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


You need to send them to a proper Montessori school of course :) It is really frustrating though. When I was teaching Maf, kids of about three and a half would come into my classroom screaming and crying on day one (not all but a few) or looking totally shell shocked and within two days they were settled, within two weeks they were hanging up their own coats, tidying the shelves, setting up the painting area when they wanted to do art, mopping up spills, sweeping the floor, watering the plants - managing themselves and the environment, basically.

Years later, one of the teachers from the senior end of the school who had the ten year olds said to me 'I can always tell the ones who went through your class because they're the ones who stack their books in order of size, arrange their pens according to length and keep their desks tidy.' He also noticed that they all picked up their pens the same way because of course I started them on writing so I taught them how to pick up the pencil with the point facing towards them and then the upward flick where it flips over into the correct position. Pick and flick :))

It's about instilling self awareness, independence and a sense of order as soon as consciousness kicks in. That feeling of 'I can take care of myself' is what builds true confidence and self-esteem in children, not all that 'hey, good job, you're amazing just because you exist' rubbish.

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


Hofstede is not the best indicator if you look at how and when the basis of his research was put together but it's still reasonably accurate in the broadest sense.

The thing about education is that to be truly successful it requires two elements. One, it has to encourage development of individual's different talents, skills etc. Not easy to achieve that. Secondly, it has to produce people who can actually think for themselves. If a government doesn't want that, then you have a problem. The present Polish government doesn't really want independent thinkers.


True educational reform is a process and it takes about a generation to get near achieving it. You have to start at the pre-school level. When you see unsatisfactory students in their teens, the roots lie in early childhood. In Poland you have too many children spending the crucial years between three and six, wandering around the place aimlessly, being infantilized by babcias and fussed over by mothers, having every blessed thing done for them. Some go to pre-schools of course but the quality of early childhood education there is just not what it should be. Countries like Finland where kids also start primary school at seven, have outstanding early childhood education programs.

Another issue of course in Poland is the urban/rural divide. Very difficult to address the quality in education issue when you have a big gap like that. How does one bridge it? None of this is discussed at government level in Poland with any real depth so things won't improve much in the foreseeable future.

Just to add, it's not just the students that are the issue in educational reform. It also requires big changes in methods and philosophy for the teachers. That's why it takes a generation to have any impact. You will meet with some resistance from teachers who have already been teaching for many years (not all, but a significant number) and you need teachers coming into the system who are trained with the new approach.

History / "Westerner's" most ridiculous beliefs about the time of communism in Poland [73]


My uncle dear child, my uncle.

History / "Westerner's" most ridiculous beliefs about the time of communism in Poland [73]

He was an engineer. There's a bit of romance in the story too. He fell in love with a young widow who had one child, a little girl about five years old. He smuggled them both out and back to Ireland.

History / "Westerner's" most ridiculous beliefs about the time of communism in Poland [73]


By Western, do you mean American?? Many western Europeans would be aware of the differences between the Soviet Union and their satellite states, partly because of our direct contact with them. For example I'm Irish and my uncle worked in East Germany at the height of the Cold War even though Ireland had no diplomatic ties with any Eastern Bloc countries at that time. For anybody who was interested in politics and open to finding out, plenty of information about life in the East was freely available.

Real Estate / Water Well and costs [6]

Here is an article with up to date prices. Use Google Translate to make sense of it :) It also gives links to companies in different parts of Poland. It says that the average price in your region is 150-250 zl per metre.

extradom.pl/porady/artykul-wiercenie-studni-cena-za-wykonanie-i-aktualny-cennik#:~:text=Przyjmuje%20si%C4%99%2C%20%C5%BCe%20cena%20za,Jak%20prawid%C5%82owo%20uk%C5%82ada%C4%87%20rury%20drenarskie%3F

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



The problem with educational reform is that you can't cherrypick bits and pieces from different countries/systems and apply them randomly to existing systems or apply a modified version. Poland probably looked at Finland which has one of the best education systems in the world. They get no homework and there is no standardised testing. So PIS thinks that they can emulate Finland's success by doing something not quite the same but vaguely inspired by it. So now Polish students still have to do homework but it doesn't affect their grades if they don't. A pointless piece of reform. PIS could have gained a few Brownie points by consulting with teachers and asking them what changes, if any, they would like to see. But that would be a consultative process and that's not PIS style.

Life / Boys acting and dressing feminine, girls acting and dressing masculine - transgender teens in Poland [272]


I absolutely do not want to share toilet facilities or changing room areas with men. I don't even like buying lingerie from a male assistant. But then I went to a convent school :)

Life / Boys acting and dressing feminine, girls acting and dressing masculine - transgender teens in Poland [272]


I've never known anybody transgender but I've known quite a few trannies as transvestites called themselves years ago and I suspect that some of them would have been happy to have 'the operation' as they were living as women full time. But some of them either just dressed up now and again for 'trannie night' in the upstairs room at the pub or they were just a bit effeminate.

