History / Lwów, Wilno ... kresy - Poland have lost enormoust part of our heritage... [389]


There is no rule to this one, in those times you could probably find a lot of Poles even east of Lwów, as Poland and generally eastern europe as a whole was rather a very ethnically mixed region (apart from the native people's of eastern europe you could find back then a lot of jews in the cities, armenians, scotsmen and dutchmen in the more important trading cities, gypsies, and even germans as far as volga river).

History / Lwów, Wilno ... kresy - Poland have lost enormoust part of our heritage... [389]

It's true, actually the same goes for Polish views towards Lviv and to lesser degree also to Vilnius.

History / Lwów, Wilno ... kresy - Poland have lost enormoust part of our heritage... [389]


Actually, My words don't collide with what you said and I didn't said it isn't one of the more important factors... going on: a other factor can be also a lot of national sentiment connected with such place (important historical events for the nation, arts and culture, architecture, genealogy and generally national/cultural heritage as a whole...), we could probably also think of other factors but this two are probably the most influential.

History / Lwów, Wilno ... kresy - Poland have lost enormoust part of our heritage... [389]

I don't understand the big problem in here. Lwow/Lviv and Wilno/Vilnius were as Polish as Stettin/Szczecin and Breslau/Wrocław were German, nothing controversial about it. Stettin and Breslau - originally slavic cities which got germanized because of huge german influences and for most of their history in Germany/HRE, Wilno and Lwów - originally lithuanian and ruthenian cities and then Polonized because of huge polish influence and being for most of their history in a polish controlled state. IMO, Taking Wilno before WWII wasn't fair (despite the polish/belarusian majority) because Lithuanians deserved it more since it was their capital for long time, but taking Lwow was just as logical as Germany getting Stettin or Breslau - it simply WAS Polish back then.


The borders shouldn't have been shifted westward (because what for?) in the first place, so more or less it's the fault of the Russians/Soviets and uncle Joe (or generally of the Yalta conference and the big 3) rather than Polish imperialism here - it's the same mood as in Germany where some of Germans still see some of our cities as theirs... and it's pretty understandable since some people don't forget and don't acommodate easy to such big changes.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


Yes he was a pain in the ass, but because of months of his terror and hard learning in order to survive I've actually really mastered the subject and really learned something, so I would say that this kind of profs are actually effective although not nice.


It's not the point, from my experience I can say that they will surely teach you the main core of the subject , but on exams they very often require extended and more universal knowledge about the subject than only the things which were on excercises or even from the lectures.

I just can say one thing which one of my profs said ones (my louse translation to english):
"Studies (Studia) are not a place were you will be taught, but a place were you have to find and STUDY the needed sources by your own", and that is actually the whole (or maybe the more important) point of the higher education - you are the master of your own education, nobody will and nobody should care about you, it really teaches resourcefulness and some wiliness which is important in later life.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


So what have you studied (and where)? I think you've studied in a other Poland or in uni with a poor level. As far as I've studied I've never seen a Polish prof which wasn't serious about his job (I've studied at the University of Economics in Krakow), some of them were actually on the contrary - very conservative in their attitude and with "a mission" - I had one prof on my econometrics studies who teached Microeconomics, theoretically nothing big, but in reality he was very demanding and in the end he almost kicked out half of my whole major, so I can't call such guy "not serious" about his job.


I think a bigger problem would be if there was no "poprawkowy" than if there is. "Poprawkowy" is generally only one bonus date of exam (it's not like you try the exam infinity times, and even if the uni allows more dates, then you most often have to pay for them or alternatively they give you a chance of repeating the subject in another semester(also for cash)), imo it's a fair system, especially considering some hard technical majors (like electrotechnics for example) and hard subjects (like Circuit theory for another example).

History / Norman Davies - the Brit who loves Poland and becomes one of Us [250]


For me the Polish-Jewish relations were always weird to say the least... the best what fits to them is this:
What was first: the chicken or the egg?
Turned into this:
What was first: the antisemitism or the antipolonism?

Both: Poles and the Jews are no saints to me IMO.

History / Norman Davies - the Brit who loves Poland and becomes one of Us [250]

He's probably the best Poland-specific historian writing in English.

UK, Ireland / Are Polish people importing a new wave of ancient racism into the UK? [402]

Why so?
Any data?

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


Have you ever studied in Poland (during the communism or now)?


