UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

Tanya, you're not imbibing alcohol as you write by any chance, are you? You sound a bit ossified.


Are you sure you're English?? Y'all sound more like a good ole boy from down south.

UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]


Maybe you're not - though judging by your behaviour on this forum so far, that's a moot point - but plenty of Brits are as rough as old bags and common as muck and well you know it :)

UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]


Bit like English chavs then :)

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]

Hi WinBren :) it seems that you would have no problem then with the recognition of your qualifications. I do think that going down the private one-to-one work with kids might be easiest route for you. Although Warsaw is a capital city there is a lot of business done on personal recommendation, word of mouth and contacts/networking. If you put yourself out there socially and start meeting people work may well drift your way. You could try approaching some of the international primary schools because, as a teacher myself, I often had to deal with kids in mainstream settings who were on the Autistic spectrum, had speech delays etc and providing support to schools could be a possibility for you.


In that case you'll probably get away with it :) Women with darker colouring or different ethnicity often have better skin tones, nice well defined eyebrows, dark lashes etc and don't need foundation, mascara and so on. But still, go for the well groomed look. To be honest profesional women across all age groups are very appearance conscious in Poland.

Best of luck with everything!

Genealogy / What is the Polish equivalent name to Walter? [22]


Actually I believe it's Wawrzyniec but whatever, it's a very weird form of Lawrence/Laurence. That's one of those typical Polish anomalies. Like Mikołaj for Nicholas. I've always thought that somebody misheard the 'n' sound at the beginning, mispronounced the name and somehow it spread.


Not to the best of my knowledge. L is always pronounced the same way. The 'l' in Irish is always kind of 'rolled' a bit like a Russian 'l' but it sort of depends on the dialect of Irish. Irish is a very forgiving language - like the people, ha ha! You can pretty much pronounce it any way you want to and it's acceptable. There are so few native speakers left that many people who can speak Irish mix their dialects because of the different teachers they had over the years.


That's very interesting. I'd never really considered it before but you're right, they are different - although with some regional accents I think they'd be almost identical.

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]

Now that's interesting. I'm not sure what it is but I always feel there is an element of provincial/small town people getting a university education/profession, coming to the big city and lacking social self assurance so they think they need to dress up. It's definitely a 'woman' thing because the male doctors are often downright scruffy. There's so much new money in Poland that it's hard to figure out the cultural niceties sometimes.

Genealogy / What is the Polish equivalent name to Walter? [22]


You might be interested to know that the widespread use of the 'w' sound is a relatively recent thing. In pre-war days the sound was regular 'l' amongst educated people and the 'w' sound was considered a bit uncouth. If you listen to radio plays from the immediate post-war period you will hear all those ł, words pronounced with a regular 'l' sound.

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]


A bit of lurking and loitering with intent goes a long way :)))


Absolutely. And if the OP doesn't already wear make up she should start watching a few YouTube tutorials ;) I should perhaps mention for her sake that I'm a woman as otherwise she may feel she's being condescended to but from my feminine point of view I would say that a woman in Poland, regardless of profession needs the hair 'done', the face made up and pay attention to your nails. If they're not painted at least go for the French manicure. Also handbag and shoes will be noted. Believe me. Polish women are big into shoes and bags and you will be judged on your appearance even in altruistic or healthcare professions. From my perspective as an Irish woman, it would be considered unprofessional in Ireland for a female dentist/doctor to have make up laid on with a trowel and false nails in bright pink, not to mention rings, bracelets etc. but you will see that a lot in Warsaw.

Seriously though, you should always wear 'business wear' to any meeting/interview in Warsaw and Maf's idea of getting a feel for the look first is a very good one.

Work / Developmental Therapy in Poland [19]

You don't say where in the world you trained nor whether your qualifications are medical or pedagogical. In any profession in Poland you'll need to check whether your qualifications are recognised. It usually depends on whether you obtained your qualifications in another EU country or outside the EU. Sometimes it can be tricky because there is simply no direct equivalent. In certain regulated professions like medicine, qualifications from other EU countries are automatically recognised.

As for the scope of such work, in your case it would be for private bodies rather than public. I did a quick Google search and there are quite a few in Warsaw. Here's one example and I'm linking you to the 'meet our team' page so you can see their profiles.

