Work / Working in Poland without speaking Polish [75]


How would you know that or come to that conclusion? Seeing that you are based in the U.S., as you have said yourself, would that not be a hard judgement to make?

Work / English teacher - Language schools in Warsaw - any advice? British school. [11]

I am not sure I understand your comment. British School is not a language school?

Work / English teacher - Language schools in Warsaw - any advice? British school. [11]

Sorry, i thought the thread was about "British School", the language school franchise in Poland.

Thanks for clarifying.

Work / Working in Poland without speaking Polish [75]

Lyzko, I have lived abroad for 15 years in different European countries. When i lived in the French speaking part of Switzerland, I did not speak French yet i did not feel excluded. When i lived in the Netherlands, I did not feel excluded (although for me as German it was easy to learn Dutch). When I lived in Czech Republic, I did not feel excluded. When I lived in Greece, I did not feel excluded. And now, that i live in Poland, I do not feel excluded from society. My knowledge of the Polish language is rather poor (even after 3 years) and I have never felt not to be part of society. On the contrary. Poles are very welcoming and happy to to include you, even invite you to their families. You do not have to speak the language to part of society. The only way to be excluded from society in Poland is if you chose to be excluded yourself.

Work / Working in Poland without speaking Polish [75]


I assumed that when i said "lived" it would have been self-explanatory. I have managed to integrate into Polish society without knowing the language (or at least not knowing it very well). I even visit the theater and don't understand anything. Yet, it is pleasure for me to go and part of integrating. As I said, if you don't speak the language it does not mean you have to live in exclusion from society.

Work / Working in Poland without speaking Polish [75]


Of course! That's part of it. But it is impossible to learn the language of every country you work in if you work here and there. However, I do my best to use the little Polish i know in every day life.


You see, I do not know if I am here for the long-haul. I am in Poland now. Maybe for one more year, maybe two, maybe three maybe for the rest of my live. I do not know how long my Poland stay will last for. But if i ever realize that my stay here will be longer than my working contract indicates, i might put in an extra effort to learn the language properly. Until then, I get by with what I know and still enjoy being part of society as much as the Polish people, who welcome me into their midst, enjoy to speak English to me while teaching me a bit more Polish.


Why would you assume that every foreigner going to Poland goes to Poland for a girl? There are plenty of other reasons to move to Poland.

But, when i lived in Holland i dated a Scottish girl. For the first three weeks I didn't have a clue what she was saying to me. Perhaps that was the reason why we got on so well. She could talk and I would just be a good listener........

Work / How to find work in Warsaw "if u don't speak Polish" ! [176]


Again, according to your own statement, you are based in the U.S. How can you comment on the situation in Poland with a "LOL"? I find it your insight knowledge from across the pond absolutely amazing.......

Work / How to find work in Warsaw "if u don't speak Polish" ! [176]

Your whole post does not make sense. Are you able to give a realistic statement from the U.S. about the situation in Poland or not? So far it is only mambo jambo.

Work / How to find work in Warsaw "if u don't speak Polish" ! [176]


You are missing the point. There is nothing to admit. You do not need to know Polish to be part of society in Poland. Yes, it helps but it is not a must. But anything you say does not change the fact that you would not know because you don't live in Poland. You are based in the U.S.. What you write here are only assumptions.

Work / How to find work in Warsaw "if u don't speak Polish" ! [176]

Possibly, yes, but I am most likely not the only one.........

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]

At the end of the day, only the pilot is to blame for what happened. Even if Kaczynski told him / ordered him to land, it is the pilots call to make.

As the pilot, he is in charge of the aircraft. Similar to you driving a car, turn at a crossroad and your passenger tells you that there are no cars coming. You wouldn't take his word for it and simply start driving, would you?

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


I honestly don't know. But, the pilot is in charge of the plane. Kaczynski or any commanding officer do not have the authority to make the pilots decisions.

News / Polish final report on Smoleńsk aircrash [853]


So, I guess we are in agreement?

