British guy in Poland

Having decided to go to Poland for holidays he arrived at Wroclaw airport and was welcomed by very serious looking custom officers. No smile at their faces, no "welcome to Poland", just a short "thank you" returning his passport.

He took his suitcase and made his way to the taxis. A taxi driver dropped him off at the Mercury Hotel. Just one thing had gone wrong - crossing the street he was stopped by a policeman and handed a fine: - "There is a zebra crossing nearby sir and you disregarded it when crossing the street. It is dangerous and against the rules". He was about to say: "Which rules", but was advised by a passer by: "Just take a fine" - so he took it.

Strange, but well I will google those "rules" later - he thought. Hotel was normal, but he wasn't going to get to know Poland by staying in his room. He had a plan: Wroclaw -  Rynek, Ostrów Tumski, Plac Grunwaldzki, Uniwersytet and Ruska Street (called sometimes Pasaż Niepolda) in the evening. One day wasn't enough for all that.

He fancied a trip around Wroclaw by tram - he needed some tickets, but where to buy them. His guidebook said he could get them at any "kiosk". That was correct. He saw "bilety MPK" sign on each small shop he passed. But buying them was much more difficult. He knew what to say, but couldn't understand why everyone was looking at him, two customers left the shop and one of the customers finally nearly yelled at him: Do you want these tickets or not? You are not the only customer here and we haven't got the time to tell you what you should visit in Wroclaw". He tried to explain that he was just asking and in return he was called "arrogant".

See you in class,

Ola

Polish girl in UK :-)

She arrived in UK two weeks ago and she couldn't understand why they all smile to each other.

When she was six she was told not to smile to strangers and once she saw an adult woman smiling to strangers - her older brother explained that the woman was mentally handicapped. That explained everything. She smiles when she sees a familiar face. She kisses and hugs her fiends but to smile to total strangers - ridiculous.

When she had to do the shopping, she was pleasantly surprised. There was a sign with the direction of a queue but no one asked her to obey it when she was the only person queueing. A shop assistant wasn't lecturing her what a correct name of a product was and how to pronounce it. 
She was a bit impatient and even felt offended when a lady in front of her started talking to a cashier and it took them six minutes to bag one bread, two cans of tomatoes and crisps. She thought it was unacceptable in Poland and you can either work or talk to friends, but never at the same time. She was finally surprised that the cashier and the lady weren't friends.

She couldn't understand why they kept announcing everything: a change in a bus route, that a train was delayed by approximately 5 minutes, that you have to send your tax return on time. If she wanted to know, she would have asked someone. 

She went past a policeman and tried not to look at him and then waited for him to disappear round the corned before she crossed the street 100 m from zebra crossing. She was lazy enough not to reach zebra crossing and she was cheeky enough not to be fined for doing it...

Things looked different,  but not the things and language were her problem. She somehow was offending people saying: "Can I have a ticket?",  "Give me that.", "Take it."
What was she doing wrong?- "It was polite. Should I start repeating myself?"



See you in class,
Ola

Polilang is back after Christmas break

Hello Everyone,

As a title proudly states, we are back and we start a New Year with enthusiasm. Which means more classes, more homework, more speaking and writing in Polish...

I know, I'm as happy as you are :-). I hope you didn't forget what you've learned so far and that your have been practising during Christmas break ;-).
 

New Year resolutions as always:

1. We will focus on everyday Polish to allow you to communicate with your friends, family or partner.

2. We will prepare you for a visit to Poland (communication and culture aspects).

3. We will ensure that you learn in a relaxed atmosphere and in a friendly environment led by experienced creative and fun-loving teachers.

4. We will let you decide what you want to learn and give advice on what you should know.

5. We will not bore you with nuances of Polish grammar but let you speak and listen in order to communicate efficiently.

6. We will improve your pronunciation during classes and on professional workshops.

7. We will ask you to practice grammar at home and ask your partner/friend to work on vocabulary with you (it's much easier once you get support).

8. We will tailor the teaching methods to your needs and advise you how to learn.

9. We will lead you through your entire journey with Polish.

10. We will inform you of Polish cultural events.

And to lose weight and start writing a book. So far each year the first ten were the ones I managed to stick to.

Some of the students have their own resolutions: "... speak Polish with my girlfriend", "move to Poland...", "go to Poland for an intensive Polish course", "start talking to my friends in Polish..." - well done guys !!!!

 

New Year means new challenges too. This time for you - our students.

Your first challenge will wait for you at our meeting in a restaurant. 

Everyone will have to introduce themselves (and their partners) in Polish.

More advanced students will have to talk to waitresses in Polish.

See you in class,

Ola