Off-Topic / Trans-sexies undermining women's sports - Terlikowski [14]

Polonius, the governing bodies of sports do not allow people to compete as a member of a gender that is not in accordance with their genes. Thankfully genetic testing is very straightforward and there is no scope for misunderstanding.

You may have moral qualms about people having gender reassignment procedures, but rest assured they will have no impact on your enjoyment of sport on TV...

UK, Ireland / Why do UK people look down on us? Maybe because plenty of Polish people work in the sex and cleaning industry? [51]

I don't think the OP is right that most, or even many, Poles in Britain work in the sex industry or cleaning. However, as InPolska said, a high proportion (by no means all) do working-class jobs in the widest sense.

Does this mean British people look down on them? Yes... and no. Some working class British people resent competition from Polish people, and the fact that more supply of candidates for such roles drives down salaries. Most middle- and upper-income British people rather admire Poles for working hard and being generally polite, friendly and constructive citizens. We're more likely to resent British 'chavs' for living on benefits rather than working hard, like stereotypical Poles. Possibly we don't understand that some of our working-class countrypeople can't afford to take those low-income jobs because they have families or other commitments that some newer residents don't.

One solution to stereotyping is understanding; another is change and integration. As time progresses, more Polish people are moving into management and professional roles, which helps a lot, and through intermarriage etc are better known to us on a personal level.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]


I agree with you about Russian women - typically they're heavily made up, and also prefer clothing such as leopard-skin dresses and real fur coats that would be seen as trashy in the West. It has occurred to me that Poland's geographical location and history may mean it is pulled in both directions, so the style and tastes of its women might depend on whether they're from the west or east of the country and how international they are in their outlook (correlated to education levels).

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]


Sex slaves? In the UK? Which city? Obviously I'm moving in the wrong circles.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

It seems to me that Polish girls/women vary quite a lot. Some go for the natural look, minimal make-up, no padded bras, no fake tan, no hair colouring. Others look like explosions in cosmetics factories. And many others are somewhere between the two.

This may be stereotyping but I suspect the more educated and socially upscale are less likely to do a lot to change their looks. So the OP, being a graduate, probably favours the natural look.

Love / I'm a Polish girl (my boyfriend is British) and I'm proud [58]

@ Polish_girl, your boyfriend is a very lucky guy. And you've explained very well precisely why British guys are attracted to Polish girls :-)

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]

@ Lolek, if that picture is of Allison, she's a very beautiful young woman, and much, much more than just 'OK'

Everybody please focus on the daughter of Polish President

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]

Is that you Allison? Beautiful!

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]


Yikes! Don't like either. Something brash about Russians.


I've shat better-looking turds.

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]


+1. Very pretty indeed...

News / Polish-foreigner marriages increasing [48]

+1. In fact the OP reports that most of the marriages are with other EU citizens, so it is self-evident that the majority of such unions have nothing to do with passports, or Arabs.

News / Is Kinga Duda of Poland the most beautiful first-daughter of the world? [50]

Your second sentence is probably true, but that doesn't change the fact that Kinga is abnormally attractive compared to most of the world's women - it's just that Polish women are uniquely good-looking, so she's not exceptional relative to her fellow countrywomen.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]


It's true :-). In my class, taught by a Belgian, we had two native French speakers - a Mauritian girl and a boy brought up in the UK but whose mother came from a very working class family in Marseille and spoke some kind of Provencal dialogue with her son at home, so his French was not of the sort normally heard in the Grandes Ecoles. So my experience of learning French was somewhat unusual...

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]


If you re-read my post, you'll find that I was referring to the accent, not the person. A person of Polish nationality and descent who has spent so long in the UK or US that they have no Polish accent when speaking English but instead sound like a native speaker has the accent of a native speaker, and therefore someone wishing to learn English from them can be confident of learning the language without acquiring a non-native accent.

As an aside, like many British people I learned to speak French at school. My teacher came from the French-speaking part of Belgium. Consequently, when I am in France (I have a second home there), the locals joke that they should buy me some chips covered in mayonnaise - the stereotypical diet of a Belgian...

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

My 'foreign accent' I mean an accent associated with a country where English is not the native tongue. An American, Canadian, Australian or Kiwi who speaks English with the accent of their home country is a native English speaker, just as a Scottish, Welsh, Irish person or someone from the North of England is a native English speaker, albeit one with a regional accent.

You also mentioned a stereotypical south London accent. Its owner is also a native speaker, albeit one with a (class-based) accent.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

@ Vincent, I define 'native standard' as using grammatically and idiomatically correct English, pronounced without any discernible foreign accent. An authentic regional British accent is acceptable, though Received Pronunciation (RP - the accent used by educated people from London and the South East of England) is preferable.

Yes, a person with an accent or who makes some idiomatic errors but who is a great teacher could help a pupil to speak English to a high standard. But their speech will never be to native standard unless they also invest a lot of time conversing with genuine native speakers.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]


I don't claim to have any teaching skills; but then, I'm not marketing myself as a teacher. My point was simply that the OP, though she may be a fantastic teacher, is a good rather than great English speaker, since I and others can tell from what she writes that she is not using the language to a native standard.

BTW I think you mean 'irrelevant' rather than 'irreverent' :-)

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

@ Vincent, the difference is that I'm not marketing myself as a teacher of English to Poles or other foreign nationals. I'm just supporting others in pointing out that while her English is easily understood, it isn't idiomatically perfect. That may not matter to most potential clients, but some might be concerned by it.

@ InAmerica, are you seriously suggesting that ProfTeacher's English is better than mine? Or that yours is? I'm a native speaker, from the mother country rather than a former colony.

