Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

I was referring to Polonius's comments about "untold billions of taxpayer money"

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

:) It's ok. I didn't quote because I thought it would be a very quick response, we both posted in the same minute :D

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

Quite excited. I followed it from launch and I was very happy to hear this morning that it landed. NASA noted that it's not designed to search for microbial life, which is a pity - I think that proof of the existence of life outside of Earth is of great interest to many. But each extra-terrestrial mission brings us one step closer to that. We already know a lot about Mars and its history. It's believed that 3-4 billion years ago it resembled a smaller version of earth with oceans and continents. Solar winds stripped away the atmosphere, resulting in the barren wasteland we see today. It's quite possible such an occurrence could happen to us too. Thus, any knowledge we can gain about the history of our closest neighbour (just outside of the 'habitable zone') I think could be of great importance to us.

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]


You misunderstand. They are, most certainly, searching for the existence of compounds. However, the rover is not equipped with technology capable of identifying microbial or fossilised microbial life.


Who knows what the solar system looked like 4 billion years ago when Mars had oceans. Isn't it conceivable that the orbit of Mars was also different? Perhaps even inside the so-called 'habitable' zone. Another emerging theory out there, is that Asteroids are repositories for chemical compounds that serve as the building blocks for life. One connected theory is that similar life may have once existed on Mars, and asteroids that impacted the surface of Mars carried microbial life (which is capable of surviving in the cold vacuum of space) to Earth. If not life, then at least other compounds.

... this might be an interesting video for you.

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]


If anything else, future generations will be able to cook their eggs on a non-stick utensil


Cannot even pretend to know, but there are massive dunes on Mars that are the size of mountains. Who knows what lays buried beneath them :) Curiosity is aptly named.

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

The WOW signal I'm certain was confirmed to be of human origin. Take a look at the video I linked above, the scientist who discovered it explains something about the direction of the signal - further explaining that it was in fact originating from a satellite sent out to orbit the sun.

Also, thanks for the Google Mars link! Fascinating

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]


At around 12:00 to be exact

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

Ah my bad. They said that it has no explanation, it was the second signal that was determined to be of human origin.

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

Alrighty. Well try not to take it too seriously, it's just a light-hearted, layman's documentary with the soothing narration of Morgan Freeman :)

Off-Topic / "Curiosity" Lands On Mars! Huzzah! Poland's Mars Society Must Be Ecstatic. [77]

Indeed it is!

Travel / Winter clothes for trip to Warsaw? [13]

Thick sweater and a medium jacket over the top, some boots (sludgy conditions) and a pair of gloves will be sufficient. I've never used a hat in the whole time I've been in Poland(with lowest temperatures I've experienced dropping to -31c). I don't experience this "cold feet" or "cold ears" I hear people talking about. I almost never wear scarves either. That said, my fingers will freeze and fall off in less than 5 minutes if I don't keep them in my pocket or wear gloves (which is a problem since I'm always using my phone)

Work / Hi, I am Indian and will be shifting to Poland (diploma in Mechanical engineering) [47]


To be precise...

Javed: If I am honest, your chances are not so great. Your history and qualifications are not really that relevant to the types of jobs on offer by international companies. I suggest persevering and taking a Polish language course to increase your odds.

Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]

Going with neither relevant qualifications (you didn't specify what your 2.1 degree is) or experience is a one-way ticket to Misery City. As Delphiandomine said above - "TEFL" qualifications are worthless. If you wish to become qualified so you can put it on your C.V, then only the CELTA / Trinity are recognized and respected. The alternative route sans CELTA/Trinity is to have either (a) substantial [2-3+years] experience with teaching (English preferably) or (b) have a H.E background in education. But as I've said before here and in other threads - having neither of these will end unpleasantly for you. Poland has had an influx of "teechs" since EU inclusion and with surplus comes stricter requirements. Being a native speaker is no longer the deal-breaker.

Do yourself a favour. If you are only planning on teaching because it's the _only_ thing to do to allow you to move here, don't bother. You won't survive the stress, competition, long and tiring days and being ridiculed by students who will most certainly know more about the language than you do.

If you are planning on moving here because you really do like Poland (and not just the tail) and teaching is something that you are passionate about, then get qualified or experienced and bring something to Poland that it doesn't already have a surplus of: uneducated, unqualified, inexperienced and uninterested teachers.

Good luck.

Work / Teaching English in Poland without TESL certificate? [17]

But an experienced and knowledgeable teacher would know when it's better to use L1 or L2, as well as know how to control language output in the class.

I used to follow the philosophy that it's much better for a student or teacher to explain something purely in English as it forces the Ss to think and talk in the target language (which, arguably, seems like the most productive method). However, you eventually come to realise that all of those minutes sitting around and watching the student awkwardly struggle like a fish out of water to find something that they perhaps just don't have, are a waste of time. I had a student some time ago who had only a very basic understanding of English and would often mumble the Polish word they were trying to find. If I knew it, I'd say it, because it's far more productive to spend those minutes teaching or reinforcing rather than destroying their soul and motivation, or creating awkward moments.

