Job Discussion Forums

lit46 · Joined: 10 Sep 2007 Posts: 18

I'm struggling to set up an exhange in warsaw...any ideas?

dynow · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1080

after reading these posts and judging by my own experiences, i must say that i agree that it just takes luck when finding an instructor that works for you. i've been struggling with Polish for a while now, and I have a girlfriend who is a native Polish speaker, AND an English teacher, WITH a Linguistics Master's Degree, and she can't explain to me some questions i have for her regarding declensions. it's no different with my fellow Polish/English teachers at school. when I ask them some questions, they look at me with big wide eyes, break out into laughter because it's something they've never even thought about before, and then proceed to struggle to explain it.

Polish is a monster of a language, and after a year studying it on and off, and now about 6 months studying it routinely every week, I've come to the conclusion that it's just a matter of time. a LONG time. Polish takes years, and is much different than english. It's not my lamo college spanish classes that even if I paid attention half the class, i would get the gist of the lesson and have the vocab memorized by the end of the week.

moonsongs2007 · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 22

Got a chance to use my Polish at the weekend. Managed to understand and express some ideas on a very simple level with my friends' parents (left alone with them, they don't speak any English, felt like a true test) and also with a five-year-old.

Tumteetum · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 144

No doubt some luck is involved but when someone (moi) has made a point of meeting all the participants, filtered them down, made a half arsed attempt to match like for like and has a bank of ready and willing reserves should it not work for a particular couple, the luck element is certainly reduced. That is (was - I don't do it any more) the idea - to make it a bit more organised than hopeful punters just hooking up with random Poles.

To the poster wanting to try it in Warsaw - if you dont know anyone you can do tandem with, I suggest putting some ads up in/around the universities.

dynow · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1080

moonsongs2007,

yeah, i am tested around twice a month with a trip to my girlfriend's parents' place. it gets better and better each time, but it's still a total mess! i am still going through the same things......i know the words, i can put the sentence together, and then i get to the declension......and it's a roll of the dice how to change the word.

moonsongs2007 · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 22

dynow

I know what you mean about the noun declensions. Haven't taken the time to learn these yet as it isn't the most captivating subject to me. My study of the Polish language has been quite slack recently (not giving up, though).

Do you use any books to help you? I was using "Polish in 4 Weeks" at the start but this got lent to a friend and now I think I'm (more or less) beyond it having worked through an elementary course book with my language swap partner. Any recommendations for self-study? Very Happy