True, but there is a very big selection during the first year of studies and most often less than half of the initial number of students finish their studies.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]


In Germany or in the West many don't even think about University because they know they can easily find a job without it, in Poland on otherhand there is a strong concurrence in the labour market so you have to non-stop perfect yourself in order to even have a job, it's a harsh enviroment, but a enviroment which results in generally better average education in the whole population than in countries where higher education is just a not very important bonus to your CV.


You must have been on some humanist type of junk or on some private universities, in the public universities (especially on the technical ones) there is still very strong university culture with very good level (Poland having one of the best IT specialist in the world and winning full of awards in this discipline is a proof for that).

Work / Quality of IT educations (Computer Science) in Poland vs. other countries [11]

Hello


It's true that English is known on a rather mediocre level in Poland among youth (although there is a lot of exceptions from it), but at least the knowledge of English among Polish youth is very common (actually there are very VERY little young people who don't know any English) and it's rather hard to find someone who don't understand a word.

I've never studied in Warsaw co I can't help you concerning your studies, but on a other note I've studied in Krakow and saw and met a lot of foreign students and can assure you that you don't have to know any Polish in the big cities (smaller one's is a different tale) to easily communicate, in most cases only English is more than enough, and if not English then German or Russian could sometimes do.

With Regards.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]

Posts Merged


Everything is in it's place. Poland has more academic graduates than Germany, although the best German universities are better than Poland's best, but reason of that is because universities in the West are far more elitist than the Polish ones and because the Polish higher education is free and generally more open and egalitarian. Another reason is that it's more difficult and more challenging to get a work here so higher education is almost a required minimum here.


There are very little of Polish patents not because our science sucks (it's actually on a good/decent level), but because there is little high-tech industry and funds here to take their ideas into being so it's easier to sell the patents to someone else (example: the polish blue laser technology).

History / Polish history is 100% glorious [297]


Well the Czechs were actually "happy" in 1919...


And much smaller landmass to defend, more and better equipment, richer economy per capita, better developed post-habsburg industry and technology, mountains almost anywhere arround. The only agressors they could have been actually affraid of was the Germany, if they would defend themselves Poland probably wouldn't even intervene, and Hungary was even smaller country than Czechoslovakia and nowhere as developed, Hungary maybe would also stay back from the fight if they would have seen the Germans have problems in Sudetens and Bohemia. The only direction they would have problems with defence would be the south and the west of the country. Compared to Poland's situation which had to defend far larger landmass with almost 0 natural borders and worse equipped army from the even more powerful Germany from the West and North, from Gigantic Soviet Union on the East, and Slovakia on the South... It sounds like a scenario with far more probability of success.

History / Polish history is 100% glorious [297]

[quote=MareGaea]- The Czechs were even more screwed and betrayed by the West than you guys were. Was Czechoslovakia a main playground for Soviet and Nazi's "military games" just like Poland was? No.

Were Czechs executed on similar scale as people were in Poland? No.

Sorry to say but the losses (both material and demographic) of Czechoslovakia weren't even close to Polish losses, mainly because the Czechs haven't even tried to fight when they could, they just surrendered and welcomed the nazi's. If they would really have tried they would have probably bigger chances of success than Poland had, even without any help coming from the allies (Poland also didn't had such help), because of:

- Better developed industry (Polish industry could only dream of something like the Czechs had. (Skoda))
- Better terrain topology (surrounded by mountains and having long country borders)
- Not being between two powerful totalitarian-militaristic neighbors.
- Nazi Germany's war machine wasn't then as developed as in the invasion of Poland when the nazi's already controlled all of the Czech industry.

king polkakamon said it right. Actually that marionet "Czechoslovakia" had almost a luxury situation compared to Poland even though they were also betrayed by the west (or rather preferred being a protectorate of the nazi regime than wanting to stood up and fight when they could, no matter if with allies or without them).

News / Polish, language of future - Post-apocalyptic [45]


I agree with you.


If Churchill would live in Lithuania he would have to call himself Vinstonas Leonardas Spenseris Čerèilis rather than Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill :)


Augustinas Voldemaras?

News / Polish, language of future - Post-apocalyptic [45]


Yes I've also heard that... They like to promote their pagan roots because most of them see the PLC period in a bad light (slow dissapearance of Lithuanian culture, being de facto controlled by the stronger partner in the union (or even Polish occupation in the POV of some) etc.)

