Life / Things that annoy you in Poland. [114]


Isn't it just?

Yet the Polish state seems happy to allow it to continue - when they could cut the death rate dramatically by putting unmarked police cars out there with cameras. A few instant-bans handed out for dangerous driving (let's say - 7 days in the first instance) would soon change driving habits.

The saddest thing of all in Poland is that people take risks with small children in the car and a wife on top.

Having said this - our sport of 'let's annoy as many 40 year old idiotic male drivers as possible' seems to be great fun :D

Love / How common is it for husbands in Poland to open their wife's mail ? [30]


I wish. Maybe in smaller places, but Poczta Polska seem to be pretty insistent that I sign for endless mail from various governmental places :( I'm getting sick to death of the trip down to the post office...

Law / Bureaucracy in Poland [53]


Yes. My experience so far is that in the majority of cases, it's clueless idiots that can't read simple forms that cause queues, not the workers themselves. I've even had service with a smile lately!

I came to the conclusion today that I've experienced more sulking in Carrefour than in government offices - which says something. I nearly asked (in English) for half a kilo of sulk, just to see the reaction.

Law / Driving in Poland on a foreign license [45]


I just saw this - and it's nonsense. There are proposals and endless discussion - but London and Dublin can't agree, so it's unlikely that London and Paris (for instance) will ever agree upon them.

Heck, if Vienna and Berlin can't agree, who can be expected to do so?

Essentially, as long as you don't get the licence revoked (which is possible, given that most EU countries are operating 'ghost' licences for foreign licences) - points won't be passed from place to place. Can you honestly imagine any Polish judge accepting that a Polish driver should have points on his licence from the UK? thought not...

News / RHD cars in Poland - my campaign to change the rules in Poland [128]

Allegedly so, but I haven't heard of anyone successfully doing it yet.

Best bet is to go to the place that deals with licencing up in Wilczak and ask them. If it's possible, then you just go up there, fill in some forms and go back and collect the licence plates a few days later. Quite painless, apparently.

You'll need some sort of residency too - they let you register the car for as long as you're legally in Poland. I'm not sure, but I've got a feeling that there's some sort of import tax charged too.

Law / How to register for doctor in Poland (by area) [16]

Good question.

As I understand it, but I could be wildly wrong here - your son needs to be covered by either you or your girlfriend's health insurance in Poland. When you work, or if your girlfriend works, then you should be covered. The law is complex - but if either of you is paying ZUS, then the rest of the family should be covered. At least, that's how I understand it.

However, it's possible to get an EHIC card for your son - and this will give access to health care. It might not provide access to a comprehensive service however - although in my experience, Poland isn't really placing restrictions on the use of EHIC cards and instead is simply treating people on the same basis as Polish citizens. Technically, the use of an EHIC card isn't valid if you actually reside here - but the UK is hardly checking!

News / RHD cars in Poland - my campaign to change the rules in Poland [128]


Maybe, maybe not. In spite of Poland finally caving in and officially allowing RHD registrations on the same basis as LHD registrations, there's no guarantee that it's actually filtered through to the relevant dragons in the vehicle registration place.

However, if your MOT has run out - then you'll be uninsured, which is illegal in Poland - but I'm not sure if this applies to foreign-registered cars.

Travel / Hard Candy - Krakow, Poland - reviews? [131]


Probably a bit of both at that price, or it's a place for people who take pills and don't drink ;)

Love / Scottish & Polish relationships [229]

Did someone neck a whole bottle of Glenmorangie before his wedding? :P

Real Estate / IS IT A GOOD TIME TO INVEST IN POLISH REAL ESTATE? [83]


That's partially due to the crushing unemployment situation in Berlin-Brandenburg though - who wants to live in a city when you can't find a job? Berlin is bankrupt and can't even afford to get their S-Bahn sorted out properly!

But yes, certainly, Poland has been badly affected by the masses of foreign idiots snapping up off-plan apartments. Can't say I feel particularly sorry for most of the people that have lost money here...

Real Estate / IS IT A GOOD TIME TO INVEST IN POLISH REAL ESTATE? [83]


It's still not perfect - referring back to the S Bahn problems, the system in Berlin still needs much more investment to even match the standard of London. The saga over U5/U55 is just one example where a badly needed line has only had a short section built because Berlin just doesn't have the money to do anything with it. In fact, with U55 - if work doesn't begin by next year, then they'll be forced to repay quite a bit of cash to the Federal government - and I don't think Berlin has the money to do so.

