Study / Poznan University of Economics or University of Warsaw ? [25]

@slavicradio1992

Here's the lowdown on these English courses. The universities run these courses as a means to generate cash. That is practically their entire interest in running these courses. They have little commitment to providing a solid education and learning environment for the students they accept, and provide very little support for the money they take. They target two courses at two populations of students:

1) rich kids who just want to get a degree from anywhere as a rite of passage and don't have the grades to get into real studies. To them, the quality of the degree does not matter in their future career, and they are not looking for serious, demanding students. They are mostly slackers, party goers and playboys who have enough money to live the highlife because they are not really concerned about grades, and they don't have to worry about passing because they have enough money to essentially buy their degree. They don't have to worry about the value of their degree, either, as they are mostly trust-funders, heirs or rich Arabs.

2) Desperate, naive and gullible students from generally poor countries who cannot afford studying at a better university. Some of these are serious students, but soon find out that the quality of the courses is low and the degree they earn is not worth very much, whether in Poland or abroad. Most of these students eventually quit, either because they aren't interested wasting their time with studies that lead nowhere, or, sadly, because they can no longer afford it. There is a bit of a scam here, because the universities, in their marketing materials, vastly underestimate the cost of living in Poland, overstate the value of their degrees, and assure students that part-time jobs are easily available, when it is practically impossible for foreign students to find jobs in Poland, either during or after their studies. These kids basically get ripped off, having nothing to show for their parents' investment or for the precious time they have spent.

Because of this, the universities are not very discriminating about the quality of students they accept. It's not far from the truth that all that you need to get in is the ability to fog a mirror and cold, hard cash.

It is EXTREMELY difficult for a real Polish student taking a serious Polish-language course at a good Polish university to get their coursework recognized by a good American university. For those taking these English-language courses, it is impossible. The same thing applies for admissions to graduate and professional schools. American schools know about the low quality of courses at these universities. It's not like you are going to be able to bluff your way in.

As I told you before, you should examine affordable options in the US. Community colleges and state universities are the best option. State schools, especially. You can get a top-notch education for very little tuition, depending on your state of residence. Even good community colleges have agreements with better schools that make transferring a lot easier. The quality of education is also higher than in an English-language program at a Polish university, and you will be able to find financial aid or be able to earn as you learn.

And do yourself a favor and study something with lots of advanced applied mathematics. A student in a demanding math-and-science field is going to be accepted to a good law school sooner than a student in international relations or political science. And there is little point in going to a second or third rate law school, as you read in the article I linked to in a previous post. It's worth considering taking a year to buff up your math skills so that you can get into a good science course, and to learn some good study habits.

If there is any demand for lawyers anymore, it is for patent attorneys and intellectual property lawyers with backgrounds in technology, science and engineering. The demand and job prospects for other lawyers are decreasing. Far too many are graduating as it is for the number of jobs available, most of whom will never work a day in their lives as lawyers.

Language / Having trouble pronouncing Polish words? [35]

It looks like a Russified version of Przesiedzki or Przesiecki.

Work / Test period for work in Poland [2]

@networkengineer

The work permit would expire the minute they let you go. It is specific for that particular job at with that particular employer. A new employer would have to apply for a new work permit for the new job,from the beginning, and that will take time. How do you propose to take care of yourself, your wife and your child for the period it will take you to find a new job and wait until the work permit is approved? You're talking about several months without any income, at best. It's not like jobs grow on trees. You might not find another job in Kraków, at least as quickly as you would like, and need to relocate to another city. That is, if you can find a new job at all. Then you will have to worry about relocating back to India.

If I recall correctly, I advised you to stay away from recruiters and websites, and told you to conduct a proper job search using your real-world network of professional contacts in the field. I also advised you to focus on better countries than Poland. You seem determined to jump into the fire as quickly as possible, though. And quite a fire it is: unemployed in a foreign country whose language you do not speak with a wife and kid in tow.

As I said, the jobs that you are being offered are not the golden opportunity you are looking for, and they are by no means once in a lifetime offers. Be patient and conduct a proper job search, and you and your family will be much happier, and almost certainly not in a poor country with low wages and very low savings potential like Poland. It might take some time, but it is surely better than risking being stuck in a foreign country without any income and a wife and kid to support.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]


That's an essential part of becoming an adult. "Dreams" are for little children. Responsible adults make realistic plans. And responsibility means taking care of yourself and your future family, as well as being a productive citizen.

