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Rafał Wołk

Rafał Wołk I'm not arrogant,
you're just offended
by my confidence.

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

warren whitmore:
it doesn't hold for people in English speaking countries, which are very insular, and not greatly interested in cultures and
languages other than their own.

I feel like things in this dept. are progressively changing.

For many native speakers, 'abroad' is a place occupied by funny foreigners who speak English poorly.

Ha! That's a pretty accurate description. Right on the money I think. Better yet, they get rather upset if after going abroad they are forced to deal with a gov't official who doesn't speak English. However they find nothing wrong with the fact that none of the gov't officials in their own countries speak any foreign languages.


I don't think it is possible to learn a language to a very high level if you only wish to know it for purely practical purposes.

Jarek might disagree with you here... but he is sort of a weird freak hahah...


Not many people do though, do they. Every year the competence of British people at speaking foreign languages decreases. Nowadays, if an average person can speak a foreign language, they are suspiciously 'clever' and 'showing off'. It simply isn't something that an ordinary person manages to achieve any longer.

One hand that's a pretty fucked up attitude, on the other hand... well, nearly everyone speaks English!
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Aneta W.

Aneta W. "People are better
than no people..."

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Ha! That's a pretty accurate description. Right on the money I think. Better yet, they get rather upset if after going abroad they are forced to deal with a gov't official who doesn't speak English. However they find nothing wrong with the fact that none of the gov't officials in their own countries speak any foreign languages.
oh we were asked to bring an interpreter for our interrogation at the office for foreigners in Warsaw. I personally think that it's an absurd... At least there, they should have people speaking common foreign languages like English, German, Russian...
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Aneta W.

Aneta W. "People are better
than no people..."

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Ola Willers:
Agreed on Poland, Aneta. I can only imagine how tough it can get now(although four years ago, I went through this with my husband who speaks very basic Polish).

In my post, I was referring to some English people who have recently moved to Asia (see my earlier post).

Good luck with the job-hunting!Ola Willers edytował(a) ten post dnia 16.08.09 o godzinie 14:34
Thanks :)
So do you live in Poland now? How is your husband's Polish? :)
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Rafał Wołk

Rafał Wołk I'm not arrogant,
you're just offended
by my confidence.

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Aneta Frank:
Ha! That's a pretty accurate description. Right on the money I think. Better yet, they get rather upset if after going abroad they are forced to deal with a gov't official who doesn't speak English. However they find nothing wrong with the fact that none of the gov't officials in their own countries speak any foreign languages.
oh we were asked to bring an interpreter for our interrogation at the office for foreigners in Warsaw. I personally think that it's an absurd... At least there, they should have people speaking common foreign languages like English, German, Russian...

I don't think so. You are trying to move here and not the other way around. It would be nice if they knew English, but it's really not their responsibility. [This comes from someone who's spent years in and out of immigration offices in the US where English is the only language... and even that is at a level of an upper int. at best]
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

I think every person who studied English (or any other language) at some point in life wanted(or still does) to live in an English-speaking country, just to hear the lng 24/7. I'm a lng freak,love the sound of AE,that's why I would probably go for the States, CA to be more precise(need the sun like all the time!!!:).of course people move 'cause of b'fs/g'fs,husbands or wives, but they may not like the idea of moving.but to move willingly,esp.at an "older"age(= when you're not a student anymore,'cause then nothing really keeps you here,no good job/family/mortgage,etc.)takes something more, like loving the lng,culture,geography,etc.to the (considerable)extreme;)you still get homesick though...good idea is to keep your(Polish) place for the retirement,just in case:)))
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Recently I've met a Swede who'd just moved to Wroclaw, Poland for work.
His Polish is non-existent now. But he has lots of Polish friends. One nice thing about his attitude that I've noticed: whenever someone said something to us as a group, he answered: "Tak?"*
(It was quite coherent in the given context)
My reaction was surprisingly positive, I automatically appreciated his effort to use the absolute minimum of Polish he knows. It's kind of sweet.