The fact that Berlin is ran by the SPD and The Left Party isn't going to help things either.


Yep, I've been to Berlin recently. The economic problems of the city are huge - the last data I've found suggest that unemployment is running at around 13.5% as opposed to a German average of around 7%. There's a fascinating article here

wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/left-o16.shtml
and those social cuts are going to hit Berlin hard.

Berlin might be very attractive as a tourist destination, but it has very little to underpin it. For ordinary people, Berlin isn't such a nice place - if it was, don't you think ordinary Germans would be flocking there in droves?

I love the city, but it has huge problems - and those problems aren't going to go away. The Federal government has thrown so much money at Berlin and yet the problems won't go away - and I dare this is partially because Frankfurt and Munich are such powerhouses economically.

Just look at the state of many places in the former East Berlin to see - they're throwing money at the problems, yet the problems still remain. The city is bankrupt and no financial commentator will tell you otherwise - if it wasn't so, they would've fixed the S-Bahn problems much, much quicker. The fact that the trains were allowed to get into such a dangerous condition to begin with is pretty telling about the economic situation there.

Don't let Berlin-Mitte fool you!

But you are right about Krakow - the absolutely ridiculous (lack of) integration with Krakow Glowny and Krakow PKS as part of Galeria Krakowska says a hell of a lot about the place.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]


No. Skype is a dreadful platform for learning on - the quality can be very, very poor - and for language teaching, I would expect a dedicated platform, not something like Skype.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]

To be honest, it's the fact that there can be problems - it's just not a professional platform to use. There's also the fact that the client shouldn't have to have particular software.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]


It's also owned by eBay which has a long history of unethical practices. Skype has also had their fair share of controversy, especially concerning privacy. Insisting that clients use it is quite frankly business suicide - and I would strongly recommend that anyone considering online lessons (which are, in my opinion, a total waste of money!) investigates to see whether Skype is really something that they wish to use.

If I was paying for online classes, I would expect a dedicated platform for learning without any variables as to quality - I would expect it to be perfect 100% of the time. 'Schools' (and I use this term loosely!) using Skype quite frankly reek of profiteering - and I would be very dubious about any 'school' using Skype as a platform. As I say - clients shouldn't be forced into downloading software that they may not want or need.

I also find it very hard to believe that the quality over Skype is good enough to catch Polish properly.


This is something found in virtually all online platforms - and this is why I'm a strong believer that people certainly shouldn't pay 60zl for online classes. 40zl, maybe - but 60zl is ridiculous given that there's barely any costs to the teacher or the school.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


Nonsense. Polish is a major European language - and it can be easily argued that on an importance scale, Polish ranks behind French and German and is equal to Italian and Spanish. Certainly given the vast amount of outsourcing to Poland - knowing Polish wouldn't hurt.

It wouldn't surprise me if Cadbury's for instance were insisting on manufacturing managers speaking Polish.

Law / Poland - Temporary Residence card - Karta pobytu - required documents [142]

If you have trouble with this, my company Lindenia can help you - we're based in Poznan.

lindenia.net

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]


It is ridiculous. You can get a Polish teacher in many places (especially in Poland) for less than 60zl an hour - and in fact, it's quite possible to get a good Polish teacher for 40zl an hour online.


Those other posters are simply doing what you're doing - hoping to attract gullible expats with money to splash. This forum certainly isn't a true reflection of what the marketplace is actually like.


The materials and delivery can be world class - but over a medium such as Skype, the quality will inevitably suffer. For 60zl an hour, you can get tuition face to face easily - even in the UK! But while we're at it - I could supply exactly the same service for 40zl an hour, if I so wanted.

I simply do not believe that the quality of the internet or phone provides an effective learning experience - particularly with something that isn't guaranteed like Skype. Language can be terribly subtle - and internet transmission just doesn't have the quality needed.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]


And this is exactly my point - while it may be fantastic for some setups, it isn't guaranteed. If someone has computer problems, they'll lose money


These 'schools' aren't using business VOIP solutions though, are they?

SME's using Skype says a considerable amount about them - it's not a bad option to have 'just in case' - but it's certainly not reliable. Any business relying on Skype (with all the privacy issues combined with unreliability) is effectively entrusting their business to an eBay owned company - look at the amount of hassle that eBay and other sellers have had with PayPal to get an idea for how eBay treats their customers.

