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Posts by lateStarter  

Joined: 14 Jul 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 24 Mar 2015
Threads: Total: 2 / In This Archive: 2
Posts: Total: 45 / In This Archive: 42
From: Poland, Grabnik
Speaks Polish?: basic
Interests: Geopolitics, Economy, Energy, History, Environment

Displayed posts: 44 / page 1 of 2
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lateStarter   
2 Aug 2009
Work / I'm interested in teaching in Poland and I need some help. [33]

From my own experience in the Warsaw area (4 years now) it doesn't hurt to have CELTA but it is not entirely necessary. Having said that though, I wish that I had it! Most of the school Directors that I have spoken with have told me that it would open up more possibilities - specifically with regard to In-Company Training. Generally, they will throw you a few individual students and if they are desparate, ask you to do some groups.

If you are good though (not in your own mind, but get lots of positive feedback) the schools will put you to work. Even if 90% of the teachers must be certified, if you are in the top 10% of the Native language speakers in the area, you will be in demand.

To be fair, I would not call myself a teacher of the English language. I now realize that there is a lot more to teaching than meets the eye (especially a foreign language). I have actually learned more about English in the past few years here in Poland than in my prior 40+ years in the US of A. Harry's remark about conditionals brought a smile to my face.

I make it clear from the start of my lessons that I am there for conversational practice and that I will help them out where I can with grammar, pronunciation, etc... I mention that if they have any specific grammar point that they want to review, I will be glad to help them out. One of my students mentioned that he always had a probelm with conditionals and would appreciate a brief review. I told him that as soon as I knew what he was talking about, I'd get back to him! We had a good laugh. After I found out what they were, (oh, so thats what these are called!) I told him that quite honestly, most motivated Polish students had a better command of English grammar than 99% of the American population.

Most of my students are Advanced level, so your mileage may vary. I would find it very difficult to teach anything below Intermediate level, even if I did speak fluent Polish. I just don't have the training/skills required. I'm sure the kind of training you would pick up with an intensive short-term CELTA course would be invaluable and well worth the time and moeny. Of course, it would also help if you actually liked to do this kind of thing. If you are just looking for a way to pay the bills, but you really dislike it (and there is a lot not to like) you will not do well...

Just my 2 cents - Shawn
lateStarter   
21 Dec 2009
Work / Why is Polish workmanship so bad? [52]

Just learn how to do it yourself. If it is your house, you will make sure it is done right. Once you know how to do it correctly, you can help your neighbor. Strange concept, I'm sure, but give it a try. You might actually enjoy it...
lateStarter   
3 Jan 2010
Genealogy / Missing/unknown letter in my great-grandmother's last name. Any ideas? [34]

I have given up trying to trace my Polish roots through my grandfather's last name since it was obviously 'Americanized' at some point and nobody in my family on that side seems to have a clue or interest in helping me dig any further. I did find a copy of my grandfather's application for Social Security from 1944 with his mother's name listed as: Sophia Rypy?a.

Unfortunately, where the '?' is that I typed, there is a large white streak that makes it impossible to tell what the underlying letter is. I know that there are only a limited number of possibilities with Polish spelling being what it is. Any ideas? If I could narrow the possible choices, it would make the search a bit easier.

I don't know what area in Poland they really came from (I have heard a couple of widely divergent stories) but I did hear that they left from Galitcia (sp) during the 1890's even though they weren't originally from that area.

Shawn
lateStarter   
3 Jan 2010
Genealogy / Missing/unknown letter in my great-grandmother's last name. Any ideas? [34]

Wroclaw - It is a typed (although poorly) application. It appears from some of the errors on the application that accuracy was not that important for the job. There are spelling errors and it looks like the typewriter was old or hadn't been cleaned in a while. The small letters 'a', 'e', and 's' are often indistinguishable. I am assuming that the final 'a' on her last name is accurate as that seems to reflect common spelling for a Polish woman's last name.

I have been over the entire document with a magnifying glass comparing all the available letters. Is there a size limit for attachments? I will try to scan it in, if you or anyone else wants to play detective with me. Thanks...
lateStarter   
4 Jan 2010
Genealogy / Missing/unknown letter in my great-grandmother's last name. Any ideas? [34]

@strzyga - it looks like only space for 1 letter looking at the other spacing. It almost looks like another 'a' only lighter.

@trevek - could have been a character that doesn't appear in english alphabet (as nicompoop_not pointed out. Probably just misread or misunderstood if info was taken verbally.

everyone else: thanks for the ideas...