Studying is an investment that requires abundant amounts of your parents' hard-earned money and your own very precious time. You need to sit down with responsible and experienced adults and formulate a plan that maximizes the return on that investment, and make sure that it is not wasted. While she put it somewhat inelegantly, Atch does have a point about your grades. You need to analyze the reasons for your less-than-stellar performance and figure out a way to correct any deficiencies you may have, because it surely will have an impact on your future academic career. With the right guidance and advice, I am confident that you will be able to perform at a much level higher than your current level.

My brother is a lawyer. An intellectual property lawyer and patent attorney. Before he became a lawyer, he had earned his doctorate in pharmacy. The combination of a science degree with a law degree is particular in demand, and professional schools highly favor STEM majors over humanities and soft science majors when it comes to admissions. If you want to get into a good law school, then you will have to work your butox off in college by taking a serious, demanding major and earning grades that indicate you are up to the task of slogging it though law school. You're going to have to become a master at networking to break into an exclusive field like law. And you are going to have to sacrifice till it hurts.

Find some responsible and experienced adults to talk this over with, especially those who have abundant experience in the field you wish to enter. They will help you form realistic plans that build upon your talents and will save you a lot of grief and waste in the future. And be prepared to hear, and accept, a lot of things about the real world that clash with your current perceptions and dreams. It's tough, I know, but the grief you are experiencing now will save you many times more that in the future.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

Yes, it is about 6000 PLN net, give or take.

Genealogy / Cwik family from Limanowa [4]

That's a pretty common name all over Poland, but especially in southeastern Poland. There are 211 people with that name in the county of Limanowa alone. It's not going to be easy to tie ends together unless you have detailed information, especially the names of your great-grand parents. You can try contacting the pastor at the nearest church to the address you have and hope that he is willing to help. BTW, are you from NEPA. I am from Dupont.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

@networkengineer

Even so, it's not all that tempting. Your savings will still be minimal. On the order of 1000 PLN a month, barely enough for a minimal rainy-day fund, at best. More likely, you will tap into that money to improve your living standard rather than save it. Like I said, concentrate on building and exploiting your network of professional and personal contacts to find a better paying job in a richer country. This isn't the golden opportunity you are looking for.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

@networkengineer

That's too little to support a family of three, pay for your relocation, and save up a significant amount of money. You would have to live a very frugal existence, one that will be especially tough on your wife and doesn't afford much financial security. Either leave the family at home, or, better yet, find a much better paying job, preferably in a richer country. Don't rely on recruiters and internet sites to find a job, but on your network of real-world professional and personal contacts. The best jobs are advertised solely by word of mouth, and recruiters and internet sites get the table scraps.

Forget about Poland and the other formerly communist countries of Europe, and concentrate on finding a job in a richer country where savings potential will be much higher.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]

@Atch

A good mentor is going to be having his students operating at a higher than curriculum level, regardless of the school, whether in Poland or the US. And, as I said, there is an vast untapped pool of potential mentors out there just waiting to be asked to help. I don't think I am all that unique. The OP should find one to work with, even if it means taking a gap year to improve her standing. I did this with my student that is studying international relations, even though he was a very good student in Liceum, because I felt he wasn't quite ready to take advantage of all that a good university has to offer. So he had a year of "University of Dominic", which he still says was the hardest year he ever had.

Also, I know you are a Montessori teacher. I'm from the opposite end of the spectrum, as I attended a classical Jesuit Latin school, which is highly structured and disciplined, and a Jesuit university as well. So my teaching methods are rather different from Montessori methods. There is also a lot of Mr. Miyagi in my approach: paint fence, wax car and so on. This allows the students to concentrate on the task at hand without having to think about how it fits into the big picture, which is above their pay grade. That's for me to worry about.

Fortunately, I have a natural knack for establishing trusting relationships with young males, being the oldest of seven boys. The amount of trust they put in me is astounding. I'm worthless with girls, though (no sisters). The psychology girl I mentioned is the only one I ever had any success with, and that only because she saw what I was doing to her twin brother. Oh, and there was one girl who was studying architecture that I mentored and was successful with, too. She went from a shy and reserved mousy girl who sat out group discussions to an assertive and confident woman who eagerly lead them. I got her into a good masters program in the Netherlands, and then she married another one of my students, an engineer. They are now both living and working in Norway. Wish I could figure out why I was successful with her.

Like I said, the OP should find a capable and willing mentor and work on getting into as good a program in as good a school as she can afford in the States with as much financial aid as she can get. It might take a preparatory gap year, but it would be better in the long term than studying international relations in Poland as she currently plans. And I really do think that, with the help of a capable mentor, she can indeed study a math-intensive field.

