Language / POLISH 18 - 30 years old know MUCH BETTER ENGLISH language than their own native language! [102]

@Novi, don't how many times here I've told you (and yes, I DO know better in this case!) that ease is all relative!

Don't please let European native speakers of so-called "difficult" languages sell you that bull that they prefer to speak English over their mother tongue, let alone, that they communicate better in English, because it is a bald-faced lie!!

English is as tough for Poles as Polish is for English native speakers,and so kindly spare us the public relations song and dance.

Language / I'm native Polish and I hate my own language. [106]

...and ohhh so, so true, Alien! Experience tells. -:)

Language / I'm native Polish and I hate my own language. [106]

Your English will never reach the level of your native language!

Language / POLISH 18 - 30 years old know MUCH BETTER ENGLISH language than their own native language! [102]

NOONE effectively feels and uses a learned second language as they can their mother tongue.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

But by the same token, neither could Einstein, although Weizmann did offer him the presidency of Israel! Go figure.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

By the way, a US president (but NOT senator or even congressman!) must have been born within strictly American territory or in the continental United States!

Although our earliest presidents, technically speaking, were of course, English, as of the Constitution, nobody born outside the territorial waters of the US could in fact become president, try as they might to circumvent such ruling:-)

It is for this reason, Alexander Hamilton could never have served as president, even though he spent most of his entire, if brief, life in what was considered at the time "America". John McCain was born within our territorial waters, yet not on US soil, and yet because of the former rather than the latter, as well as his being born of two US-born parents, he was legally within the Constitution to run for president. Neither Henry Kissinger nor Arnold Schwarzenegger never would have stood a chance, with or without any noticeable "foreign" accentLOL

As far as the German Federal Republic is concerned (I include here the former German Democratic Republic, of course), I believe here as well any chancellor must also be German-born and bred. Whether this might have included any at the time current or former German colonies or not, I'm not sure.

I believe that someone such as the 31-year old native-born Iranian whose family emigrated to Germany when the boy was only eleven and is presently serving in the Bundestag would be an awfully tough sell if running some day for chancellor.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Miscommunication on my end, B.B. I only meant that as your country, the focal point of today's Europe, moves into the 21st century, she will need a bold leader, appealing to the needs of all! A "diverse" chancellor won't be any more ideal than an ethnic German a la Merkel or Scholz, but just perhaps more inclusive and responsive.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Just to chime in here, I think Germany's more than ready for political diversity!
Why not start at the top as we did with Obama?

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Guess people have grown suspicious of the Greenies and their agenda, huh.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Always had my money on Cem Ozdemir, for instance, but I suppose it wasn't the right time:-) Heck, Poland already had one black member of the Sejm!

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

I predict that way off in the future, Germany's chancellor will be either a Turkish-German or a Chinese woman:-)

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Rich, you intentially missed my point.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Extortion is in the eye of the citizen! At least Germany gets something for their taxes.

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

'Pleasure, jon.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Wrongo, Richie! Man is naturally imperfect and must be reigned in before it's too late...or else!

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

@jon, grade point average refers to one's academic standing.

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

Thanks all the same-)

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

Besides CELTA, which certificate program is as acceptable, or is documented experience and similarly transferrable course work with corresponding grade point average sufficient?

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Dirk's an AfD man allright! Can smell it a kilometer away.

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

When I was starting out in the field, I was required to furnish a linguistics degree, pedagogy courses, logged-in classroom hours and at least one evaluation from a former institution and/or letter of recommendation from a professor. All this, by the way, pre-TESOL!

Are requirements for an ESL-teacher in Poland as stringent?
I should add that prior to my current college position, I began at a language school.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

@Dirk,
You seem to have forgotten your German history!
As Germany has been stigmatized at every bend and turn since the end of the War, she's had her nose rubbed in manure so often, I'm surprised her sense of aroma appreciation hasn't been permanently damaged. I guess some have heard of a little-known blog out there which the German gov't has been monitoring for some time, "Die jungen Vikinger" (The Young Vikings), whose frighteningly blunt adage goes "Holocaust? - Schnee von gestern" (The Holocaust? Yesterday's news)

And so now, she's been bending over backwards since who only knows for how long to show that she's finally a decent, well-behaved, multi-cultural neighbor in an ever-changing world, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT.

As her twentieth century history has been only one of extremes, at present, the FRG's exercising her own constitutional rights to attempt some degree of normalization since the none-too quick demise of the bad old days, so just deal with it, Dirk!

As I'm always fond of saying re: the differences between Germany now vs. Germany then, is that nowadays, Germany's more appropriately interested in her place in the world, rather than her place in the sun:-)

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Maybe the German system of voting for the party rather than the individual in the end is more equitable.

Work / Teaching English in Poland....CELTA or TESOL certificate? [66]

Not sure if this question is on-topic or not, but I'm nonetheless curious as to whether, one, BC or "English" standard is required to teach in Poland, or whether "American" usage is also accepted, if not preferred:-)

Secondly, is it necessary in Poland for a foreign-language teacher, in this instance, English instructor, to be a native speaker?

Perhaps I asked before, but it was so long ago I've since forgotten the answer!
Apologies for the inquiry.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

"Fungible", Rich?
Scholz is currently seen as above all safe, even-keel, not given to inappropriate remarks or behavior and as a man with his own vision, NOT Merkel-lite as with Kramp-Karrenbauer!

He is environmentally aware and with a Western orientation aka America friendly, even if critical of certain policies. He is surely not merely a Merkel clone.

He seems to be exhibiting a general leftist trend which has been gathering force thoughout Western Europe:-) The so-called New Federal Provinces were the ones who voted Right wing instead.

As to German conservatism, I wish to note once again that the German concept of being conservative is markedly different from what is called conservative here in the US!

German uses the word meaning to "conserve consensus", not be somehow independent from government as is what is usually thought in the American version of conservativism.

History / Do you regard the Polish Communist Partizans as heroes? [36]

Any Pole who initially fought Hitler is a hero.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

"Konservativ" means something different in German-:)

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

According to today's >Tagesspiegel<, the Conservatives are practically running at an all-time low.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

You do realize, I trust, as heretofore expatiated ad nauseum on PF, that Germany's "eternal" burden of guilt remains as powerful an aphrodesiac in its own way as the lure of cheap labor does in its own way. Sorry to sound jaded or detached, but this has been my experience, both in Germany and here in the US.

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Furthermore, I can well recall a strong "Green" Movement here in the States as a young teen: PLANT A TREE, YOU'LL BREATHE EASIER!

Polonia / Possible Green Surge in Germany [118]

Once again, anything is a better alternative (no pun intended here!) to PEGIDA or AfD!
Gauland, Hoecke, Petry & Co. want to marginalize Holocaust aka Tolerance Education or consciousness raising in Germany, even questioning the reason for a Holocaust Memorial in the capital which Hitler so reviled, while at the same time, responsible for as the center of Nazi Germany

Scholz may indeed be bland and boring. My knowledge of German politics over many years indicates that current-day Germans, save for some reactionaries in the so-called "Neubundeslaender", are suspicious of a Trump-style charisma. For this reason, a Franz-Josef Strauss or even Markus Soeder, wouldn't stand a serious chance in today's politics.