Genealogy / Some Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian Second Names look Polish! [38]

Well, they are Slavic after all so it's quite natural. They are basically Slavs that migrated south a long time ago so the lineology is still there.

Language / have a sip - Chcesz łyka? [56]

Wouldn't it be 'Chcesz łyką?'

News / Poland: In Top First 15 Countries in the WORLD by the number of CRIMES [286]

Sometimes you try to eke out sth after squeezing or pressing but try that with a stone and you will always get the same result.

Convex argues well but he is wide of the mark with the above, unless he has some stronger arguments up his sleeve.

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS SO SPECIAL LIVING IN U.K [90]

I totally agree with the ladies above. The UK has so many beautiful spots, some of the top universities, a huge range of international brands and cuisine available in more than one outlet ;) ;), alpine sports options, is steeped in culture and there is so much diversity in terms of dialects.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

you can perform miracles with money, totally defying accounting

you must be first to your seat in an airplane

you disobey direct orders at an airport to stand back

you wave your hand to say nothing has happened, then get back in your car and drive off. I've seen this a few times after reversing into the car behind.

News / Poland: In Top First 15 Countries in the WORLD by the number of CRIMES [286]

Sweden and Finland are really expensive and they pay 40% tax. That has to bite!

They didn't have the opportunities, I agree

Holland has restrictions too, good point made

Again, WB is right as the Poles didn't go for the gold. The really talented ones perhaps but not your average Paweł. Very much in the minority

Reality is reality and WB sees it here

Poles have to get tax breaks, put money 'na lokacie' and find ways to save on utilities (media in Polish) in order to feel that they have some disposable income. Reality is pretty bleak for some.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

I don't like second-guessing people, Ironside, but I think his intentions were good. He just wanted to say that the same will happen given incentives to return.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

Reading between the lines, he meant that many Poles now resident in the UK will be able to come back to take up gainful employment. Tusk toyed with a grand scheme to lure many back but, like his streamlining of bureaucracy effort, it didn't get off the ground. Timotei simply meant that that day will come.

History / WAS KATYŃ GENOCIDE? Polish officers were killed [237]

Just like chess players do, I like to look at both sides of the position but I prefer your interpretation which squares with how I was told to interpret it. It is mass murder.

History / WAS KATYŃ GENOCIDE? Polish officers were killed [237]

And that's what I've argued above, convex. Check back earlier in the thread. It doesn't really have the character of genocide. Think about it, why was so much written on the international tribunals (I recommend R.D.Jones) concerning only the FRY (as it was) and Rwanda? Katyń didn't even get a mention in my International Criminal Law course.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Some do that :)

Thongs are very much for choice. It's like a wedgie.

History / WAS KATYŃ GENOCIDE? Polish officers were killed [237]

What do you think the drafters envisaged by 'in part'?

Travel / Getting from Sheffield to Warsaw on May [6]

Do you mean Doncaster-Pyrzowice arrives at 00.50? Isn't there an option to £ódź?

History / WAS KATYŃ GENOCIDE? Polish officers were killed [237]

They were part of an ethnic group. Please explain why they wrote, 'in whole or in part'

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Oh, there are camouflage ones too ;) Maybe that's for forest combat :)

The word is cleavage, Exiled. The standard is not bad at all :)

Politics too. Tusk is starting to propose some controversial measures so they aren't missed. Taxing money 'na lokacie' and imposing fines for every km/h over the speed limit are just 2 of his no brainers.

News / Poland: In Top First 15 Countries in the WORLD by the number of CRIMES [286]

Poles, like the Japanese, go in for more specific kinds of crimes. The Japanese like to steal bicycles and umbrellas. The Poles, cars. Even then, it's vastly overplayed and tends to be a thing of the past. Given their relative poverty, the crime rate is pretty low.

History / WAS KATYŃ GENOCIDE? Polish officers were killed [237]

Well, the Genocide Convention itself does say 'in whole or in part' so that in itself seems to be strong evidence.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

you wear khaki trousers when there is no war going on ;) ;)

you have all this info from education but few outlets willing to pay you for it

you keep a constant supply of pickles/gherkins in your fridge

you believe that no bread can beat Polish bread, even though the Baltic states and Finland produce top notch stuff

you love arguing at family get-togethers

you love overusing certain verbs like jechać and delight in using all the forms

you fuss over things like open doors, windows and trivial things, just to mask boredom

you claim to be Catholic but don't go to church.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

There are certain places where Poles and Baltic fowk fare better. I've seen Poles and Estonians in restaurants in Inverness, working as waitresses. There are many old fogies there so it's nice to see some young, pretty faces. They are pretty helpful and seem happier. We are influenced by those around us and the same waitress in some places here wouldn't be so happy.

The problem, delph, is that you have to leave your workpost on maternal leave. I've known of many cases where the job simply can't wait and they cannot resume their post thereafter. Then you're placed somewhere down the pecking order again. It is irresponsible to have many kids, I agree, but it's a reality for the state to address. Deterrents can always be applied but Britain has gone to the dogs as a benefit culture. In fact, so much so that my friend, who used to be a socialist, has now spoken out against it. He deplores the extent to which freebies are given out. Incentives rather than deterrents.

Love / Polish Girls vs Russian Girls [813]

Wow, that's a raunchy photo there, wildrover. I thought she was wearing beige pants until I took a closer look. Nothing like a quality pair of flaps ;) ;)

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

That's true. For the first 2 years it's around 330PLN. Then it jumps up to 840PLN in the 3rd year and beyond.

