Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I've decided, I'm going to eat nothing but rolls and pies when I go back to Aberdeen next week, then come back and post on here and tell you alllll about it.

Me, cruel?

(seriously, I miss mince pies and Irn-Bru more than anything..)

Law / How do I verify a Polish company's existence? [240]

It's not going to be in Poland with 'Inc' in the name - it'll be somewhere else.

If you've got the website address, then use easywhois.com to see if you can find any details.

Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I'm going to call you out on this one. You cannot say with a straight face that they're better, surely? :D 3h30 from Jelenia Góra to Wrocław (all of 100km!) tells you all about the state of some of the lines here...

But cheaper, most definitely. Although since the fast trains got moved from Regional to Intercity, they appear to have scrapped the half price 2nd ticket - which is rubbish :(

The lack of stupidly cheap advance-purchase tickets annoys me as well, especially if you want to take anything more expensive than TLK :(

Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I can't even imagine drinking Stella again, to be honest.

Having said this, I do miss weak 4% pints. It's just no fun going to the pub, drinking three half litres and finding oneself rather inebriated...

Law / How do I verify a Polish company's existence? [240]


This is what I'd like to know too - why on earth is there no way to access a company's financial records?

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


You've been banned from driving in the UK, so using any sort of licence would be an offence. Of course, there's no way for them to really enforce it (unless you end up getting nicked for a serious offence and then the disqualification is uncovered) - but if you were to be found out, it would be the same as driving without a licence.


Nothing wrong with caution and prudence though, which is why it's nonsense.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

The problem, as I see it, is that a good teacher doesn't make a good manager. And equally so, a good manager doesn't always understand what teaching is about. There's one school in Poznań which has a very good Callan teacher as a director, ex state school teacher, brilliant English, etc - but she's a dreadful director. She's brash, rude and has no issues with lying to paying customers just to get them to come back - literally to the point where people are being deluded into believing that they're better than they actually are.


My school operates purely on student satisfaction, thankfully. We're expected to bend, twist and do whatever it takes to make them happy - which is good, because it encourages creativity and keeping them occupied for the entire time. Of course, people are a bit odd and like being bullied into perfect pronouncation (which I don't understand! I'd go mad if someone was correcting my Polish constantly...) - but the deal is that the overall aim is to keep them happy and keep them coming back, because it's what pays our wages.


I'm sure you're right, too. There are exceptions, but as far as I can tell, all the schools in prominent places (like on Plac Wolnosci in Poznan) seem to run as factories. There's even one school here that has glass walls in the classrooms, so you can be observed constantly - which really isn't good for someone's ability to let a lesson flow.


It's such a basic thing that it surprises me that more people don't understand it. One interesting example is that some schools insist on their teachers being well dressed - despite the fact that people don't want to be confronted by someone wearing a suit after a long day working.

Work / Poland Work Permit / Study Visa Processing Times [191]


No need for a visa for EU citizens these days for Ukraine, they lifted the requirements a couple of years back.

Crossing can be tedious though, I hear.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Yup, there's a golden rule in management - praise in public, criticise in private. It might be acceptable in a company like Microsoft to yell and scream at people underneath you - but I bet even Microsoft doesn't do that kind of thing in front of paying clients.

Not listening to the client is probably a sure fire bet that the client won't be back in a hurry - but jeez, the mind boggles - how could anyone be so stupid as to not listen to the person that's actually paying for the lessons?

Out of interest, do you have a degree on top of the CELTA?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


Yeah, it does. Thankfully, my school is very relaxed about many of the Callan 'rules' - and we all have our own methods of actually running a class. For instance, I use flashcards to show them the Polish word, because it's the most effective way to make them understand the word without me having to make a pathetic attempt at pronouncing it - and it's better than having them with their heads stuck in the books.

But we're encouraged to make it fun - if that means completely deviating from the normal questions, so be it. I'm actually encouraged to use my natural language - so sticking to the 'script' isn't really that important.