Actually most of today's Lithuanians are de facto descendants of Samogitians and Aukshtotians rather than the original Lithuanians. Mainly because after the GDL (Grand duchy of Lithuania) swallowed the large areas of mainly Ruthenian orthodox lands from the former Kievan Rus it quickly get Ruthenised in the XV, XVI and XVII century - simply because the number of Lithuanians was far smaller than the population of the conquered lands. Later on after the union with Poland, Ruthenians and those Ruthenised Lithuanians have got Polonised in the XVIII and XIX century... And probably that's why there are even Poles there (I think that not many of them actually ever were ethnic Poles, but calling them Polonised Lithuanians is a big oversimplification and only the half of the truth) and why nowadays Lithuanians emphasize much on their culture - simply to retain their different culture and not being swallowed culturally (or in any other sense) by Russia or Poland.


Ever been to Opole region and Kashubia in Poland or to Lusatia in Germany? The minorities there have a right to have bilingual signs:
in Opole - Polish and German
in Kashubia - Polish and Kashubian
in Lusatia - German and Sorbian.
I don't see why Polish minority should deserve a worse treatment, especially when they constitute the majority there... damn, in Poland we even have granted places in the parliament for national minorities (most often 1-2 seats).


But they cannot... their surnames have to be 100% in tune with the rules of Lithuanian langauge (with their alphabet and weird endings added to surnames like: -us -as and the likes).


Well... the traditions of Poland and Lithuania are quite close to each other because of obvious reasons (we both were in one state for a long period of time).

The PLC is one thing which they feel bad about... but the main reason is probably our collateral relations in the XX century, especially before WW2.

News / Polish, language of future - Post-apocalyptic [45]


Polish is still widely spoken in Lithuania especially in the Vilnius region where the Polish minority constitutes the majority, although Lithuanians tend to deny even the existance of Polish people there and like to call them Polonised Lithuanians (because it better fits their needs) rather than Poles.

Of course I don't say that Lithuanians should speak Polish, but someone should really do something with the problems of Polish minority in Lithuania which rights are still very limited (they have no rights to have bilingual signs and names of streets in Polish in mostly Polish populated regions) or in some cases even oppressed(they even cannot use their original Polish surnames).

Life / Polish authors, books & literature. [94]

Also I would recommend the books of Konrad Fiałkowski, he actually wrote only 2 sci-fi novels but still a very good ones.

Life / Polish authors, books & literature. [94]

I prefer Janusz A. Zajdel over both of them... a truly visionary books and really good sci-fi concerning both real science (he was a quantum physician) and things like society, politics, economics, the real nature of information, propaganda, psychology and so on. In my opinion by far the best Polish sci-fi writer although not as well known as the authors mentioned by you.

Language / WISŁA or VISTULA?? [46]

Yes. Exactly like that.

Language / WISŁA or VISTULA?? [46]


I think that similar as we with the exception that they read the "H" just as a Ethnic Silesian would spoke our "H". So it's not exactly our "H" but isn't also our "G", I don't think we use such sound in our alphabet.

Anyway... I'm not a linguist and can be wrong on a lot of matters concerning languages. So I corrected myself in my earlier post because I thought that it could be the same sound (as both are close to each other and the Czech use the "H" just as we use "G" in words... Hora - Góra, Praha - Praga, koho/èeho? - kogo/czego? and so on...), but I found out that it's a different sound so I was wrong.

Language / WISŁA or VISTULA?? [46]


Bad example... "H" in the Czech language is the same sound as the "G" in Polish... So the pronunctation of Prague in both languages is similar if not the same...

EDIT:
Ok nevermind me... They're not the same sound :p ,my bad...
though the "H" in Czech is used similarly in words as the "G" in Polish...

History / History of Poland in 10 minutes. Really worth seeing! [134]


Yes sorry my mistake... I meant rather "the way of documenting and presenting history", because history itself (as strictly seeing it as past events and their causes and consequences) in it's nature isn't opinionated.

History / History of Poland in 10 minutes. Really worth seeing! [134]

Hello


It's a history clip about one given country (Poland) not about the history of the whole humankind for god's sake, and it's still only limited to 10 minutes so it lacks of a lot of other important events in the history of poland (for example the fragmentation period). Every historiography in every country (no matter which and no matter where) can be opinionated in some facts to some degree (mainly in the way of interpreting things), but those are still proven facts.


You are showing us how the spaniards fought against Napoleon? Because I didn't get your joke and could find it offensive.