News / Poles v Tusk's school 'reform' [58]


It's a bit tricky but it's not really that much of a problem. We've been dealing with this in Ireland for years now and every year I've had to deal with at least a fifth of my class having limited language skills. It actually doesn't matter at all whether Paweł can read and write in his own language. It's better in fact if he can't read at all. If he can, then he will start applying the rules of Polish phonics to English and that will be more of hindrance than a help. A six or seven year old can learn to read basic three and four letter phonetic words and a few sight words within about two months.

As for writing, there's two aspects to that; the physical mechanics of letter formation and then the ability to express oneself in written language. If the child hasn't developed their fine motor skills through pincer grip activities etc then they will struggle, no doubt about that. At that age they take about a year to get their writing skills up to speed. A Polish child is also at a disadvantage because by the age of six in the Irish system, children are able to copy from the blackboard/whiteboard, another skill that takes time to acquire. However in my own experience with the Irish kids who've been learning for two years their writing is fairly laboured and slow and still developing so again it's a minor issue. As far as expressing oneself on paper goes, generally six to seven year olds are beginners at that so it's not really a worry.

One of the big advantages is that Polish parents are very willing to spend time working with their child at home if the teacher requests it.

News / Poles v Tusk's school 'reform' [58]


I must say Smurf that surprises me, being a primary school teacher myself and having taught Polish children in Ireland. I found them to be great little students. They are generally bright, very well behaved in class and fast learners. They also have to learn Irish and often do better at it than their Irish peers. Their problem tend to be poor attendance, fussy mothers keeping them off school when they sneeze and getting them dosed with anti-biotics if they have a slight sore throat or a bit of a temp. The boys are usually very lively and quickly learn to join in and play with others kids, the girls are a bit Miss Prissy Prim and overly sedate and demure. But as I say, never a problem with them in terms of learning.

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]


But if you think it's a troll trying to start something then why do you comply?? Because that's when you're doing when you make mildly racist comment in response to his query.


And I also think that you appear to be quite a nice person, though I know many forum members dislike you and think you're a trifle 'uppity' as they might say in the Southern States! Basically InPolska, I'm not naive but I take people as I find them until they give me reason to think otherwise. However I am sensible enough to temper that with a measure of caution and when I meet people in person I have a gut feeling about them, as most of us do I think. There are loads of obvious trolls on this forum, like the guy who was supposedly being sexually harrassed by his Polish maid and the Bible belt Christian with a Polish fiancee (the fiancee/wife is always a great excuse for being here) who wanted to bring the light of Christ to Poland, 'because she tells me they're all Catholics and Aetheists'. What a yawn.


Fair enough but Punjab is not exclusively Sikh and in Ireland anyway, Indians of both the Hindu and Muslim faiths mix and socialize together. I think when people are away from their own countries what they have in common is more important to them than their differences.

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]

Why should it be a troll?? There are plenty of Indians in Poland especially working in IT and lots of them in Ireland too. I've taught their kids.

Life / Any Indians/Pakistanis living in Rzeszow ? [16]

InPolska that's unkind and unfair too.

@Majha are you on your own or do you have wife and kids with you? Sometimes it's easier to make friends through your children if they're attending school or whatever. You meet other parents. Sorry I can't really offer advice but maybe google Indian Expats in Poland and see what you come up. Good luck. And don't worry if you persevere I'm sure you'll make some friends.

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


I most certainly wasn't a child genius. I had way above average language skills, that's all. The reading thing is uncommon but I have a friend who was exactly the same, was reading the newspaper when she was three, much to the amusement of her parents! We both simply grew into adults who love books and reading, not geniuses of any kind.


My qualification is three years of training to teach children from ages 3-12 years and 17 years of teaching experience. Whats yours? And by the way child development is the same regardless of nationality.


Thanks for that. God Almighty the molly-coddling of Polish children is chronic isn't it? Dump them down in a big inner city Dublin family and let them fend for themselves for six months and it'd be the making of them!


I bet you were a little sweetie!

