History / Polish nobility - what is the status of princes and aristocrats in modern Poland? [33]


Since 1921 (with a break between 1939 and 1945), yes.


None are now szlachta in any sense and most are not descended from szlachta. And most szlachta were not aristocracy.

History / Polish nobility - what is the status of princes and aristocrats in modern Poland? [33]

As Sir Winston said "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others". In Poland, remember, people struggled long and hard to get it.

A democracy, however, entirely compatible with aristocracy and monarchy; indeed the various European countries (plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand) that have a monarchy and in some cases an aristocracy are among the healthiest, most stable and most thriving democracies in the world.

For people in Poland, it's something that never worked well for them and something that only the lunatic fringe would want to re-establish. In Poland, people are largely happy with the constitutional republic that they dreamed of for so long.

History / Polish nobility - what is the status of princes and aristocrats in modern Poland? [33]

Only the gentry (szlachta in Polish) could vote. They held the elections on the Election Field in those days outside Warsaw (now in Wola, behind Powązki Cemetery).

Hard to imagine many people wanting that back.

Work / Where can I find a fax machine for public use in Poznan? [3]

Try one of the nicer hotels near the conference centre. They usually have a hotel 'business centre' where you can fax for a fee, assuming they haven't stopped with faxes too.

Alternatively, scan and email?

If that's not what you need, try:
wirtualnyfaks.pl
or
tanifax.pl
or
e-fax.pl

Or Google 'popfax' for something similar in English.

History / Polish nobility - what is the status of princes and aristocrats in modern Poland? [33]

Other direction, near the Pałac Bruhl'a.

Too late to edit. If I remember correctly there's an informal (and informal is the key word here) organisation set up post-1989 by aristocracy in Poland which compiles a list of them. Being Poland there are in fact at least 2 rival organisations.

One issue is where the titles derive from, given that all szlachta are supposed to be equal (though in practice they were never anything like equal). Some come from the Lithuanian part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. These are the old and truly posh ones. The others were given by Russia, Austria or Germany during the partitions and some argue (very reasonably) that they aren't Polish at all and in fact conflict with Polish tradition.

There are also Poles who've received titles abroad. If Lech Wałęsa took British citizenship he'd be entitled to style himself 'Sir Lech', and Pope JPII (although as Head of State in the Vatican he automatically lost any citizenship he held elsewhere, including Poland) had a bevy of titles.

History / Polish nobility - what is the status of princes and aristocrats in modern Poland? [33]


Unofficially is the key here. In England, Scotland, Spain, Holland, Scandinavia etc the courts rule on succession to titles and arbitrate in disputes. In Poland it's all unofficial for the reason (the constitution) that you mentioned.

As for being negatively disposed, it's worth reminding that there's the tradition that all the gentry (szlachty) were considered equal in theory. One reason why Joseph Conrad declined a knighthood which he was offered coincidentally during the period of great optimism when Poland regained independence.

Another negative point, I once heard a lady say, who lives as it happens in the same building as myself and a Count (one of the better known Polish aristocratic surnames but who doesn't use his title) some amusing things about the poor taste of certain people who' we build modern houses in our neighbourhood with porticos and pillars to underline their noble origins.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

Some people (perhaps including the OP) prefer the arts and humanities and dislike science.

Great that you managed to take time out from your prestigious and ruthlessly focused career path to teach English in that great metropolis Skierniewice, but how exactly are these pearls of wisdom going to help the OP in his intended move to Wroclaw/Bielsko or his chosen career in ELT?

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]


I wonder if you really do think that EL trainers can't afford food. Yes, there are some who choose to work in nice pretty places for not much money, but also those who are, to use a crude expression, 'coining it in'. And most people somewhere between. It's a very broad profession.


I work with petrochemical engineers. They always seem to look older than they are. Sure some earn more than I do, but not much more and not always.


That's achievable if you're good at saving/chasing opportunities. Some can do it and some can't. I know people in both categories. When I was working in Poland however I mostly had a decent income but never really could save much. As Cary Grant said "They say money talks; all it ever said to me was Goodbye".


Exactly - one reason that textbooks for low levels start off with those topics that are easiest to speak about in your own language. If someone only ever reads Autotrader it isn't doing them any favours pushing them to read Jane Austin. An authentic text can be a pizza shop leaflet, a parish bulletin, a holiday brochure or a 'Now wash your hands' sign - all part of that balance between staying in a learner's comfort zone and going outside it. I use a lot of oilfield health and safety documents since that's a big part of my job. Understanding the English they see written perhaps on labels or signs or TV credits hear spoken every day but blank out or let wash over them is so important. Part of it all slotting into place. Neurolinguistically, that is.


