POLISH MYTHS - let's debunk or prove them!

just finished reading yesterday's article on onet.pl about myths.

portalwiedzy.onet.pl/4868,11116,1620000,1,czasopisma.html

i must say, i am routinely amazed at the number of myths i hear in poland, much more than i remember in the states.

now's a chance to discuss common myths in poland and whether they are true or not!

let's debunk.....or prove.....some of them!

i'll start:

-drinking a shot of vodka every day when you visit Egypt to avoid getting sick from the food or water? MYTH. yet it's amazing how many poles have told me that they did it, and they miraculously stayed healthy!!!

-kielbasa is healthier than that "crappy fast food" because it's natural. MYTH.

I had a kielbasa in Swiebodzki in Wroclaw on June 20th. I came down with food poisoning which lasted for 2 weeks. The first 3 days I couldn't even keep water in. The first 12 days I couldn't eat anything... only after 13 days I was able to eat some white rice. I lost 10kg.

Snake venom is also natural, but it doesn't mean it's healthy ... :-S

- Poles are dumber than people from the other countries (inferiority complex) MYTH - Poles are much more educated and familiar with geographic and historic knowledge.

Drinking vodka is a cure of everything.

for somebody who is feeding only with fast foods, natural kielbasa can be a poison ;P

"A vodka a day keeps the doctor away" (but one can replace "vodka" with anything really ... :-S).


Well ... if I would eat only fast food, I guess you would have a point ... :-S. But I pride myself eating healthily and balanced (with the occasional "sin", of course). I guess I shouldn't have sinned ... . I noticed when eating this thing, that it wasn't completely cooked, but I thought it wouldn't do any harm ... :-S. How wrong I was ... !

Greenlulu wrote:


certainly a myth, but the inferiority complex.....an interesting topic. i teach teenagers quite often and they seem to have the attitude that Poland is a crappy place which i think makes them rather defensive, which is only a natural reaction.

with this generation, the inferiority complex, IMO, is more about them seeing their country as inferior, rather than them as people. the younger polish society, because of TV, internet, the EU, on and on, have far more opportunities than their parents did, they study languages and travel abroad, so they have a feeling that they are capable of being sucessful, yet often times are held back by the country itself.

is their feeling of being held back by their own country for good reason, or are they really just worse off than others? myth?

i have spoken to a lot of solemn looking teenagers in the classroom so......just an observation.

- Native teachers of English are always better than Polish ones - MYTH.

This forum alone shows why.

Sure, there are some truly rubbish Polish teachers of English, but there are equally dreadful native teachers.

I found this to be very true. Its amazing how many people thought the US is paved with gold. Right now, Poland is a better place for me then where I live. In Poland, I would have work. The official unemployment where I live is 14%. I think it's actually much higher.

Myth.


A friend of my friend says that he earns lots of money in USA by... SELLING ICECREAMS!!! He has saved something about 100 000 PLN in a year in total!! Its no wonder we think of USA being paved with gold

Eating a silverquick (i.e. from broken theremometer) causes death or severe poisoning.

MYTH. Liquid mercury is not absorbed by human digest system at all. Dangerous is only inhaling mercury vapours. Liquid mercury in room average temp vapours thats why we need to open windows and call proper services if we break up a theremometer .

Delphiandomine wrote:


is this really a "Polish Myth" though? I mean.....do you meet lots of people that think a native is "always" better?

In my experience, the native vs. non native situation has always been treated as "they both have their uses in the classroom", but never "A is better than B".

Another few of Polish myth:

- foreigners, especially Westerners, are intelligent, honest, good looking and rich.
- in the West there is full freedom and no censorship


That may a myth that is not specifically Polish. A myth nevertheless, and it does exist among many Poles.

z_darius wrote:


not denying it, just wondering......for example?

i have to try some kielbasa in Swiebodzki , Wroclaw...

;)

Yes. There are all sorts of pluses and minuses. A good professional teacher, regardless of nationality, is better than a certain type of TEFLer with a relatively limited toolkit of methodology and a sophomoric understanding of the English language. Or, God forbid, many of those who give English lessons because their spouse/gf/bf/retirement home etc is in whatever country and they want to earn their keep. Though not all - everything depends on the person and the context they're teaching in.