Keep to the topic of the title please

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


I'll try to be patient here.........without wanting to sound like a twat, in my own case, I was a somewhat 'gifted' child although that term wasn't used back then. and my mother never considered me to be anything special academically. However, I was already reading quite fluently at three. I tried reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time when I was six! I will admit though that I gave up after the first few pages. I finally completed it when I was ten. My mother said that I was never taught to read, I just started on my own. My sister was the same. We enjoyed learning. In fact I was bored a lot of the time in primary school as the work was too easy. The main reason my mother sent me to school was because there were very few children where we lived and she wanted me to have the opportunity to mix and play with other kids.

Now from my viewpoint and experience as a Montessori trained teacher, I know very well what children are capable of learning if it's taught in the appropriate manner. It is a child's natural impulse to learn in order to develop. They love learning and they do so in many different ways, partly through fantasy play, but they also enjoy directed play, learning 'real' things through carefully designed activities which are 'play' to them. Keeping a child in a state of arrested development because it fits your idea of 'childhood' is not beneficial to them. One of the great strengths of the Montessori system is that everything in it is there because Dr Montessori observed the children and then designed every aspect of the curriculum around their natural behaviours.


In the infant classes in schools in the British Isles children are read to every day. In my class the children sat on cushions on the carpeted floor and I read to them, all the classic fairy tales etc and we often acted out the stories. The stories are used for indirect learning. For example Goldilocks is a great favourite, using different sized bowls and chairs, (where the children are learning about comparative sizes, a maths activity) then one day making real porridge and eating it for lunch with honey. Talking about how the honey comes from bees, how the bees make it and so on. (We had a staff kitchen which we were allowed to use for cooking with the children). Stories are a huge part of language development, social development, general learning and are a very important part of the infant curriculum.

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


Yes, I suspected as much. I would imagine most of the objections come from the mothers who want to keep their 'babies' in a state of arrested development. Polish mothers are very over-protective and do far too much for their children which they could easily and happily do themselves.


Yes, I was three! Started September, turned four in November. But of course the Irish education system has always been set up to cater for the 'infants' as we call them. Junior and Senior infants are two lovely years which break the children in gently but give them a great start with concrete learning, motor skills development, oral language development etc. Makes a huge difference for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who don't get that input at home. Polish primary schools on the other hand expect a lot of children in their first year, loads of rote learning etc. If they're bringing children straight from pre-school or no pre-school at all into that kind of setting, they really need to make that first year a transition year or the kids will find it a bit grim.

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

Are there any stats relating to how many parents object and why?

Life / Canadian Moving to Poznan, Poland - what to bring over, areas to avoid, school for a child. [54]


But Peru is pretty much a third world country and Poland isn't.

Life / Canadian Moving to Poznan, Poland - what to bring over, areas to avoid, school for a child. [54]


Now, do you know it's very interesting but our perception is often not quite as accurate as we think. In school when teaching the infant classes (four and five years old) we always keep a weather chart with pics of the sun, rain etc. At the end of the school year when we spread them out on the floor and look back over them, there's a good deal more sun/dry weather than I would have thought. You should try it next summer!


Do as we do in Ireland. Buy them anyway, shiver defiantly in them and adapt them for winter with nice colourful woollies and thermal undies!

Life / Canadian Moving to Poznan, Poland - what to bring over, areas to avoid, school for a child. [54]


Yes but it always rains a lot in August, it's a month of intense heat, thunder storms and torrential rain.


Yes we're the same in Ireland. We don't get extremes of cold in winter. Overnight during a cold spell ground temp might drop as low as minus five or six but air temp rarely drops below freezing. Temperatures in December can be fifteen degrees! Then the next day it might be five degrees.....our weather simply defies logic. I actually like the cold Polish winters and the overall predictability of Polish weather.


You're absolutely right, I know nothing about the mechanics of air conditioning. Thank you for the information. In the past they've certainly been linked with health risks and somehow I always associate them with dust and dry air. Your comment about humidity makes sense. That would deal with the dry air issue.