//szczesliwedzieci.pl/poznaj-nas/

But without fluent Polish I'd say your chances are slim. You might well be able to work with the children even with basic Polish, but to write up clinical notes, prepare reports, communicate with parents and participate in staff/team meetings, you'll need a fairly high standard of language. However, there's always a chance that with it being Warsaw, and private clinics, there may be foreign children for whom therapy needs to be conducted in English. The best thing to do is wait until you get to Warsaw, then prepare a nice CV and trot around to the different places and deliver it in person. Never, never, email or send letters in Poland. You will be ignored. Face to face always works better. You have to be a bit pushy in Poland so when you get there, you ask the receptionist if it's possible to quickly have a word with Pani Katarzyna or whoever the director is. If Pani K is busy, there's bound to be somebody else available.

You could even work with kids privately in their own homes as there are plenty of Poles in Warsaw with enough money to pay for such a service for their child. Your main stumbling block will be the the language.

Genealogy / Polish Soldiers Dunblane, Scotland WW2 [16]

@Alien I don't think he's expecting to find his father alive. Somebody can just want to know who their father was, perhaps hope to meet any living relatives etc. It's quite common for people to get more reflective about these things as they get older.

@Antoni, there's quite a bit of information scattered around this forum about the Polish soldiers in Scotland during the war but your best bet is actual local history sources in Dunfermline. It's not likely that you'll be able to find out who he was exactly but you can get a sense of something about him by finding out as much as you can about the Polish soldiers in Dunfermline at that time. It will make you feel a bit closer to him - and it's great that you have a Polish name and you're right that you're probably called after him.

Anyway here's some sources for you.

onfife.com/museums-galleries/our-collections/polish-military/

dunfermlinepress.com/news/17809637.history-brought-life-defend-fife/

//swoopingeagle.com/home/hope/how-scotland-became-home-to-polish-soldiers/

//polishforcesinbritain.info/Locations.htm

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


Which people would those be?

Genealogy / English versions of Polish given names [25]

Names go in and out of fashion everywhere but with the coming of Christianity to Poland Catholics took the names of saints. The few ancient Slavic names that survived tended to be the names of Slavs who were also saints in the Catholic church. The names you mention may well experience a revival - who knows ? :)

Genealogy / English versions of Polish given names [25]

There is no English translation for these names. They are ancient Slavic names which don't have an equivalent in English. You would have to look at the meaning of the names and then search for English names with the same meaning to get any kind of equivalent but of course they wouldn't sound remotely similar to the Polish ones. The only one there that has any kind of 'English' form is Stanisław which would be Stanislaus in its Latinized form.

You might find this article helpful/interesting.

culture.pl/en/article/a-foreigners-guide-to-polish-names

Travel / Airport Transfers in Krakow [7]

You must be American lol! The train is a much better idea. The train station is actually in the airport near the passenger terminal. You'll get into the city centre a lot quicker and it won't be expensive. It'll be much cheaper than a cab.

Travel / Hotel Europejski - Krakow [6]

Depends on whether it's early or late March. It's quite cold at that time of year but it gets a bit warmer as April approaches. It's still jacket weather though :) and a woolly hat won't go amiss either. Basically the average temp will be in single digits and colder at night, usually around zero or below.

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]


As Mafketis says all our individual circumstances are different and we all live here for different reasons. My perspective on life is different to yours because I also lived and worked in central London for several years and unlike you, I loved it. I always felt more at home in England than in Ireland. I had a lot of English friends and seemed to fit in there better. I'm not so keen on Poland but it may suit you :) Then Mafketis is American so for him, he's comparing life in Poland to life in the USA and America seems to be in a bad way these days, not a place I'd like to live. On the other hand, Ireland, despite having its own issues is still a great place to live in so many ways when it comes to quality of life. The main issue for most Irish people of your generation is the high cost of living and the difficulty of buying a house. Oh and of course work is always an issue, but then it will be in Poland too.

Like Maf, I'd have major concerns about living with your mother-in-law. Make no mistake that there will be three of you in the marriage and in the child rearing too - and if your mother-in-law's health is not great as you say, then it could well become a permanent arrangement. Would you consider renting out your house in the UK for a while at least and renting a place in Poland rather than moving in to your in-law's house?

The other concern I'd have is that although the boys will adapt, it's unfortunate that you're taking them out of school when they've just started and putting them into a completely different system. That will be disruptive undoubtedly. As a primary school teacher myself, I'd say that there are times in a child's life when it's more optimum than others to move them if it has to be done and one year into primary is not ideal. I presume they went through reception class and the equivalent of Irish junior and senior infants in the UK? The time to change would have been then at the end of the infant cycle.

