Language / Intensive English Language Courses in Poland? [44]


I don't need to defend my methods, but experienced teachers don't just "slap together" a course. If you've been teaching for years, you know what the core requirements of a course are, and if you're used to planning a year's worth of classes ahead, then condensing that into 6 weeks isn't as difficult or as time-consuming as you seem to think.

Intensive courses are in the range of 20-30 hours a week, and are led by more than one teacher; that's the norm all over the world, not just in Poland. The scheduling is always an issue, but I'm not offering to find a teacher who will move in with the OP and teach him 24/7 (although I'm sure there are some who will offer that, if the money's right).

Language / Intensive English Language Courses in Poland? [44]

Anything's possible when you run a business Fuzzy, although I can understand your doubt; the "can do" attitude hasn't really penetrated the Polish world of business yet.

Language / Intensive English Language Courses in Poland? [44]

Generally because they're offering you a service they're not qualified to perform. Even in Krakow, a massively oversaturated town for language teaching, the going rate is a zloty a minute. If a teacher isn't able to get that, there are reasons why. Inexperience and business naivete are the kinder explanations, but I still wouldn't want to pay for an intensive English course from an inexperienced teacher.

Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]

I came in 2004. I applied for my tax number in November of that year.

In December I was informed that my application had been sent to the wrong office (Warsaw I) and had been POSTED to the correct office (Warsaw II), which is the floor upstairs in the same building.

In February 2005 Warsaw II tells me that my application has been sent to the wrong office, and had been posted to the correct office (Warsaw I).

In March 2005 I moved flat and asked Warsaw I when my number would be ready. "What number?" they said. "You're in Warsaw II". I showed them the two letters. "Well, we haven't got it."

In April 2005 I submitted a new application in Warsaw-Wola, and got my tax number confirmed by phone the next day. I went to Warsaw I to tell them that I was cancelling my application. I got a stamped note confirming this.

In August 2005 I got a letter from Warsaw I informing me that I was under investigation for fraud for operating under two tax numbers. I submitted my copies of their letters and my cancellation of the initial application, and got some women very angry in that office.

That's just one example. It took another seven months to get my PESEL/meldunek, a similar time to get my original Karta Pobytu. Things have certainly changed a lot since the early EU days...

Language / Intensive English Language Courses in Poland? [44]


Yep, a network of respected colleagues on call over most of the country. Of course, if you want a class next to Lake Solina, the price might be a little higher...


If you phone up a big school like Berl!tz, then they'll probably charge you 1000zl/for an 8-hour "immersion" day, and then they'll give the teacher 3-400 hundred of that and pocket the rest.

If you're in Krakow, there are excellent Polish teachers and experienced natives who will sell you a better course for a lot less than any school will charge. Their hourly rate will be between 60-100zl, depending on how many hours you want in one go.

Anyone who charges less than 1zl per min or more than 2zl is taking advantage of you.

Language / Intensive English Language Courses in Poland? [44]

I'll jump straight in;

I can supply a teacher immediately that can provide intensive lessons for as many hours a day as you need, with material designed for exactly what you need.

You can call up a school, but all they'll do is sell you as many classes in their standard schedule as possible, so that you'll end up getting FCE training you don't need mixed with Business English you don't understand, for three times the money you need to pay. The British Council are especially guilty of this sort of thing.

I guarantee that my offer will be a better value deal than any school in Poland can provide.

PM me if you'd like more info.

News / Poland Elections oct 2011/your feed back about RP Janusz Palikot? Poland is changing! [106]

His economic policy is made of grand sweeping statements; reclaim the 50bn zl lost to the Church every year, amalgamate ZUS and KrUS into one structure with lower overheads and smaller handouts to farmers, and liberalise taxes so that big companies can generate cash quicker.

There's more than a hint of Reaganomics in there, and while I don't think it will work, I'm happy he's there to challenge PiS, who are more Socialist in their welfare program than the Communists ever were.

sorry, million not billion.

Law / Process for buying a car in Poland - VAT, additional costs [15]

If you want the wheels of the car to touch the road, the car will have to be registered and insured in the appropriate Polish offices, which will mean having a registered address and a registered owner of the vehicle. No way around that.

If you want to buy a car directly for export, contact a professional dealer of new cars. Each one individually may be able to arrange delivery to a shipping port straight from the factory, and from there you can box it up and send it to the States.

But what on earth makes you want to do this? Is there a particular European car you simply must have?

News / The cross in Polish parliament - Does it bother you? [100]

The time when the cross unified Poland was the time when the rich nobles impoverished the masses, when there was no education for all, and when women had no vote and few rights.

During that time, I can understand why it may seem right for a cross to represent Poland, but these days it is not.


Communism was a time when people gave all their money to the institution and what they got back were words and promises. People who want the cross must want a return to those times.

Genealogy / Trying to locate information on my Great Uncle Frank Pryeor [9]

All I can read from that certificate is that he was baptised on the 25th May 1890. It happened within the parish of Tarnowiec, but I can't make out the name of the village.