Life / Canadian Moving to Poznan, Poland - what to bring over, areas to avoid, school for a child. [54]


What would you consider hot? Polish spring and summer are beautiful usually and in my experience it can get uncomfortably hot in summer. Even here in damp and chilly Ireland the thermometer is often between 30 and 35 degrees in direct sunlight on a summer's day and if you're travelling on a tram or waiting in direct sunlight at a bus stop in Warsaw, you will suffer. If it's 25 degrees outdoors it can be 30+ indoors which is not pleasant although I totally agree with you that air conditioning is not necessary in the home. A very unhealthy thing. Also drying washing in driers instead of hanging it outdoors is something I can't abide.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


I think that may be because they learned their English in class, rather than in the real world. My husband spoke no English at all beyond hello, goodbye, please and thank you when he came to Ireland thus his English which he learned initially through conversation and listening to radio and television is very idiomatic and rich in both Hiberno-English and British English influences. He now finds it easier to express himself in English than in Polish!

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


I think perhaps you misunderstood. Roz was referring to the use of 'shall' and said that it is never used in Ireland, which it is, as I use it myself. I am pointing out that I use a British form in my speech though I am Irish.



But for Poles like my husband who learned their English in Ireland it's very relevant and there are, at a conservative estimate, about a quarter of a million of them.


Absolutely correct. Standard English in Ireland is pretty much exactly the same, certainly in business communications etc, it's identical.

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


Now that's interesting Roz because I'm Irish and I always say 'shall I/we?'. I never really noticed it until someone pointed it out to me. Mind you, I use a lot of vintage English, probably from reading too many 'jolly hockey sticks' school stories when I was a child!

loved the Jennings books and Billy Bunter. Strangely enough Jennings was based on an Irish boy whom the author was at school with.


But we usually say 'I went to the museum today' rather than 'I have been'. Simple past is more likely to be used especially if some hours have elapsed since the event. In my experience this is one that Poles often have trouble with, using the present perfect incorrectly in places where they should use the simple past.



The argument between prescriptive grammar and descriptive. Most native speakers don't use 'correct' grammar all the time when we speak because it sometimes sounds stilted and overly formal.

Work / English teaching or English language preschool in Poland? [15]

But can she? I mean does she have any actual experience with that age group? TEFL for young learners doesn't really cover the pre-school age group does it? Isn't it six to twelve years. Very different ball game. Of course a school might be willing to try her out and she might have a flair for it. She can but try.

Work / English teaching or English language preschool in Poland? [15]

Your best bet is just to approach schools directly. Trot along in person with your CV and if they like the cut of your jib you might be lucky. However.........I don't want to be a negative Nelly but I wouldn't be too optimistic. Firstly most of the international schools have English speaking staff and won't need specialist English teachers as such. Schools both international and Polish often don't care whether you're a native speaker or not and won't pay anything extra for it. Actually that's another point, do you want to support yourself through teaching? If so you might struggle. I'm interested in why you're choosing pre-school as opposed to widening your options to all ages? By the way I'm CraggyIsland the teacher who posted here about children weeing on the floor etc! I wasn't a member at the time. I joined the forum a few weeks later I think.

News / Poland's President-Elect Duda leads in public trust - CBOS poll [185]


You do realize that you're quoting Oscar Wilde, whom you don't like very much seeing as he was in your own words 'an old perv'. Careful now........


Be fair now Pol. Most people like their creature comforts, if they can get them. I'm sure you do yourself. Wanting nice surroundings, clothes, spending money on a hobby or enjoying little treats and luxuries is normal. Hyper-materialism is something else entirely and something that few ordinary people can indulge in. Also having or wanting to have material pleasures is not wrong in itself. It's only 'wrong' when it's coupled with general selfishness and no thought for the comforts or needs of others.

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]

Howaya head, now that's classic Dublinese. The Dubs, a great bunch o' lads! Can't imagine what life is like for a Dub in Katowice.....

