Work / Native English speaker looking to teach English in the Opole area of Poland. [29]

Even though, one might add, British "Standard" remains much of the English taught world wide outside the US, of course.

Work / Native English speaker looking to teach English in the Opole area of Poland. [29]

Welcome to PF, Azza 1710!

Make sure you learn at least basic Polish, preferrably prior to comtemplating a teaching stint in Poland:-)
Best of luck.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

@I certainly have, Johnny, and my ears tell me I ain't goin' deaf anytime soon:-)

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Gotta point there, dolno.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

I trust you're being sarcastic, Johnny.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

I've no doubt, sir.

Work / I want to teach English in Poland and I don't know where to start! PLEASE HELP! [23]

As an ESL instructor/professor for many years, I frankly feel that most degrees, certificates etc. are all talking points, barriers, and smokescreens, designed to put road blocks in the way of top talent in the industry, often merely to satisfy state bureaucrats, most of whom have never taught in a classroom in their lives!!!

While basic foundation in language teaching should be a requirement, honest to gosh ability as well as logged-in classroom teaching hours should take precedents.
Folks in gov't. are scared of their own shadows nowadays and are far too afraid of lawsuits.

Plenty of teachers (as a former head teacher) have TESOL coming out of the wazzoo, but I've frequently had to let them go because they simply couldn't teach, that is, convey information in the classroom to ALL students, linguistic as well as non-linguistically inclined.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Aha, so you're really a jelly donut, eh Bratwurst Boy??
LOL

Guess that makes me just another Berliner Pfannkuchen (..only minus the powdered sugar on top)!

Apropos the current topic post, I take it, as with last time, you remain a flaming anti-Merkelite, whom many conservative members of the parliament feel is bent on destroying Germany, am I right?

Might interest you to know that I've long since revisited the entire question of multiculturalism and do not like what I see one little bit.

We just might have some common ground after all. Glad you're back.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

You're really a Prussian, Bratwurst Boy? That means you must be either a dyed-in-the wool Berliner.....or a Balt!
Which is it?
:-)

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

Why not a blood or even a stool sample while you're at itLOL

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

Do you also speak German, Rich?
---
Ooops, disregard previous post! You'd already mentioned you were more or less lost in Berlin with only English, and so guess I sort of answered my own question.

Apologies.

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

Essentially, you came over at the height (or the waning) of the Gomulka Era, just before the s**** began to hit the fan 'round about '68 when the big "brain drain" to the States occurred and the Polish intelligentsia, both Jewish and gentile, came en masse to the States?

An interesting story.

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

That's right, Blue! Our president numbers among them:-)

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

Again, I was hinted to opt for "Prosze o kawe", period. End of story.

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

Boy, you work faster than the CIA! What's your secret, maf? Or is there somethin' about you we don't know?

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

Know a guy at our local Polish Consulate by his first name! By mistake, I slipped into, "Czesc, Jarku!" at a formal function.
We both nearly turned beet red with embarrassment. I then speedily chimed back in "Panie Doktorze!" (which he is, and in Inter. Relations)
and everything was just fine:-))

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

kaprys,

The guy left in bloody '66! He's got to be so Americanized by now:-)

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

Register can be tricky for non-natives such as myself:-)

Once in a restaurant, I heard the waitress mutter something to the person ordering, and I could have sworn I heard "Tak, pije kawe!"
In English, it's obvious one is drinking the coffee, and not doing something else with it, thus "Yes, I'm HAVING coffee!" would be the most natural

way to ask.

Travel / Starbucks in Poland? [149]

Pity the one in Philadelphia on this side of the Great Pond didn't learn that lesson before tossing out two African-Americans for simply sitting there!

Life / I'm British in Poland and I think that it's time to go back to the UK! [240]

I too had to learn how so say stuff so that Poles wouldn't look at me as though I had two heads!

After "Chcialbym kawe z mlekiem.", I quickly stopped myself the second time following an odd glance from the waitress and said instead "Prosze o kawe...."

She then nodded with a smile of ultimate understanding and went to bring me my order:-)

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

@kaprys,

Rich is a native English speaker! It's probably Polish with which he needs assistance, no?

@RichMazur,

I got the jokeLOL
Seriously, my point was that while visiting Poland, albeit all too briefly, I didn't find the average Pole spoke much better English than I spoke Polish.

As I said, we got along famously. They would frequently re-cast my Polish into more idiomatic, natural usage, and I would do the same for their English.

Fair exchange, I'd say. Unlike the Germans, the Poles honestly seemed grateful. I know I sure was!

Travel / Poland - never again [593]

Rich,

I'll concur as far as the "pride" bit regarding the English skills of run-of-the-mill yuppified Poles.
While I haven't been back to Poland in nearly twenty years, I'd imagine things have indeed changed some
in the latter respect, albeit ever so slowly:-)

The Poles I encountered were mostly younger people, my age at the time, and in general were surprised when I told them
in Polish that I wasn't even Polish-American. They didn't seem to think that their speaking English with me was
really practicing, other than that, we talked a blue streak with one another, in either language!

My wife and I hope to visit again one day.

Genealogy / Slavs are descendants of Sarmatians? [600]

Correct!

Genealogy / Slavs are descendants of Sarmatians? [600]

The story though that Lithuanian peasants are able to understand Sanskrit prayers spoken ever so slowly is nonetheless a MYTH!!

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]

Rich, I can't go along entirely with your dismissal of gender studies at US colleges. While that disagreement may indeed by my particular abnormality, it is a fact that women, women of color in particular, have to be sure been marginalized throughout our history.

Where I do agree with your argument, is that any cause taken to an extreme, invites trouble and can easily morph into a disaster, whereby a job candidate or the like is selected solely because of their gender, color, and ethnicity, rather than their skills.

Work / I want to teach English in Poland and I don't know where to start! PLEASE HELP! [23]

TESOL might be useful as well, liseczka, along with at least a minimum of conversational Polish knowledge, of course:-)

When first in Poland, I did meet several Anglophone ESL-instructors who told me they wished they'd bothered to learn enough Polish to be able

to speak to their students.

Life / Relocating Family and Business to Poland - I'm from America, lived in Switzerland [5]

With three languages, German, Polish, and English, you should do just fine in Poland.

UK, Ireland / Poles and Irish, what do you think, are we friends or enemies? [62]

Apparently everyone on the planet is either a Samatian or (secretly) a Slav.

UK, Ireland / Poles and Irish, what do you think, are we friends or enemies? [62]

For whatever it's worth, there is a strong Celtic influence throughout many regions of Poland, among them, Cracow:-)

Language / Do English-speakers sound funny when we speak Polish? [49]

Germans too sound awfully odd speaking Polish, what with all those long, extended closed vowels which don't exist in Polish, as well as the jerky rhythm often heard in Northern German speech:-)