Advanced knowledge? We're training not educating and in any case we should remember that for in-company training our learners have different levels of intelligence and ways of thinking/approaching the world.


One of the best sources of authentic text and almost always something in there to catch the learner's interest - this is of course vital.


That suggests America/Canada. If the first of those, think about South Korea as a step on your journey. They tend to slightly favour Americans over Brits, there are some lovely opportunities there, decent jobs aren't hard to find, and in a year you could comfortably save enough to give yourself a nice financial buffer to make things easier in a nicer place. Cambodia by the way may well be 'the next big thing' in TEFL (when oil prices start to go back up). They've struck black gold, thrown off a communist regime and the market is like Poland 20 years ago. Lovely place and people too.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

Anyway, he's asking about achievable salary for a young, presumably graduate but so far non-CELTA qualified, language trainer in Wroclaw. How to go about it, how much is possible. Not about whether or not he should be a corporate clone with a gym membership and an ulcer.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]


The guy's 25! Better to see the world as he's doing. And it's possible by the way to earn a high income teaching. Just not usually in Poland, though that is a good place to cut your teeth. The OP doesn't say where he's from, however I hope for his sake by the way that it's somewhere that people don't have to pay for tuition.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

We have a trainer who once worked at a Callan Method School in Poland. It was years ago and he's got a DELTA now so nobody cares, plus employers in this region have no idea what Callan is. Fortunately for him.


A very very good one

Learning Teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers by Jim Scrivener is also handy.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

When you said you want to earn 6400zl, you didn't mention that you're unqualified. There are people with DELTA, never mind CELTA who barely make that (and some on less).

'Direct method' language schools tend to pay peanuts (and in fact do employ monkeys sometimes, strategically shaved and dressed in suits). At least they're mostly organised on the basis that anyone can deliver the training without any special skills. For real teaching, it's a little different. Conversation classes by the way are not an easy option - real ones aren't just chatting, they require longer and more complex preparation than most other types of lessons and a more sophisticated understanding of what learning goals the client needs and precisely how you're going to ensure they meet them.

Being a professional trainer is a serious thing. You need to understand about the learning process, language acquisition, classroom dynamics and interaction patterns, how to use threads through the course, error analysis, many other things too long to mention at this time of the morning, as well as having a large toolkit of techniques. I wouldn't call it 'the teaching game'.

Teachers (not just bods who use phrases like 'the teaching game'), trainers and lecturers are in fact highly respected in Poland. Especially if they're good at it.

I notice you baulk at paying 5,000zl for a course that gives you the absolute basic techniques yet you hope/expect that companies will pay you many times that over the course of a year for delivering a product that you have not training for. Worth remembering that most of the people who will come to you for lessons have paid good money (often making sacrifices so they can afford it) as well as committing time and effort. It isn't unreasonable that you know how to deliver the goods and not just punt out 40 hours a week of something that you don't really understand.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

Too many to count in Warsaw.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]


This was someone barely qualified with a card on the noticeboard in a local supermarket. Remember that in PL if something is cheap, people are suspicious.


This is true. Most of them haven't got that much work to give.


Warsaw is possible, but you have to have the credibility and the ability to sell to corporate clients. Plus specialisms help.

Love / How are lesbians seen in Poland (more info inside)? [30]


I think so too. Crime rates (regarding womens' safety) are low and the people generally well mannered.


Most don't attend Church regularly or read religious texts - especially in cities - and in any case, people in PL (in Warsaw/Kraków anyway) are generally too classy to be openly judgemental about other people's personal lives. It isn't Alabama.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

You'd be surprised. In Poland people often think that if something is expensive, it's worth having. There's a story (sounds apocryphal but apparently true) about someone advertising private lessons at 40zl a pop. She didn't get many takers and was short of money so she put the price up to 60zl and got a lot more enquiries...

But yes, I agree, suck it and see. If it doesn't work out, the OP can always move on elsewhere and as long as he's not afraid of hard work (and doing 40 teaching hours is hard for one week, never mind week in week out - think of all the planning time and materials writing too!) then he does have a chance to make a decent income.

Work / What is a good monthly salary for an English teacher in Poland? [124]

How long is a piece of string? It's just about possible to make that amount in Wroclaw, however you'd need to be very well established and teach a lot of hours. You'd also have to deal directly with corporate clients (the kind who have an in-tray full of offers from tried and tested training providers).

As a newbie, forget it. In Warsaw, the British Council pay around that, however they have a lot of highly qualified and experienced people they can call on if they have a vacancy and plenty of part-time people who would be ahead of you in the queue.

