Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British

Absolutely.

Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British

Ok I will share my opinion ...

I have been to UK but as a Tourist ...

I have noticed that people who come back form UK (from work, holyday ... ) Have good opinion about UK citziens, they complain about small things or particular persons (their employer or neighbour, some customs) but generaly they enjoyed UK and its citizens.

What I have heard about UK and I want to ask is it true : Do you feel discriminated in your own country, because a lot of people noticed that in some parts of big English towns they were asked when they were there If they are English and when aswered that they arent, atmosphere was more "safe". What is more I have hearded that there are some wars/riots betwen native and other UK citizens. So it is just the rumor or is it true?

I ask because I was surprised that you have parts of your towns where it is dangerous to be native ...

Not really. Some areas, especially in bigger towns and cities have become ghettoised. I don't like this, but very rarely do I feel threatened by stepping into such an area. Going into poorer areas that are unfamiliar to me generally is what makes me feel uneasy.

Areas that are culturally mixed are fine. I don't know where I'd be without the complete mix of people you find in London for example. In some towns, particularly in the north of England, there have been riots involving some Muslims of Pakistani descent and some of the nastier side of white British people. This is not a regular occurrence.

Something that I really don't like is the chavs that hang around my local shops who make anyone and everyone uncomfortable.

To summarise, the problems we find are more to do with communities condensing into their own areas, and not the fact of having people from all corners of the globe living in our fantastic country. People who continuously moan about the state of Britain are small-minded pessimists who will always find someone else to blame.

Perhaps if u had watched that program you would see the the polish use brute force to. they throw bricks bottles fire crackers and flares......

I find it intimidating when around the polish who are chatting in their own language.

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If a firm in Poland wanted people to put coats on hangers and hang them on a rail,but these people must speak fluent Romanian(which they know is very unlikely) you would be rightfully appalled.It is a blatant discrimination against the local people and just fits inside the law on advertising.

Thats happening here now and if you are a reasonable person you will concede this point.

Migrants are entitled to free language tuition in the U.K so there is no excuse not to learn.
I and many other people in Poland had no such luxury.That said we all learned your language in order to live effectively and we put much more effort into doing it too.At the time I had great difficulty in finding a polish book/cassette to learn with.It was and still is a minor language.English is one of the two main world languages.Books are and always were readily available almost anywhere.Not many Brits will live all year round in Poland,but most of them will learn Polish and many will have a connection or special interest there.

As for which language is spoken at work.. Thats the firms choice but i would say that people must be able to use english when its neccessary-safety,efficiency,e.t.c

it can be intimidating, awkward, lonely and uncomfortable being around speakers of other languages but is this not more to do with one's own insecurities rather than anything else

could you be more specific about this? I have heard of a few courses, but running at specific times (usually when people are working) and certainly not in all areas.. so I think this is a bit of a sweeping statement.

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quote=poohbear] Perhaps if u had watched that program you would see the the polish use brute force to. they throw bricks bottles fire crackers and flares...... [/quote]

Dont believe everything you se on the telly.There are idiots everywhere and they are usually a minority who nobody knows anything about.I lived there for years and the only thing i saw like that was when Lodz played Legia.That was entertaining and it was a closed fight between consenting hooligans.
Some Polish guys do tend to feel the need to make fun or belittle people other groups, but never in that groups own language strangely enough.That doesnt mean that is the norm but those that do it aren't usually very good at disguising the subject of their conversations.That said most conversations are perfectly innocent and you neednt be alarmed.I always try

Who are "we all" ? You may find on these forums many British living in Poland and I doubt that even one of them is fluent in Polish.

Withe a name like 'poohbear' .... I'm not surprised.

I jus find it rude as I will be talking to a polish worker about work related stuff and then another polish person will come along and they both start talking in polish. I find this extremely rude and would also find it rude if 2 English people did the same thing.

It probably is considered rude if one person was in conversation with you at the time. However, I know that I am guilty launching into English at 100 MPH in a Scottish accent whilst Polish friends are present. Sometimes it's just natural to slip into your own "tongue".

so tell them that it is rude ... and you feel offended. becuse you are repeating it all the time and what we can do for you here

Yawn...

If Im talking to a person regardless of their language I dont expect them then to just start a conversation with another person about something totally different.

Seriously ?

