News / Curb shack-up privileges - black MP John Goodson appealing to the labour minister [21]

I keep hearing the word "statistically" but I don't see anything to back it up. How are statistics about co-habiting couples compiled, if those couples don't fill in any official registration of their relationship? How do schools, hospitals or any other centre that tracks the status of children know whether the mother has a live-in partner or not?

If politicians should run the country economically, then they should not allow married couples to have a tax break; they're not living any more cheaply than two students in a flat-share, or two elderly spinsters, or any other two-person combination under one roof. Making everyone pay their fair share is far more sense than giving some people an advantage based on spurious incentives ("please have babies!) that have no founding in statistics.

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]

This is less about Polish directness and more about British waffling, which is famous around Europe. This guide is based on an observation originally made by the Dutch contingency within the corridors of the European Union in Brussels:

Poles hate being taught the skill of Indirect Questions, which has been a staple of EFL courses for as long as I've been teaching.

News / Curb shack-up privileges - black MP John Goodson appealing to the labour minister [21]


I would like to see those statistics, especially in relation to Polish families. "Preferable" and "stable" are very much arguable points here. There's also the deeper issue that, statistically, married couples have fewer children than unmarried ones, and the birth rate in Poland is critically low.

Regarding the original point, I'd love to have the privileges of marriage commuted to co-habiting couples; especially the legal tax dodge where I commute my salary to my low-earning wife to avoid the 30% tax bracket. But no, that won't happen; avoiding your social responsibility is only for those with "higher values".

Travel / Driving from UK to Poland in Christmas Time - winter tyres? [46]


Mondeo Mk III tyre is a 205/55R16, which is what bumps the price up. And I was checking the UK website, not the PL version, so I have no idea if there's a saving to be made by playing the currencies.

Nokian summer tyres get good reviews, but I know nothing about their winter models. As for all-year tyres, they'll always be the worst of both. Not enough grip in the winter, too fast-wearing in the summer, loud road noise all year round; a pointless compromise.

Travel / Driving from UK to Poland in Christmas Time - winter tyres? [46]

Not really. Cheapest brand I can think of is Falken, and even then it's nearly 60 quid a corner. Decent winter tyres like Vredestein Snowtrac 3 or Goodyear Ultragrip 8* are 90 quid each. But well worth the investment, since they're good for six years.

*a recent recommendation from another forum user

Travel / Driving from UK to Poland in Christmas Time - winter tyres? [46]

try the online website Oponeo. It's a Polish company that now sells in the UK, and their prices are significantly cheaper.

Part-worn tyres are only worth it if a) you know where they came from and b) you know how to check whether they're good. Otherwise it's massive false economy.

Travel / Driving from UK to Poland in Christmas Time - winter tyres? [46]

tyre chains are outright illegal unless you're in the severest grips of a blizzard; you don't use them at speeds over 30km/h.

Depending on which particular tyre you have, just be sensible. Proper Summer tyres are completely inappropriate for the slush, ice and freezing temperatures of Poland in December/January, and while all-season tyres are a compromise, they're really not good enough for motorway speeds, especially if you find yourself in a hard-braking situation.

Don't presume anything about Poland's road infrastructure. Even though the motorways are new, the agencies running them are so feckless that the backstreets are cleared of snow long before the motorways are, so plan accordingly and pack food, water and some blankets just in case of a bad weather situation; this applies to Germany as well. I was stuck solid for 7 hours during a blizzard near Hannover in 2010, on Dec 23rd, and that's an adventure I don't ever want to repeat.

What car will you be driving?

Travel / Is there a healthy expats scene in Poland? (drinks, food, golf, etc.) [143]

I've lived in Warsaw for eight years but never felt the urge to seek out the ex-pat crowd. There are more than enough Polish people out there prepared to bullshit with you about Formula 1... particularly on the enormous skill, talent and overall prowess of Kubica.

I'm not sure a teacher's salary will pay for a house in Wilanow though, British Council or otherwise.

Off-Topic / I am teaching my Polish friend English, advice needed [30]

Purists will tell you that you're not supposed to use L1 (her native language), and that constantly using L2 (the target language, English) will give her an "immersive" approach that will help her to THINK in English, not just speak it. But on the flipside, she's in a native-speaking country where she can immerse herself in English whenever she wants, and that means you can use L1 on a "gently, gently" approach to save time.

