Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]


In theory you are right. But, you would be surprised at the attitude I experienced with some Polish companies that have an "export agenda". They expect to do next to no effort (not even providing foreign language education to their employees or even translating marketing material) to export themselves, then blame the government or competition from EU or even China when they fail to secure export orders. Some hire an "export manager" that already speaks a foreign language (most commonly Russian, English, or German, and demand is picking up for Arabic and Persian) but they often make no genuine effort to verify how well the new hire speaks that language. I know, for example, that some of the "Arabic speakers" can't even pronounce all 28 letters of Arabic so "sea" becomes "astonish", "container" becomes "screw", "goods" becomes "rudeness" and "freight" becomes "pluck". So instead of saying "shipping the goods in a seaworthy container by sea freight", they say "shipping the rudeness in an astonish worthy screw by astonishpluck." I would understand what they are trying to say because I live here and I know how people here talk, but there is a good chance that a potential customer might not only fail to understand but even become offended.


Always wondered about that, and always been too lazy or too busy to research it. Why "the Ukraine"? Maybe better answer me in off topic thread to keep this thread on topic.

News / Poland loses bid to built Jaguars and Land Rovers [23]


Correct, unless Mr. Jamshedji Tata was British, which was not the case as far as I know.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

@ProfTeacher; I agree with you regarding the "native speaker" in terms of learning the language.

One fact worth mentioning is that a large portion of call center business in the US is outsourced to India these days - and while the quality varies greatly, you can bet that nobody in these calls centers is a "native speaker" of American English (which they are required to use at work) and almost none of the people that taught them how to talk are "native speakers" of American English either. I use the term American English loosely.

Similar and more relevant to Poland; many large corporations have their English support call centers in Poland these days (and this trend is on the rise). In addition to cost, there are effective systems in place to train people how to speak as desired by the employer, and you can absolutely bet that not all the teachers are "native speakers".

Now on the subject of learning culture, that is a different issue. Native or not, I don't think anyone can truly "teach" culture. If someone wants to "learn" a specific culture - I prefer to say experience - then they just have to pack up and go there. Culture and language tend to be strongly connected, and while a non-native may very well be able to teach the language part extremely well, a native usually has the advantage that (with proper education, training and teaching talent) she/he can also teach the culturally and geographically correct use of the language, while a non-native may or may not be able to do that, depending on their experience and talent (notice I am not saying all "natives" can, also not saying all non-natives cannot).

For example, the Egyptian Arabic word that means "small & adorable" (like maleństwo in Polish) means "bastard" in the worst possible way in Syrian Arabic and means "weaving loom" in Iraqi Arabic. The average non-native is not likely to know that unless they lived with natives for a long time.

There is a whole science about this subject, and there are some highly respected consultants and researchers that work specifically to help governments (for example) train agents on understanding the culturally and geographically correct use of the language in addition to the language itself. And most of these consultants are not native by the way.

Another thing I would like to add; some "non-natives" communicate far more effectively than "natives" especially with a multicultural audience due to their better understanding of how communications are perceived by the wider audience.

Law / Tunisian man got married with a Polish girl. How to get a temporary residence in Poland? [29]


They never tried for Poland, they only tried for UK.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

Anyway, good luck. My writing was not intended to offend anyone. I met at least two great language teachers on this forum (one Polish teacher and one French teacher). No reason why a great English teacher can't be here.

Law / Tunisian man got married with a Polish girl. How to get a temporary residence in Poland? [29]


@ InPolska; I don't know how it is in France, but in Poland, like I said before, the definition includes married spouse and minor/dependant children only (also minor/dependant children of the foreign spouse). Father or mother does not count per Polish law concerning foreigners.

Exceptions may be made in the cases where the child is a minor and/or a dependant and there is no other parent to take care of the child (for example in case of death of the other parent). I am familiar with one such case. I don't know the exact mechanism though.

Going back to my original statement, if visa of the spouse of EU citizen is declined it is almost always one of the two reasons I mentioned (marriage not registered in country of the EU citizen or marriage deemed a marriage of convenience intended just to get a visa). I am only talking about the married spouses and not about people in civil partnerships (the law on them is inconsistent across the EU).

I did not say anything in this thread about residence permit for a person already in the EU.

