Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies.

They have no guts to kick out a lot of people with connections. Those judges should go long ago to prison.

This thread is about education, not judiciary. hihihihi

Some students are immune to education. It is not their fault - they strive and work hard but to no avail. I pity them a lot.

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It is amasing how approaches change during our lifetime. A dozen years ago, mobiles and smartphones were banned in school and students could get punished for using them in class.

Today, the Ministry of Education recommends smartphones as a useful educational tool.
So.....

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Last week I attended the funeral of our class form teacher from high school times. She was a bit crazy and uncommunicative and we were a bit scared of her but now when I recall the time I realise she actually helped us a lot - e.g., she defended us against other teachers or went to them and asked for better grades for us. That is why I got 4 in Latin instead of 3 on my final certificate. :):):)

Besides, there was a period when I stayed alone at home for a year coz my parents decided to start a new family (dad) or travel in the world (mum). I stayed with the dog and was a bit lost and started fekking up with school, skipping classes, partying etc you know what I mean. Then she helped me a lot, like some good auntie.

That is why it was my fekking duty to come to that funeral. Now I added her soul to the list of souls I regularly pray for. Rest in peace, Mrs Barbara - let your soul be taken to Heaven for all your good deeds.

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Which subjects did she teach?

I knew you would ask that question. She taught chemistry - I was in biology chemistry profile class coz I initially wanted to become a vet.

How about foreign languages?

We had English and Russian for 4 years in high school. Plus Latin for two years. In elementary school - German for 3 years and Russian for 4 years.


It was my dream coz we had always had a lot of pets at home. But I changed my mind seeing the unsurmountable scope of work in major subjects - chemistry and biology. We also had advanced Maths and Physics. I slowly started hating sciences coz they were so boring and turned to humanities - history, Polish, languages - much more exciting, my fave till today.

Interesting. Thanks:-)

Atch, at the funeral, I kissed the hand of my Maths teacher who, while in school, on the surface seemed very demanding and strict but in fact was a very decent person. She tortured me with difficult advanced stuff because it was her job. But I could see she appreciated my efforts and she let me pass to the next class. It wasn`t always so with other teachers who sometimes got a bad attitude to a student for personal reasons.

Looks like a beautiful funeral. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis (may her faithful soul be at God's right hand).

I also changed my planned field of studies one year bevor final exams. My teatcher told me that her will cactus grow on the hand if I finish the studies. After graduation I met her by accident and there was no cactus in sight.🌵

:):):) Which subject??
Similarly, my English teacher told me I had no chance to pass an entrance exam at English philology department at a major university. She didn`t like me coz I was very good in the first year and then stopped studying completely. I got a grip in the fourth year when I knew I wanted to study English. But she was very sceptical till the end.


Yes, a lot of people came, teachers (now retired, of course) and a lot of former students. Amasing but the priest who gave the farewell speech and ran the funeral was her former student, too.

When the coffin was laid down, a trumpeter played a known tune.

Thanks again for sharing, pawian.

One teacher of English decided to quit teaching English. Another is taking a one year maternity leave. The remaining teachers of English will have double full time. Again.

This is reality in our school.
This is reality in all schools in Poland where PiS rightard rulers have destroyed the education system as much as they could.
Luckily for my school, I don`t mind double full time, coz I am used to hard work.
Johhny, are you still planning to fire me from my position??? hahahahaha

:):):)
Darling, teaching as a career was my fully conscious choice in the third year of my graduate studies after I went to a high school to do compulsory apprenticeship. As a young man I had interaction with students and loved it immensely - I realised no other job could give me so much fun in life. :):):):)


Not in Poland and not in case of native Poles - most of my generation didn`t have English at school due to the shortage of teachers then - Russian or German were more popular. You needed to invest a lot of money in your English education. The truth is that teachers of English were the elite in the Polish education system. :):):):)

Any questions?? :):):)


Easy, Milo, easy. Everything is under control. :):):)

The problem, and scarcely limited to Communist-Era Poland, was that all foreign language instructors weren't native to the country whose language they were teaching, be it English, French or German (Russian being perhaps the exception).

In the US, most "elite" high schools, colleges, universities, generic language centers, will typically INSIST on their foreign language teaching staff being native speakers. For this reason, the quality of such instruction is usually on a high level.

