News / SHOULD POLAND HAVE NUKES?? [154]

Cost, politics, long term strategy.

They may well do so in the future.

News / SHOULD POLAND HAVE NUKES?? [154]


They don't need permission from the U.K., the U.S. or France.

News / SHOULD POLAND HAVE NUKES?? [154]

Big ones hopefully.

Seriously though, the new generation can be dialled up or down between being 'small' tactical ones right up to being strategic weapons.

France make some modern ones however there are issues about kill switches on French-made weapons.

The U.K. is looking at building a new generation to replace the Trident programme (coming to the end of its life and they have them serviced in the US which isn't ideal) so there may well be BAe weapons there.

And of course Poland certainly has the capability to build their own.

News / Polish President vetoes PO's dingbat gender law [173]


I don't know who that is. What country does she live in?


What are "all the facets"?

News / Should Poland pay for gas in rubles? [193]


Only some parts of Europe. The U.K. buys none from r*SSia. Fortunately we have our own, as does Norway.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


Exactly. They're also something to have at home rather than just in class, to revisit, to reflect on etc. plus they all have workbooks, many have interactive online self-study materials tied to the scheme of work, videos in sequence and the newer ones have QR codes embedded.

Since different people learn in different ways it's important to go at it from different angles, and that is bloody hard if you have to make every lesson from scratch.

Plus, any given class might have doctors in who are very good at learning quickly together with people who left school at 16 with no qualifications and everything in between. And people with plenty of time on their hands as well as single parents with hard jobs.

Coursebooks have good graphics, a logical progression of learning and a wide variety of topics and type of activity. The material is also tied to the outcome of the course. Tried and tested over decades and have to be fit for purpose or they just don't sell.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


Why?


That's normal, however they do at least have a scheme of work which is tried, tested and usually evolving as new editions/ranges come out.


Authentic materials should be used (even bit by bit) as soon as possible however there aren't the hours in the day to create 6 hours of lessons using solely authentic materials, fitting perfectly into the curriculum and developing productive skills too as well as exam practice where appropriate. A teacher who's teaching several levels and several types of learner would quickly get brain fatigue assuming that they even have the skills to do it in the first place without fvcking it up.

Plus, non-native and/or less experienced teachers need them.


Interested in results. It is after all training rather than education.

Off-Topic / Let's talk about shoes [334]


Not really though you could talk about Prosecco and Ford housing estates.

The gin and jaguar belt in a large town is the suburb near the best golf course where most houses have electric gates. People there don't clean their own houses. Lawyers and dentists live there. The women all have similar hairdos and the men are a level too classy to talk about material things. It's a slightly old-fashioned term and the people there are less likely to drive a jag or drink gin (marketing and 'craft' gin have sent it downmarket) than they were in 1985.


That's basically northern Scotland or North Yorkshire or Northumberland however they'd spell it in both places without the E.


White Lightening 'cider', weed and the bus.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


I almost never use it. It's something to be used with great care, if at all.

There's a newish textbook series from Cambridge currently selling like hot cakes. Favoured by non-native teachers and would probably work for 1-1. I'd put money on it figuring in their B1 and probably A2 editions.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


It's an easy heuristic. Something that leads to overuse among non-natives and of course drags the mark down if used out of context when doing, say, FCE or higher.

I suspect the textbooks rarely cover its positive use however that of course is lower frequency. Harder to teach as well.

News / Polish President vetoes PO's dingbat gender law [173]


What is that?

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [1006]


Useful to know, though not a hard and fast rule and certainly low frequency.. I find it overused by some second language speakers who've learnt the always/continuously thing. The same sort of people who've learnt "do you ever" and use it out of context in an aggressive way.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


I just don't like much rock, especially heavy metal or the more angsty stuff. Folk rock can be fun, and the stuff they play at the open Mike night at my local is fun too, provided you can dance to it. There's a rock group called Deportivo that I don't mind however when I played it to friends who like heavy rock they didn't rate it at all.

Most pop music is just a rehash of something that came before and for a long time has had more to do with marketing than quality. If I hear chart music nowadays it all sounds the same. There are outliers with genuine talent like Amy Winehouse and Hamzo Bryn though.

The last (non-classical/jazz) concert I went to was Nosfell (who also does rock music nowadays) but isn't at all mainstream. The two before that were Manaam and Sinead O'Connor who were very mainstream.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


We don't all have whippets and flat caps. And I do have a wide taste in music. I always go to the Early Music Festival at the Akademia Muzyczna in Warsaw, yet like modern composers like Steve Reich too, go to watch opera & ballet from Monteverdi and Rameau at one extreme to Alban Berg at the other. I listen to folk music too, provided it's not too "worthy".

As for popular music, I listened to an album by Rex Orange County today, as modern as it gets.

Rock music? Most of it is just noise by (sometimes aged) teenagers. Even the stuff with a melody never has an original melody.


Most of that is just noise too.

History / Poles in the RAF. [15]


We had those too. I always thought the tarts were glamorous ladies dressed up for the races (though usually for racegoers over from Ireland or up from London, wanting to celebrate with their winnings).

