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My reading and writing is awful - POLISH IS HARD TO LEARN


marek_ 2 | 8  
4 May 2008 /  #1
im a british pole.went to polish school every saturday for over 10 yrs.im almost perfect in polish in speech but yet in reading and writing im just awful
telefonitika  
4 May 2008 /  #2
i can read and write it better than i can speak it and i have been learning personally 2 years it is hard to learn i will give it that but persevere with it.
Ziober - | 5  
4 May 2008 /  #3
Extremely Hard: The hardest language to learn is: Polish-Seven Cases, Seven Genders and very difficult pronunciation. Average English speaker is fluent at about the age 12; the average Polish speaker is fluent in their language not until age 16. .

Any questions? :)
Polson 5 | 1,768  
4 May 2008 /  #4
POLISH IS HARD TO LEARN

Oh you've noticed that too :)
Jova - | 172  
4 May 2008 /  #5
the average Polish speaker is fluent in their language not until age 16

Gross exaggeration! Utterly stupid ;) I don't think we get fluent in Polish later (or earlier for that matter) than any other natives in their own languages.
strzyga 2 | 993  
5 May 2008 /  #6
Average English speaker is fluent at about the age 12; the average Polish speaker is fluent in their language not until age 16. .

to whoever wrote this, I'd suggest a visit in any kindergarten, they might soon change their mind.

My son got fluent in Polish at about 3 and he's been fluently speaking it ever since, day in day out, approx. 16/24 and 7/7... and I don't mean to say that he's a genius ;)

I think the author of the article is confusing fluency with lexical competence.

oh, and 7 genders??? I seem to remember just 5.
OP marek_ 2 | 8  
5 May 2008 /  #7
ive been able to speak almost perfect polish since i was about 5.its just the reading and writing in polish im bad at.
Kamil_pl  
5 May 2008 /  #8
its just the reading and writing in polish im bad at.

That is strange, because in polish language you write words as you hear them. Combine sound of every letter and you have whole word. So, when you hear a word it is easy to write it, just decombine it.. It's lot easier than in english. You can have problems witch h ch, ż rz and u ó, but many Poles have the same problems :)
Krzysztof 2 | 973  
5 May 2008 /  #9
in polish language you write words as you hear them

That's so untrue. Of course Polish speliing/pronounciation differences aren't even half as crazy as in English, but it's not either as simple as you make it sound.
Kasia84 8 | 40  
5 May 2008 /  #10
ive been able to speak almost perfect polish since i was about 5.its just the reading and writing in polish im bad at.

I'm pretty much the same here :P I can speak Polish no problem. I can read but my writing is not so great! I will be practicing on my writing soon :) my dad promised me that he would teach me :D (since I'm almost done with school) soo..I'm looking forward to that!
benszymanski 8 | 465  
5 May 2008 /  #11
I am confused how people can claim to speak perfectly but not be able to read/write well.

Maybe I am missing something but surely if you can speak Polish perfectly then you must have an excellent understanding of grammar and vocabulary. So how can you not read well? Maybe it's just me, but I think that reading is easier than speaking or listening because you can read at your own pace.

Again, I understand that spelling can be difficult but if you can say something in Polish without a problem why can't you write it?
Kasia84 8 | 40  
5 May 2008 /  #12
Spelling would be my weakness :( (another thing it is hard-er for me because I lost some hearing (from an illness) as a child; so...I would have a hard time hearing the soft words like s, sz, ...etc. Polish was my first language before coming to Canada when I was about 6.

I can read...I just need more practice on writing with tricky letters that I can't always hear well (that would be my main concern).
OP marek_ 2 | 8  
5 May 2008 /  #13
alot of my british polish friends like me who can speak it perfectly but also have problems reading and writing in polish. polish is deffo not type as you hear them. if you spin it round alot of poles who speak well in english in speech are just awful at spelling.it works both ways.the way polish is taught in england is all wrong and the way english is taught in poland is all wrong hence why theres hardly any perfectly english speakin poles or hardly any perfectly speakin polish brits.

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