Life / Advice needed on Dental implant in Poland [119]

Indeed. It can work out to be more expensive than getting an implant, for example, in the States. The price I was quoted here was $2500, or 10,000 PLN. With travel and time off work included, it would be cheaper to have it done here than to get it done for 7,000 PLN in Poland (which is double what I expected). Plus my insurance would cover a lot of that in the States, but not in Poland. It would make sense only if you had several implants to be installed. Even then, it would be cheaper for me to fly to Ecuador and get it done there than to have it done in Poland.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]


It's not significant in these cases, because, as I said, two were attending vastly inferior schools than normal Licea, or American high schools, for that matter. The third, while he did go to a good Polish school, was not in the regular Polish curriculum but in an IB program. In his case, the quality of the high school did not matter anyway because he was on a completely different plane than the other students once his potential had been released. He was basically educating himself, with my help.

And also, there is enormous variability in American public high schools, with the best better than their Polish counterparts. This has to do with how schools are funded in the US, by local school districts as opposed to a central authority. The richest districts spend more than five times as much per student than the poorest districts, and attract the best and brightest teachers and students who are from well-to-do families that are invested in their children's education, which is why variability is so high. That's without mentioning the private prep schools that far exceed anything you will encounter in Poland. I graduated from one myself, and never saw anything in Poland that could compare.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]


I have three personal success stories that prove that's untrue.

The first is a Polish boy I met on the day that Poland joined the EU. We met at a party, and he impressed me with his unusually developed cultural literacy. He had dropped out of school for one year because of emotional problems after his mother had died, and was struggling in his next to last year at a special school for adults who go back for their GEDs. I decided that he was university material, and prepped him for his matura, in which he got all 5's (straight A's). He got accepted to Toruń to study Russian and English, but lasted only one semester. He showed up at my apartment totally defeated, but I told him that he was going to give it another try, and that he would move in with me so I could prep him better. He got accepted at Wrocław to study Bohemystyka (Czech), and I moved there with him. At the end of the first semester, he called me to tell me that he had gotten a 5 on his final exam, and all the other kids in the program had done substantially worse. AND the professors had given him the exam for second-year students, while the other students had gotten the exam for first-year students. He went on to finish his masters. At the end of his defense, the professors tallied up the points and saw that he had technically scored only a 4.5, but they petitioned the rector to give him a 5.

The second was a last-year less-than-average gymnasium student whose parents sent him to me because, even though they thought he was a bit slow, they hoped that he would get into the English IB program. Within fifteen minutes of meeting him, I realized that he was not only not slow at all, but one of the rare true geniuses that I have met in my life, and that's saying a lot. It soon became apparent that he was mathematically gifted, soon surpassing my ability to tutor him, and then the ability of a PhD mathematician from the university. He went on to complete a masters in financial mathematics at the London School of Economics. He was also gifted in philosophy, and his knowledge of English literature is formidable. His English is also formidable, and he speaks with a perfect American accent, courtesy of yours truly.

The third was a second-year high school student who had basically failed his first year of Liceum and was sent to a private high school, where he was not faring well until I got my hands on him. His third year was spent at a GED school. I basically brainwashed him into loving math and science, which was a challenge because I had to start at ground zero. He was a pretty good tennis player, and I got him, and his twin sister, full-ride scholarships to study at good universities in the US. Both are in their third year, now, she in psychology at Duquesne, and he in civil and environmental engineering at Detroit mercy, where he is a voracious networker.

My other students were doing well in school when I first met them, but these three show that practically every student has the capability to perform far above their level if they are properly mentored. It takes a lot of time, and love. And even personal sacrifice (I supported and even lived with the student studying Czech throughout his studies, and currently half of my earnings here in the States go toward supporting another one of my Polish students who is studying international relations in London).

And, if you are thinking why I support his choice of international relations, it's because he has abundant natural talent and drive for that field. He just got accepted into a very prestigious masters program at Kings, and I can easily envision him becoming a high-ranking diplomat one day. He also has the right family connections to do so, both in Poland and the US. (Actually, I still pester him to beef up his math and science). He's become interested in psychedelic drugs and drug policy, and has become a well-established junior member of the pertinent academic societies, in the UK and the EU. He is, of course, a super networker, as well. He'll walk into any job that strikes his fancy when he finishes.

