I was wondering if anyone here has participated in a 2 week language course in Poland. I heard about such courses organized in Krakow and I'm considering enrolling for this summer, however I'm not sure and would like some opinion first... What they have on their site looks just great (varia-course.com) - you've got everything taken care of - accommodation, your free time, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy (and learn, of course, and a lot - 20 h/week - still seems not much if you spend more time sightseeing, travelling, drinking etc. :)). Does it really look that bright? Can I really LEARN something during such a course? I'll be thankful for any comments :)
If you've looked into the same lessons i have then don't waste your time. Too much time and money is spent on fluff, such as the trips through krakow.
You're better off getting started with a book accompanied with a CD. That'll be enough to get you started. Then, if you want to accelerate your learning, spend some time in Poland.
I've ask various mates who can speak a second language and they told me it took them 2 months to get a reasonable understanding of the language they were studing. However, those 2 months were spent in that country.
I took French upto O level standard ! Also German Spanish and Italian all upto the old CSE standard in England ! All of these are a walk in the park compared with learning Polish. I bought the book and CD/DVD teach yourself Polish very helpful ! But I think you do need someone to speak it with to help with your pronunciation
I participated in a 2-week course during the winter of 2005 and found it very valuable. But you should do as much independent studay as possible FIRST. Build a vocabulary of common words/phrases that you get from any CD package. Get a feeling for the grammar, but don't try to learn it all. Just be aware that there are different cases, genders. If you can memorize the case endings before you go, you'll help yourself tremendously. Best of all is to take the one-on-one courses, forget the group study unless you just want to have fun.
Nobody can learn a language in just two weeks and I doubt if even the course in Krakow say that. I did an interesting course in Krakow in 1986 and I was a student at the summer school of Polish at the Jagiellonsky University. I think the course cost around £400 and this included accommodation for the six weeks all lessons and wonderfull food. However, it was twenty odd years ago now and I do not know what is still on offer. There used to be a similar course held in Lublin too. You learnt quite a lot, I think it meant more to Americans than us Brits really as they got credit transfer for work offered on the course. What was nice of course, was the fact that I met some many interesting people from different countries around the world, especially from the United States and I kept in touch for a long time with some of the course participants. After all, what is the point of language aquisition if you do not meet and mix with people?
I came back from a two week course in Krakow recently at Prolog Language school I did learn some stuff during my two weeks but some of the other students I spoke with had been at the school for 4 weeks. I found it pretty tough with all the words and grammar everyday but I feel I benifited from being in Poland
I've ask various mates who can speak a second language and they told me it took them 2 months to get a reasonable understanding of the language they were studing. However, those 2 months were spent in that country.
I have to agree with you my learning has slowed since I arrived back in the UK
Definitely study up on the language first. I'm also looking at going to one of these Kracow courses, but I want to build up my vocab before I try it so as to get the most out of it. And do a little touristing afterwards.
You can of course buy a book and learn the language for yourself at home for a fraction of the price. People make the mistake of thinking that spending lots of money will buy knowledge. Knowledge can not be bought like buying petrol for your car at a fuel station! It is a lot of hard work and a lot of perserverance is needed. A lot of the time spent on a language course in Poland will be spent on trips to see famous sights, museums and other cultural things in general. It often turns out that those who go away on these expensive courses are those who learn the least as people do these courses because they see them as a 'quick fix'.
LOL - whatever about other languages, there's no quick way to learn Polish. You have to put the work and the time in.
I would see one of these short courses as a vehicle to revise and build on what you already know rather than to learn the language from scratch. Also, the course needs to be as intensive as possible, unless you are there to do sightseeing... I would avoid anything that uses time up visiting things. Language first, culture later.
It does not matter how intensive something is you are unable to remember a lot of new words and facts over a very short amount of time. Rather like five day intensive driving courses. For those who have never driven before, they are very rarely successful.