It also lists the mother and father (looks like Jozef and Ludowica) and the godparents, Johannes and Genowefa, but I can't rear the priest's abysmal handwriting enough to make out any surnames.

News / Will you be proud of tranny (transsexual) representing Poland ? [124]

It doesn't bother me in the slightest. As long as the government stays out of my bedroom and my wardrobe, I don't care what she does in hers either.

When this topic comes up at work, I point the more shocked towards the ex-Mayor of Cambridge, Jenny Bailey:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Bailey

If a transgender woman in a legal civil partnership with another transgender woman (and also a father of two children) is deemed worthy by her electorate to represent a city as steeped in history and tradition as Cambridge, then Poland has nothing to worry about.

This really shouldn't be news at all.

Work / Internships in Polish mass media [23]


Our interns only work a month, and they're purely for ornamental value anyway.

News / SPECIAL REPORT: The Brits who left the UK for a life in Poland [28]

I can agree with the sentiment of the article, but there are some brilliant phrases in there worthy of the Daily Fail's reputation:

"The Church is important, too, and that’s reflected in the low crime and general pleasantness of the place."

bwaaaaahahahahaha!

Life / Do Polish parents let/encourage their kids to **** outdoors? [40]

Is it popular in Europe? Well, there's a little boy in Brussels who's been doing it for the last 400 years...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis

Law / Is it REALLY that easy to get car insurance in Poland ? [14]

I didn't notice a big cut in my insurance when I turned 28.

You get a 10% discount every year (same as English No Claims Bonus), but apart from that I think the under-28 clause is negligible.

I think the general idea is that you can only accumulate so many discounts, otherwise people in their 40s would have policies for peanuts.

Law / Benefit entitlement in Poland for foreigners [37]


Oh, that's really cheered me up this morning.

There's two possible answers:
a) No.
b) Yes, here's 20zl, come back in four weeks for your next payment.

Law / Is it REALLY that easy to get car insurance in Poland ? [14]

Peter, is that because you're old, or because you have such a long insurance history?

You need to compare a 20-year-old with no years of driving, to a 30-year-old with no years of driving. Saying you've driving for 21 years with no accidents will, of course, reduce your policy.

Law / Is it REALLY that easy to get car insurance in Poland ? [14]

The details the insurance companies ask are about the "main driver" or owner. In Poland, this is normally the head of the household, the father or grandfather, who sits on his money and buys his kids the things they need when they need them. There is no way an 18 year old can afford his own car in Poland, so daddy buys him a new Fiat 500 Abarth, puts his own details in the insurance form (which is perfectly legal) and gives the keys to his inexperienced offspring.

This is fine when the car is a maluch or a battered old Polonez, but the number of kids in the big cities with overpowered hatchbacks is on the rise, and with Poland's road death rate already the highest in Europe, the insurance companies won't take long to change their system. But for now there's too many poor people in villages who own a car together (you can co-own cars in Poland) for the insurance companies to charge them all per driver.

I'm sorry I'm making it so confusing, but that's what Poland's like.

Law / Is it REALLY that easy to get car insurance in Poland ? [14]


It's not even worth 10% of that, it's a 23 year old BMW. But insurance for that in England would still be very high, because it's got a very polluting engine, it's a BMW, and it was very popular with drug dealers in the Eighties.


They do ask a lot, but not in comparison to the English interrogation, that's all. If you've not got any points or had any accidents, getting insurance in Poland is a very quick process

Travel / Road Trip in Maluch! Best places / roads to go? :) Start - Krakow [12]

Have a look at the Zlombol website, the youngtimer.pl page, klasyczny.com and the FSOAUTOKLUB. They're all on facebook, and they all regularly organise drives with like-minded car owners.

Law / Is it REALLY that easy to get car insurance in Poland ? [14]

They do ask the age (PESEL) and address of the car, but there certainly aren't that many probing questions about whether the car is on the street or in a garage.

One of the issues that makes it easier here is that you insure the car, not the driver, so anyone can drive your vehicle if it has an insurance policy, which means charging thousands for a teenager is pointless, since teens in Poland don't have any money for a car anyway.

It does work out a hell of a lot cheaper here. I'm not young any more, and my record is clean, but my car insurance is 900zl over here, compared to 900pounds in the UK for exactly the same car.

Study / Eastern European Studies internship/ job [10]

Many of the big companies exploit, sorry, employ interns. Just run your eye down the companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and if you've heard of them, send a letter to their HR manager.

Internship isn't a big thing over here, and the interns in my firm only last a month, not a year, and they have no pay or perks of ANY kind except free use of the coffee machine. I'm not quite sure what you hope to achieve with an internship, but persistence and ingenuity will find you a position somewhere.

What you're going to use to pay your exorbitant living expenses while you're here is a completely different matter, as is what you plan to put on your visa application.

Real Estate / How to get my property back in Poland? I left 36 years ago. [59]

Do you have any proof of the payments you sent to her during that time? You need to collect as much evidence of what you did between 1978 and now, otherwise it's just your story against hers.

