the_falkster
10 Jan 2008
Life / Do Polish people tend to stick together? [49]
from my experience and my (polish) girlfriend's...
i tried to avoid germans in the first two years or so in england, simply because i came here to learn about the culture and the language. it does not help then to meet fellow countrymen and keep on talking your mother tongue...
my girlfriend used to share a house with a polish couple and they were speaking polish at home (quite naturally). since she moved in with me about a year ago her english improved dramatically (even if i am still far from perfect ;-) ).
when i met germans in the supermarket it was strange to suddenly hear your own language but i tend to ignore it... back home i would not start to talk to strangers in a supermarket either. so why should i do so over here? one strange effect: i started guessing peoples education level and nativity by their accent...
for my girlfriend the situation is exactly the same...
i do meet some german friends occasionally but as we are all now for quite some time abroad we are stuck a bit in the english language so that most conversations begin in english and after some time we switch to german...
my girlfriend was seeing more polish people right from the beginning and naturally they communicate in their mother tongue.
we do have more polish friends than german...
i tried at the beginning not to be too much in touch with my family in germany as i wanted to dive into everything english and disappear for a while. in the meantime i appreciate everything 'german' far more than i ever did before.
my girlfriend always had a big connection to her home and family and still misses it... (that's why we will eventually move back to Berlin, so she's closer to Szczecin)
everyone has to understand that when you go somewhere new most people tend tlook out for something familiar and people that share same interests in some field. that is often easier to find with your fellow countrymen. that is valid not only for polish people but for everyone who decides to live somewhere else...
it would be good if everyone could make this experience and we would have far less stupid talk about immigration...
from my experience and my (polish) girlfriend's...
i tried to avoid germans in the first two years or so in england, simply because i came here to learn about the culture and the language. it does not help then to meet fellow countrymen and keep on talking your mother tongue...
my girlfriend used to share a house with a polish couple and they were speaking polish at home (quite naturally). since she moved in with me about a year ago her english improved dramatically (even if i am still far from perfect ;-) ).
when i met germans in the supermarket it was strange to suddenly hear your own language but i tend to ignore it... back home i would not start to talk to strangers in a supermarket either. so why should i do so over here? one strange effect: i started guessing peoples education level and nativity by their accent...
for my girlfriend the situation is exactly the same...
i do meet some german friends occasionally but as we are all now for quite some time abroad we are stuck a bit in the english language so that most conversations begin in english and after some time we switch to german...
my girlfriend was seeing more polish people right from the beginning and naturally they communicate in their mother tongue.
we do have more polish friends than german...
i tried at the beginning not to be too much in touch with my family in germany as i wanted to dive into everything english and disappear for a while. in the meantime i appreciate everything 'german' far more than i ever did before.
my girlfriend always had a big connection to her home and family and still misses it... (that's why we will eventually move back to Berlin, so she's closer to Szczecin)
everyone has to understand that when you go somewhere new most people tend tlook out for something familiar and people that share same interests in some field. that is often easier to find with your fellow countrymen. that is valid not only for polish people but for everyone who decides to live somewhere else...
it would be good if everyone could make this experience and we would have far less stupid talk about immigration...