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Posts by MrBubbles  

Joined: 13 Nov 2007 / Male ♂
Last Post: 3 Jan 2011
Threads: Total: 10 / Live: 4 / Archived: 6
Posts: Total: 613 / Live: 156 / Archived: 457

Displayed posts: 160 / page 5 of 6
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MrBubbles   
18 Feb 2010
Study / Medical Study in Poland [22]

I said Americans who get a degree in Poland are not going to be as respected or get better jobs

True. The teaching infratructure here is nowhere near as developed in the UK. I'd doubt the students in Poland get as much benefit from their time at uni.
MrBubbles   
24 Jul 2010
Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

the Polish education system isn't already dumbed down?

Interesting. Do you really think that the success of an education system is measured purely by its ability to 'teach numeracy and literacy'? There's nothing more? Well, not if all you want are graduates able to work machines in factories I suppose.

Anyway, the big problem with being a teacher in Poland is that the system is geared towards passing exams. When you teach a language, you are only training students to pass an exam and anyone with a coursebook and a working knowledge of the target language can do this. The profession has become so dumbed down that I'm not surprised that teachers have no respect from management, students or indeed, other teachers.

Walk into any state sector teachers' room and you will see it filled with people smoking ciggies and moaning about how unfair it is they earn so little and only get 4 months' holiday a year to spend in their second house in the country (paid for by hubby). They keep their jobs because the system makes it impossible for natives who invest in their own development (CELTA, DELTA etc) to compete with them on equal terms.

It would be interesting to see if this ties in with other people's experience of other sectors.
MrBubbles   
24 Jul 2010
Work / Is it normal for companies/schools in Poland to be rude? [116]

getting people in a position to be employable after finishing high school

True. I guess the degree functions as a gatekeeper though - keeping the 'undesirables' out of certain professions - more than actually training people to do jobs. It'll take a fundamental shift in public perception to acknowledge that many jobs that graduates now do could be done by a school leaver with some life experience and a bit of common sense.

Still, with the expansion of the private sector, who knows?
MrBubbles   
24 Jul 2010
Love / Why do Polish women prefer foreigners for boyfriends and husbands? [418]

I don't think a piece of paper is enough :) I think he's probably a Jew who was born in Poland. He's more Jewish than Polish, that's for sure

Help me out here. How does being Jewish preclude you from being Polish anyway? Judaism is a religion is it not? Can you say 'more Polish than Catholic' or 'more Indian than Hindu'? Of course not.

Im no feminist..I just think we all women (as long as the dont break the law) are worthy of respect

I agree, hot cheeks. Now go get me a sandwich :)
MrBubbles   
2 Aug 2010
Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

Personally, I never thought 'paki' was racist, I always thought it was just an abbreviation of 'pakistani', like 'brit' is short for Briton. However, I'm not the one who was getting called 'paki', so I wouldn't have known if it was offensive

You've hit the nail on the head here. Making some sort of equivalence between 'brit' and 'paki' is commonly used when defending racist statements and, from the point of view of language, they are both abbreviations. However, the usage is of course different - I don't remember seeing 'Brits out. or f**k off Brits' painted on my house or hearing it shouted when bricks came through my window, as has been the experience of many British Asians with Paki (which incidentally seems to be a bucket term for all people from South Asia)!

Language becomes offensive when it offends, and racist language is ugly because it is designed to offend and is perceived to be so.

The question is whether murzyn falls into this category. It certainly marks someone as different but does it do so in an offensive way?
MrBubbles   
2 Aug 2010
Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

Looks like the loony left is raising its silly, Monty Python head again

Oh I'm sorry - are you talking about me here?

That was actually a sackable 'offence' in the UK's Labour party in the 1970s/1980s

Were you in the Labour party during that time? It would explain how you know so much about party policy, not to mention also why you now live in your mum's attic.

so any word on what "white people" is in Polish? can we continue to use polak, or is the loony left offended by that too?

Indeed. If we assume that 'black person' is used to mark out people that are different, then 'white person' would be redundant. Why would you need to say 'look at that white slavic-looking Polish person over there' when you live in Poland?
MrBubbles   
2 Aug 2010
Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

OK fair enough. How about 'ten biały' or something? That would be a statement of fact in this circumstance..
MrBubbles   
2 Aug 2010
Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

But it would lack the same connotation. Murzyn would usually be black man in predominantly white society whereas bialas would be white man in predominantly white society...

would you describe a friend or family member to someone as murzyn?

I'd probably use their name
MrBubbles   
5 Aug 2010
Law / Does anyone here know how to fill in a PIT/ZG form (earnings in Poland)? [5]

I'm trying to figure out how to complete a PIT/ZG for overseas earnings to go with my PIT-36.
pit.pl/att/deklaracje/2009/pit_zg_v3.pdf

I've been reading through a guide at pit.pl
pit.pl/jak_wpisac_w_pitzg_dochody_zagraniczne_pity_roczne_2007_3923.php
but I'm stuck at choosing the right field for my tax - one says 'according to art 27 ust 8' (column b), another is 'art 27 ust 9' (column c0 and the third is something along the lines of 'tax alread paid in connection with c'. Does anyone know where I can find a guide for this?

Thanks
MrB
MrBubbles   
11 Aug 2010
Life / Cost of Living in Lodz [50]

You can easily live on 3000 a month - I know couples who are bringing a child up on that combined income. Your big expenditures will be from accommodation and maybe bills (although that depends on your landlord).

Water/phone/electricity/Internet is for sure another 1000 PLN.

A month? No way
MrBubbles   
4 Dec 2010
Life / The Polish school? What's it like. [26]

Poland has the highest percentage of students getting to tertiary education in Europe and the lowest per capita spending. What do you reckon?
MrBubbles   
5 Dec 2010
Life / The Polish school? What's it like. [26]

a situation where vast amounts of peope have "papers" but very little skill or ability for the real world.

