Job Discussion Forums

[depechemodefan1966]

I have to agree wholeheartedly with dragonpiwo's answers.

I have never bothered to learn it and I am honest with people right from the start. Like our friend, I am okay in shops. In all fairness I have never been held back because I don't speak it. with most of the official things I needed to do, there is always someone who speaks English and have been happy to do so as it helps them to practise from it. In fact I have been out with the said people a few times.

Also, my lack of speaking Polish comes in handy sometimes. I am generally left alone in pubs, where English may not be spoken, and I just want to be left alone. It has also come in handy in places like the post office and tax office, where I never had to queue or wait but got special treatment (not that I ever asked for it) simply because the employee spoke English.

To me, it's a bas***d of a language to learn with their millions of zeds in every word, and how a language can have a dozen or so different ways of saying the number two, or somebody's name, is beyond me.

[dragonpiwo]

TBH I'm just lazy and not interested in studying.

[jenkinsd]

The level of blinkered ignorance from one or two on this board is quite staggering.

[dragonpiwo]

Who would they be then?

[sparks]

I don't think Jenkins gets it. If you live in Poland you have to knock it sometimes.

[Master Shake]

[dynow]

Lucky you. Generally, the old grannies in the small shops used to roll their eyes the minute they caught my accent. If I missed a word, that usually caused quiet a bit of tension. I always thought that was odd because most poles welcome a foreigner attempting their ludicrous language....the grannies behind the counter though.....

Shake is right regarding the cultural aspect. Once you can roll in their language, you simply learn more about them. There are a lot of intangibles that go along with someone speaking their native tongue.

I think as long as Poland remains 98% Polish, the quirkiness of the language isn't going anywhere.

[delphian-domine]

I keep saying it, but for me, the beauty of the language is that it opens up so many doors. I'm involved with one project now where virtually every single important person doesn't speak English - including some of the financial backers. If I had to get everything translated, it would be nearly impossible to do because it would take absolutely forever to organise.

But if you learn the language well enough, it's possible to stroll into a cafe in the Bosnian countryside and have a perfectly good conversation with the owner about just why you've rocked up to his cafe in the middle of nowhere. For me, it's quite incredible.

[jenkinsd]

Quite. This "all the people worth knowing speak English" attitude says a lot about that particular person.

[dragonpiwo]

No-one used the expression 'worth knowing' but you. Everyone I know went to uni and as a consequence, they all speak English very well. Even the beggars hassle you in several languages in Poznan.
What would I know? Only been there since 95, have a Polish wife and son and house there.

[jenkinsd]

Oh congratulations, you beat me by a year. Otherwise, I'm matching you in terms of what you would call "cred" - Polish wife, kid, house. I mean, I couldn't have you thinking that I'm unqualified to comment.

Saw your arrogant comment insinuating that those who bothered learning Polish continue to earn low rates. Well, in my case, my fluent Polish helped me to secure my first job in publishing sales, covering Central/Eastern Europe. I now have the entire EMEA region, and although I don't need to brag about how much I earn (unlike some), I can hazard a guess that I'm just slightly beating you on that score (seeing as this is a competition).

[dragonpiwo]

You're amazing. You must sell a lot of Headway to make $110k after tax and get free digs, private health care and all your food thrown in, not to mention a bonus. Hang on a min, I'm just off to 1 of our 3 gyms and 3 pools downstairs.

Where are you based? Poland? Thought not. The wise get out.

Tadaa.

[jenkinsd]

Academic publishing. High-ticket databases and research solutions to universities, research institutes, governments and corporate. And yes, it's a fair bit more than that.

Tada.

[dragonpiwo]

Well done. Are you doing it in Poland or did you have to leave Poland to make that money? And, how many years did it take of living on very little to get a job like that?

The money I make is based on a 3.5 day week 7am-4pm/noon. 99% of the teachers in Poland work their asses off for very little and you know it and it's irrelevant if they speak good Polish or not. I too worked in publishing in Poland ( a national magazine) and speaking or rather not speaking Polish had nowt to do with it. I've never said people don't get lucky but most don't.

I was an options trader in the city before TEFL.

Tadaaa

[spiral78]

Oh, come on, we all know dragonpiwo is The God of EFL - he's the Donald Trump of the boards. Yield! Vote for dragonpiwo - the most successful, rich, right member of the Poland forums. It's useless to resist and argue