Just the very arrogant attitude I been talking about. Grzegorz!!!!!!!!

I'll tell ya another problem that miagrant workers bring to this country. Our wages are going down as alot of English people wont work for low wages so the companies employe europeons because they will work for anything. It aint on!!

The UK has a minimum wage. So it's not a matter of working for anything is it ?

Also, read this link.....http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2673795.ece

It's about how "Weekly mean earnings of migrants are also 60 pounds higher than their UK counterparts." As well as, "Migrants are more reliable and harder working than British-born workers and are boosting economic output by 6 billion pounds a year".

This is information from a Government study recently published.

So your comments are false, very misleading and ill informed......:(

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quote=sapphire]

Quoting: Nigel
Migrants are entitled to free language tuition in the U.K so there is no excuse not to learn.

could you be more specific about this? I have heard of a few courses, but running at specific times (usually when people are working) and certainly not in all areas.. so I think this is a bit of a sweeping statement. [/quote]


This area has a lot of free courses to match the high number of migrants.They are all free
and our run by the local colleges.I have arranged for several Polish people to attend them and they were very happy with the course.Good employers can have the tutors come to the workplace when they have large numbers and a suitable training room.The firm I contract to did that-again free. You can even do a free IT course in MK which is done on a casual drop in basis.If you look for whats on offer you'll see that GB is bending over backwards to help people increase their skills.

I knew many people.Brits,italians,spaniards,yanks,belgians e.t.c they were mainly in business or teaching and they all spoke polish to some extent.True they werent all fluent but they could get on with what they knew and would only get better with time.
Poland is a very difficult place to be if you dont understand a word.If you live in a student town or a tourist area you may have a chance of speaking only english,but try for yourself one day to cope a whole day in say..Krakow on english alone and then imagine everyday like it.Most people dont expect fluent English or even good english.They do expect to see effort and They will do the rest in order to make the conversation work.

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quote=Lady in red] The UK has a minimum wage. So it's not a matter of working for anything is it ? [/quote]

It does but that doesnt mean you can take a pay drop to go to it.Your mortgage was arranged at the earnings you had when you started it.If your pay drops or stops rising(effectiverly a drop) you will find yourself struggling.If your firm always paid above the minimum but now doesnt because it has lots of poles you're entitled to be annoyed I think.
They may be earning more because when you're here alone all you can do is work.When you have children and a partner to entertain you are less available.I earned much much more before my family came here to join me.Dont twist the facts unless you've thought about it.and the migrants are not more reliable and hard working,their just easier to take advantage of because of their social and financial circumstances.Not many people could keep up with me and i aint a pole.

I'm not twisting any facts. And I do think about my posts, do you ?

Read the news and the Government reports that have been published which are based on facts and hard evidence rather than relying on heresay and one persons opinion !!



You're one person, therefore one view.

'Migrants 'have better work ethic' news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7035441.stm

See also :-'UK jobless rate in further fall'
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7048465.stm

Quite right. But at the firm I hope. It is their actions after all.

sounds like a good initiative.. if anyone knows of free English classes in London that are available in the evenings or weekends I would be happy to hear about it.

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quote=sapphire] sounds like a good initiative.. if anyone knows of free English classes in London that are available in the evenings or weekends I would be happy to hear about it. [/quote]

ask at your local college and they will tell you how to do it.Good luck

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Yes at the firm, and anyone amongst those workers who may find it humorous.

I have found this thread very interesting (Living in the north of england)

Yes "us Brits" are reserved, but ply us with 'proper' vodka and we soon come out of our tiny shells.
I have read the grafitti requesting that Polish people should leave 'our' country - I'd rather have a Polish person as a friend / neighbour than some narrow-minded racist who doesn't even like him/her self and takes it out on everyone else.
As for 'taking our jobs' - If the Polish people didn't have any pride and didn't work for what they want in life, they would be berated for 'living off the state' - keep working I say and keep the bigots and narrow minded fools out of a job.

The world is a far more interesting place when people from different cultures / backgrounds get together - my life has been enriched by my Polish friends and I hope they could say the same about the english people they have met.

Sorry for the rant - but I had to get things off my chest - I hate it when one human being abuses another human being just because they perceive them as being different in some way .......

You're not sorry are you?
I couldn't have put it better myself.

I like you already! I agree.

Another vote for Davidoff from me