Not to mention that they do something like 12 different subjects at high school. They get to university without any real depth of knowledge - the content is all memorised from lessons for exams, most of which of course is promptly forgotten.

Teachers have papers to correct, lessons to plan, parents to meet, teachers' conferences to attend, etc

The teachers I know do very little planning and I know for sure there isn't the same level of pastoral care / professional development required in the UK. If they are so busy, how come they find time to do private classes?
MrBubbles   
5 Dec 2010
Life / The Polish school? What's it like. [26]

When I was a kid in Poland I had chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, and biology in primary school

Well done! I'm sure you were exemplary in all of them.
MrBubbles   
5 Dec 2010
Work / If you were to compere Polish Unis and Unis/Colleges in your country... [75]

it took them from may to October ... they said they had wanted to employ me but didn't know how many students they were going to have

Yes, that sounds like bulsht on their part - more likely everyone was on holiday for the Summer.

Unfortunately unis in Polad are graded on the basis of research and publications rather than quality of teaching. Until that changes, there won't be any improvement for the students.
MrBubbles   
12 Dec 2010
Work / If you were to compere Polish Unis and Unis/Colleges in your country... [75]

Note that Polish IT specialists are highly valued everywhere. I know many people who graduated such faculty (at public unis, not private which sucks) and they work around the world. So if you don't know something stop talking bs.

Maybe, but considering the huge demand for IT specialists at the moment, the typically uncreative nature of the job (perfect for Polish degrees) and the fact that most of the graduates spend all their leisure time playing with computers, it's not surpising is it? That and they charge half the price of graduates from the UK
MrBubbles   
15 Dec 2010
Law / I am married to a Polish citizen. How can I get residency? [36]

all your story lacks is a bit of bad english and an eternal love for a blue eyed kasia.

So apart from the fact that his English is good, he has residency in the states and doesn't display the hallmarks of a visa scammer, you say he is a visa scammer? Genius
MrBubbles   
25 Dec 2010
History / Poland in a Slavic Union/Alliance/Federation? [335]

this region have a lot to offer to the world together

Apart from prn and cheap labour? Not a chance. Also, why would Russia need Poland for anything?

I imagine Slavic union as a black free,gay free community a counterbalance to Germanic influence.

Surely the other way round
MrBubbles   
26 Dec 2010
Language / Slovio - the international simplified Slavic language [37]

There are no Slavs. It isn't a race nor DNA-based group. There is no common history. There is no common civilization.

Spot on - it'll probably be ignored by the rest of the forum though
MrBubbles   
26 Dec 2010
History / Poland in a Slavic Union/Alliance/Federation? [335]

if every Slav spoke two Slavic languages from different geographical
groups, the communication would become almost as easy as with Slovio

Or they could just learn English - wouldn't that be a better idea?
MrBubbles   
26 Dec 2010
Language / Slovio - the international simplified Slavic language [37]

The word, signifier is there that means something is signified.

I'm sure in the virtual kitchen of your mind there are also unicorns and goblins helping with the dishes but it doesn't mean I can ask them to chop my vegetables. Similarly, there is nothing real that distinguishes 'slavs' from 'the rest of the world. Slavic languages share some features as do some people who speak them but there is no slavic race or people these days.

R1a1 Y DNA haplogroup

Sorry, you're saying there's a Slavic gene?
MrBubbles   
26 Dec 2010
History / Poland in a Slavic Union/Alliance/Federation? [335]

this vulgar, peasant language, we (Slavs) are all more or less forced to learn it for
economic or academic purposes

The peasant language used for world commerce and academia? I see.

Peasants will always learn English as a foreign language, because of economic reasons. Elites, on the other hand, can learn different Slavic languages or some artificial inter-Slavic language and use it to communicate with one another.

Oh sorry. Now I know you're pulling my leg - I thought you were serious for a while there! So, elites within the Slavic group will use a Slavic lingua franca to communicate with other Slavic speakers - How absurd! As if they have something more to sell than prnography and cheap cars! And the rest of the world can stuff off eh? Comedy gold!
MrBubbles   
27 Dec 2010
History / Poland in a Slavic Union/Alliance/Federation? [335]

English is the international language of commerce and academia precisely
because of its primitivism (or, I should rather say, simplicity)

I hate to break it to you but older, more 'primitive', languages tend towards greater inflection - Latin is a classic. English in that sense is more 'modern' than Polish. As is this 'Slovio' which nobody speaks apart from a handful of fruit and nut jobs in linguistics departments.

Slavic elites

What are they going to do after backing themselves into a linguistic dead end? Sell amber to the Romans? Trade with the orient for spices? Maybe open links with the Americas for cotton? Pah
MrBubbles   
27 Dec 2010
History / Poland in a Slavic Union/Alliance/Federation? [335]

There would be no "linguistic dead end", as Slavic elites would
also know English (and other modern languages)...There's no reason
for us to speak to one another in English or French, when we can use an inter-Slavic
language, and in that way honour our unique heritage and culture.

You are going to honour your heritage and culture by inventing a new language which 10 people will speak to each other when they get together round the dinner table every year to play Dungeons and Dragons? Sounds really cool. Will you have a secret handshake too which only 5 people will know?

I see you modestly include yourself within the secret circle of the slavic elite.
MrBubbles   
29 Dec 2010
UK, Ireland / I worry about the Poles working in the UK [77]

Things are going to get rough in the UK over the next couple of years. The Tories have slashed public sector jobs and the private sector is probably not going to soak them up, leading to higher unemployment. VAT is set to rise too. However, benefits are probably going to be cut.

Not a good time to be a foreigner working in the UK.