Why Americans as a whole stink at learning other languages is therefore hardly due to the quality of teaching as much as the age at which serious and thorough language acquisition begins!

In certain Northern countries such as the Netherlands or the Scandinavian countries and contemporary Germany, English is taught essentially from the first form/grade on, allowing the pupils to grow up with English as though it were their mother's milk.

Although in truth, the teachers may not all be native English speakers, unlike with languages here in the US, the former are bombarded daily with English, especially American English, from the Internet, the radio, and TV.

While this doesn't guaranty necessarily "good" English, it does expose them to this subject nearly at the same time as they are acquiring their mother tongue.

Agreed.It is because most Americans don't feel a need to learn foreign languages.

That is the problem.

IME Americans often sort of... respect the idea of learning languages (they just don't have the foggiest idea how to begin....)

Brits more often than not seem against the idea on principle....

I've never heard an American brag that they don't know the local language and I've heard a few Brits do just that... (not all, there are exceptions both ways but that's the way the majorities roll.... ymmv).

A lot was to do with the way they used to be taught.

Sometimes French people launch into French at me without asking if I understand them. I do speak the language but usually pretend I don't.

The same with Polish-Americans in the starówka in Warsaw. They usually ask if I speak English when they want directions or whatever. I say "nie".

@jon,
A number of years ago, I was visiting Budapest with my wife. Obviously, we were both American tourists, however Diana doesn't speak a word of Hungarian.

While I know the language well enough for basic conversation, I resented when several random American fellow passengers on our Malev flight (but who didn't recognize us!) began just chattering at us in English in the lobby of our hotel, Hilton Szaloda, on the Buda side. I too pretended I didn't understand English, at which point they thought we were non-Anglophone Hungarians and politely apologized:-)

Had one of them with a phrasebook or in English asked, "Pardon me, sir! Do either of you speak English?" I'd have been glad to to have responded.

Not a problem but a reward for knowing the only language worth knowing. The rest is a combination of metoos and total garbage - Polish being a garbage language.

Now, let's try the same in English....

I would respond if they asked, "Excuse me...Do you speak English?". Or, better yet...

I would respond if they asked me if I speak English.

Lyzko, you have a problem.

..and you by association being a garbage person, having the stench of such refuse comments on your entire being!

What do you wish to prove by your benighted arrogance, not to mention ignorance?
Shock value?
Well, I for one am far less shocked than plain disgusted.

I wish to show you that the way you write is not normal. Actually, it takes an extra effort to understand your pompous, high-brow, patronizing, pseudo-intellectual English. Don't do that.

Your last post is a good example of it.
I googled "benighted arrogance" and got 35 hits. In the entire internet universe, Mars and Moon included, that phrase was used only 35 times!
Plus one. Here.
Do you see the problem or not yet?

Back to the subject of the thread please..school issues in POLAND

Your lack of education is scarcely my concern, is it!
I don't dumb down, pal, I level up so handle it:-)

Each teacher in Poland is obliged, according to the Teacher`s Chart, to work on his/her self-development and self-improvement. In my annual reports on it, I regularly include my participation in various English speaking fora, like this one, for example. I write it is an excellent means to practise and develop my basic English coz, unfortunately, my students are much more basic than me and I can rarely learn sth new from them.

But I still do from time to time. I hold competitions for testing my vocabulary knowledge. They look for various English words in dictionaries on their phones and then I am supposed to translate them into Polish. I do very well with formal stuff, but when they find sth colloquial or even slangish, I have problems. Luckily for me, they mostly look for formal vocabulary/phrases coz they consider them difficult. hahahahaha So, I usually provide the correct translation for 8 out of 10, for example.

Those little rascals don`t realise it is them who do the most learning during such events. hahahahahaha

I had our apartment at my disposal coz my older sister had also left to her future husband`s house. So, most class parties were held in my place. Some guests had to be put up, especially male mates who drunk too much and weren`t able to return home at night (no public transport and taxis too expensive for student`s pocket). Those were wild times.

Until my mother came back after a year to take care of my preparation to the final exams. Paradise Lost! hahahahaha

@pawian
Did your dog survived these wild times.