Since 100k is the limit for attachments, I'll just scan in that area or as much around it as possible for anyone that wants to take a look. Give me a bit and I'll post it.
lateStarter   
5 Jan 2010
Genealogy / Missing/unknown letter in my great-grandmother's last name. Any ideas? [34]

My wife is leaning toward a 'd' even though it doesn't 'fit' orthographically. It does appear that there is a bump to the left similar to an 'a'. But there is also something higher than the top of the 'a' next to it. Unfortunately, there are no other occurences of the letter 'd' typed on the application to compare it to.

I think that it was probably 'ł' originally. As for the first name: I'm sure it was modified also. I have even seen her listed as 'Susie' in the 1900 US Census report and 'Susan' in the 1910 report. This makes me suspect that her name was probably not even Zofia but rather the Polish equivalent of Susan (Żosia?).

Thanks for all the other suggestions. I will contact someone back in the states to look into the Naturalization records. My greatgranfather is listed as 'NA' in the earliest census reports I could find (Code for Naturalized).
lateStarter   
20 Jan 2010
Work / Poland is headhunting seriously in IT, Finance and HR. [41]

4000 PLN/month? Working 40-50 hours/week? I'd like to get back into IT/SW Dev, but I can make that much teaching English as a Native Speaker doing 20 hours/week. The rest of the week is mine - on the farm! I doubt anyone around Warsaw or any other major city is going to bite. If you are outsourcing to an underdeveloped rural area - good for you, good for them!
lateStarter   
21 Jan 2010
Work / Poland is headhunting seriously in IT, Finance and HR. [41]

He is looking for help desk people. If you trully were IT dev in the past then you surely know what is the difference...

My bad. You are correct. Actually, the more I think about it, that is not so horrible a salary for an entry level position (assuming that there was a real possibility for the brightest to move up the food chain). And yes, I have 20 years of SW Development under my belt.
lateStarter   
29 Mar 2010
Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]

Been reading this thread very carefully as I am now going through the same process with a slightly different twist. The company that recently hired me, advised me to get my own company registered (Dzial. Gosp) so that I could issues them invoices each month and the company paying me could avoid paying VAT. The parent company is based in London. I issued my first invoice last month with 0% VAT specified.

At the moment, I have my NIP, PESEL, REGON and a Permanent Resident card. I am scheduled to make my first payment to ZUS tomorrow. This morning, I went down to Urząd Skarbowy in an attempt to close the loop, and of course they told me I was doing everything all wrong! They wanted me to fill-out another form and pay some money downstairs. I opted for a second opinion!

The company I am working for has quite a few people operating under the same scenario, so I know it can be done. I was told that I need to get some kind of EU VAT number in order to send invoices to other EU companies. Then I can specify that VAT is 0 for selling services abroad within EU when I issue the invoice. I have asked to speak with someone else at the company who has already been thru the process that could give me some advice.

Anyone else in a similar situation?
lateStarter   
29 Mar 2010
Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]

delphiandomine: Get an accountant. The whole mechanism for charging VAT within the EU is an absolute mess

Sounds like the best advice. My wife, as smart as she is, is already overwhelmed taking care of her mother. Money well spent in my opinion. Now, I just need to find a good accountant...
lateStarter   
2 Apr 2010
Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]

Seanus: Grabnik, which part of Poland is that?

About 40km west of Warsaw. Village with less than 100 people. Sochaczew is about 12km away. If I walk out my back door, I am in Kampinos National Park.
lateStarter   
2 Apr 2010
Work / Are you teaching English in Poland? [120]

I only have a handful left at the moment. I stopped taking new students in order to make one last attempt to land a technical job (training/coding/whatever) - and I got lucky. I'm working from the house which is both good and bad. It would be very good if the MIL wasn't living with us (she had a stroke and requires full time care) as I need to schedule my work hours around her schedule.

Situation should improve next month when she goes on vacation to our other property outside of Płonsk. I can't wait!
lateStarter   
26 May 2010
Law / EU citizen residency certificate to live in Poland [34]

I'm curious if something like this might make it easier for me to get contract work in other EU countries (for example Ireland). I have a permanent resident card but as an American citizen, although I can work in Poland, every recruitment agency I have dealt with in other EU countries, so far has balked - not worth their time! My wife is Polish and it seems like the easiest thing for us to do, would be to have her go live in the 'other' country first, and then bring me over.

