How would an American Pole be treated while studying in Germany?

I was just curious as to how I might be treated by native Germans if/when I go to study at a German university.

you've got to find them first. in various sections of german education there are various numbers of germans.

germans are fine with those from other parts of the world. it might depend on the city though.

half of my clan are in german education and fully intergrated. there are loads of Poles here. (i'm in berlin)

Why not study in Poland? Poland has some good schools also

I don't doubt that Polish education is good, but if I were to go to study aboard I'd prefer to go to a country where I have a good understanding on the native language there. I'm not very good at Polish yet and no schools near me offer it. I also love the German language as well, so I'm taking classes and planning to go study in Regensburg.

then you'll have no problems at all.

You should ask here: toytowngermany.com/forum

I would not advise that because Polish Universities have a different diploma system that's not always recognized too well by US employers.

Besides, she'll be better off in Germany since many Germans speak English.

I'm just trying to encourage her to study in the country of her ancestors. College educated Poles know English.

So, please, don't call yourself "Polish" if you can't even speak the language.


Wrong. EU countries and quite a few more have all followed the Bologna Process, so one Bologna diploma is much the same as another in terms of how the system works.


You'd think so, but I know plenty of them that don't.


You can't speak Polish, what makes you think they'll treat you as anything but just another American who went abroad to buy her education?

Not in the case of engineering. Polish Universities are not accredited period.

Besides, if I was an employer, I would not ever hire a Polish student considering you can retake an exam multiple times. What a joke...

That's nothing to do with the system, but rather the American system of accreditation. Polish universities are accredited in the EU just like all the rest - if America is dumb enough to refuse a Polish degree because they didn't bribe some accreditation agency, it's America's problem, not Poland's.


You can retake exams as much as you want in most EU countries, provided you pay. In the UK, it's standard to have two attempts - the third attempt is paid for. Just like in Poland, in fact.

Nothing dumb about that. I would extend this view to the rest of the EU since you're allowed to retake an exam according to you...

There's everything dumb about it. I mean, you have the insane system of accreditation that makes absolutely no sense to anyone else in the world - "regionally accredited", anyone?

What I meant is, if American students are subjected to a "one chance or you're out" policy then I don't see why EU students should be viewed equally.

While many more per capita in Germany may know English (on the surface) with greater fluency than in Poland, there's nonetheless no substitute for having a solid foundation of the language BEFORE going over. Landing there and hoping to sort of "pick it up as you go" would be a mistake. Academic German particularly's about as hard as Polish, and don't expect either that your professors are all going to conveniently switch to English at the drop of a hat whenever you'd like them to. Ain't gonna happen-:)

I don't understand, it seems that some people on here enjoy talking off topic, or get a kick out of harassing people and being rude.


Because not speaking the language makes me not Polish? Sorry you think that.


Can you not respect someone who just wants to experience something new all the while is getting an education? I'm studying here in America first, not just trying to 'buy' my education abroad.

Welcome to Polish Forums!............(I think "harassing" is too strong of a word ;)

Perhaps in this case, but in general. Oh well.
I think I get the info I wanted, thanks everyone! :)

Don't go away mad :) I received a similar reception when I first posted on this site but I'm here to tell you this is a very good forum overall. There's a lot of vigorous, animated at times, discussion here and while it's true posters do not care to sugarcoated their opinions, overwhelmingly the contributors are not here to hurt nor insult you. We just happen to have many with very strong opinions. I hope you stick around and share with us your experiences in Germany :)

It's not a good place to be in if you're sensitive to words. I was planning a strategy on eliminating racism earlier and I got flamed for that.

You're American I assume so your question should be How would an American be treated while studying in Germany? How would they have any idea that you have Polish ancestry? Unless you walk around (like most Americans I know) telling people that you're Polish (in your thick American accent) before telling them that you're American......?

I always wondered why Americans do that (I'm Irish, born in Boston.............). Nothing against Americans, I've got quite a few American friends here in Poland but always wondered about that.

I'm English, my grandfather was Irish, I would never for a second tell people that I'm Irish...........

Jeez it sounds like I'm having a go at you but I'm not :)

I once read a book which had a list of Irish/American famous people in, Eddie Murphy was on the list.

P.S You wont have a problem. It's Europe, not the middle east lol

Fact is, Croggers, as the US claims inhabitants from heterogeneous backgrounds, Irish, Polish, German, Latvian, Italian etc... and Poland doesn't, it stands to reason that Americans will identify with their ethnic origins in a manner which Poles etc.. can't understand, since the latter basically are from the same background. A village Pole is of Polish stock, a North American fella from the Ozarks/Appalachian hill country is of British, Irish or typically Scots-Irish descent, NOT Native American, in the same place for a thousand or more years!!

I have heard that Germans love anything American, so you are good to go, have fun:)

Another thing to note is that german universities are better known around the world than their polish counterparts. People in general know more about germany than poland and so its safe to assume that some employers may prefer to hire a german educated applicant instead of a polish one. Not saying that this happens 100% of the time, but i've seen it happen.

Some people on this forum, like delphiandomine (a brit who has a dead end job teaching english in Poland), are really grumpy and have a lot of anger built up inside. Delphiandomine actually hates Americans and Americans of Polish descent which is why he was so harsh towards you, so please just put him on your ignore list.

This grumpiness I can sorta understand. But still, let's not take side here, okay?