I believe that all young people have incredible potential that just needs to be cultivated and developed. Potential that even they and their parents are not aware of. And that there is a great, untapped supply of academics like me who can mentor them. With the right mentor, I believe the OP can indeed finish a math-intensive major like my engineering student is doing. I don't believe that there are people of normal intelligence that do not have the ability to study math, science or languages. And also that most geniuses remain undetected because the school system is geared toward average students, and anything not fitting the average gets classified as below average.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]

@slavicradio1992

I have bad news for you. Courses taught in English at Polish universities are of very low quality, and a degree from such a program is not going to be very appealing to a serious school of law in the US. Your chances are higher with a degree from an inexpensive state school in the US.

Also, your chances are higher if you study a serious and demanding technical or scientific field than with humanities and social science fields. International relations is a poor choice unless you are a top student at a top university. While the University of Warsaw does have a serious International Relations major, that pertains only to the program taught in Polish, and not the one taught in English. Getting into the serious Polish course is difficult even for native Poles. And keeping up with the abundant reading assignments is difficult if your Polish is not at the advanced native-speaker level.

You should also consider the wisdom of getting a law degree. Unless you have extensive family connections or are a top student from a top US university who is pathologically obsessed with networking, it is a very difficult field to break into. There is a glut of law school graduates, and most never find work in the legal field or end up being underemployed on the fringes of the field.

In terms of lifetime earnings and savings potential, the best fields to go into are those that require lots and lots of advanced applied mathematics, like petroleum engineering, geological engineering, biomedical engineering, financial mathematics, financial engineering, econometrics or actuarial sciences. We live in a technocracy where math rules, and non-math degrees are decreasing in value year after year. This applies to law, as well, as the demand for legal services is plummeting due to digitalization. Here is a good article:

denverpost.com/2013/07/26/carroll-many-law-school-degrees-worse-than-worthless

Work / D Visa- To work and study in Poland [25]

You are allowed to work only during summer vacation, but, as jobs are scarce even for native Poles, it is extremely unlikely that anyone will hire you when Poles and other EU citizens can easily fill any vacancy. Make your plans on the very safe assumption that you will never be able to earn a single penny during your stay in Poland. If you need to earn to learn, then Poland, and all of the other formerly communist countries in Europe, are not for you.

Don't believe what you read on internet sites like study in poland. Jobs for foreign students are next to impossible difficult to come by, and the few that exist pay very, very low wages that don't come close to covering the cost of tuition, never mind living expenses. Most foreign students who come to Poland because they think it is affordable leave before completing their studies because, well, they just can't afford it. Or because the realize that courses taught in English are of low quality, and degrees earned in these programs are basically worth little or nothing on the job market.

Overall, studying in Poland, or any other of the formerly communist countries, is a rather poor investment for foreigners.The low tuition and cost of living may seem attractive, but a useless degree means that your money has been wasted.

Life / Advice needed on Dental implant in Poland [119]

@Polishgirl17

That is a question that only a dentist can answer. In some cases, a graft is necessary, and it can take some time to complete the whole process. In others, no graft is needed. It depends on the tooth in question. Find a qualified and competent dentist, and consult them.

Life / I am moving to Warsaw. (Could anyone tell me about life there?) [49]

@artois

If you are a single young person, and this is your first job, you will have enough to live. Not extravagantly, but enough to cover the basic costs of living. There are two problem areas, though. Your savings will be pretty low, and you will have fewer opportunities to improve your qualification compared to your home country.

A lot depends on why you want to come to Poland and how it fits into your long-term career plans. It makes little sense to work in a dead end job like in a call center in Poland, for example, when you could be improving your qualifications at home.

People who come here looking for information about jobs in Poland focus on two things, wages and cost of living. This is a mistake, because neither is important in and of itself. The two things that are important are savings potential and career advancement. Wages in Poland are low, which limits savings potential to start with. The cost of living relative to wages is rather high, especially in Warsaw and especially for a foreigner who does not speak the language and does not have a network of family and friends, which limits savings potential even more. Improving your qualifications is difficult when you do not speak the local language. That would be much easier for you in your home country.

If you need work experience, it depends on the job in question. A job in a call center is not likely to open any doors or impress future employers. Other jobs, on the other hand, may be worth considering. It depends on your education, qualifications and skill set.

Law / Is there any risk in being asked to become a shareholder in a limited company in Poland? [27]


This is indeed the biggest problem I would have with this. Another red flag is that she was unable to find a fellow Pole who was willing to go in for this, so she had to resort to finding a (naive) foreigner.

