Job Discussion Forums

[Tumteetum]

If you are interested and in Wroclaw, PM me.

[moonsongs2007]

Hi Tumteetum

I'm interested in free Polish lessons in Wroclaw, if you're still offering.

Sorry I can't PM you; haven't made enough posts to be granted permission.

[Tumteetum]

[Master Shake]

Who out there is taking advantage 'free' Polish lessons?

Do you give an English-Polish lesson exchange or have you been fortunate enough to find someone (hopefully a teacher!) to teach you Polish just for the heck of it?

Just curious

[moonsongs2007]

I am : )

Yes, the deal is tandem learning: you, a Polish native speaker, will teach me Polish, and in exchange I will teach you English.

[ktodba]

Exchange lessons are great

But there is no substituite for actually having to use your Polish for real - i.e. no safety net, your understanding determines everything,

If you want to learn Polish put yourself in a situation where you have to learn it. People in their country have the advantage of immersion.

REALITY - you can hide from immersion - there is nothing to help you if you don't want to learn

I learned from Poles for free because I I tried and they wanted to have someone else speak Polish. I learnt to respect the Poles and not try to take advantage.

I'm glad I did

As for lessons - if a lesson of Polish from a random Pole = a lesson of English from me a teacher ( hey I must be a teacher because I post on Daves - what more proof do you want?) is considered a fair exchange then maybhe I should reevaluate my teaching.

Learn if you want or if you have to, but don't pretend you are learning when you mouth phrases

[moonsongs2007]

[YakTamer]

[ktodba]

Just to follow up on the subject of exchange lessons - I recently returned to Poland for a visit after 4 years away and found my old friends who had 'exchanged lessons' looking to me who had been away for 4 years to speak Polish for them with waiters etc. The sad bit was that I still could speak enough Polish after 4 years away to get the message across and they were stuck in a comfort zone.

I'll reiterate what I've said before- you learn what you want to and are able to, if you don't want to then your ability is irrelevant. This also applies to people we teach, after all they're trying to learn English in the same way we are learning their language - i.e with great efficient effort or by doing nothing and pretending and everything in between.

[Tumteetum]

Speaking for the tandems I organise:

It tends to be the Polish speaker in the exchange who does more work. Most Poles who take part are University students with decent English while most English speakers are beginner or lower level. The upshot is that the Poles are happy to chat in English in exchange for explaining difficult Polish grammar and structures. It's so one sided, it's embarrassing - I get mine to email me stuff they want proofreading to ease my weighty guilt.

I'm sure that's not always the case but it seems to be a pattern with the folk I've matched.

I started tandem for myself. The response I got, after sticking a notice up at the uni, was huge and, having met so many quality Polish people, I decided to try to find matches for them - and help other foreigners learn Polish. Since September 06 I've regularly had a bank of 10 -20 Polish speakers (filtered from around 60, with about 15-20 currently matched). All seem willing to learn and keen to teach, and have at least a modicum of teaching ability. What the tandems do is entirely up to themselves but from what I hear the lessons tend to be mixed between theory with books and practical; out shopping, down the pub etc. (immersion). By far my biggest benefit has been practical, everyday Polish and before I knew it I was getting the beers in without having to follow up with 'Dlaczego sie smiejesz?'!

It isn't intended as a substitute for proper Polish lessons but it's a good alternative/supplement, free, and as much fun as the participants want. And it can be a substitute - I've met some Polish teachers here who couldn't lace my tandem partner's stilettos.

"I learned from Poles for free because I tried and they wanted to have someone else speak Polish. I learnt to respect the Poles and not try to take advantage." Great point. The effectiveness comes down to a mix of what both parties put into it. On the other hand, to say the Poles "probably end up saying 'because that's the way it is in Polish'" is speculative and inaccurate. I wouldn't match anyone, Polish or English speaker, who thought like that.

With tandem, as with most things, you get out what you put in.

[YakTamer]

[Master Shake]

I've met people who have been here 1 year and can already use some Polish declensions and carry on a very basic conversation.

I've met people who have been here for 4+ years and can barely order a beer.

There are no shortage of Polish people (qualified to teach or not) around Gdansk who will teach you Polish in exchange for some English chit chat, a meal at a diner now and then, or even just to laugh at your clumsy ass trying to pronounce those a's and e's with tails.

[lit46]

so are exchange lessons a good idea for complete beginners of Polish? and how would I go about setting one up?

[simon_porter00]

"so are exchange lessons a good idea for complete beginners of Polish?"

Well, the language is basket hard to learn, so any start is as good as the other i suppose. Saying that, working with a teacher is the probably the best approach to help you with pronunciation. I've heard many people try to speak Polish and fail simply because they can't get the pronunciation right. I happens to me from time to time and it's an incredibly frustrating experience to witter on about something, look at a blank expression on the face of the listener, have the mrs say exactly the same thing and then have it understood.

"and how would I go about setting one up?"

For a teacher - try the local rag
For a student exchange - go to anywhere where there are students: university, cafes, clubs, pubs etc and put up a small poster-thing saying "i want to learn Polish in exchange for English lessons" or whatever with your number on it. Then wait for the calls.

[Tumteetum]