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]


He's pretty well built actually, used to box in Poland, was a great gymnast in his youth, still likes to work out and runs a few times a week. He's always been physically active for the fitness,not for his appearance. He says it's also for his mental health. He just feels better when he's active. As for the 'serious' guys in the gym,you know quite well Wulkan, the kind of Polish guy I'm talking about (and not just Poles, they're everywhere but there are a lot of them in Poland and Eastern Europe). I call them Warsaw Pact heads (head is Dublin slang for a random guy, Smurf will know the word, I have a feeling he's a Dub). The shaved head, the tatoos, the stare, the swagger, the shouldering people out of the way when they walk down the street.


Yes, but the OP is from England so I was just making the point that in my experience people I've met are interested in where I come from and they ask me about Ireland so I imagine they'll ask John a bit about England. That's all. You do sound like a bit of a cross-patch. I'm afraid Wulkan that you're perpetuating a Polish stereotype, the touchy, narky Pole, taking umbrage for no reason whatsoever.

Work / First English teaching job in Poland (Katowice) [75]


In fairness, some people are nicer than others and they will appreciate you making an effort to speak Polish. Some of the younger people are quite friendly and curious about Western Europe. The gym though is not the friendliest place. Working class Polish guys are very into the whole macho thing. They take the gym pretty seriously and there's quite a bit of staring you down and mentally getting out the measuring tape to compare muscle sizes! (That's what my husband says anyway).

Life / Living Expenses in Krakow [42]


My dear girl if you don't actually know how much you spend on food then I'm not sure you're the best person to be advising people on budgeting! However, having said that I agree that prices in Poland are high considering the low wages and you certainly can't live as cheaply as people imagine.

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]

As a teacher in Irish primary schools I've seen the tights on boys business with Polish and Romanian boys. Also the Indian and African boys usually wear woolly tights under their trousers for most of the year. The foreign national parents are wary of the damp, rainy climate here and are convinced the children will succumb to pneumonia or something if they're not swaddled. Polish mothers are definitely the worst offenders for keeping children home if it's raining! The other nationalities I've noticed, tend to invest in hooded raincoats and wellies but not the Polish mothers.

News / Secularism = a dying society. How this phenomenon affects birth rate in Poland? [20]

As far as I can see Polish families have been quite small, for a Catholic country, generally no more than three children even forty or fifty years ago. I would say that Poles have been regulating the number of children they have, for economic reasons, for decades now.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]


Yes this is true. Polish women never conceal their feelings. If they're in a bad mood they don't make an effort to put on a brave face in public. When they suffer, everyone suffers! That's one of the reasons my Polish husband is happy to have an Irish wife!


Yes, in my experience they're just not friendly to strangers. You have to get to know Polish people before they crack a genuine smile. Sometimes the younger ones are a bit more open and welcoming but not always.

Life / Life in Poland - feeling lonely and don't want to socialize much! (anyone feeling same?) [93]

I'm interested Luke, did you spend much time in Poland before you decided to move there? It's a great place for a holiday but living there is a very different kettle of fish.

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


I think you're talking about America surely, not Poland. In any case tolerance simply means accepting difference.


Spoken like a true homosexual darling and I mean that as a compliment. Where would we be without you guys to uphold standards in fashion, interior design and all things fabulous?

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


But I have. Before I was a teacher I worked for a Jewish company in London.


The company was a large one with several branch offices around London. A little over half the staff in my branch were Jewish. That was because the senior ones had been there since the company was set up by two Jewish guys. The mid-level employees were a mixture of all sorts including an Indian, an Egyptian, a Greek, regular Brits and Irish Catholic me. The juniors were mostly Jewish because entry level positions were rarely advertised and tended to be filled through word of mouth. The company certainly didn't discriminate but they had a reputation as a 'Jewish' company so they didn't get many applications from 'Goys'. I was promoted and very well treated there.

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

Yes, but the poster says he's already been accepted by the university so presumably he would have to decide to study in either Polish or English. I don't see how he could start studying there through Polish if he hasn't learned the language yet?