As for schools using such technologies - this is nothing but a profit raising exercise dressed up in 'convenience'. Online learning can never replace face to face learning - if it could, why do students still go to physical lectures? Even the famed Open University has summer schools - for that precise reason.

Also, being dependent on the internet is not a good business model - especially in Poland, but also in many other countries.


I can confidently state that VOIP solutions aren't reliable enough in terms of quality to be used for language teaching. I've never met one person who has independently promoted such systems - all the people who are enthusiastic tend to have a biased opinion.


The funny thing is that I don't have an aversion to it - I just think it's inferior to face to face learning and certainly isn't worth 60zl an hour for Polish lessons. For 30zl an hour, certainly, it would be a good deal - but 60zl an hour certainly isn't.

Can I ask - do you offer technical support to those that might have problems with your online lessons? If you do, then that's certainly commendable.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]


The problem is that you don't seem to understand that if you advertise your product openly, people can and will comment upon it. It's not the best idea to advertise on a public forum if you don't want your product to be examined thoroughly.

And yes, you are cheating and conning people. 60zl an hour for MSN/Skype classes is extortionate when you can get the same thing cheaper online - I can offer (though I don't, too much hassle!) Polish classes online for 40zl an hour with professional teachers, or even as low as 20zl an hour with non-professional teachers that can still teach to a certain extent. I'm based in Poland too - so I know what the score is.

There is a rash of people offering 'Online Polish!' at ridiculous prices - ReadySteadyPolish is another one. All of them have something in common - they're attempting to sell online courses as somehow being superior to face-to-face courses, despite all evidence being to the contrary. The fact that you're admitting that you use Skype despite the bandwidth stealing, privacy intruding nature of the application is just another reason why you're ripping people off.


We have the right to state what we think of your service.


We can easily discuss the technical aspects if you wish. I'm however happier discussing the monetary side of things - I know what it costs to provide these classes (ie, next to nothing!) and I know what these classes are worth (40zl max with a bilingual, qualified teacher). Given that language schools in Poznan in Plac Wolnosci/Sw. Marcin are charging around 65zl an hour for face to face Polish classes, how on earth can you justify 60zl an hour, unless it's to expats with large expense accounts?


We've stated the reasons why your service is a ripoff from a commercial point of view and also from a technical point of view. Why ask questions, when you're confirming what we think as it is?


This forum is home to some fearsomely well educated people. Certainly, just because some people have pointed out that your business proposition is rather poor - it's no reason to throw the toys out of the pram and start using personal insults against people.

I would be very loathe to use your service, given that you don't offer people technical support in the event of a problem and instead resort to abuse whenever you are questioned. Not really what people are looking for in a teacher, is it?

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]


Exactly. And thus you fail to understand the value of learning any foreign language.

Thankfully, Europeans are a bit more wise and realise the value in speaking other languages. Polish isn't a bad option for those wanting a good mental workout, and it's a sound base for other Slavic languages.

I find it funny that an American - who is from a country in which you won't get anywhere in some areas without Polish/Spanish/Italian, thinks that you need nothing but English.

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]

I'm having plenty of success in life at the moment, thank you :) And anyway, one of my hobbies is amusing myself with Polish business offers that are absolutely nonsense in their nature...

Study / Cost of Polish lessons, courses (private) [34]

What part of "privacy invading, bandwidth stealing" is that difficult to understand? When you're paying 60zl an hour (15 euro!) - you really don't expect to have to use a software solution that will happily invade your privacy and use your bandwidth!

Nah, I have no business interests in telecommunications, just an interested observer.

Skype has always been ok for me too - but it's not 100% reliable. And given that she doesn't offer tech support nor seemingly offers refunds/discounts for disrupted lessons, would you really want to pay for it?

(hang on, RN is defending a Pole over a Celt?)

Work / How hard is to find head chef jobs in Poland? [37]


known as "suitable for pouring down the toilet", more like :(

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]


From that link, they weren't removing dishes (how can you have an illegal dish? There's plenty of FTA channels at the same location as Sky's encrypted content!) - but rather that they were removing Sky cards on the request of the Spanish rights holders. Given that these bars probably were using a domestic UK subscription on top, there's really nothing to cry about there.