Adult learners do need different approaches to kids; you have to explain things, and then support your explanations with reasons. If the reasons aren't good enough, the explanation is rejected. Expect her to argue with you, or demand examples, or find fault with your logic. That's a sign she's trying to work it all out, and should be rewarded.

But remember, grammar really is secondary to fluency (which just means communicating the idea as quickly as possible, NOT accurately). If she says "I go work tomorrow, I sad, I no money" then smile and tell her she's doing fine. You can understand her message, she got her idea across, and you can reply accordingly. With time, you can go back and clean up the mistakes, but if you try and correct everything she says right at the beginning, then she'll get disheartened, lose confidence and stop learning.

Teaching is a funny mixture of linguistics and psychology, and you have to adjust the ratio for each student.

Food / Any królik (rabbit) fanciers on PF? [76]

Be careful with the phrase "rabbit fancier". If you asked if someone is a pigeon fancier, and they reply in the affirmative, and your next question is "how to you like them cooked?" then you're likely to get punched in the face.

A Fancier is a grower or breeder, NOT a gourmet. That's not to say fanciers don't eat them of course, but they often form a bond with their animals.

Off-Topic / I am teaching my Polish friend English, advice needed [30]

It's important that you build interaction into the task; if it's just you telling her the info then it will go in one ear and out the other. Hence the fruit question.

I'm presuming you're doing this in two languages with her. Of course, if you're not speaking Polish to her at all, then try to avoid anything that may be confusing. But be prepared for the confusing stuff (that Salad is a sub-category of Vegetable, and that Polish "salata" means "lettuce", not "salad".)

Off-Topic / I am teaching my Polish friend English, advice needed [30]

Everyone does, even in the UK, but biologically it's in a different class (in the same way bananas are herbs and peanuts are vegetables, or so I'm told). It's just an opportunity to bring Fruit into the conversation, and she can practise "tomato is a fruit, potato is a vegetable". Once you've made simple statements like that, she can practice questions; What is a tomato, what is a potato? It all stems from there.

Off-Topic / I am teaching my Polish friend English, advice needed [30]

If you're not a teacher, then don't try too hard; you'll confuse her and make things even harder for her proper teacher.

What you can do is vocabulary and practise. Find tasks for her to build up her word base, so that she can apply the basic rules she's learning in class to more practical applications.

A good example is structured word lists. Take some sheets of A4 and just do mind maps of vocabulary areas; for example Food, which you write in the middle of the paper. Just ask her to name three ingredients from the top of her head (e.g Potato, Chicken, pasta). Since those three words have nothing in common, put them in three different corners of the paper.

Then tell her Potato is a vegetable, and write that word between "food" and "potato". Ask her for three more vegetables. If she says "tomato" (they all do) you can tell her that that is a Fruit, which you write close to "food" but towards the blank corner of your paper. Ask for three more fruits. For chicken, ask for three more meats.

Once you've played with that, take an exercise book and make her write the new words into ordered lists - a new page for each section (so Page 1 - Vegetables, Page 2 - Fruit and so on). Tell her to add 5 more words to each list with her daughter's help.

DON'T try and teach her too much grammar. Keep things in the Present Simple (I eat, I run, I go) until she tells you she's learned the Past Simple at college. You can try to explain the Regular and Irregular verbs if you like, but keep things to basic daily routines; I wake up, I get dressed, I eat breakfast, I go to work... stay away from idioms and phrasal verbs for now. But you can teach her prepositions of place and time, and time phrases, numbers, weather, furniture, transport - all the day to day stuff.

Real Estate / Polish building plans [16]

Real designers/engineers shouldn't be using centimetres; it's metres or millimetres. But then again, Poles sell ham in decagrams, so it could well be centimetres...

News / Upping the speed limit in Poland [92]

According to Ernst and Young, cars per capita in Poland rose 4.8% (from 432 per thousand to 453) 2010 to 2011. So less than the 6% increase in road fatalities.

Also, when road deaths dropped 16% between 2008 and 2009, car ownership increased 2%.

