POLISH MYTHS - let's debunk or prove them!

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Jul 27, 10, 10:49 #1

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

http://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.

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Jul 27, 10, 10:59 #2

FUZZYWICKETS:

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

greenlulu7Threads: - Posts: 14 Joined: Jul 26, 10 ♀	Edited by: Moderator Jul 27, 10, 11:07 #3
- Poles are dumber than people from the other countries (inferiority complex) MYTH - Poles are much more educated and familiar with geographic and historic knowledge.

king polkakamonThreads: 1 Posts: 1,018 Joined: Dec 30, 09 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 11:14 #4
FUZZYWICKETS: drinking a shot of vodka every day when you visit Egypt to avoid getting sick Drinking vodka is a cure of everything.

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Edited by: Moderator Jul 27, 10, 11:14 #5

Stu:

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

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

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Edited by: Stu Jul 27, 10, 11:35 #6

king polkakamon:

Drinking vodka is a cure of everything.

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

greenlulu7:

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

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 ... !

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Edited by: FUZZYWICKETS Jul 27, 10, 14:59 #7

Greenlulu wrote:

Poles are dumber than people from the other countries (inferiority complex) MYTH

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.

delphiandomineThreads: 40 Posts: 9,577 Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂	Edited by: delphiandomine Jul 27, 10, 15:04 #8
- 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.

lowfunk99Threads: 18 Posts: 435 Joined: Jan 7, 08 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 15:26 #9
FUZZYWICKETS: Poland is a crappy place 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.

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Edited by: zetigrek Jul 27, 10, 15:52 #10

greenlulu7:

Poles are much more educated and familiar with geographic and historic knowledge.

Myth.

zetigrek:

I found this to be very true. Its amazing how many people thought the US is paved with gold.

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

zetigrekThreads: 59 Posts: 2,710 Joined: May 20, 10 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 16:22 #11
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 .

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,821 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 16:32 #12
Delphiandomine wrote: - Native teachers of English are always better than Polish ones - MYTH. 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".

z_dariusThreads: 22 Posts: 5,091 Joined: Oct 18, 07 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 19:17 #13
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 FUZZYWICKETS: is this really a "Polish Myth" though? That may a myth that is not specifically Polish. A myth nevertheless, and it does exist among many Poles.

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,821 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 19:27 #14
z_darius wrote: - in the West there is full freedom and no censorship not denying it, just wondering......for example?

pgtxThreads: 48 Posts: 6,268 Joined: Feb 14, 09 ♀ [Moderator]	Jul 27, 10, 19:40 #15
Stu: I lost 10kg. i have to try some kielbasa in Swiebodzki , Wroclaw... ;)

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Edited by: jonni Jul 27, 10, 19:41 #16

FUZZYWICKETS:

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".

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.

jablkoThreads: - Posts: 156 Joined: Jul 13, 10 ♂	Edited by: jablko Jul 27, 10, 19:42 #17
z_darius: - in the West there is full freedom and no censorship 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.

zetigrekThreads: 59 Posts: 2,710 Joined: May 20, 10 ♂	Edited by: zetigrek Jul 27, 10, 20:15 #18
"Ppl from such countries like: Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, are always liberal in every aspect of life" Common myth in Poland. greenlulu7: for somebody who is feeding only with fast foods, natural kielbasa can be a poison ;P why jad kiełbasiany is called kiełbasiany? ;)

z_dariusThreads: 22 Posts: 5,091 Joined: Oct 18, 07 ♂	Jul 27, 10, 20:39 #19
FUZZYWICKETS: not denying it, just wondering......for example? 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.

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Edited by: Moderator Jul 28, 10, 13:20 #20

FUZZYWICKETS:

interesting comment. so say a guy from England, born and raised, speaks in a "weird twisted accent"?

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.

FUZZYWICKETS:

that's a huge generalization.

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...

scottie1113:

Really? You should sit in on my classes if you want to learn grammar..

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

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,821 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Jul 28, 10, 13:42 #21
zetigrek wrote: You in Britain have 1001 accents 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." ;)

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,821 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 00:22 #22
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?

MareGaeaThreads: 45 Posts: 5,529 Joined: Feb 6, 08 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 00:41 #23
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)

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Aug 3, 10, 00:49 #24

FUZZYWICKETS:

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

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! :)

Sire BrensharThreads: 1 Posts: 86 Joined: Jan 23, 10 ♂	Edited by: Sire Brenshar Aug 3, 10, 06:57 #25
MareGaea: Polish history is free of blemishes and there are no dark periods in Poland's history as an independent country at all Myth. You and Harry conducting a war? There is basically only Sokrates who thinks otherwise about what you just posted...

MediaWatchThreads: 29 Posts: 1,264 Joined: Aug 30, 08 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 07:08 #26
FUZZYWICKETS: 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!!! Maybe there is a placebo effect? :D

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,821 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 07:16 #27
NorthMancPolak wrote: 2. All Poles are well-educated. False. Some are, many are definitely not. i would think so. i constantly read people trashing the polish educational system on here.

Sire BrensharThreads: 1 Posts: 86 Joined: Jan 23, 10 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 07:20 #28
FUZZYWICKETS: 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.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Aug 3, 10, 08:21 #29
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.

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Edited by: zetigrek Aug 3, 10, 09:13 #30

FUZZYWICKETS:

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

Seanus:

Poles say they have the best education system but they haven't really experienced others enough yet.

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...

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