That said, most competent natives can get better results that most non-natives - I often wonder if that's to do with their different career settings and often different types of students..

As for kielbasa being better than fast food, the same principle applies - it depends on the fast food and on the kielbasa.

You cant really say things that are not politically correct, whether they are true or not, cause you can easily get accused of racism sexism or whatever.

"Ppl from such countries like: Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, are always liberal in every aspect of life"
Common myth in Poland.


why jad kiełbasiany is called kiełbasiany? ;)

for the US (still probably the country which is most free speech friendly) some examples are:

COINTELPRO, software cryptography laws, "indecency laws" guarded by FCC, DMCA act which stifles research, various gag orders in matter of public interest, free speech zones, political correctness, Carnivore Project.

Yes. You in Britain have 1001 accents and a person who hear british accent only in bbc first wouldn't be aware of this diversity, secondly would not be able to communicate in real life with Brits.


You have right that some prepared natives can explain grammar exelently and be the best in this task... but mind that they need to know a little polish to know what can make a trouble to their students and common mistakes they may do.

What I said is not my own opinion but common (obiegowa opinia?). I don't know is it true or not. I thought we were talking about myths in this thread...


I haven't been attending any english lessons since 2007. The last course in language school I had was in 2002 (you know that if someone really wants to learn a language need to take courses in languge schools). Most things I write are "na czuja" and I'm aware of that (and the gramatical errors... I just don't know how to express some things)

This thread is not about English Grammar lessons

zetigrek wrote:


for the record, i'm american.

to get back on topic: everyone in america has a gun. MYTH. you'd be amazed how many times i've been asked that question. my response is always, "i only carry a gun when i'm riding on my horse."

;)

the comment, "I know this guy from country X and he speaks excellent Polish, no mistakes."

i hear this from Poles all the time.

MYTH?

Hm, in the current spirit:

*Polish history is free of blemishes and there are no dark periods in Poland's history as an independent country at all*

Myth.

>^..^<

M-G (2 cents)

1. Polish women are the most beautiful in the world. False (imo) but it's all subjective.

2. All Poles are well-educated. False. Some are, many are definitely not.

3. All Polish men are drunks. False. As above.

4. Polish women are all gold-digging sl*ts. False. As above.

5. Chicken soup cures-all. True! Well sort of. Obviously it won't cure non-Hodgkin's lymphoma :D but even the kosher-parev (i.e. non-meat) Hebrew alef-bet soup I bought once made me feel better when I was ill, so there's obviously something in chicken soup, even if it's not the actual chicken - lol! :)

You and Harry conducting a war?

There is basically only Sokrates who thinks otherwise about what you just posted...

Maybe there is a placebo effect?

:D

NorthMancPolak wrote:


i would think so. i constantly read people trashing the polish educational system on here.

I've heard the exact opposite...
and having been raised in Canada (sorry) I must say it seems infinitely times better than in North America.

And at any rate, "bad" education in Europe is generally "the best" compared to many other countries.

I think we'd really need to experience it first-hand to get the clearest picture. Poles say they have the best education system but they haven't really experienced others enough yet. Besides, it's not much use when there are bills to be paid and you can't find a suitable job with what you have.

It was good during PRL. After PRL polish education is in the decline... in 1999 (educational reform) reached the bottom. If somewhere education is worse than that polish after reform... then it must be really bad!

My parents learn at school... integrals! And it was obligatory for everyone (not only classes maths profiled). When they were graduating their unis it really meant something, it was easy to be dropped out.

FUZZYWICKETS
actually I have never seen hear any critics of polish education on PF besides me... Who else critisize it? Rest is too old to be aware what has happened with polish education during last years...

It is dumbing down of the educational system because middle class wants to promote their offsprings.It is a worldwide process.Let the sh1tters collapse by clogging the compensating factors.

In Greece they are in big sh1t now.Just enjoyable to see them how they squirm and burn.

That's true to a point, southern. However, many don't want to let their standards drop. The paranoia of those that fear advanced internet users will not dissuade those from setting high standards.