I couldn't honestly say that provincial Poland is a better place to choose for raising a family than Ireland or the UK. Your boys will be children for a very short time and adults for many decades, God willing. Life in Poland as an adult is challenging. Poland can be a very harsh place in many ways, it still lags behind in many areas and so many things are much more difficult to do than in the UK or Ireland. Your children will be dealing with all that in not so many years from now.

News / New Polish tax system hits the ground stumbling... [14]

This is one of the reasons I weep into my breakfast porridge when I hear people like our recent poster MacAindreas talking about raising their children in Poland because it's 'better'. It's not only the mess with taxes. What about the rises in electricity and gas - a 50% increase in gas bills for households. Poland is absolutely going to hell in a handcart under PIS.

UK, Ireland / Ireland and Poland - ways of struggling for independence [43]

I read the article. A bit lame. Trotting out that old rubbish about the Nice Treaty. The basis for the initial vote was our very understandable attachment to our neutrality and when that was secured and the Treaty amended to ensure that we didn't have to join a common European defence policy, the yes vote was secured. That's actually an example of the Irish people not allowing themselves to be ridden roughshod over either by their own government or by 'foreigners'. So sloppy journalism on his part.

As for Covid, people accepted the restrictions etc because of this thing we have of feeling morally responsible for other people. The social pressure to do the 'right thing' and not put elderly people at risk is pretty massive in Ireland especially in small, tight knit rural communities. Nobody wanted to be seen as the cause of old Paddy down the road dying of Covid and people would be castigated for their selfishness and immorality if they breached restrictions.

The Covid restrictions are not quite the same as the Penal Laws - public health regulations put in place by our own elected government isn't enough to get the blood boiling.

Actually, if he really knew his history he'd know that the fighting Irish had pretty much given up after the Famine. That really took the wind out of our sails for a while but thank God for the Irish women :) According to a man called Dan Breen, a name little known outside Ireland but a key figure in the War of Independence, speaking of his childhood he said:

It was my feeling -the impression I got at the time -that it was the women of the country who kept alive the national spirit. The men of my father's generation had apparently drifted into a system of what we might call public house debate as their only contribution to the national movement of the time, but it was the women who kept alive the traditions of the past and handed these things on to my generation.


Quite possibly. Certainly most of them are more concerned about how much credit they can get for a house and a car than about Polish self-determination.

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]

Oh yes, of course. I see what you mean now! Sorry! Yes you have a point but as he's married to a Polish citizen I doubt that they'd throw him out in the same way that Brits married to Poles are able to stay in Poland post-Brexit. Of course if he and his wife were to split up it might complicate matters so you have a good point there.

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]

Hi Wincig :) as the OP is Irish, and his kids were born in the UK they won't have a problem. Children born to Irish in the UK automatically acquire British citizenship. Ireland and the UK have a special arrangement where we have full rights in each other's countries even without citizenship. It's Polish citizenship for himself that he's concerned about.

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]


Ah come on now Mac, I'm Irish - we're known for it:))


Oh I definitely see the attraction of that. But, not unlike Ireland, your chances of getting a decent job outside of the main big cities are small at best. So even if you can manage to give up the UK job after a while, you're likely to be looking at a hefty commute on 'Europe's most dangerous roads'....or as you say yourself, working all over Europe with constant travelling. Would you consider buying an existing house/farm with some substantial outbuildings and going down the agrotourism route as a long term plan? There wouldn't be a fortune in it but you could build it up over the years. The only thing is the restrictions on ownership of agricultural land by foreigners. I don't know the full details but there are ways round it. But agrotourism is a growing area and I'm sure you could create something really special especially as you have a farming background. You would need the missus to be completely on board though.


Funnily enough I'm told that as well - 'ale Pani mowi bez aksentu!'. I put it down to my husband correcting me on the sounds in the early days. He said you have to get your sounds clear, you don't want to sound like you come from the village, which apparently is the greatest crime in Poland lol!


Well I know what you mean about the boggers :) but still, I think the Irish are very different to the Polish.


