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Posts by Finefilly  

Joined: 12 Feb 2008 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: -
Threads: Total: 2 / In This Archive: 2
Posts: Total: 10 / In This Archive: 10 		From: East Midlands, UK
Speaks Polish?: no
Interests: cows, education, opera, languages, being an example of attainable loveliness....

Displayed posts: 12
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Finefilly   
13 Feb 2008
Study / Summer courses in Kraków 5596PLN - your thoughts? [17]

Hi

This is my first post and I hope one of many :-)

I've just started learning Polish and was thinking of taking a language holiday in Poland this summer. Many of my Polish students (in the UK) have advised that Kraków is the place to be!

I've done some research and I've found that the Jagiellionan University offers a four week course at 'Survival' level (in July only) - it's not intensive - 2 hours a day and it also offers lots of cultural and tourist events. Room and board (shared room in a dormitory) are included and there are some interesting lectures on Polish history, literature and culture in the afternoon that you can attend. I got quite excited about a lecture on the morphology and syntax of the Polish language....yes, actually, there are some of us who think grammar is fab!

Unfortunately, some of these lectures overlap the language part of the course - after it has finished :-( and the site isn't clear whether I could attend these lectures without paying for another language course.

Ideally, I'd like to stay for a longer period, say, 2 months but for 5596 PLN (just over £1,100) for four weeks it would be a bit expensive for me.

Could anyone let me know their thoughts, please? Is this a good deal?

Many thanks to all x
Finefilly   
13 Feb 2008
Study / Summer courses in Kraków 5596PLN - your thoughts? [17]

Is that £200 because you're there already? Is that price for a month or 6 months?

I imagine I could find a tutor on my own but it's the accommodation that's the problem. I thought an organized course would be a better bet. Saying that I don't know how much a hotel would be for a month in high season (July/August) but it is nicer when you know it's taken care of as part of a course.
Finefilly   
23 Feb 2008
Life / School holidays in Poland - do 'half term hols' exist? [10]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering about the school holiday provision in Poland. We (in Lincolnshire) have just recently 'enjoyed' our spring term half term holiday. One of my students doesn't understand why there is such a difference in timings and the length of time students are allowed off for school/college holidays.

I can see her argument as she has children at a local primary school that had their half term hols a week before ours, so in effect she lost an extra week of learning english. I must admit I didn't quite know what to say (I do know it's usually tied in with funding and class hours).

On reflection it does seem a bit odd that different counties have different dates for holidays and it changes again in FE.

Does this happen in Poland too or is it a British education system thing?

Many thanks :-)
Finefilly   
23 Feb 2008
Love / My polish boyfriend and i love one another -- dilema, advice please. [16]

Hi Angel,

I sympathise with your situation as I'm separated from my boyfriend quite frequently because of his job - he's away for four months at the moment. The difference with me is that my boyfriend is English and he comes home to me. I have also known him longer than two years.

You say that you've known him for a year but he's been away for the past six months. In reality then you've only seen him for six months on home turf ... this makes a bit of a difference in my book. Your relationship is still in its early stages and to make such a radical decision of moving to a different country on that basis is not a good idea.

If you both wanted to be together you would have made more of an effort to get together (KasiaG and Wroclaw's posts) - true love really does find a way.

This probably isn't what you want to hear but I think it would be better to have tears now with your own friends to comfort you than tears in a foreign country with a man you thought loved you.

I hope it works out xx
Finefilly   
23 Feb 2008
Study / Summer courses in Kraków 5596PLN - your thoughts? [17]

Cześć!

Update on the course at Jagiellionan University - I won't be doing it.

I've just had my hours cut at work so I can't afford it now :-( However, I've looked into a few others (thanks Sajmon and Hiro). I've found places on other posts too.

I now have a fab Polish teacher with a similar sense of humour and I've reached 5 star level with my BYKI flash cards (beams).

Thanks for all your comments and ideas - much appreciated :-)
Finefilly   
24 Feb 2008
Life / School holidays in Poland - do 'half term hols' exist? [10]

The idea is that if the holidays were in the same time, the winter resorts in mountains will be overcrowded.

How thoughtful of them and practical too!

Thanks for the information - I couldn't really find it anywhere else.
Finefilly   
24 Feb 2008
Study / Summer courses in Kraków 5596PLN - your thoughts? [17]

Thanks Alf,

I had a look at the site and there is an interesting course on Geology. Otherwise it's not too good for me as I'm doing a PGCE at the moment and I don't think my University would be classed as technical.

It's a good link though and I'll pass it on. Thank you.

PS. Thanks to Michal too :-)
Finefilly   
14 Mar 2008
Language / learning aids for polish learning english [8]

Hi angel,

I think telefonitika is right if this is this person's level:

who speaks and underestands not much english

but it does tend to be the bigger colleges who will offer the ESOL Pre-Entry 1 or Entry 1 courses. They will assess this person before they assign them to a class.

Remember too that ESOL is no longer free in the UK and course fees can be hugely varied. If your friend receives any type of benefit (except I think child benefit for some strange reason) they would only have to pay the college's registration fee.

Books are OK but if the student has difficulty reading in english they might find following the text a bit of an uphill struggle.

Let me know how you get on - I work in this field in the UK (state and private).
Finefilly   
24 Mar 2008
UK, Ireland / Best county in UK and why ? [45]

How about Lincolnshire? It's HUGE!

I used to live in a village called Little Bytham and I was always amazed by the safety of the place ... I often left my car and house unlocked. I remember being able to see a completely uninterrupted view of the stars at night.

Lincolnshire's great because it's got such a varied landscape. The flat fens down in the south where anything grows (but keep warm when the wind blows - it'll go straight through you) to the Wolds and the Lincoln cliff further north. Just when you think you've run out of county there's more the other side of Lincoln and beyond Market Rasen. It's also got some amazing coastline.

The only thing I don't like about this county is the Lincolnshire Imp - malevolent looking thing to have as a county symbol!
Finefilly   
4 Apr 2008
Love / My polish girlfriend has changed following death of dad.. [153]

There's some good points here regarding your situation (particularly EbonyandBathory). I think the main thing that is the most difficult when you lose a parent is that other's seem to think there is a cut-off point for mourning. Yes, there are (quasi) official guidelines in most cultures for a mourning period but, let's face it, if you've lost your mum or dad your emotions don't go along with guidelines.

Anger is a very common reaction with bereavement - similarly sudden periods of detachment from others may be on the cards too - it's not directed at you, believe me.

This will be a testing time for both of you and if you have barrow-loads of patience you will both be the stronger for it. Just don't expect that once a year is up 'she should be ok now'.... I was still 'talking' to my dad (in the car usually) two good years after his death. You may think that's odd but two years is a blink of an eye in your emotional life.

Take care x