Love / How are lesbians seen in Poland (more info inside)? [30]

In Warsaw you'll have no problems; it isn't an issue and there's a large and long-standing lgbt community. Kraków is more provincial but worth mentioning that it's a large university city and not unsophisticated. The difference between the capital and the countryside is larger in PL than you are probably used to, however a lesbian couple are so far outside most people's experience there that it's something they've just never thought of.

Poland has recently elected an openly gay city president (who is incredibly popular), there's a member of parliament who's a transwoman and the womens' movement is long established.

My partner and I have had very few problems over the years and none of them serious. You shouldn't worry.

Po polsku / Krótkie tłumaczenia z polskiego na angielski i z angielskiego na polski [32]

Raczej: A man may be right or wrong...but a woman is always right albo:A woman is always right, even when she's wrong.

Po polsku / Krótkie tłumaczenia z polskiego na angielski i z angielskiego na polski [32]

Baba pierdzi a nie babcia :-)

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [870]


Among anyone who can see what an embarrassment certain of the PiSuarzy, such as they are, are making of themselves over this whole issue.


Normal at a crash site - it's considered poor taste to allow cameramen and paparazzi to peer their lenses at body parts.


qz.com/378233/leaked-recordings-reveal-chaos-in-the-cockpit-of-the-polish-presidential-plane-that-crashed-in-2010/

A few weeks old but worth reading. It demolishes all the conspiracy theories - the truth is often so much more banal than the hysteria.

Life / Best place to buy cigarettes in Warsaw? [23]

Some of the kiosks under the central station (the old-fashioned looking ones, NOT the shiny new places) especially in the North East corridors are used to requests like that. You'll need to ask for the number of packets rather than the number of cigarettes.

Study / SGH Warsaw School of Economics vs Kozminski University vs Warsaw University [18]

The OP as a prospective student probably is not yet thinking about a change in citizenship and in any case would probably not have to renounce his Ukrainian citizenship (it depends on the basis upon which you become Polish) however he is at least 10 years away from that so not an issue yet..

SGH is generally considered far better than Kozminski in every way. Private universities in Poland are not well regarded whereas SGH is prestigious and well-known.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [870]


Absolutely. The problem is that some extremely limited individuals will always look for conspiracies where there are none and only consider something true if they agree with it. Generally the conspiracy theories around the Smolensk accident are part of a package of fringe beliefs - the Smolenskists tend to hold the whole package.

The conspiracy thing's become something of a national joke - and a rather tasteless one considering the number of casualties.

Life / Armenian Community in Poland? [10]

There is a small Armenian population in Poland (30-40,000 of which around a quarter have lived here for generations and are assimilated) several parishes and other Armenian language religious groups and some famous Poles (Penderecki, Slowacki etc) had Armenian roots.

A correction to the post above (too late to edit). The last census included 3,623 people who declared themselves as Armenian however online I've just noticed an estimate of 40-80,000. An accurate figure is doubtless somwhere between. BTW, Zbigniew Herbert apparently had Armenian roots, something I hadn't heard.

Work / Language Teachers - do you feel respected in Poland? [86]

The better teacher would be the one who teaches better. Simples.

I doubt there are many factory floor sweepers teaching languages here in Poland however the learners even in private language schools can generally tell the difference between a bad and a good teacher and vote with their feet.

One thing I have sadly noticed, not just in Poland, is the phenomenon of people teaching English who have a little social cachet, some decent qualifications but are unfortunately no good at getting people to learn - they are however good at bluffing on the basis of their social skills.

Work / Language Teachers - do you feel respected in Poland? [86]

To a point. I've come across teachers who are highly qualified but who aren't actually that good as well as teachers who lack paper qualifications but are very good at teaching. One of the best (maybe the best of them all) that I used to employ had very little on paper but was a highly effective teacher.

Instead of asking to see credentials, it's often a better idea to ask for references from people they've taught. Word of mouth is usually the best way to find someone. That and availability - the very best teachers are usually either very busy or simply not chasing lessons.

Classifieds / Where to buy Polish Beer wholesale in UK? [153]

Any local off-licence or mini-market should have enough for you to get as drunk as you like.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [870]

Exactly, however the Smolenskist tendency among the PiSuarzy (and conspiracy theorists in general) like all that sort of stuff, however illogical.

It does however get JK and his crowd of loons on the TV news and distracts from their lack of coherent political policies, from their lack of appeal to voters and from all the other potential embarrassments within their party.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [870]


In the absence of 'hard evidence' the investigators have to use the data that actually exists. This all points to an accident, not an attempted coup d'état as publicly alleged by cranks like Macierewicz, broadly dismissed within Poland and perpetuated by some in this thread.


Just how are the issues concerning report on the Smolensk accident 'off-topic' in a thread about the report on the Smolensk accident.