USA, Canada / Why do Americans (and Canadians) hate Polish people? [226]

Fuzzywickets, I really hate theorising and I only have so much tolerance for educated guesswork, but I wanted to contribute something to this discussion anyway, so please bear with me... We were looking at the following statement: English-speakers look at Poles who do not use the article "the" or "a" as unintelligent. The question that arises, of course, is: which English-speakers? Should we list names? Or record incidences from movies or television?

It is necessary to bring statistical analysis into the discussion in order to shoot down outrageous statements such at the thread title and perhaps my initial generalisations too. The title of this thread assumes that all or at least a significant majority of Americans and Canadians hate Polish people. Your answer: they don't. My answer: I don't know, I'm not Canadian or American.

This is why I hate theorising, because I have to think too hard :)

Poles sound funny to me sometimes, hence my intial statements. To be fair, I once tried to pronounce a Polish name when talking to a native speaker and she thought it was very funny. I wonder if my Australian accent would arouse laughter everywhere in Poland? Do English-speakers sound "funny" or "unintelligent" to Poles?

Love / Polish girls are outstanding in terms of their moral conducts as compared to western girls. [29]


They don't fart, how rude of you to say that! But all your other statements are correct :)

USA, Canada / Why do Americans (and Canadians) hate Polish people? [226]

^ Yes, most immigrants into new countries are not famous scientists, astronomers, poets or painters...

Regarding the point I made above, one forum user said: In my opinion, this is a bad theory. Russians talk the same way and they're not looked at as dumb. Asians notoriously speak without articles and almost everyone looks at Asians as being anything but unintelligent.

It depends on whether the person who's looking at them considers linguistic fluency a sign of intelligence. What is your opinion on the stereotype of the "stupid Polack"? There are intelligent people and unintelligent people in every race. I see this point come up again and again in every discussion about whether nation X is better or worse than nation Y.

And yes, it was just a theory... I've never been to America or Canada so I couldn't tell you the full story about why or even whether Americans and Canadians hate Polish people. Anyone else got more ideas?

Love / Polish girls are outstanding in terms of their moral conducts as compared to western girls. [29]

Maybe. The general assertion is that they are "humble and caring." I know one girl who is quite extraordinary. She's Polish-Australian and does not speak the language, so these generic descriptions may not apply to her at all. Maybe it's a waste of time making any generalisations. It would be like someone who has never seen a flower. If they saw a blue flower, they might say (incorrectly) "flowers are blue," when it would be better to say (correctly) "this flower is blue." Or they might see a field of blue flowers. Again, it'd be correct to say, "this field of flowers is blue," and incorrect to say, "all flowers are blue."

Maybe Guest is female and Polish? I guess we'll never know the whole story... :)

USA, Canada / Why do Americans (and Canadians) hate Polish people? [226]

There is a stereotype of Polish people being unintelligent. Of course, this is unfair because as we know Poland gave to the world the genius of Marie Curie and Copernicus, and, as I learnt today, Adam Mickiewicz (poet) and Jan Matejko (painter) as well.

In the Polish language there is no article "the" or "a." So a Polish person might say "doctor talks to patient" instead of "the doctor talks to a patient." Often English-speakers consider this a sign of unintelligence on the part of Poles, not realising that their language has seven grammatical cases and more than enough ways to specify which doctor sees what patient, if more detail is required.

Love / Polish girls are outstanding in terms of their moral conducts as compared to western girls. [29]

Each person is different but I agree with what you say. I notice they are also quite possessive of men and will fight hard to keep the man whom they love the most.

Love / Age difference in relationship with a guy or girl from Poland? [28]

I think a 10-15 year age difference is fine as long as you are committed to the one person. The difference would become less and less significant as the years pass.

The practice of going from one sex partner to the next is called by a particularly ugly word: "adultery." Seems fine at first - I mean, "everyone does it," right? But, problems come later on e.g. family breakdown, violence from cuckolded spouses, emotional problems, etc.

Work / Australian looking to teach English in Poland [25]

Australia and Poland sign a work and holiday agreement
(From Department of Immigration website: immi.gov.au/News/Pages/australia-poland-sign-work-holiday-agreement.aspx)

On 28 March 2014, Australia and Poland announced that a reciprocal work and holiday (subclass 462) visa arrangement between our two countries had been signed.

The arrangement, when brought into effect, will enable young adults (aged 18 - 30 years) from Poland and Australia to enjoy an extended holiday in each other's country, during which they may undertake short term work and study. There will be 200 places on offer for each country per programme year.

The work and holiday arrangement will not commence until a start date has been agreed by both countries. This can take some time as administrative processes on both sides are finalised.

Once a commencement date has been announced, eligible young adults from Poland and Australia will be able to apply for this visa.

Australia / Poles in Australia - money for start, chances for a job, costs of living (Brisbane, Bunbury) [50]

I'm 26 years old polish male and I want to move to Australia.
What should I do and what should I know? How many money I should have to start there? What chance do I have to find a job? I'm an anthropologist (ethnologist) with a newspaer experience.

Could you tell me about costs of living there (I'm particulary interested in Brisbane)?

You should do as much research as possible about where you want to live. Maybe take a trip here for a week or two, find out as much information as you can, and go back home to save up some more money before finally coming here for good.

That's what I would do if I wanted to move to Poland. I'd take a holiday there first to see if I liked it.

Definitely search for accommodation before coming here if you want to live here. It would help to save up an extra $2000-4000 or so. Brisbane can be expensive for accommodation, but Cairns is not so expensive. Be warned, Queensland is HOT! Other parts of Australia are moderate temperature but I did not like the weather in Cairns or Darwin and I was born in Perth (currently living in the South-West of WA).

I have no idea what kind of work you could do here. I work as a waiter, I have no interest in those more technical professions, except maybe teaching English in Poland. Renting an apartment in a smaller town like Cairns QLD or Burnie TAS will cost from $130-250/week, but there you have less opportunities for work than in bigger cities like Brisbane, Perth or Hobart.

If I wanted to move to Poland one day (and I might), I would study and save money for 10-12 years and make sure nothing could go wrong.

It's a big decision, good luck to you.