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]


Show me one prosecution made anywhere in Europe for receiving FTA content in a 'free' country. It just doesn't happen - again, if you actually read the link that you posted, you'll find that they were seizing Sky digicards, *not* dishes or receivers. If it was illegal to receive FTA channels, then the digiboxes would have been seized too.

FTA channels in Europe have always historically been available without fuss - and the actions of the Spanish police confirm that they're not interested in those accessing FTA broadcasts. In fact, the BBC (and C4/ITV) have been treading a very thin line by making channels available FTA - many observers were surprised that rights holders allowed them to broadcast content 'in the clear'.


I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not at all convinced that the directive, as implemented into national law will allow you to rebroadcast the BBC et al without problems. In fact, most online sources seem to suggest that the only thing that's changing is that iPlayer et al will become regulated for the first time.

Do you have a link to anywhere that can definitively prove that you'll be entitled to do so? My reading of the subject so far is that while in theory, such services can be made EU wide - the issue of rights holders only selling the rights for one territory will prevent anyone from actually rebroadcasting it freely.

Interesting times for media, certainly.

Law / How will the Zloty be against the British Pound over the next 6-12 Months [45]


I think it is undervalued, there was no real fundamentals to the dramatic weakening except investors getting very nervous about the possibility of economic collapse in Eastern Europe. Now that those fears are mostly gone from all but Latvia, the zloty does seem a bit undervalued.

I suspect when people start speculating again, we'll see the Zloty fall to at least 3.7 - but then again, I didn't predict that the zl/Pound rate would collapse as far as 5.25 at one point.

USA, Canada / Hopeless case for a US tourist visa or fiancee visa? [6]

It's worth contacting us at Lindenia

There's a possibility that we might be able to help - from our experience, it's worthwhile submitting the 'perfect' application for a visa as it can considerably increase the chances of success.

Don't trust what you read online - people are notorious for not stating the full details and making it seem as if the USA (or other countries!) are evil and bad.

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]


EU directives mean nothing in the context of national law - which is why I find your talk of 'lawyers analysing the directives' amusing because they have little to no relevance unless you can afford to take a case to the European courts.

As far as I can see, the updated Audiovisual Media Services Directive does nothing except update the Television Without Frontiers directive - which doesn't give you carte blanche to rebroadcast anything. I've read the directive and nowhere does it grant permission for anyone to rebroadcast FTA signals over the internet.

So again - which part of the directive allows you to rebroadcast FTA UK television throughout the EU? Failing that, what part of the directive as incorporated into UK law allow this? Given that you've supposedly had lawyers working on this, I'd expect you to be able to quote me the exact parts of the directive and the relevant UK law.

I'll wait and see - but I'm very interested to see the legal argument that allows TVCatchUp and others to break UK copyright law by broadcasting copyrighted content against the wishes of the rights holders to the rest of the UK. It's pretty obvious that these sites are using a loophole which allowed cable systems to rebroacast content - but this loophole won't allow them to broadcast to the rest of the EU without breaking copyright law and the relevant EU directive changes nothing.

Either put up or shut up - but given that TVCatchUp have pointedly refused to answer the question as to how this directive facilitates the rebroadcasting of content throughout the EU, I don't think I'll be getting a straight answer ;)

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]

That was a dreadfully predictable response - and in fact mirrors exactly what TVCatchUp have been doing throughout the internet.

Funny that a thread on TVCatchUp questioning their interpretation of the directive was deleted, isn't it? Hardly the work of a company that's certain of themselves, isn't it?

And we're not talking about the issue of the legality of rebroadcasting Freeview TV in the UK - we're talking about the EU directive and how it was implemented into UK law. Don't try and confuse the two issues. Again - what part of the directive and its implementation allows TVCatchUp to broadcast to the EU?

I ask one question - how much is detailed information on British expats worth to those who have more...sinister purposes? For that reason - and given TVCatchUp's attitude - I would strongly recommend not signing up for the service.

USA, Canada / Hopeless case for a US tourist visa or fiancee visa? [6]

Pretty useless for a Polish citizen trying to get a US visa though, isn't it?

It's a good blog - but some of the information is pretty out of date now. The process for starting a business has been streamlined quite considerably - in fact, only two visits to offices are actually required these days - and an acountant can handle most of the nonsense from their end.