There was a gay guy who used to gig with Geno Washington years ago, he wasn't really a musician, just used to get up on stage and bang a tambourine. I think he arranged their gigs or something but liked to be part of the act. I met him a few times. Obviously male, but woman's blouse and trousers, foundation and face powder but no eye make up or lipstick, hair sort of shoulder length but cut in a unisex style, wouldn't be mistaken for woman. You know the vibe. I remember him saying to me 'There's one thing I do envy you darling. Your skin! I'd love to have that complexion but I have to cover myself in slap.' :))

Life / Boys acting and dressing feminine, girls acting and dressing masculine - transgender teens in Poland [272]

I assume those are rhetorical questions. I'm not sure why you're asking me about the NHS though? What would I know about their policies


No. In Russia you'll be beaten up for wearing a kilt. Yes, that has happened. Even in the USA, fount of all ignorance, they know what a kilt is. A noble and very masculine garment and provincial Russians think it's a dress - oh dearie me.

Life / Boys acting and dressing feminine, girls acting and dressing masculine - transgender teens in Poland [272]



I agree with you. It's a simple biological fact that we're born either male or female, apart from a tiny minority who are born with some kind of hermaphrodite abnormality, but I don't know the details of that so I can't comment. The fact that somebody thinks they are a man or woman doesn't make them a man or woman. I don't care if an adult man or woman wants to have surgery or take hormones but I don't accept that in doing so, he or she can become the other gender. They are simply a man/woman who has interfered with their physiology through medical procedures.

Life / Boys acting and dressing feminine, girls acting and dressing masculine - transgender teens in Poland [272]


How strange - toilet is a very normal word. Maybe it's the American problem with words of French origin that would give the word toilet such strange associations. Think of 'eau de toilette' written on perfume bottles. It was often called 'toilet water' years ago because part of a lady's 'toilette' was to dab a bit of perfume behind the ears and on the wrists. Toilet originates from the place where a lady went to perform her 'toilette'. It makes much more sense than a 'rest room'.

The old gender bending stuff is really no big deal. It's a phase a lot of young people go through and it usually has nothing to with sexuality. When I was in art college about a hundred years ago in a Dublin that was very parochial and provincial compared to now, quite a few of the guys were very flamboyant dressers and one or two wore a bit of make up. One guy had his naturally mousey brown hair dyed jet black, and wore bright red lipstick. He had very fair skin and was quite handsome. He wore women's blouses instead of a shirt and a bit of jewellery. He was a totally down to earth, ordinary guy to talk to and he was hetero. It was just about looking avant garde and different.

My view is that I don't like to look at anything ugly. I don't have a problem with what people wear as long as the look is well put together and they look good. My friend in the art college was stylish and striking. I don't want to see some brawny guy with three day stubble or an obvious moustache, wearing a flowery skirt and getting his high heels stuck in the grating. Equally I have a problem with 'normal' if it's a fat girl in a pair of leggings wobbling up the road in front of me. It offendeth mine eye.

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK [39]


Well, I'm Irish myself so when I came to Poland I had to suffer the trauma of discovering that my granny's beloved geraniums were in fact 'pelargonia' :)


Do you not speak English with him yourself? No kid of an Irishman should need an international school to teach him English - you'll have to go back home for a week and dangle him over the Blarney Stone.

And what about the Cúpla Focail?? And him not knowing no focail at all :)

youtube.com/watch?v=XoDDfPuAB0Y

Real Estate / Valuation of Inherited Real Estate in Poland for tax purposes? [14]

You need something called a 'rzeczoznawca majątkowy ' - it's a real estate appraiser. They do valuations for mortgages etc. They will visit the property and they need to be able to go inside it obviously. They will give you a full report and valuation, a couple of pages long. Their valuation will usually be pretty close to what an estate agent would say, but it's more 'official' and they have to be licensed to do valuations for legal purposes.

Just google rzeczoznawca majątkowy and the name of the town nearest to the place where the property is located, and you should find one easily.

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [282]

You'll have to wait for the DUP to decide that :) Apparently it has to pass 'the Seven Tests' .................

rte.ie/news/brexit/2023/0228/1359260-ni-protocol-dup/

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK [39]


They don't really smell of anything much. They just smell sort of organic. They're certainly not something you buy for their scent though. They're usually planted just for their colourful display and because they're very hardy. They don't need much care and the flowers last right through into the late autumn in the British Isles.


Because he's Irish and if an Irishman talks about geraniums he means pelargonia :)

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [282]


Not anymore Jon. In 2022 they published the latest figures and it's down to just over 30% now. That's those who identify as solely British. I think gradually people in the North are identifying more as 'Northern Irish' than either British or Irish. It's better that way really as hopefully they can find a way forward with a common identity.

There will be a small pocket of resistance to the new deal within the DUP as always .............