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]


It depends on the area. When i lived in Bytom, it actually saved me when I started speaking English to a group that came towards me. It was pretty clear that they were looking for trouble. When they asked where i am from they turned out to be extremely friendly and welcoming when i answered that I am from Germany. This area of Bytom is still Ruch Chorzow territory and Ruch supporters / ultras do embrace the fact that "Koenigshuette - Chorzow" and "Beuthen - Bytom" used to be part of Germany. I am not sure if it would have helped me if I was from England or anywhere else in that case.

Generally though, I would not recommend to start speaking English if you are being approached by a shady character. In this case in Bytom there was nowhere else for me to go so it was either see what was going to happen or come across overly confident. Not recommended though. Better to try to walk away, if you still can.


Anything would have been dealt with more serious back then. In Belarus they still uphold these police state "values". I have never felt safer in any other country I have ever visited. But that also means that you have to live with police at every corner and total control, even in the most private parts of your life. I think that there are not too many Poles who would want that back.

Life / Streaming online Polish TV [85]


20 zlotych too expensive for 30 days of high quality viewing pleasure? I understand that you are trying to promote your blog, but come on.......20 zlotych is quite a good deal. And on weeb.tv you can watch all channels on their website whereas your horrible blog only links to other pages.

Life / Streaming online Polish TV [85]


You should keep repeating the address more in your posts. It makes it even more believable that your agenda is to "help others" and not to promote your own blog :)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


That was me saying that. I would prefer to stay out of this ridiculous thread please.

If you or the admin decides that you need to feed the troll johnny rep and actually reply to his "demand" to know where the admin is from, suit yourself. Don't bring my quotes into it. Thank you!

Life / No Easter Bunnies in Poland? [7]

"the Easter Rabbit, appears to be missing" - No surprise here. I'd go AWOL too if i had to carry tons of Easter eggs in this weather.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

@ DominicB - "About 4000 PLN monthly brutto is about the best you can expect," - this is now the second time that I see you spread your wisdom and sell what you write here as facts.

As a Spanish native speaker, a technical helpdesk / support job in Warsaw would pay about 6500 - 7000 PLN brutto. Can you please advise where you got the 4000 PLN from? Is this taken from your own experience or do you have any contacts in the SSC / BPO sector in Poland?

Basically you have just scared Hernan off moving to Poland by telling him utter nonsense.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Not really Dominic. Do you really think that all the technical support agents / helpdesk operators are highly qualified IT experts? In most cases they will undergo a training lasting between 3 - 6 weeks which specializes them on the products / applications they will support.

They also most likely have a database of common errors available to them with which they will be able to solve the problem according to step by step instructions. These databases are usually updated regularly.

The OP has stated 5 years call center experience. That experience and the language is key here. The rest will come with the training provided by the SSC / BPO's.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Again, Dominic, what do you base your posts on? Do you have any experience in the SSC / BPO sector in Poland or do you have any contacts?

I can see your point but it seems that to me that you are mixing the job market for locals with the job market for foreigners.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Sorry Dominic, that is the biggest nonsense you have ever written here on this forum. How would the SSC / BPO's ever attract native speakers with 4000 PLN gross per month?

"I started and ran the largest weekly social gathering for young tech and science people in Wrocław for six years" - and yet you still come up with such nonsense as in post 8.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Dominic, you need to look into the SSC / BPO sector first before you start posting. You clearly have no idea about the salaries that are on offer. I am not talking about "big salaries" but most certainly more than the 4000 PLN gross you have mentioned.

You also need to get away from the "heavy-duty qualifications". What counts is the language skills in most cases. The rest will be provided to them in trainings. BPO / SSC's have contractual obligations. In most cases they have to employ a certain number of native speakers. To get them and more important to keep them they have to attract them either with higher salaries or with benefits such as free accomodation.

All these multilingual service centers, whether BPO or SSC, are competing against each other. Just recently in Lodz, one of the companies started to pay contract signing bonuses. They are actually paying a bonus for someone to join them.