Life / Is 10500 monthly is enough for a family to live in Warsaw Poland [136]

@Muskan

That is about what toilet cleaners make in the richer areas of the United States. SAP consultants are in desperate demand just about everywhere. Why you would even consider working for a measly 30 K in Poland when you can earn three or four times more in a richer country is strange. Even for Poland, that is a little low for an experienced SAP consultant. You'll live decently enough, but your savings potential is going to be much, much smaller that in a richer country, where you can easily SAVE as much as you EARN in Poland.

My advice would be to ignore recruiters and websites, and concentrate on finding a good job in a richer country using your network of real-life contacts. The best jobs are advertised solely by word of mouth. Recruiters and websites end up with just the table scraps. And also bypass HR departments as much as you can, and communicate directly with the hiring managers.

As a rule, Poland has little to offer qualified mid-level IT professionals from outside of the EU. Whenever I see an Indian or Pakistani asking about jobs in Poland, I know that they have not done a proper job search, and are probably answering to a mass email from some recruiter. Do yourself a favor and conduct a proper job search, and ignore low-wage countries like Poland. In the meantime, build up a well-developed network of contacts in your own country, especially focusing on colleagues who have worked in richer countries. Working in Poland is unlikely to help you much as far as career advancement is concerned any more than working in India will. Don't think of it as "getting your foot in the door".

Law / Is there any risk in being asked to become a shareholder in a limited company in Poland? [27]


That's a pretty big favor to ask. One which I would not have the faintest qualms or slightest hesitation of politely declining. Even to my closest and dearest friends. I'm sort of baffled why you would even consider it.

Some unasked for advice: when you do say "no", say that, and not a single word more. You're under absolutely no obligation to explain, and anything you say can and will be used against you. When pressed, just repeat "no", politely but firmly. Otherwise, you are going to end up in an endless and bitter war of attrition that will ultimately destroy your friendship or worse. Take it from someone who learned the hard way. Once you start explaining, you lose.

Work / RELOCATING TO GDYNIA, Poland - salary question [42]

@Nikki2

Not if you are coming from outside of Poland and factor in the cost of your travel and relocation. It's barely tempting for a recent graduate from Poland. That gives you only about 2500 PLN in hand each month. Once you deduct the cost of your travel and relocation, that leaves precious little to live on, potatoes and cabbage at best, and you might even end up in the red. You will need at least twice that to justify moving to Poland.

Sorry, but it is just not possible without living in abject poverty, and even then it may not be possible at all. If you are from outside of the EU, it's certainly not possible.

Language / About? - Polish Grammar; worried about the bill - martwi się rachunkiem. Instrumental case [9]

@Sophaloaf

You are wasting your time trying to learn Polish from a lousy website. Use a good textbook instead. Fortunately, the best one is free for you to use at the following address:

lektorek.org/lektorek/firstyear/lessons

Also, use a good reference grammar. There are two good ones by the same author who wrote the textbook above. One for beginners, which you can download here:

lektorek.org/lektorek/firstyear/nutshell.pdf

and one for more advanced students, which you can find here:

lektorek.org/lektorek/grammar.pdf

It's going to take you several years of very hard, time-consuming work to learn Polish, but these books will save you a great deal of time and trouble. They are far, far better than the other books you will find, and far, far, far better than any website.

Language / feminine/masculine/neuter - Polish Grammar Question [4]

@Sophaloaf

The answer for the first and third is the same. There is a word that is not present but is understood, in this case "język".

Nauka (języka) polskiego jest trudna

The study of (the) Polish (language) is difficult. "Nauka" is feminine nominative, and "trudna" agrees with it, "Jezyka" is masculine genitive, and "polskiego" agrees with it.

(Język) polski jest trudny.

(The) Polish (language) is difficult. "Język" is masculine nominative, and both "polski" and "trudny" agree with it,

As for the second sentence, you are confused because the ending for the nominative neuter singular and the non-virile plural are both "e", "Litera" is feminine, but "litery" is plural, and since it is not virile, or masculine personal, it takes the nominative plural non-virile ending, "e", which just happens to look like the nominative singular neuter ending "e". So "trudne" agrees with "litery".

Study / INDIAN student applied at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland with some delicate questions [22]

I'm afraid it wouldn't do any good. There will always be plenty more scam artists to replace them, and there is an inexhaustible supply of desperate and naive young people in developing countries to prey on. Like I said, even the real state universities are in on the scam.