I much preferred the old system where ZUS was paid for me and I had a special E-111 card from Britain which entitled Poles and Brits to reciprocal healthcare. I feel that 840PLN is largely money down the drain.

Papers are about prestige as you know, delph. They just won't break that mindset. I've also seen some abominable teachers with letters.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

It's hard to believe that as anything but a fob-off, delph. At its peak, there were 25,000 Poles in Aberdeenshire. My wife is a travel agent and I was flicking through one of her work brochures. I was amazed at how many destinations you can reach from Okięcie airport, Warsaw. How can it be that they can't go to such a popular spot? Length of runway? LOL. What a bunch of incompetent clowns run the toon cooncil (sic). Dundee airport? I didn't even know it had one, LOL.

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

The other side is that they are offered fairly stable hours, thus providing a greater degree of certainty. Private schools blow with the wind and we all know about the infamous Callan 'guarantee' of 26 hours a week. Some were lucky to hit 20 a week. Supplementary private lessons are the main plus of being a private school teacher. Imagine a public school teacher with a couple of kids. They must be exhausted at the end of the week. As a private school teacher, there is more flexibility in which to incorporate privates. In order to teach sth like CPE, I have to be sharp and on my game.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

Another factor has to be accessibility. As delph said, Scotland welcomes immigrants with open arms but look how much easier it is to get to England than to Scotland. There isn't even a direct flight from Scotland's third largest city, Aberdeen. Glasgow scrapped a major Wizzair flight. Many more see London as the easier option.

A different factor would be matching skillsets to industries. Scotland has a lot of old industries and I'm unsure as to how compatible a Polish education and training are.

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

It must be a disincentive to work for so little. As I said, life costs here. It just means that all the goods which everyone consumes are bought cheaper. State-school teachers really get a raw deal, I'm surprised that they survive.

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

I can believe it, Torq. I've seen and heard enough to know that you are right. Sound employers invest in educated people, that's why they receive bonuses. I remember one of my co-teachers in NOVA, Japan, telling me that I must have been disappointed to receive only the smallest increment going into my 2nd year of teaching. I wasn't for 2 reasons. I was already getting 5000Y (25 quid but hey) extra because of possessing a Masters. Besides, she was a top teacher and she only got the bare minumum payrise too. The extra cash was a token gesture but nonetheless signalled their intent to break from their stingy ways.

Harry is right too. There was one teacher here who was a pent-up Canuck who couldn't get a thing right. He stank to high heaven and was evicted for a COMPLETE lack of hygiene. Not only armpits I might add (yes, I'll stop there). I had to pull him out of class as he lost his patience. He then became a teaching forum hack and he is the sort that hits out at the host country for his own friggin ineptitude. He had no right being a teacher. That's why a CV is often worth jack these days. Schools here want bums on seats and don't hire the best candidates at all. Then there are thousands upon thousands of top graduates who don't get a look in. Life is far from fair!

Nothing is unbelievable in the world of ESL teaching and Poland is but one country in that murky matrix.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

Cadbury's is being bought over by Kraft, convex.

I agree with the rest of what you said. Poland is investing in IT and has many able bodies. Research the level of funding they receive from the EU, it might surprise you.

Why make a fuss? Simply for the reasons whatnext said. Britain's working class didn't disappear overnight, you know!? They need to put food on the table and raise their kids just like everyone else, funnily enough. What's more, they will make it easier to stick to the minimum wage, rather than large-scale undercutting to profit some cnuts.

UK, Ireland / Brits to protest against foreigners in the workforce, including Poles. [289]

Convex, that's not the point. Poles and Lithuanians snap up those jobs very quickly as they are not as fussy as some Brits. That's a plus for whatnext because part of the competition is eliminated. Still, even before the Poles and Baltic folk arrived, there were too many people chasing too few jobs in key sectors.

Delph has a point but it goes a little deeper than that. You have to put yourself in the shop window and use contacts. You can have a sterling CV but if you can't put it in the right place then you haven't much hope. Also, Britain has a weird attitude to being over and under qualified. I was definitely overqualified for some of the posts I went for and that counted against me.

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

Torq, it really doesn't work anyway. I've noticed that they almost always revert back to their mistakes after an intensive effort at eradicating them. The damage is done at their schools where Polish teachers drum crap into them. They go with RP and can't even get that right. I've worked with many Polish teachers and I think they are having a laugh when they ask me how to pronounce certain words. They go with feel and that's often wrong. If they really received such a schooling from their teachers, as they should, then I have no idea why they are so mistake prone. Philology is not a grounding for teaching phonology or general pronunciation. It's a way of getting people in work but many shouldn't have those positions. Besides, there is the tendency to overuse Polish and one teacher actually used Polish 90% of the time. This is a not a coffee shop.

No offence but there are some observers I just can't take seriously. One I just refused to listen to and I think that's why I didn't get my contract extended. She was an airhead with limited exposure to methodology and I wasn't even aware of the criteria I was being judged on. She was rude and I made her know that her views on my teaching, already award winning, were not welcome.

Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

Phonetics doesn't really merit much attention, just the odd pronunciation demonstration as and when required. I agree that a lively teacher helps but sometimes Poles prefer the approach of a Polish teacher. It just depends on the method being used.

Those with a CELTA do tend to work that bit harder and I've seen that. I approve of the show up, do a good job and go home attitude. What's wrong with it? People have lives away from language schools.

Appreciation is not a strong point here, that's true. It's almost like everything is expected, like they are royalty.