In Poland, residing illegally alone is not grounds for rejection per the law. There has to be another strong reason on top of that. And like Delph said, sometimes Poland issues permits for tolerated stay to such individuals, in particular if their stay was illegal prior to them becoming spouses of Polish citizens. From a practical standpoint, the biggest difference is that while the spouse of a Polish citizen residing in Poland on the basis on a residence permit (issued based on the marriage) may apply for permanent residence after only 2 years, those that reside on the basis of permit for tolerated stay must wait 10 years before they can apply. Don't quote me on this though, I could be wrong about the 10 years for holders of permits for tolerated stay. I don't know anything about the law in France concerning foreigners so I can't comment about what goes on in France. However, all EU countries are bound by EU laws protecting families in that sense.


This is also correct and I forgot to mention it. Like I said before, the poster is not telling us the reason for rejection for a reason. They want us to tell them what they want to hear.

Law / Tunisian man got married with a Polish girl. How to get a temporary residence in Poland? [29]


There is usually a reason like Delph said. Arbitrary deportation like that isn't likely, and the media tends to portray things in a certain way.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]


I agree with this statement. The best language teachers seem to be in high demand all the time.

But I disagree with the generalization that you have to be a "native speaker" of a language to teach it properly. For example, the best Arabic language teacher I met in Warsaw is a Pole, not an Arab. She was born and raised in Warsaw and learned Arabic as an adult (in several Arabic-speaking countries from native speakers). I don't know how familiar you are with Arabic, but it is significantly harder than English to learn as a second language. It takes talent, patience and instinct to be a good teacher - not just proper pronunciation. This teacher could comfortably teach a student not less than 9 Arabic regional dialects in addition to formal Arabic.

Law / Tunisian man got married with a Polish girl. How to get a temporary residence in Poland? [29]


Not entirely correct... Family members of Polish citizens as defined by the relevant law (including only married spouse and minor children) are exempted from this requirement because by EU law every EU citizen has the right to live with their family in the EU.

Usually internet posters don't disclose the stated reason for rejection for a reason... They are hoping people will tell them what they want to hear.

The UK gov states very clearly in simple English why EEA family visa application has been rejected. They will provide a letter signed by the officer that conducted the interview saying something like "you have failed to satisfy me that you didn't enter in marriage specifically to circumvent the regulations concerning the entry and residence of foreigners in the UK" for example.

My guess is exactly the example I used above - that they are not convinced the marriage was not conducted specifically to circumvent visa/residence regulations. I assume the poster got married less than 6 months ago. In this case, if the marriage lasts until May 2016 and they actually have a genuine marital life until that date, then I believe the appeal will work. Otherwise no.

People that say their visa applications (not talking about UK EEA family permits but type C or D visas from Poland) are rejected even though they are married to a Polish citizen tend to fall in one of two categories:

1. They have not completed the formalities of marriage registration in Poland. Sometimes this is because they have marriage documents not recognized by Poland all together, including but not limited to same sex marriage, multiple spouses, or (most commonly) marriage conducted by a religious authority not recognized by the government in the country in which the marriage was conducted - this third one is a frequent problem with marriages conducted in North Africa and Middle East.

2. They got married recently (under 6 months), which makes it easy for the authority looking at visa application to say the marriage was conducted specifically to circumvent visa/residence regulations.

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]


Even Poland demands. What you see here is mostly trolling, where people from specific areas are deliberately portrayed as incompetent parasites looking exclusively for an EU entry.

News / Are Poland's politicians able to speak foreign languages? [29]

I personally saw President Komorowski speaking to Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, last year, without an interpreter - so unless Prince Frederik speaks Polish (which I doubt) then President Komorowski can at least communicate in English (or Danish???)

And, how do we know whether President Duda speaks English or not? Maybe he chooses not to speak English for political reasons? Maybe his voters won't appreciate him speaking publicly in English?

Life / IVF Clinics and Women in Poland? [20]

thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/215954,ProIVF-politicians-not-to-be-excommunicated

"Pro-IVF politicians not to be excommunicated"

I guess we can all sleep at night now.

Travel / About international driving license - is it recognizable in Poland? [18]

Yes. Not every official you may potentially face in Poland is necessarily aware of, or ready to acknowledge the rules.
Bureaucracy, corruption and languages can all be problematic. I never experienced such problems myself but I heard stories.

Food / SURVEY OF THE POLISH CONSUMERS' CONSUMPTION HABITS OF CAFÉS [28]

Fell off the chair... And kopiko comes in droppings of what exactly?