Law / Starting a car junkyard in Poland [27]


Well let's see, there's engine oils, Mineral, Semi- and Synthetic. Plus Differential hypoid oil. Anti-freeze. Transmission fluid (ATF), brake fluid, Compressor gas (halogenated on older cars, a massive pollutant), more ATF in the clutch master and slave cylinders, and the power steering rack, plus the oil from broken shock absorbers and hydraulic struts for tailgates and bonnets, and then the nasty foam that's in the seats, sound insulation, dashboard and carpets for most models.

Once you've separated all those into their required EU bins for various recycling, and then paid someone else to take them away, you realise why there aren't so many legal scrapyards around. Add on top of that the insurance that companies should be paying for their employees working in a hazardous environment, and most scrapyards couldn't afford to operate legally.

With that in mind, I wish the best of luck to the OP, and if he ever gets his hand on spare parts for a BMW E30, let me know.

Work / Working Vs Private English Lessons Vs Starting a Small Business in Poland [33]

To the OP:

Congratulations on your optimism; you will certainly need it to cope with the crushing bureaucracy, no matter what path you take.

While I don't mean to sound as negative as the others, you really need to address why you specifically want to live in Torun. While beautifully rustic, the entire region is economically deprived, and unless you can offer something absolutely new to the area, you will not earn enough money to live on, let alone to live comfortably. The hourly rates of language teachers are among the lowest in the country, and being a student town means that your prospective client base is both poor and unreliable.

If you don't know what to do, you can be a teacher with no qualifications; there are plenty of those already, filling up the McSchools and bars of the big towns. But without a large network of contacts, or some serious cash in your pocket already, or both, any new business you wish to create in Poland will fail just as it would wherever you come from. You will need to be in Poland for quite a while to understand what starting a business here really means.

Good luck whatever you do.

Travel / Cheapest eating places in Warsaw? [27]


I won't deny it's cheap, but "excellent" is about three steps too far to describe their food. And I'm not bothered that it's vegetarian, but it's bland, dry and overcooked.

There's plenty of places behind Al. Jana Pawla (especially on ul. Ciepla) that do a lunch menu for less than 20zl.

Life / My impressions on Poland I: The People, Politics, The Countryside and Infrastructure [39]

While I don't agree with the impressions the OP took with him, I can completely understand how he arrived at them. Superficially, Poland does still present itself as a backwards country of walrus moustaches and bad customer service.

To be honest, if I had only spent a week here and had to meet Kaczynski during that time, I'd leave with a bad taste in my mouth too. It's just a shame you didn't get to see the other, better side of the country, that isn't related to politics or infrastructure.

As for these sorts of comments:


Polish is not an international language. English is one of, if not THE, important language for international communication. I don't say that with pride, it's just a fact. If Poland WANTS to attract more foreigners (and their money) it will have to change this ridiculous attitude of "no, YOU learn POLISH." When you went on holiday to Egypt, did you learn Arabic first?

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


I know what you're getting at, but for my Estuary English accent all those words are the same

mafketis, r-colouring and rhotically trilling an r aren't quite the same thing. The word nurse for example could have a delightfully rolled r inside it (which is how I now imagine Teffle talks) which is distinct from both its North American and RP pronunciation.

I don't have a problem with r, and I use it in a linking capacity regularly, but if it's making life hard for my students (np. February) I'll tell them to ignore it, and just say Febry. And if they're not colouring their r, but trilling it (as Poles are wont to do), then I'll remove the trill but not teach r-colouring, so "four" goes from "foo-errrr" (Polish) to "faw" (Standard English).

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Quite interesting about the SE England comment of "luck" and "lack". I come from as south-east as you can get (Margate) and you don't hear "you lacky barsteward" as often as Guy Ritchie films would have you believe.

As for the "neutral" accent; there are a few variations among the accents that are almost impossible to consolidate into a hyper-accent of International English. The r-colouring of American accents means that four, more, saw and door all have that little twang at the end that reminds of a braying seal. Similarly, the flat a of bath (ɑ for spa, rather than a for hat) sounds distinctly odd for many native speakers, let alone foreigners, even if it's an element of my own accent.

Despite most foreigners expressing a specific desire for a "British" accent as opposed to an American (or Australian or South African or other colonial* tongue), those two features are things that most Poles have trouble with, and often refuse to concentrate on, seeing it as a "waste of time" or "I'll never learn it".

*it's a joke, live with it.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Thank you molat, very well said.

I do not mean to pick on anyone's language usage on here, but you did make a small mistake in your typing which I think highlights the whole reason people pay for native speakers, and those without the right accent training will never be able to cure the problem.

The difference in pronunciation between "lack" and "luck" is a subtle one for Polish ears, and leads to that sort of mistake. If you had a teacher from Boston (US), the word would sound like "lack"; if you had a teacher from Yorkshire, the word would sound like "look". These 'minimal pairs' are incredibly important in English, just as they are at the end of Polish; I've lost count of the times when I said "piękna dziewczyna" only to be told that I said "piękne" or "piękna".

In the same way, I still can't really pronounce "Kasia" and "kasza" properly, despite all the attempts of my native-speaking Polish teacher. But at least Polish is more logical to write, in the sense of typing what you would say.