French, possibly German etc.

Non-native English speakers have long become past masters in the famous "prepared answer" to most forseeable questions or challenges from foreign visitors to their country. I am therefore certain, Rich, that every simple question which you put to hotel or first class restaurant, tourist, guest-services staff was answered to your satisfaction.

However, life is rarely if ever quite as predictably simple as a script memorized by someone with at best a college-level knowledge of English. My thing wherever I've traveled or lived abroad, is precisely getting OFF of the script, indeed, approaching the inhabitants as natives of their own country rather than as mini-satelites of the the good ol' USA! In the former instance, Rich, the ONLY way to go beyond surface communication and relate on a comfortably native-speaker level, is to gain as firm a knowledge of that language as one possibly can.

You wish to take a great vacation somewhere and feel totally comfortable speaking English only?? STAY HOME!

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

Rich,

I'm certain your way worked for you. However, it depends completely on which level one is interested in studying a foreign language.
For a super-brief US group tourist layover in Warsaw, clearly little more than a perfunctory "Dzien dobry!" would more than suffice adequately.
For the less trepedatious (?? Is that even a word? Guess, I meant "intrepid"LOL) among y'all, guess an interpreter at the travel agency's expense would be the safest route to follow.

:-)

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

The ol' disappearing letter trick: Bogaslawiec > Bogaslawcu etc...
Yep, Polish is full of seemingly quixotic mutations. When I said the spelling is "predictable", I meant only before a noun is declined.
Memorizing the patterns must be done contextually, or one can go quietly bonkers!!

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

Yes, Doug ol' man, I share your "pain"!
German's complicated enough, but in Polish, the concept of declining names and place names as well really threw me for a loop
in the beginning:-)

I got used to it though and accepted it as simply a part of the language I had to master, as Poles had to master our sometimes

annoying verb tenses and off the wall spelling (non-)'rules'LOL