News / Upping the speed limit in Poland [92]

Road deaths rose from 3,907 in 2010 to 4,142 in 2011. 2011 is when the motorway speed limits were raised from 130km/h to 140km/h, but this does not explain the rise since the motorways carry a relatively small volume of traffic in Poland.

However, this does make Poland the only EU country with a year-on-year increase in road deaths for 2010/11, and gives close to double the average number of deaths per million inhabitants across the EU (120 compared to an average of 69).

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]

In torrential rain I either slow to a crawl or stop driving; those are the limits of the vehicle and my visibility, neither of which I can control, in just the same way your skill can't control the traction of a car on black ice.

Yet you insist this is less hassle than undoing 16 wheel nuts every six months...

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]

So knowing how fast to take a corner is a measure of what, exactly, if not skill?

Poland has the highest road death rate in Europe. Legislation is not the hallmark of logic. Germany, in comparison, not only mandates winter tyres but fails their technical check if the tyres are over six years old. I'm sure you'll argue it's purely coincidence (and knowledge of cornering speeds) that explains their dramatically lower fatality rate.

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]

If you think it all comes down to the skill of the driver, you're more of a fool than you've made yourself look already.

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]


I'm fairly sure that if I opt for a second cheeseburger, I'm not increasing the chance of killing a family of four on the other side of the road.

While it's not a law to use winter tyres, it is required to be an adult to drive a car. You ought to start acting like one.

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]

The difference between 8 and 2 gig of ram doesn't equate to surviving or dying in a loss-of-traction situation though. And again, four wheel drive means fcuk-all if none of the wheels are driving because your summer tyres have frozen into blocks of Lego.

Life / Poland: When usually is the best time to change from summer to winter tyres? [42]


Worst of both worlds.

There's no shoe that's perfect for both dancing and mountain-climbing, so why would you think there's a tyre that's perfect for both +30 and -30 degrees?

The tyre is undeniably the most important part of a vehicle. You can have the most powerful engine and the best brakes in the world, but if you're not making good contact with the road then it doesn't mean sh!t.

News / Papal Day in Poland JP2 [26]


Seems hard to believe, considering I know three of the four men to whom that article is accredited. Maybe his eager fingers made a misspelling of "fealty"?

News / Papal Day in Poland JP2 [26]

Polonius may be referring to the same CBOS poll quoted in this article:

reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/us-poland-religion-idUSBRE89G09320121017

Life / All Saints' Day in Poland - Commemoration or Carnival? [44]


Halloween is one of the most ancient traditions of Europe, and has its roots a long way before America was even discovered, and shares a common root with the Polish tradition of Dziady.

The commercialism of Halloween is rather tasteless, much like the behaviour I witnessed that prompted this thread two years ago.

History / A state funeral for the last of the Polish Habsburgs [5]


He died four months before the war began.

UK, Ireland / University Project - Tłusty czwartek in the UK? [4]

It's almost exactly like Pancake Day; same sort of religious background, although I must admit my ignorance as to why it's Thursday (compared to Tuesday) and why in particular it's faworki and paczki rather than pancakes.

But it sounds like a great idea. Who doesn't like doughnuts?

Lany Poniedzialek would also be good.

Food / What do people in Poland eat? [11]

pig, potatoes, soup, chicken, pig, potatoes, soup, chicken.... repeat ad nauseum :D

Language / What has been the hardest language for you to learn? [81]

Back at university I had to do a comparative grammar study; choosing two languages and seeing how they differ. Based on those results, there was an introduction to glotto-chronology and lexicostatistics; all the joys of being an undergraduate linguist.

I arrogantly chose to examine the North Germanics; Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. I'm not professing any level of skill in these languages, but reading them alongside Old English (Beowulf etc) was surprisingly easy.

I then did a stint in Finland, which in language terms was like being hit in the face with a frying pan.

Love / My Girlfriends Decisions! Am I overreacting? British guy with Polish girlfriend. [11]

She's either playing mind games with you, or she's an utter fruitcake. Either way, TOXIC WOMAN.

It's nothing to do with her being Polish, unless she's making friends with each and every ex-pat Pole just because she's homesick. But the way you tell the story makes her sound rather dangerous.

Run while you still can.