Food / SURVEY OF THE POLISH CONSUMERS' CONSUMPTION HABITS OF CAFÉS [28]


Glad someone mentioned them :)


How come I didn't spot this? I guess I am just too quick to the nescafe jar these days.


Yes please. Anytime. Best for me is a double espresso before naptime on weekends.

Travel / About international driving license - is it recognizable in Poland? [18]


You can use it in theory for up to 6 months, after which you are obligated to get a Polish driving license.

Law / Long Stay Proof of Income with an application to support myself in Poland [6]


Absolutely. Consult a local accountant before you end up discovering that you owe tons of taxes in Poland.

Law / No availability to apply for Poland's National Visa. Indian national married to Polish. [30]

In some missions the waiting time for an appointment occasionally exceeds 3 months (for example Abu Dhabi).

No, you cannot change the type of visa agreed in the appointment schedule. They are very strict about that. Don't even open this subject with them :)

If your marriage is registered in Poland and you have a Polish marriage certificate then you do not need an invitation to apply for the visa, and your application would be free of charge. If your marriage is not yet registered in Poland, then you should register it as soon as possible.

Don't worry about the procedure for the temporary residence permit. Once you arrive in Poland, call and make an appointment, and while you wait for that, prepare the needed documents (I won't go into the documents right now - many websites with that info in English and many more in Polish). After applying and while waiting for decision on your application and subsequently for your residence card, your stay in Poland is considered legal.

You can apply for 6 months for now (you may apply up to 3 years, but don't ask for longer than what you intend to use, because that can cause problems if you apply again in the future). Remember you can always apply for an extension if necessary.

Law / Polish Business Immigration and TRP/TRC [14]

EUR 1200 (actually PLN 5000) is the minimum capital for LLC.

But merely opening a company here does not automatically entitle the owner to receive a residence permit, and certain revenue threshold has to be met plus other conditions that I am not entirely familiar with.

Having a residence permit in Poland allows you to travel within the Schengen zone for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. But the UK is NOT in the Schengen zone, and holding a residence permit in Poland does not automatically entitle the holder to receive a UK visa.

News / LGBT hate speech to be banned in Poland [208]


They are quick at it too.

History / History of European and Poland's anti-semitism [192]


I should have been clearer, that happened at a different place but for similar reasons. Feel free to write to me and I will be more than happy to share.

History / History of European and Poland's anti-semitism [192]


That's something I am personally familiar because I experienced as a child. Glad you brought it up Polonius3.

News / Have PO (Platforma) operatives in Poland fallen into a panic? [332]

I think he's trying to appeal to PiS voters...???

Law / Norwegian lad wishing to get a car driver's license in Poland but it's expensive [13]

7800 is very high (200-300% of what people actually spend).

Study / The quality of study in Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) / Polish in one year [20]

@Atch if he is going to study in Polish then he will definitely need a "language year".

Study / The quality of study in Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) / Polish in one year [20]

@Atch, I did say assuming full time dedication to learning the language :)

History / History of European and Poland's anti-semitism [192]

@archiwum: That is technically correct...

Study / The quality of study in Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) / Polish in one year [20]


Not particularly, when in Poland you will subject to the same law as everyone else (from outside EU) and same academic standards as anyone else, and within the student community, people will be friendly and welcoming. However, like every society, there are some negative elements that act badly towards foreigners and Poland is no exception.


That is the right way to do things in my opinion, if you come and live in a country for 4-5 years as a student you should at least learn the language.

Only thing I seriously caution you about is the financial aspect. Like I said before, unless you have enough resources to cover you during the entire course of your studies then Poland may not be right for you.

Study / The quality of study in Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) / Polish in one year [20]


That is correct.


I assume you are from outside EU. If you graduate from a Polish university you might be eligible for a temporary residence permit (not sure about the duration though) to allow you to look for a job. You need to make sure that by the time you graduate, you have learned Polish.

Also, assume you will not be able to work and earn money while studying, so unless you have enough financial resource to sustain you during the entire course of your studies, I suggest you look somewhere else.


The campus is a great social environment, and no, I am not a student there but I know someone that teaches there (and therefore I visit there a lot), and one of my very best university professors was a Politechnika Warszawska graduate.

Study / The quality of study in Warsaw University of Technology (Politechnika Warszawska) / Polish in one year [20]

I can't comment about teaching quality in English, but I can say there are less programs available in English.