News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Well instruction in English will certainly have a catstrophic effect on Polish society and drastically increase inequality - just like any other country where English isn't the daily spoken language but dominates in education

Poland could be like India or Nigeria or the Phillipines..... yay?

Language / Polish-American Grandma used to say this word! [18]


I was wondering about that possibility, or if it was a non-standard version of pupcia (behind, buttocks) and she was being diplomatic by saying it was a doll...

Language / Polish-American Grandma used to say this word! [18]


Pay no attention to him, he pretends to be an immigrant to the US from Poland but often displays frank ignorance of Polish realities.

pŏŏtka - what does ŏŏ represent? the oo sound like boot or the oh sounds in boat? Something else?

Nothing so far is ringing a bell...


In other words you grew up in a melina?

Work / JOB in Wroclaw for a Business Student fluent in ENGLISH/FRENCH/RUSSIAN/ROMANIAN [56]


It's almost degrading to have to engage with such a stupid idea. But... speaking French is a practical skill which doesn't say much else about a person except that they've learned the language. A degree in French literature is indicative of many other skills including critical reading, writing, organization, time management, sustained effort and imagination. A person who knows French swear words and slang doesn't necessarily know much else, a person with a degree in French literature absolutely knows a lot of other things (including how to engage with and learn from new situations).

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Education is not (or should not be) an 'industry' it is a profession and unless compensation is improved there won't be enough and/or only those with the fewest other options will stick around and education will suffer.... but who cares about the future?

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


And in a few years when there aren't enough teachers.... they'll just try to fast track Ukrainians into the system (as they are doing with nurses now) or close more public schools and the 500+ crowd will grow up even more under-educated than they would have been...

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


PiS is against paying for education just like it's against paying for healthcare, it's all about the gimmes with them....

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


After reading a bit I think that Broniarz was bought off, he says they're only 'suspending' the strike and might continue it in September (by which time PiS will pass legislation making strikes by teachers illegal).

A massive, massive betrayal. Productive teachers get nothing while more goodies go for the economic leeches who vote for PiS... just disgraceful.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


Well it's obvious that the goal of the strike has gone from simply getting raises to doing as much damage as possible to the government... it's working and the government seems to be essentially in panic mode which makes them look weak and chaotic. It won't play with the PiS unproductive and low information base but it might peal off the more centrist voters....

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

I don't think that's going to happen any time soon, teachers in Poland may be criminally underpaid but they're neither stupid nor crazy... so.... yeah.... that's not gonna happen....

UK, Ireland / No Poles Allowed! - Latest Polonophobic Outrage Out of Britain [660]


Was the issue of hundreds of thousands of Poles flocking to the British Isles ever put to a vote? What control should a native population have on who comes to live there?

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


poor people don't _deserve_ to learn to read!

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


I was talking with some students and one had been in a teacher training program (she'd wanted to be a teacher since she was a small child). The program was in turmoil because of the last stupid senseless reform and more experienced people kept telling her to 'uciekać' and she finally decided she would.

The government can spend vast amounts of money to carry out a unnecessary 'reform' but doesn't want to pay teachers... PiS in a nutshell throwing good money after bad with no thought of the future... (to be fair previous governments weren't much better)

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


Not actually the name of any institution....

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


It can't spell? Who made the sign? Someone who knows a lot about barzanty?

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


Yes and no. All governments want to maximize their power but there are a number of different approaches they take and these have very different effects on the populations they represent.

PO is more into relative wealth, the richer the country gets the more opportunities (inside and outside Poland) for them so their policies. Their policies can lead to greater overall prosperity (for most people).

PiS is into relative absolute, they don't care how poor the country becomes as long as they're in power and can reward their supporters and punish their enemies. Their policies lead to robbing the treasury so they can give the rabble some trinkets to vote for them.

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]


bvtt fixation!

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


What makes you think they care about that? They're all about patronage... vote for them faithfully and they'll throw some zloties at you and never mind about who's going to end up paying for it...

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]


To figure out if a given infinitive is perfective or imperfective you need to figure out if the root is perfectie or imperfective and then count the processes applied to it. It's easier than it sounds. Mostly telic roots (that imply a clear goal or end point) have perfective roots and others are imperfective.

