STEREOTYPES ABOUT THE POLES - PowerPoint Presentation

STEREOTYPES ABOUT THE POLES

1. THE POLES STEAL

In Germany, Po lish people are often perceived as thieves. Mainly because of: car theft exporting cars abroad The o pinion that the Poles are thieves came after Polish accession to the Schengen zone. A d ebatable issue is the actual participation of the Poles in thefts - many cars and parts are exported to Poland, but their destination is other countries - f or example, Lithuania or Caucasus .

2. THE POLES ARE UNEDUCATED

Nothing more wrong ! Our youth is the most talented in the world. This is the result of the international examination of the skills and knowledge of 15-year-olds - "Program for International Student Assessment". The skills of young Poles far outweigh those that the most developed societies can show off. Polish schools can educate young people who are able to successfully compete with graduates of esteemed schools from Finland, Switzerland or South Korea .

3. POLISH PEOPLE ARE DIRTY

Not true! Swiss decided to check how important is cleanliness for various nations. The study was conducted in 12 countries. 1,000 women and men aged 33-55 participated in each country. Nine out of ten Poles declared that hygiene was very important to them, and others were quite important. Research shows that the most popular way to keep clean is the shower and more than half of respondents take it once a day, and 28 percent two or more times a day. The average time that Poles spend within 24 hours for activities related to personal hygiene is 51 minutes. In other countries, most answers indicate the time interval 21-30 minutes.

4. THE POLES ARE A BACKWARD NATION

This also misses the truth. From our landscape thatched huts, bumpy highways, the shepherds in the meadows and peasants laboriously walking behind a plow disappeared a long time ago. Polish culture is absorbent and universal. We have wonderful, internationally recognized artists - painters, composers, writers, but also architects, computer scientists, physicists and astronomers. Every year the country is becoming more modern and Polish science triumphs in the world. Recently, the Polish satellite has set off to conquer the cosmos.

5. THE POLES ARE DRUNKARDS

The average Pole drinks 12.5 liters of pure alcohol per head - says the WHO report. B ut we are not leaders in drinking. Expressed in numbers, consumption gives the Poles a place in the second ten of the ranking: both in the W orld and in Europe ( which is the most-spanned continent of the globe ) . In the ranking, not only the winners are ahead of us: Belarusians, Moldovans and Russians (respectively - 17.5, 16.8, 15.1 liters per person), but also Czechs and Slovaks (13 liters per person).

6. THE POLES AND RUSSIANS ARE THE SAME

It still happens that in the West they confuse us with Russia, they think that we are part of Russia, and white bears run around the streets with us. The result of lack of education and ignorance are such stereotypes. As you can see, education is not the strongest feature of many people in other more developed countries…

7. THE POLES DON’T LIKE FOREIGNERS

For centuries, Poland has been a multinational state, where various ethnic and religious groups lived side by side. Today, many representatives of other nations also live among us. Scientists, students and specialists from various fields come to Poland. We also accept war or political refugees who are supported by our country. Representatives of many national minorities also live in Poland - Ukrainians, Germans, Gypsies, Lithuanians and many other nationalities.

8. POLISH PEOPLE CONSTANTLY COMPLAIN

That's right - we like to complain. Another thing is that recent times have provided us with a lot of reasons for dissatisfaction. In the Polish communist past people complained about the lack of basic goods, because how not to complain when buying sugar or toilet paper sometimes was a miracle. On the other hand, we have always been able to laugh at ourselves. As the old proverb says, in the socialist bloc Poland was the most laughing barrack, and the absurdities of everyday life became a breeding ground for many great Polish comedies and cabarets.

The rapid political transformation after 1989 and young capitalism brought further reasons for complaining - the uncertainty of tomorrow, unemployment, low wages. Many of us still have problems finding themselves in new reality and despite the steady economic growth and membership of the European Union, more than half of Poles think that their life rate has not increased. Our favorite subject for complaining - but fortunately and jokes - are traditionally politicians. The tendency to complain is rare among younger generations. Young people, just like their Western European peers, are open to the world and new challenges, they look to the future with optimism.

9. THE POLISH DON’T SPEAK FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Nowadays, foreign language skills are practically the basis for working abroad. The ability to communicate in a given language is very important for employers. According to research conducted by TNS Polska , over half of Poles (56%) declare that they knows at least one foreign language. Among young Poles this percentage is even greater. In the last few years foreign language skills have grown both among young and old Poles.

The young generation knows English at least on a communicative level, while older people are often able to use the Russian language, obligatory for many years in our schools. The study of foreign languages, recently also exotic, eg Japanese, is today in fashion, as evidenced by the numerous language schools and the popularity of language studies. It is generally believed that Poles achieve better results in language learning than Italians or Spaniards, but we lack their Mediterranean ease and confidence in expressing themselves in a different language.