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK [39]

Because in Ireland and the UK people incorrectly refer to pelargonia as geraniums. The geraniums the OP is referring to are actually the pelargonia that you see in window boxes and flowerbeds.

"The naming problem occurred in the 17th century when the first pelargoniums were brought to Europe and were called geraniums, due to their similarity to the perennial plant, and so the name geranium has been used ever since!"

UK, Ireland / Moving to Poland from UK [39]


The OP is not British - he just lives there. He's Irish so he can live in Poland without the language requirement as he's an EU citizen. As an EU citizen he automatically gets permanent residence after five years.

@Charliesy, what part of Poland are you moving to? Do you have a job lined up? Best of luck with everything.


You'll have to learn to call them Pelargonia from now on :)

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


Oh, you like port! I love it! Two glasses of port on Friday and Saturday evenings while watching Midsomer Murders or similar :)) I must take a pic of my port glasses and post it here. They're old English cranberry glass, really enhances the experience to drink port from a nice piece of cut glass.

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


I don't think Poles observe the speed limits, do they? Not in towns anyway, judging by the number of people run over on pedestrian crossings, not to mention the single car crashes where the driver loses control of the vehicle and crashes into a tree, wall etc take your pick. Have you seen the video on YouTube of the one who loses control at the roundabout and ends up flying through the air and lands in a graveyard - very apt.

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


Remember the dreaded Blue Nun and Black Tower? :)) Graced many a British 1970s suburban dinner party table. Funny isn't it, German supermarket wine and frozen Black Forest cake were favourites and nobody mentioned 'the war' - well I may have mentioned it once but I think I got away with it ..........


It's not a cheese to eat with wine. It's better with a loaf of rustic bread and a raw onion if you eat them - I don't, being a 'lady' and dainty in my ways :)) For a drink, a nice cup of a strong blend like a good English Breakfast. That's the best way to enjoy a good cheddar cheese in my opinion.

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


It's not an artisan cheese but it's pretty good. Good enough to win plenty of gold medals - even in the UK ;) The milk all comes from very small dairy farms around Ireland and the cheese produced in Ireland until quite recently was made in small creameries and cooperative dairy facilities but that seems to be changing and I think there are a couple of larger plants now. There's a huge one in the UK I believe. A pity - but it's big business for Ireland. At least the milk is still 'authentic'. That's why I only eat Cadbury's chocolate from the Irish factory, the stuff you get here in Europe is nothing like the Cadbury's from Ireland. I go to Dealz to get Irish Flakes and Dairy Milk - oh joy! I used to love Tiffin but you never see it these days.

Under the influence of @Atch & Co I was now in Kaufland and bought Cheddar. It was a special offer for 9,99 €/kg. Not good, it was the cheepest cheese im shop. Nevertheless, I will taste it tomorrow with a good wine and report.

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


Alien, I'm sorry but Polish cheese is horrendous. It's like plastic. The texture, the colour and the complete lack of any flavour at all. I think the synthetic texture is the worst thing about it.


As Jon says, I don't think you've eaten real cheddar cheese. I remember Mafketis once saying that the cheddar you have in the USA is not the same thing as cheddar from the British Isles.

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


This is a true story Jon - one you'll like. A friend of mine back in the day, young guy, long hair, Afghan coat, popped into his local, which of course was also his father's local :)) His dad is up at the bar having a drink, my friend is sitting at a table with his mates. Dad overhears someone saying 'nice looking bird in the hippie coat' and Dad turns to him with 'that bird is my son, what are you having?' :))

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


That's not why they close. It's basically just not profitable. The running costs are too high and there isn't enough custom to even break even, let alone earn a living. Very sad really because the British (and indeed Irish pub) is a place for people of all ages and social classes to socialize. It's a place for the community to gather, just lovely to have your 'local'.

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]

I thought so. It would add to the stickiness - delish!

UK, Ireland / What English food would you serve a Pole? [172]


There is some great pub food in the UK, often in the smallest towns and villages. I once stopped off in a tiny Welsh village and the local pub was serving the most delicious roast (local) lamb at a really reasonable price too. But don't you live in the UK Lenka? Or you did at one time? You must know there is some very good pub food.

@ Jon, the chicken dish sounds yummy. Thank you for taking the time to post the recipe. Do you leave the skin on the chicken thighs?

Life / Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories [692]

Turnips are very nice mashed with carrots. Also parsnip works well in mashed potato. If you have time and patience to wait, you can then pop it into the oven with a few dollops of butter on top and bake it until it's all crispy and golden. Yumusz :))

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [356]


Almost one in five Europeans (19 per cent) reported having heavy drinking episodes at least once a month in 2019.

The biggest shares of adults taking part in heavy drinking episodes at least once a month were found in Denmark (38 per cent), Romania (35 per cent), Luxembourg (34 per cent), Germany (30 per cent) and Belgium (28 per cent).