It's not just the altercations, it's the terrible accidents that occur as a result of excessive speed, drunk driving and lack of attention to road conditions. Bear in mind that 12 years from now your boys will be living out in the boonies and they'll want to learn to drive and get their licenses. You say you want a safer environment for them. Move back to Ireland - cleanest air in Europe, safest roads in Europe, move to Poland - exact opposite. Sorry Mac, I'm not trying to be a misery, just saying, make the move to Poland by all means if it's what you want to do, but be clear about the full implications and realities of it. Don't kid yourself that it's somehow 'better' because it isn't. It's just different.


It really isn't. But I'll leave you to find that out for yourself :)


The gymnasium was abolished in 2017 :)) Yes, that's right, overnight. Kids who were expecting to go there ended up back in primary school! And your wife, if she's in her mid thirties was educated under two different systems. Her primary school was under the old communist style system and her secondary school was after the 1999 reforms. Those reforms saw huge improvements in standards of literacy and numeracy in Polish kids but they were overturned by PIS in 2017 and they returned to the old structure from the communist years. Look, Mac, like I say, this is a post-communist country and don't underestimate how that continues to influence life here. It lacks the stability of countries like the UK and Ireland. When PIS are ousted, no doubt there will be more changes and it's actually impossible to say what kind of education system/curriculum your kids will experience. I'd advise you to take time to read the articles below

balkaninsight.com/2020/01/02/polish-parents-and-teachers-blast-political-education-reforms/

dw.com/en/poland-education-reform-to-slash-thousands-of-teachers-jobs/a-40333721

Now here's the viewpoint from a parent who supports the reforms and note her reasons why, Pretty weak argument don't you think?

visegradpost.com/en/2017/09/07/great-education-reform-in-poland-the-pis-fulfills-one-of-its-election-promises/

Anyway, there you have it, I'd better get going. Eight o'clock in the morning and not a child in the house washed ;))

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]


Six years this time round. I've lived here before some years ago, so I've lived under the PO and PIS governments. I can even remember Andrzej Leper :) Anyway my opinions have a foundation in fact.

UK, Ireland / From Hertfordshire, UK to Śląskie, Poland - Are we crazy? [35]

Hi Mac, I'll call you that for short if you don't mind :) I'm Irish, married to a Polish man and I've lived in Warsaw for over six years now so here's my bit of perspective for what it's worth. Being Irish, I tend to be a bit long winded so to avoid waffling I'll try to answer your points in a concise manner!

Regarding your reasons for moving, I would be cautious about two things. The slower pace of life is a dream for many but it's hard to achieve even in Poland. As for better and safer environment for your children, in what way better and safer? The education system in Poland is no great shakes, the air is the most toxic in the EU and the roads are the most dangerous. And your kids' future will be in the hands of political parties like PIS which doesn't bode too well. You have a border with Russia and Belarus and they're talking about building a wall to keep out refugees. Poland is very much a post-communist country and you'll become aware of that once you live in it. This is what's going on at the border at the moment:

dw.com/en/medics-leave-poland-belarus-border-without-reaching-migrants/a-60353514

As to your concerns:

Kids and the language in school. I was a primary school teacher in Ireland and taught many foreign kids. Don't worry. The boys will adapt. Academically they may struggle a bit for the first year but socially they should be fine. Kids tend to use play to communicate with each other and they can socialize with less need of language, especially boys :) However, the education system from what I've seen of it is a bit chalk and talk and doesn't encourage much in the way of developing thinking skills. The old education system was reformed by PO and the standards had risen considerably but PIS changed it back to the previous system.

Strain on your relationship - absolutely, there will be and not just on your relationship with your wife but it will undermine your relationship with your children too.

Moving in with mother-in-law .......................do you really need me to commnent?? The dynamic of your family will change utterly if you are living away from home at least half the time and the rest of it is spent in your mother-in-law's house and it won't be a short-term arrangement either. You're looking at a couple of years.

Citizenship for you - why would you want it?? You're Irish, you're an EU citizen, you don't need it. There would be no difficulties though if you wanted it as long as you pass the language requirement.

Taxation rules - what's your specific concern?

Your own concerns:

Your rights - oh Lord! that's a tough one. It's completely different to the UK and Ireland. It would take a whole thread in itself to discuss but basically it's heavily geared towards the mother of the kids and it can be very hard to enforce your visitation rights and child support can be any figure they pluck out of the air. They don't base it on your income and outgoings but on your potential earnings. If you admit fault in a divorce you're obliged to support your wife financially for the rest of her life unless she remarries.