Just my opinion :)

Work / Teaching English in Poland without TESL certificate? [17]

No, it doesn't. In a group environment it's different, but in a 1-to-1 setting, it's counter productive to leave them struggling. 60 minutes a day, once or twice a week - spending 5 minutes trying to find a singular word in their memory (which they may not have) for something simple, when you can provide that word for them and allow them to reinforce it is far more effective. That said, if you're in a situation where your students are constantly struggling to find words, then you've chosen a topic that's too difficult :)

Work / Profi-Lingua - Still dodgy/shady? [13]

I do not have direct experience with the school myself, although some of my students who do have, have given them less-than-stellar reviews.

I noticed they have really taken to advertisement lately. Here in Poznań, on at least three different streets in the center of town, you can find people wearing Profi-Lingua shirts and handing out leaflets in an in-your-face way.

Work / Profi-Lingua - Still dodgy/shady? [13]


One student, over the course of six months, had three different tutors from them. Two of them returned to the UK and the third (at which point, my student left) kept using google on his laptop during lessons to answer basic grammatical questions. True, the fault is with the tutors, but the school should also stop hiring lemons. I also heard horror stories about another school in Poznań. Payment was in the form of a contract over one or two years (two years being the better deal, of course). Payments would be made monthly, but it turns out that the school would take credit from a bank for the full amount under their name using the contract and invoice the credit to the students.

It seems it's actually quite a challenge to find an honest, respectable school :) Language school owners seem to be quite ... specific characters.

Work / Profi-Lingua - Still dodgy/shady? [13]


Also, let's not forget that there is no screwing around. Most language schools are really reluctant to amend contracts with a little protection. Only two schools I've worked with have allowed a clause in the contract whereby, if my students were to cancel a lesson within 24 hours or (as has happened) they just don't show up, then I would still get paid. Frankly, getting a text message on the same day as your class, after you've prepared, saying "Sorry, I can't come today." and knowing you've lost time and money on it, is a **** take. I'm looking forward to knowing that my livelihood is at least a little bit secure and not at the mercy of whether somebody can be arsed to come for classes.

Work / Profi-Lingua - Still dodgy/shady? [13]

Tefl, most owners think the sun shines out of their posterior. Giving them suggestions - no matter how much it increases efficiency, productivity or authenticity, they will still see it as a personal attack.

There was one school here I had an epic-scale argument with over the design of a lesson record sheet. I changed the width of the table because it was out of my printer's printing range... I then had to argue through e-mail for about a week, listening to how they have designed these sheets based on years of professional experience and it will remain as it is. It's 'unprofessional' for one teacher to use a different style of sheet.

Law / HELP - Polish Tax on undeclared money from family [18]

Qwerty, we are going through the exact same issue at the moment.

My fiancee's aunt gave her around 20,000zł to help pay our mortgage and it wasn't declared. We were told about it very close to the cut-off point and actually delivered it 1 working-day late (due-date was a Friday). We went back and forth from the tax office, filling out papers and sending them to here there and everywhere. We are still waiting for the 'punishment' that we have to pay - but no, it's certainly not 70%. Your wife's father is very misinformed. It's around 10% maximum. We are expecting to pay around 700zł on it. Lesson learned: in future, make sure you declare it within the six month time frame or you'll get the old beaurocrats whipping you (and believe me, there are very few people who can match the emotional detachment of a Polish beaurocrat - especially those in tax or immigration offices.)

Good luck, hope you don't get stung too much.

Law / HELP - Polish Tax on undeclared money from family [18]

By "recently transferred" do you mean less than six months? If so, no problem - just declare it as current from when it was transferred. If you declare it, there is nothing to pay. If you miss the deadline for declaration then you pay 10% 'legally', but as with most things here, it seems to be a bit negotiable as we got ours down from paying 2k to probably around 600-800 min/max.

The bank has no right to ask about that, and the tax office cannot look at your bank details without a legal notice (and, if as you say, they don't know about it, then they won't be looking).

That said, I don't know why the punishment is so high. Isn't the fine for missing the deadline of your normal tax declaration only about 50-100zł?

Law / HELP - Polish Tax on undeclared money from family [18]


I'll be on from 12:00 today if you still need me. It'll probably be better than writing on here.


Perhaps, but you're not legally obliged to answer them any more than I am legally obliged to say what colour my underwear is if you were to ask (black, if you're curious). They just have the ability to refuse you credit if you don't comply with their wishes.

Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

Hello Logan,

This question has been answered quite a few times in many similar threads. There are a few ways at the entry-level.

Without any experience or qualifications, and given your age, you can try Callan / Direct method schools. The pay is awful and these types of schools are closing all over the country. The work is easy and requires little to no preparation on your part, but it'll suck the very life out of you.

Schools -- at least the reputable ones -- will demand a teaching qualification (CELTA is the only respectable one) and a degree. You could also get work without them, but any school willing to take you on without them will also be willing to stab you in the back, take advantage of you and mess you around.

Privates won't demand anything from you, but your inexperience will shine through and they will have no hesitations in letting you know this.

Do yourself a favour and get qualified, mature a little bit and really give it some thought. There are too many unqualified and inexperienced 'teachers' - with little passion for the work - flooding the market, making it harder for those with experience, qualifications and passion.