That's dreadful! I can observe anyone in my school whenever I want - I don't even have to ask my boss, I just ask the teacher in question if I can sit in their class to gain new ideas. Out of curiosity, what's the background of the manager in question? If he/she was a teacher in a state school, I can completely understand her attitude as they make dreadful managers.

If the client was happy to end the lesson a few minutes early and didn't have a problem, then they really should use their common sense. As for shouting, it's just a sign of immaturity - a good director should never have to shout, at least, I've never heard my boss shout at anyone - even when there was a massive row over a certain translation.

Do you ever let lessons overrun intentionally, just to give them a bit more?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


That's the way it should be, I feel. I'm lucky that my school strongly believes in letting teachers put their own style on things - even with the Callan classes. So, naturally, I prefer to listen to people than to talk - with the right group, I've found that Callan is actually quite good for getting people to talk about obscure things that they wouldn't normally talk about, especially when you do things like question the president of a company on issues like why there isn't any flowers outside the building :) It does seem to work quite nicely, though only with bright people and subject to all the usual disclaimers about Callan.


Jesus, ready-made plans? I would probably kill myself if I had to teach such things. Some of my best ideas have actually came as a result of being thrown into a class at the last minute and having to think on my feet - but the thought of teaching to a ready plan fills me with all sorts of fear.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


I relentlessly picked on such a student last week. I'd had enough of his complete inability to revise anything betweeen classes, his complete lack of ability to even answer easy questions without thinking and most of all, the fact that he keeps turning up looking like he's stoned out of his skull.

Making him pronounce everything perfectly was a suitable cure for the saturday morning blues, I tell you ;)

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


Look at the pass rates - are you seriously telling me that only 40-50% of people are fit to drive at the time they take their test? The wide variation in pass rates (up to 60% in some places, as low as 35% in others) also tells you that something isn't quite right with the system. I actually think it's somewhat of an insult to the majority of driving instructors, as they're simply preparing people to drive the DSA way for a test, rather than for driving in reality.


Since when? There's no requirement for a driver to do anything but drive on single carriageway roads - and certainly no requirement for them to drive at night, in heavy rain, etc. It's perfectly possible for someone to start learning at the beginning of summer, only drive in the sunshine and on single carriageway roads, and never have to experience heavy traffic at 70mph in the rain. How on earth can they be 'fit to drive' if they never have?


Who defines competent? I know someone who was failed for 'hesitating too much' - surely it's better she waits until she knows it is safe? I can understand if she wasn't getting up to speed - but the fail came from waiting for a couple of minutes at a stupidly busy roundabout where the only option was to either throw the car forward or wait.

And no, I've never sat the test in the UK - never needed to. But I can drive fairly well, and I'm supposedly at 'test standard' - but I can tell you that I don't think I am. For a start, I'm a poor night driver, and I'm not completely confident at 70mph on the dual carriageway. For those reasons alone, why on earth should I be able to pass a test and drive big powerful cars?

The UK system is just a lottery, really.

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


Which is dreadful, because the driving required to pass the test (particularly in the UK) bears little relevance to safe everyday driving. The other part that makes it so ridiculous is that the DSA's examiners quite clearly have a motive not to pass everyone - if they do, then there's a need for less examiners and thus redundancy. I don't believe for one second that there's any real consistency with the system.

I only wish for the EU to move towards a system of comprehensive driver training rather than a 'one test' solution - how can it be logical that a driver in the UK can apply for a provisional, then pass a test without being able to drive in a wide range of conditions?

The Polish system seems to be great in the respect that you're required to be fully trained before sitting a test - but in my opinion, it would make far more sense to remove the test and simply require a driver to be proficient in all aspects of operating a car. This could be indepdendently checked on a spot check basis - maybe 5% of all new licences would be expected to demonstrate that they are fully in charge of a car in a variety of surrounding before being allowed to drive. Not an exam, but rather a simple trial drive to ensure that they can handle it.