My solution would be to round up these scam artists, publicly flog them within an inch of their lives, castrate them, tar and feather them, and brand them on all their body parts with a great big "SCAM ARTIST" brand. Then sentence them all to hard labor in the worst penal colony in Burkina Faso for the rest of their natural lives so they get gang-raped by hardened war criminals. Even that is too good for them. Although it would be fun for the war criminals.

Study / INDIAN student applied at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland with some delicate questions [22]

The worst is this site: studyinpoland/en/index.php/about-poland/7-living-in-poland

Notice that it says "In Polish cities it's easy for a student to find a part-time job".

Now the kicker is that this site is funded by the rectors of the serious Polish state universities. And they have the balls to place a "fraud alert" on their home page. when they are no better than scam artists themselves.

It makes me want to cry.

Study / INDIAN student applied at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland with some delicate questions [22]


First of all, I lived in Poland 12 years and worked at universities there, so I know the quality of education, both for native Poles and for foreigners.

I think it's criminal that universities in Poland, both real and fake, as well as scam "consultants" and "agents" in developing countries are recruiting naive and desperate students like you, taking their money and promising that they will get a valuable degree and, worse, that it will be easy for them to find a part-time job to finance their studies and a good job after their studies. They make it seem interesting and easy, and that their schools are as good as those in West.

The reality is, as Wulkan said, very harsh, and nothing like the university recruiters or the "consultants" and "agents" promise. The programs taught in English to foreigners are, with very few exceptions, of very poor quality, much much worse than those taught in Polish to Polish students. And much, much, much, much worse than these foreign students can get at a good university in the West. It turns out that, cheap though these programs may seem, they are a very, very poor investment that, in most cases, amounts to flushing money down the toilet.

Most of these poor foreign students never finish their studies and return back to their home countries penniless because the promised part-time jobs simply don't exist, or because they soon figure out that the school is third-rate and that a degree from it is essentially worthless on the job market in any country. The few that do finish their studies realize that they have wasted thousands of dollars and the best years of their life once they figure out that no one, no where, is interested in hiring them, in Poland, in their home countries, and elsewhere.

Now tell me what you think is wrong about trying to help poor desperate students from developing countries from becoming the victims of a very nasty scam, and offering them practical and useful advice?

Or would you rather see them "follow their dreams", waste the best years of their lives and all their parents life savings, and learn the lesson the hard way?

Like Wulkan said, reality is harsh, and this is a very nasty corner of reality that is very, very ugly.

News / Should Poland's taxpayer money be used to finance illegal theatre productions? [53]

@jon357

He probably read it in Nasz Nocnik.

Love / How much Polish guy cares about ladys' age? I'm from Japan. [32]


O yeah! Complaining is their favorite pastime. If, by some strange miracle, they had nothing to complain about, they would complain about having nothing to complain about, Bit of a stereotype, perhaps, but you encounter it a lot in Poland, even from strangers that you have never seen before. Just ignore it. It's not about you, and there is nothing you can do about it except ignore it.

Love / How much Polish guy cares about ladys' age? I'm from Japan. [32]

@Selena88

Good luck, and have a wonderful time!

Love / How much Polish guy cares about ladys' age? I'm from Japan. [32]

@Selena88

The problem is that the Catholic church does not recognize divorce, so they will refuse to marry anyone who is divorced. Divorced Catholics who remarry in a civil ceremony are treated quite harshly by the Church, and by older religious Catholic people, especially in the countryside.

If your man is Catholic and from the countryside, he may wish to get married in church, if only to make his older relatives happy, and to avoid negative repercussions in his community. He therefore may not be interested in marrying someone who a Catholic and divorced, regardless of how religious he may be himself.

If you are not a Catholic and did not get married in a Catholic church, then perhaps the Church will decide that you were never really married in the first place, so your divorce isn't a real divorce, in which case he can marry you. Just don't ever tell anyone, even his mother, that you are divorced because it won't stay a secret for long and the women in the village will begin to talk, and never stop.

But then, the village priest will still know and can make your and your family's life hell if he doesn't like you. In the village, priests are often like Samurai warlords who rule with an iron fist.

You really have to discuss this with him, because there are two cultural spheres in Poland, an urban, progressive, Western one and a rural, backward. superstitious medieval one. It depends on which sphere he identifies with, and also on which sphere his family identifies with. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of medieval people in rural areas of the country, so it's not an easy question.

Language / 'stary pryk' - Translation Check - person from a story speaks Polish [71]

It's literally "I bet myself". As maf said, it's transitive and reflexive in structure, but not in meaning. However, there is no "you", implied or otherwise. It does not mean "I bet you", just "I bet".