Classifieds / Private English Lessons by Experienced Professional Teacher in Poland (Warsaw) [107]

As a person who is 100% British, born to British parents, always had the UK as my main home, I agree with Smileitout (with the possible exception, as someone else pointed out, that 'infested with' is more commonplace than 'infested by', which he or she subsequently corrected). Despite hailing from a country to which we sent our convicts, Smileitout is a native English speaker and his/her observations are correct.

As InPolska pointed out, while the OP's English is very good, it isn't quite at the level of an idiomatically correct native speaker, plenty of whom live in Poland's main cities and provide English language lessons. So it may be that the OP would achieve more success teaching and translating to and from Russian, that being his or her own tongue.

Love / Do Polish men think that Polish girls are materialistic and demanding ? [37]


+1. I think a woman who chooses a man for money is despicable but a woman who rejects or stops loving a man because he does not take his responsibilities seriously is entirely reasonable.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


Actually the very high level of mortality of women in childbirth meant that multi-generational and extended family units in which children had only their fathers and not their mothers were depressingly commonplace until the 20th century in even wealthy countries.

Likewise hunting, wars, starvation and sickness could kill men, forcing women to live without their mates and children without their fathers.

The nuclear family may always have been an aspiration, but it reached its zenith as a reality in the 1960s, as early mortality waned and divorce and elective single parenthood hadn't yet become widespread.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

I think there is a lot of stereotyping and anger in this debate. Surely we can all agree a few points.

In a perfect world, every child would have two parents who are together, love each other and the child very much, are good parents and also good providers and role models.

However we don't live in a perfect world. Sometimes, one parent dies, the parents stop loving each other, one changes in personality and creates an unpleasant environment for the other and any children so there is separation. Some other times, a woman becomes pregnant and doesn't know who the father is, or the father is not interested in being part of the child's life, and she does not have an abortion (possibly because she has seen some of the comments on forums such as this about women who make that choice, or because she lives in Poland where the procedure is illegal in almost all cases).

For all these reasons and more, sometimes children live in homes where there is a mother but no father. In most instances, this happens for unavoidable reasons or because the mother is trying to provide the best life she can for her child, given that she cannot provide the 'ideal' I described at the very beginning.

In some other cases, there is only a father. I notice nobody is condemning men for bringing up children on their own...

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


Do you mean you're an independent, feminist woman who therefore attracts men who like feminists (i.e. straight), or that you are a groupie for such women (i.e. that you're gay)?

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

@inPolska, maybe I'm weird but I prefer the idea of dating a woman who has lived alone some of her adult life. That way I'll know she's with me because she wants to be, and not because she's afraid of being criticised for being alone. Plus it shows she can be independent and self-reliant. Yes, it seems I'm a groupie for feminists :-)

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


I've heard that said about Poland. Despite it being quite a feminist country in some ways, there is a feeling that single women in their 30s are ostracised by other women who feel they will 'steal' their men, because women could not possibly be happy on their own. This sets women against each other, when they should be supportive of their own gender, and I wonder if it also makes women reluctant to walk away from bad men because they fear the stigma of being alone.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


I agree with both ideas. But I also think that the selfish men who get girls like this pregnant should also be made to take responsibility. They too are foolish. Do other things that please a girl sexually but don't involve ejaculation, or wear a condom, unless you want a child to come into the world that is yours, so your responsibility.

Love / Polish - Pakistani relationship. How it works in reality? Are Pakistanis a good men? [70]

I agree with InPolska. Typically, Muslims and Pakistanis in particular exist in a culture that treats women badly. While no country is perfectly equal, the rights and status of women in Poland are better than in most countries, even within Europe. So unless the OP's Pakistani man has consciously rejected his upbringing, religion and culture and wants to live as a Northern European, or the OP is prepared to be a virtual slave, this relationship is unlikely to flourish for long.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


Someone who leaves a bad marriage isn't necessarily being selfish. They may be doing it because both partners are unhappy (they've grown apart) or because one is behaving unreasonably. That behaviour may be having a negative impact on any children they have. In fact, far from being selfish, someone who ends a bad marriage may be doing it to protect their children from an abusive spouse. Would you want a woman to remain married to a paedophile for instance, if they were being abused by their father?

I agree with you that marriage isn't always smooth sailing, but it should generally be a supportive and life-affirming experience. If one person is unhappy and religion, the legal system or pressure from family keep them in it, it's a form of imprisonment for them.

As long as people have the right to divorce, it creates an incentive for spouses to behave more considerately, helping make marriage a much better experience for most people.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]

Most human beings want to love and be loved. So if a woman leaves her partner or husband as Rozumniemnic did, it's because she no longer felt that way. Would you rather women stayed in loveless relationships out of legal obligation or economic necessity?

IMO suggesting Roz didn't know how to listen is offensive. She comes across as one of the most reasonable and engaging people on this forum, someone it would be a pleasure to exchange views with. Unlike some of our more blinkered and dogmatic members...

The idea that other men would see a divorced woman as 'a ball and chain with attitude' and 'avoid [her] like a plague' is also very hurtful. I look at divorced women as women who have the self respect and independence necessary to walk away from a bad situation, who deserve our respect. I could easily fall for one :-).

And as for the suggestion that a woman in such a situation would become a lesbian... I don't know whether you're in a relationship, but if you're single and take this view of all divorced women you're missing out on some decent and loving women if you think divorcees are like this. Why not be a little more open-minded? You might find love - or at least some new friends :-)

Also I'm not aware of any evidence that boys bought up by single mothers become gay. I grew up in such a home, and I'm 100% straight.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]


I think the problems you're experiencing are down to chavs. It just happens that some of them are Polish.

As others have said, the solution is to get a decent job, earn more, and move somewhere better.