Anytime you add a prefix that makes it perfective and you can make imperfective infinitives from perfective ones by added a -w- at the end and/or changing the vowels (and some consonants)

pros- imperfective

popros- perfective

zapros- perfective

zaprasz - imperfective (again)

prepros - perfective

przeprasz - imperfective (again)

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

There were two or three of them in Warsaw in the mid 1990s but while they always seemed to do a brisk business whenever I was there they disappeared after a few years (corporate fvkkery I suppose).

Flour tortillas are widely available but not in any real Mexican incarnations... nachos are also available and occasionally fried corn tortillas are and that's about it. A few upscale stores have a few other things but usually overpriced...

Fresh corn tortillas are nowhere to be seen :( I love Mexican food but a lot of my favorite dishes depend on fresh corn tortillas so... (grnarl, grumble, rumble)

In the 1990s the city I lived in had a "Mexican" restaurant and I went there a time or two and it was not remotely Mexican (not that I expected it to be....)

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


What's with the canned soup obsession? Are you a collector?

Anyhoo, I disagree. Polish people are geared to make soup in the following ways

from scratch (there are degrees to this of course),
from packets (with or without other ingredients added and/or powdered mixes added to left over soups (especially broths)
ramen (referred to as zupki rather than noodles...)
little cups that you pour boiling water into...
Far fewer things are sold in cans in Poland than in NAMerica and there's no sign that anyone really wants that to change... if anything I'd see cans for some products replaced with other packaging (like vacuum packed bags)

There have been attempts to see soup in other forms (like heavy plastic bags or cartons) and they didn't really catch on).
For any success the cans would have to make it into Biedronka (Lidl, Aldi etc) and I just don't see that happening.... as I don't think canned soups are a thing in Germany or Portugal either...

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

roughly...

UK biscuits = US cookies

UK scones = US biscuits

Many years ago some Brit told me there's a difference between biscuits and cookies in the UK but I forget what it was about...

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


American biscuits are very similar to British scones...

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

An interesting thing missing in Polish cuisine (that I know of) are quick breads... (US) biscuits, scones that type of thing.

I remember once a student needed to be able to translate biscuit (again US version) and all a Polish professional translator (phd in Anglistyka and many years experience) could offer was 'krakers'

I'm not sure about Czech or Slovakia but Hungary has pogacsa which seems like a quick bread.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


Well striking against PiS is kind of a loser's game, PiS are proven bad faith negotiators and cannot be counted on to keep any promises made to anyone.

Their modus operandi is to reward those who vote for them with zloty handouts and to lie and take form everyone else.

The longer they're in power, the bigger the crash when it all comes tumbling down (and it will, you can only cook the books for so long).

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


a shame for a sovok like rich...

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


just like everyone (except pis fanatics) knew and said at the time...

PiS is all about patronage (very PRL-ish) if you're part of their base they deliver goodies, if you're not then you're sh1t out of luck...

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


was completely off topic to the subject of the thread which is the ongoing teacher strike in Poland... just go away you useless fraud

Polonia / What do you, as a Pole, think of Albania (as a land, history etc...) and Albanians (girls and guys)? [12]

I don't think Polish attitudes differ much from the general European pattern of not thinking about Albanians one way or the other.

In general the closer and longer the contact between Albanians and other Europeans... the worse the attitudes are. Albanians are not popular as neighbors and among European peoples second only to gypsies in unpopularity...

We'll see how the increasing popularity of Albania as a tourist destination affects perceptions. I'd like to go myself as the language is intriguing (to say the least) and I really like a lot of pseudo-traditional Albanian music that I've seen on youtube (tremendous fun with lots of weddings, nationalist symbols, folklore and horses...)

News / Polish Police Hunt for Bad Taste Boorish Brits [39]


I have the feeling sometimes that he stopped noticing anything new in Poland about 15 (or more) years ago. That's a danger for those in a routine and I've been caught out by changes I hadn't realized had been going on more than once so I sympathize....

After the enforced public semi-puritanism of communism it was normal that a lot of 'sex shops' showed up in the early 90s. But they've been steadily decreasing. There are a few here and there (maybe for tourists more than residents) but nothing like in the past. I do still sometimes see condoms next to the candy by the checkout (a reminder for parents?)

It's the same with rude sales clerks, I actually can't remember the last rude salesclerk I've encountered. Of course it's not smiling cheer all the time and doubtless different from Britain (which seems to bother many Brits) but certainly polite in the Polish way.