History / Poles in the RAF. [15]


No worries.

I grew up quite close to an air base called RAF Finningley. It was fun to see all the jets practising in the sky, and the long con trails.. There was also a USAF presence there (and had been for years; there were rusting Dakotas on site that you could sometimes visit) which made for a bigger range of aircraft to watch. Exciting as a kid but fortunate that WW3 didn't break out then since the town would have been flattened.

History / Poles in the RAF. [15]

There's also the Fleet Air Arm which is part of the Royal Navy. I think they provide operational support to them.

History / Poles in the RAF. [15]

No. The Royal Air Force.

Currently training Ukrainian pilots among others.

raf.mod.uk/

History / Poles in the RAF. [15]


No such thing. Do you mean the Royal Air Force?

Many Poles (and Canadians, Dutch and others) served with them in WW2.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


I've just listened to it several times. The Ella Fitzgerald version as well as Cole Porter.. There's a lot more to that song than I knew. Highly intelligent musically and the lyrics are superb.

Here's a fun one. She fell out of fashion due to spending WW2 in Italy however she deserves a revival today. Funny and talented.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


Hers certainly isn't the worst by a long way. It's quite a hard song to get right; many singers are more staccato than flowing on the first line. Dusty's is better than Petula Clark's who does try to get it right but always enunciates very clearly. That normally works well however that song is tricky.


Not a singer I know much about. Another one to listen to today.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


Probably "Indie". I liked their 'big' album, the one with How Soon is Now on. The Stone Rises were fun too in their day. Also from Manc, albeit middle class kids unlike The Smiths or Oasis.


Well written. I remember it best as the opening music from a particular film.

The song at the top of my Spotify list for last year was The Look of Love. This year (or this and last month anyway) it would probably be Stranger in Paradise. That or Sally (pride of our alley).

I also quite like Sufjan Stevens (or some of
his stuff anyway). If you've a moment to spare today and don't know him already, I strongly recommend Vladimir Korneev; I think you'll like his singing.

When I get back from the canteen I'll play Anything Goes.

Life / St Patrick's day in Poland [272]


Likewise.

I was with some people for work last year, all of them boomers, 62 to 67 and they used to talk constantly about rock 'music', describing pop groups like Def Leopard as 'iconic ' and various loud and unmusical 'songs' as 'seminal'. They just sounded like maladjusted 15 year olds in the suburbs.

Give me the Great American Song Book, anything written by Bacharach, some Matt Monro or a nice bit of Gracie Fields (massively underrated and almost forgotten these days) any time over dissonant 'thrash metal' or 'prog rock' (though Nights in White Satin was a sweet song).

Off-Topic / Random Sports News [855]


I used to work with a lady (probably dead by now) who always had a big Thatcher style perm. One day she came into work with her hair cut very short due to some sort of accident at the hairdressers. It took 20 years off her. Sadly she went back to the big perm as soon as she could.


That's pretty well it.

There's another factor; dark fabrics were always more expensive due to the dyeing process. For men to wear dark or brightly coloured clothes in the gulf (and parts of Africa) it's a status symbol. Women wearing them is a sign that their men can afford to clothe them well. Worth mentioning that the dark outer garment comes off at home or in all female environments.

Off-Topic / Random Sports News [855]


They're called thobes and y practical in the heat. I prefer some of the things worn in Africa (except the heavily waxed fabrics). The simply robes that men wear for prayer are especially comfortable. I never got used to wearing a boubou though (necessary for formal occasions) since they're a lot of hassle. Probably the last descendant of the Roman toga.


Especially if someone is standing with the sun behind them and legs slightly apart. You can see the lot in silhouette. One of the nicer things about being in the Gulf, especially since the median age for men is mid/late twenties ;-)


In modern times millions of men wear robes and nobody sees anything odd.


Long hair on men is a bit like facial piercing. It only suits about 10% of those who do it.

Off-Topic / Random Sports News [855]


Kilts in Scotland (and only in the highlands; they were never universal) however in much of the Middle East and most of Africa men wear garments similar to dresses.

Very comfortable and they suit hot weather well.

Language / POLISH INSULTS....know any good ones...? [15]


My favourite is " Jak Cię jebnę, to się zesrasz".

Off-Topic / Do you believe government clone people to help the elite conquer death? [44]


Not by cloning them, however since it's a rural and patriarchal society, inheritance preserves the ruling class as it does almost everywhere.


A nice place. Have you spent much time there?

Off-Topic / Do you believe government clone people to help the elite conquer death? [44]


I doubt many governments are well enough organised to do that. Most are staffed by mediocrities and generally make it up as they go along.

Even cloning Dolly the Sheep took about 200 attempts, mostly producing mutants. If 'elites' are to clone themselves the last thing we want is a mutant donald trumpet in an even more vivid shade of orange. The real one is bad enough.

Off-Topic / Do you believe government clone people to help the elite conquer death? [44]


I'm not sure it's possible to clone a human at the moment. And Syrinos barely a government at all.

Are you familiar with Romana Didulo?