*tack is thank you in Swedish;)
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Aneta W.

Aneta W. "People are better
than no people..."

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Rafal Wolk:
Aneta Frank:
Ha! That's a pretty accurate description. Right on the money I think. Better yet, they get rather upset if after going abroad they are forced to deal with a gov't official who doesn't speak English. However they find nothing wrong with the fact that none of the gov't officials in their own countries speak any foreign languages.
oh we were asked to bring an interpreter for our interrogation at the office for foreigners in Warsaw. I personally think that it's an absurd... At least there, they should have people speaking common foreign languages like English, German, Russian...

I don't think so. You are trying to move here and not the other way around. It would be nice if they knew English, but it's really not their responsibility. [This comes from someone who's spent years in and out of immigration offices in the US where English is the only language... and even that is at a level of an upper int. at best]

I get your point. But there are many people here who have nobody that can help them and going to an office like that is horrifying for them. Maybe they know English but there is nobody that can help them. I'm not talking about a local post office. I think that at least in the office for foreigners all employees should speak English especially that they have information in English all over the building. And I know that many do speak English but either they are too lazy to use it, or they are scared to use it.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Aneta Frank:
Aneta, the language spoken in Poland is Polish. Few gov't officials will speak English to you even if they are quite fluent in it. And they will never take any responsibility for things written in another language. That's the law.

In certain places you need sworn translators to fill in certain forms or register for official procedures. I know how frustrating and absurd it is;)
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?


I get your point. But there are many people here who have nobody that can help them and going to an office like that is horrifying for them. Maybe they know English but there is nobody that can help them. I'm not talking about a local post office. I think that at least in the office for foreigners all employees should speak English especially that they have information in English all over the building. And I know that many do speak English but either they are too lazy to use it, or they are scared to use it.

Spot on, Aneta. What is more, as far as I remember, according to the Polish law (Ustawa o cudzoziemcach), a foreigner needs to be informed about the progress of their application in a language they can understand. I find it bizarre that a clerk in a Polish immigration office cannot (or doesn't want to) speak at least English.
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Aneta W.

Aneta W. "People are better
than no people..."

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

So why do they put English signs everywhere? Why do they put English on their forms? If it was strictly Polish I wouldn't argue but it seems like they give you information in English to make you feel better and then when you actually get there it turns out that you can't get anything done anyway because you don't know Polish. It's just confusing. And I'm specifically talking about the office for foreigners.
I personally do not mind helping my husband and going there but I'm just wondering how people who have nobody are dealing with this.
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Aneta W.

Aneta W. "People are better
than no people..."

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Ola Willers:

I get your point. But there are many people here who have nobody that can help them and going to an office like that is horrifying for them. Maybe they know English but there is nobody that can help them. I'm not talking about a local post office. I think that at least in the office for foreigners all employees should speak English especially that they have information in English all over the building. And I know that many do speak English but either they are too lazy to use it, or they are scared to use it.

Spot on, Aneta. What is more, as far as I remember, according to the Polish law (Ustawa o cudzoziemcach), a foreigner needs to be informed about the progress of their application in a language they can understand. I find it bizarre that a clerk in a Polish immigration office cannot (or doesn't want to) speak at least English.
oh really? my husband got mail only in Polish.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Aneta Frank:
So why do they put English signs everywhere? Why do they put English on their forms?

Maybe the EU legislation requires these to be in English (and any other langauges?)

I'm not familiar with that particular office, but I haven't seen any signs in English in my town in any govt buildings like courts, register offices, etc. Perhaps haven't paid enough attention.

Being a foreigner is not an easy thing and that was exactly my point earlier. You feel helpless in a way.

Is it that easy in any other countries? You're just lucky to know English, so you speak THEIR language (in the US).
I personally do not mind helping my husband and going there but I'm just wondering how people who have nobody are dealing with this.
I guess they manage because they're motivated to get it done :)
And it's doable.
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

So did my husband when we stayed in Poland. We also had to provide a certified interpreteur, on our cost, when we were interrogated in Poznan. This is something I really don't agree with.
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Rafał Wołk

Rafał Wołk I'm not arrogant,
you're just offended
by my confidence.