I'd really just like to be able to go and work on short 3-6 month contracts but being a non-EU citizen makes it very difficult! Hard to believ that I could just buy a piece of paper that would solve this problem.
lateStarter   
16 Aug 2010
Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]

30zl per hour is laughable in Warsaw. I don't know of anywhere (other than Berlitz) which pays less than 50zl per 45 minutes. Some places pay quite a bit more than 50zl per 45 minutes and if you have private contracts you can easily charge 80zl per 45 minutes.

So you don't think it would be unreasonable for me to ask for 60zl per 45 minutes on my next offer? I have been doing this on and off for a few years, mostly at advanced level. Is it easier to justify if I am teaching a small group (in Warsaw)?

I have a regular day job, but I like to get out of the house and away from the computer now and then, and I enjoy meeting new people. They asked at the last contract signing if 50 was still ok, so I'm guessing that they are suprised I haven't raised my rate.
lateStarter   
16 Aug 2010
Travel / Holiday in Poland - do I need to learn Polish? [26]

It won't hurt to learn a few phrases and people will be more willing to help you if you at least make the effort as already pointed out. On the other hand, if you will mostly be in areas like Warsaw, don't be suprised if your waitress is perfectly fluent in English!

Have fun. You'll be fine!
lateStarter   
16 Aug 2010
Life / 55 minutes to write a ticket ("mandat karny")? [28]

Interesting topic wrt IDP. I really need to know the 'real' answer. I have been renewing my IDP every year to avoid having to take the written test and give up my US license (not that I have any intention of returning) . But, I suspect that the truth is closer to what Delph wrote: permanent residents, should/must get a valid Polish license within 12 months of becoming a permanent resident. As long as you were not, you could always play the part of the travelling business man.

Next year my US license expires, so I guess I will need to take the plunge anyway...
lateStarter   
31 Dec 2010
News / Euro 2012: Budget cuts delay road construction in Poland [21]

Personally, I'd much rather see dwindling funds be spent on upgrading rail lines and services. In the long term it will prove to be a much better investment. Why waste money repeating the mistakes of others? Perhaps there is a better thread for continuing that discussion. The ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) age is drawing to a close. Why should Poland bother attempting to look like 1990 America? Just skip over it and move on!
lateStarter   
2 Jun 2011
Travel / Narrow-gauge railway into the Kampinos forest in Poland [9]

I'll double check when I go home this weekend, but if you are envisioning a trip through the forest, I think you will be disappointed. If on the other hand, you like narrow-gauge trains, you might enjoy it, especially if you have kids. I believe it leaves from Sochaczew (they have a museum of narrow-gauge trains there that is worth a visit) and heads towards Wyszogrod, but I don't think they have restored the track the whole distance. There is still track heading into Kampinos, but most of it still needs to be cleared. I think it is a work in progress. I'll post an update in a few days.
lateStarter   
18 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

My wife was explaining the news today to me (Gov't wants to start taxing priests) and I was amazed to find out that they actually are paid by gov't. I don't have a problem with tax deductions for religious orders, but to be paying their salary? What's up with that? I was amazed that the controversy seems to be about paying taxes, not the fact that they are paid by gov't. Did I misunderstand something?
lateStarter   
21 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

Thanks. The answer below was what I was looking for. My apologies for opening up a can of worms...

Tusk's announcement was not about taxing the salaries but about pension and health service contributions

lateStarter   
21 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

I don't mean to pour gasoline on the fire, but I noticed the phrase about the priest teaching 'religion' in schools and getting a salary paid by the state. Is the priest teaching comparative religion including the ideas of atheism and agnosticism? IMHO, that would be a public service. If he is promoting the values and the ideas of the Catholic church, then the Catholic church should be paying him.
lateStarter   
23 Nov 2011
News / Priests are paid by the Gov't in Poland. [86]

If a parent does not wish their child to be indoctrinated, they can opt out.

Is it really that easy? I ask because I remember someone I knew who was married to a non-Catholic that eventually moved to Canada because of this very issue. I guess the experience could differ according to location.
lateStarter   
10 Dec 2011
Life / What is the penalty for driving a car without the annual technical inspection? [17]

On a positive note: I got stopped speeding one time (very bizarre - I am the slowest driver in Poland) only to find out we did not have the inspection papers. My wife who is Polish, didn't even know about the requirement (she had been out of the country for a long time). The officer held our registration

and told us that if we went and got it done now, he would meet us back at the police station in a few hours when he got off work and return the paperwork to us when he saw the inspection had been done. We did, and he gave us the registration docs back when we met him at the station.

He told us that if we had been involved in an accident and didn't have the inspection paperwork we would have been in deep trouble.

Not everything that happens in Poland is bad...