Job Discussion Forums

[ManOfTwoLands]

...before making your first trip to Poland? I'm not sure how much time I should invest in the language before going over there. I'm thinking maybe a month just to learn some basics.

[jenkinsd]

Any investment of time and effort in learning the language will pay off. You should be able to master a nice handful of basic phrases in a month. Poles really like hearing foreigners having a go at Polish, and you'll make friends more quickly if you show that you've bothered to try.

I'd recommend Babbel Polish. I think it's about £8 a month, and you get plenty of opportunity to say the words and phrases out loud.

Once you're there, try and put yourself in situations which will require you to speak Polish. Get away from your fellow native speakers and mix with the Poles. It's the best way by far to learn the language, culture and to get the absolute most out of your experience.

I wish you all the best. I loved my time in Poland and I'd put a fair bit of that down to the fact that I got into the language in a big way.

[Master Shake]

[scottie1113]

I got halfway through Polish in 4 Weeks before my arrival here. It was a good start.

[dragonpiwo]

Not 1 minute.

[Infinite]

As much as you can. It does make your life a lot more interesting. There are many things that you won't find out about if you don't speak the language. Also, it does show a level of respect that unfortunately escapes some. I know quite a few Brits and Americans here who speak rather well and are well into OTHER things besides teaching because of it. It opens up a lot of doors not only in the EFL world. Plus, living somewhere without speaking the language turns you into a jaded individual, as you can see

[dynow]

I got about half way through "Colloquial Polish" and went through Rosetta Stone as well. With that said, I got off the plane and was completely lost.

Everyone has their own method, or priorities I should say with language learning, but I absolutely crammed grammar for the first 2 years there to make sure I wasn't speaking caveman Polish. It paid off because now, I can add words to my vocabulary and immediately integrate them. I'd recommend doing the same but if you're only looking to spend a year there, concentrate on phrases to get you through the day because mastering grammar takes a lot of time.

Polish is a beast.

[dragonpiwo]

Everyone I know speaks good English and I can get by in restaurants and shops.
My pals who speak Polish fluently are still on the same crappy rates.

[Master Shake]

Learning 100 or so basic phrases is definitely a good idea before you arrive. Doing this will see you through your first year in Poland, no problem. Well, unless you're stuck out in a village...

Polish is a notoriously difficult language to learn. As dynow pointed out, it takes a lot of study and mastery of grammar to be able to construct relatively basic sentences and not sound like a neanderthal. For example, even if you know the individual words to make the sentence "I was at the cinema with Shake yesterday evening." you can't just string together the words to make that sentence. You have to change the endings of several words so they respect Polish grammar conventions.

So rather than learn hundreds of grammar conventions with more exceptions than there are rules, I say stick to stock phrases. If you later decide to stay in Poland long term (or have a masochistic streak), then, by all means, hop aboard the Polish grammar clusterf**k.

[dynow]

I still play the "how do you say five of "this"" game with my wife, family, and friends. It's amazing how a room of natives can all provide different answers to what would seem to be the most basic of questions.

I can't decide if I want Polish to evolve or just stay completely ridiculous.....for novelty purposes.

[scot47]

If you do not learn the language you condemn yourself to a life where you have to get a responsible adult to do things for you. A life as an infant !

[Master Shake]

[delphian-domine]

[sparks]

You get one slavic language, you get them all....( for the most part)

[mitsui]

I spoke Russian and people answered in Polish.
I couldn't always understand.

Never understood how some Poles think Czech sounds funny to their ears.