Language - it's difficult. You won't learn it quickly and you'll have to be very consistent with keeping up the studying. It takes a lot of work but it's possible. It's quite possible to learn enough to cope with everyday life but your grammar will never be perfect. People won't mind though and they'll understand you anyway. However if you want to go for citizenship you'll have to work at the grammar if you want to pass the language exam.

Will you be accepted - yes, you will. The fact that you have 'Polish' children will be a help but speaking the language is key. If you speak the language people will accept you. but you must understand Mac, that the mindset in rural Poland is so different to the UK or rural Ireland :) your outlook and attitudes will be so different that you may find it hard to fit in. People in modern rural Ireland are fairly open minded, tolerant and are quite well informed. The Irish have always been an outward looking people despite being an island nation. Poles are quite insular and in rural areas they are pretty conservative compared to Ireland. So you may find that you don't have much in common with your neighbours and you might feel a bit isolated and lonely.

Will you be able to work in Poland - it depends on what your job is. You say 'business director' ; that's a bit vague. What area of business? To be honest without fluent Polish your options are limited unless it's a foreign company that specifically wants an English speaking manager who doesn't need to know Polish. And yes, Polish work culture is pretty different to the UK.


Why not?

To conclude I'll just say that there are plenty of Irish and English people who've moved to Poland and seem to be happy here and maybe you'll be one of them, but don't underestimate how difficult it is to adapt. Like many places, Poland is great for a holiday, but living here is a totally different kettle of fish and you're wise to have concerns. Go néirigh an t-ádh leat :))

Here's a couple of articles that you should read if you can find time. It's your future and your childrens' after all and you should go into it with your eyes open.

balkaninsight.com/2021/06/10/polish-ruling-partys-education-reforms-god-country/

polkong.com/driving-in-poland-surviving-on-europes-most-dangerous-roads/

notesfrompoland.com/2020/11/25/poland-has-eus-worst-air-pollution-shows-new-report/

notesfrompoland.com/2021/03/11/poland-is-worlds-most-autocratizing-country-finds-democracy-index/

Genealogy / Do Polish people have big noses? [450]

I've known lots of Jews too, in the UK. Many of them were fair skinned to the point of being pale, one even had red hair, blue eyes and freckles. Their noses were a mixed bag. I can only recall one guy with a typical Jewish nose and he was Israeli but he was fair haired with green eyes.

Genealogy / Do Polish people have big noses? [450]


That's not actually true. Many Turks are quite fair and many have quite unremarkable noses. And when it comes to Europeans, there is great diversity in our appearance including nose size. I'm Irish and we're not known for large noses but you'll still encounter some Irish people with a big nose. It really isn't that easy to get a simple answer to your question.

I don't find it odd that you or your family have bigger than average noses. What is odd is that you say everyone in your town of Polish extraction has similarly large noses. That would suggest that they all came from the same part of Poland where big noses prevailed which isn't at all likely. But I would suggest that rather than trying to find out about your own family, you should try to find out more about the history of the settlement of your town in the USA.

Genealogy / Do Polish people have big noses? [450]


Not on a large scale but there were definitely some Turks living in Poland .

Genealogy / Do Polish people have big noses? [450]


Do you mean everybody in your town has this nose or just in your family? What part of Poland did your family come from?


It's possible - all it would take is one Turkish ancestor. But is there is a typical Turkish nose?? I've known a few Turks and they had fairly ordinary noses and many Turks are quite fair and European looking.

News / Molested girl in Poland takes her own life [12]

That's really a tragic tale, poor child. Deeply ironic when you think of PIS and their so-called reform of the courts. If the courts functioned correctly she would have been removed to her aunt's home via emergency court order, pending investigation. If they're so keen on the sanctity of the family, the child had an aunt willing to care for her. It's a desperately sad story.

Real Estate / Documents to buy property (flat or home with land ) in Poland? [3]

The only thing you need is your ID or passport. You don't need a PESEL, NIP or anything else.

Law / Claiming Zachowek from Australia [11]

Forgot to say regarding the transfer, just give them the details of a transfer company of your choice instead of a bank and see what happens. Don't make an issue of it, just chance your arm. If they say 'ooh what's this now?' simply say it's the most commonly used method for large foreign currency transactions in Australia and seem surprised that they're surprised :)