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Aneta Frank:
Rafal Wolk:
Aneta Frank:
Ha! That's a pretty accurate description. Right on the money I think. Better yet, they get rather upset if after going abroad they are forced to deal with a gov't official who doesn't speak English. However they find nothing wrong with the fact that none of the gov't officials in their own countries speak any foreign languages.
oh we were asked to bring an interpreter for our interrogation at the office for foreigners in Warsaw. I personally think that it's an absurd... At least there, they should have people speaking common foreign languages like English, German, Russian...

I don't think so. You are trying to move here and not the other way around. It would be nice if they knew English, but it's really not their responsibility. [This comes from someone who's spent years in and out of immigration offices in the US where English is the only language... and even that is at a level of an upper int. at best]

I get your point. But there are many people here who have nobody that can help them and going to an office like that is horrifying for them. Maybe they know English but there is nobody that can help them. I'm not talking about a local post office. I think that at least in the office for foreigners all employees should speak English especially that they have information in English all over the building. And I know that many do speak English but either they are too lazy to use it, or they are scared to use it.

Everywhere in the world [no exceptions] you have to pay for an interpreter, why should Poland be any different? UK and the US the number of Polish immigrants is much higher so your chance of getting help grows substantially, that's the only difference.
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Rafał Wołk

Rafał Wołk I'm not arrogant,
you're just offended
by my confidence.

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Ola Willers:
So did my husband when we stayed in Poland. We also had to provide a certified interpreteur, on our cost, when we were interrogated in Poznan. This is something I really don't agree with.

Tell that to the immigration officer in the US hahaha.. you'd get laughed at.
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Rafal Wolk:
Ola Willers:
So did my husband when we stayed in Poland. We also had to provide a certified interpreteur, on our cost, when we were interrogated in Poznan. This is something I really don't agree with.

Tell that to the immigration officer in the US hahaha.. you'd get laughed at.

Luckily, I have never lived in the US, Rafal :-)
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

I think in the U.K. you can sometimes get the help of an interpreter for free.

It's that kind of country.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

If a Polish court appoints an interpreter then it's also free of charge ;)

Same goes for emergency situations with the police.Lidia K. edytował(a) ten post dnia 16.08.09 o godzinie 18:45
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Michal B.

Michal B. stud.

Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

I can easily imagine that, when someone is officially 'brought' to Poland because this specific person is needed here for some higher reason (a scientist, an artist or a specialist in any other field), the person is given an interpreter to assist him or her whenever needed - the hosting institution usually deals with this problem. However, if you bring your spouse, there are only two solutions:
1. She/he learns the local language - even the minimum helps.
2. You agree to assist him/her forever and ever. At least he/she is under your total control :-)
Most foreigners do not even try to learn Polish because they often know they will not stay here forever and can't see how this language might be useful to them once they leave the country.
I know a Canadian lady who chose to spend all her life in Poland and after nearly 10 years here she speaks perfect Polish.Michal B. edytował(a) ten post dnia 16.08.09 o godzinie 19:07
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Temat: Can you picture yourself living in another country?

Michal B.:
However, if you bring your spouse, there are only two solutions:
2. You agree to assist him/her forever and ever. At least he/she is under your total control :-)

This has been a massive source of friction for my wife and I.

At first, she enjoyed doing this.

Later, she got fed up with it.

Unfortunately, it's not just the case of 'knowing the language'. You also have to know the procedures, which are sometimes 'strange'.

Also, if you're doing any kind of business, you will often get a lower price if the deal is conducted by a Polish, rather than English, speaker.

It's very funny observing a nwewcomer to Poland trying to deal with Polish bureaucracy and bureaucrats. (Not for them, of course).warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 16.08.09 o godzinie 21:17
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