Food / The best MILK BRAND in Poland? [5]

Actually, I don't really like the taste of Polish milk that much, so I tend not to drink it by itself unless I'm dehydrated and there's no bottled water.

But for adding to coffee / tea / (and in rare cases) cereal, I would say łaciate. I think it's about 3-4zł for 1 litre. Biedronka's brand is also quite ok and roughly the same price.

Language / What do you say in a doctors surgery to ask "Who is next in line?" [19]


Where do you live? There are no formalities or politeness here. People will just barge right on up to the front of the queue without any shame whatsoever. If you confront them, they just spout some bollocks. Usually, it's something like "But I didn't see the queue!" or "But there's more than one cash place. It doesn't matter that everybody else is in one queue."

What frustrates me here, is that cashiers (the ones who should really be responsible for maintaining some order and respecting their customer's rights) don't interfere. Many a time, I have stepped in and said something directly to the person when they've skipped straight to the front, the cashier just looks at me like "It's not your business". It is when I've been waiting in the queue for 10 minutes and some self-entitled bat just casually waltzes over. In England, if you skip to the front, it's sacrilege. Everyone will put you in your place and the cashier will tell you to go to the back of the queue.

History / The Bar Mleczny / Milk Bar (memories) [15]

We have an Asian milk bar in Poznań called Ojisan's. Brilliant food, brilliant service and brilliant prices.

I've also been to a more 'traditional' milk bar, but the amount of tattooed, drunken chavs, homeless and virulently sick, put me off a bit.

Travel / How quickly does the sun set in Poland? [12]

Can't really comment on the length, it's never something that I've noticed - though it does tend to get dark slowly. However, maybe I've just lost the plot since moving here, but the Sun and the Moon appear much larger to me here than they did in Brighton. I took a (shaky) video of a sunrise over the river a few days ago, maybe I'll upload it. I also got a great view of a sunrise last week. A large field stretching for miles, at the end were some trees and the mist was just pouring out of them and filling the field. Couple that with a gigantic orange sun just peeking over the horizon and it was a brilliant start to the day :)

Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]


I suspect you're referring to me. Six weeks to find a student isn't exactly "charming the birds from the trees", especially when that first student was only one class. What I tried to explain to you was that the paramount factor in regards to your success is not the paperwork. You focus too much on the 'should I / shouldn't I' of the CELTA. It's also a matter of luck and connections, but moreover it's the aforementioned determination and attitude. I know of excellent tutors with no qualifications becoming extremely successful in very short periods of time. Contrary to this, I know of two people who left Poznań and one in Kraków after failing to find work despite being highly qualified and coming prepared.

I offered to refer some students to you for skype lessons but you did not take me up on the offer.

Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]


Four actually. And you perhaps may have noticed that I have not been on the forums in that time (and if you haven't, feel free to check my profile) - coincidentally since I took my new position. My humble apologies - some of us do work and have very little time for ourselves, let alone strangers on a forum. Perhaps when you wake up at 3:45 in the morning, get home at 18:00 and see your fiancee for 45 minutes before you go to sleep while cleaning the flat for the morrows classes (if you're lucky), you may feel the same. I did offer you a great deal of advice prior to that in my own time and of my own will, did I not? Bit harsh to be such a twat towards me for something so minor.

And what have you done in the past month to celebrate the start of the academic year? Found yourself a job yet?

Work / Teaching English in Wrocław - TEFL, fair pay? [40]

Wow, you got me - I'm such an egomaniac. Thank you for pointing out that using a fact to illustrate a point constitutes bragging, you really showed me. I do love how people like to twist facts into an ad hominem attack - "I offered to refer some students to you for skype lessons but you did not take me up on the offer." Can't argue against it, BOASTING! Explaining why I was unable to do something in response to a personal attack against me - BOASTING!

In response to your first question: including teaching time and all work-related projects, roughly 40 hours. As for your second question: those particular hours? A month. However, I've been teaching here since 2010 and I'm no stranger to very early rises (read: 4-5am) and late sleeps (or none at all). Don't pull the "overworked, underpaid" bollocks on me, this isn't a sob story. Teaching isn't just my profession, I love it in its entirety and that includes the stress and fatigue. That said, I offer you my thanks for caring about my well-being, you are truly a gentleman.

As for you, Lee, you have an attitude incompatible with attempting to break into a competitive market in a foreign nation. You want everything to be served to you on a silver platter and throw a wobbly when you don't get it. I offered you free advice and referrals - something that doesn't come often in Poland. You were no worse off by my own lack of time and in some regards were perhaps better off. But, instead of capitalising on what I shared with you, or just - you know - sending me a message asking for me to send you this portfolio idea instead of expecting me to read your mind, you started throwing insults at me like a spoiled kid - in complete contradiction to this "common courtesy" rhetoric you keep spouting about. At the rate you must be burning through your savings while waiting for your knight in shining armour to ride in with a work contract and a year's supply of lesson plans, I'd suggest worrying about the warmth of your own apartment. Witaj w swojej pierwszej zimy