Anyway, CPL's "2014 Salary report" shows the average. With 5 years call center experience the OP would fall in either the "Specialist" or "Senior" bracket, no matter what he did in that call center. Again, the language and call center experience is what counts. For the rest, the product / products or applications he would support, he would get the training. Scroll down to page 21 of the report.

cpljobs.pl/Documents/CPL%20Jobs%20-%20Salary%20Report%202014%20-%20Summary%20of%202013.pdf

As an example, I know of a girl who was responsible for printing customer credit card statements for a multinational bank for several years. Monkey job right? Yes, i agree! Yet she was hired by a BPO as a "G/L accountant specialist with German" and actually seniors the people without experience by 2 job bands.

That's reality Dominic.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Once again, as in a similar thread you are responding to examples I give you with "nobody would do that". I guess that's because you don't actually know what you are posting about.

Dominic, you said that you work / worked as a translator. I guess that's working for yourself? So how well would you know the service sector really? I am not talking about your small translation contracts you may have with your clients.

I have been working across different countries in Europe for almost 15 years. Most of the time in Shared Service Centers. I know the sector very well. I know the contractual agreements SSC's have towards to their local entities and BPO's towards their clients. I am very well aware of how competitive recruitment agencies are to bring native speakers (Spanish, German, French etc) into their client's contract instead of some other recruiter to their client. I also very well know what a foreigner in Poland can and can not ask for.

It is a pity that you are not even trying to understand but instead reply with "Get real". You may want to ask Polish people why, more often than not, they are quite upset when they look at the salaries of their foreign colleagues.

Perhaps you can start discussing facts and examples (I have given you one) instead of just scaring people off with your posts which are based purely on assumptions.

By the way, I am not saying that non-specialist foreigners should be paid what they are being paid. I have seen a lot of people that simply made me shake my head wondering how they ever made it to the airport to actually come to Poland. But........that's the way it is.

Work / I know 4 languages and am moving to Warsaw by next year, jobs advice? [25]

Do you actually have any examples or facts to talk about are we still discussing your assumptions which you are trying to sell as facts?

6000, 6500 or even 7000 PLN is hardly a "fat paycheck". I have never said that but it is considerably more than your max. 4000 PLN gross which you probably came up with out of nowhere.

Any facts or real life examples? Because I am not willing to continue to discuss your fantasies with you.

Genealogy / Are Silesians people German/Germanic? [178]

Yes Crow. I guess Angela Merkel, the EU and NATO Germanized them. Regardless of the fact that in the referendums held in a lot of cities and towns across Silesia in 1920 / 1921 the majority of people voted to remain as part of Greater Germany.

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]


Not to blame them but surely you will not deny the antisemitic stand of the Armii Krajowej which has a street named after them in literally every Polish city?

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]


In my opinion it does not matter. Poles like to point their fingers at Germany or Russia (and in some way rightly so) but when doing so they like to forget about the atrocities committed by Poles during the war. I wonder how many streets in Poland would change their name if history would be taught without missing important factors.

Law / Polish Visa Refused, Going To Make Appeal, What should I do ? [81]


Can you back that up by facts and real life examples? Or is this, once again, something you make up as you go along?

"Serious money" is not a reason for a person to return to their country. What they are normally looking for, apart from whether you can support yourself during your stay, is a genuine reason for the visa applicants return to their home country. Usually they are looking at the family circumstances (is the person married, has a child etc. ), employment records (payslips or other documents that refer the income).

From my time in Ukraine, I know of quite a few Ukrainians who went on bus tours throughout Europe. Most of them earned the average Ukrainian income of 200 - 300 Euro per month and saved for their trip for quite some time. There was never any serious money involved but they had genuine reasons to return to Ukraine and were issued their visa. On the other hand, I have heard of people who were refused a visa because they could not prove a genuine return reason. Yet, they had plenty of money and a bus journey to Europe would have been beneath them.

I would like to hear and understand your examples of how they are "looking for serious money". Perhaps you have ever tried to assist a Non-EU citizen to get a visa and they had it rejected?

I am waiting for your examples.

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]


Who do you refer to as the innocent in this case?