Life /
Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]
I often see these "innocent questions" on the forums.
My question isn't "innocent", but innocent. I was wondering if foreigneirs living in PL speak Polish, and if yes, how they learn(ed) it - that's it. I asked the question out of curiosity, and had no intentions of judging anybody. If I mentioned my ability to speak French, and the 5 years spent in Belgium, it was just to introduce myself, and not to say "if I could learn French, then you can learn Polish".
French is also used within the structure of English, as are vocabulary elements of many other languages since it is the language of an Empire not merely a nation.
It's perfectly fine by me that ppl would rather learn French/English than Polish. I understand that some don't want/need to learn Polish while in Poland, or that they find it difficult to learn, so they don't. Therefore, I really do appreciate foreigners making an effort to learn Polish. But, I wouldn't appreciate someone telling me they don't care to speak Polish because it's the language of merely a nation, and theirs is the language of an Empire - it's disrespectful.
In my case, because I am foreign to the Polish language and its culture and have not studied it as a pass/fail requirement of my schooling.
In my case, I was foreign to the French language and its culture as well. It didn't stop me from learning it though. I wanted to be able to communicate with ppl, to get to know their culture, thinking, life style. I wanted to have a normal life: go to a bank, a shop, book a table in a restaurant, make an appointment with a hair-dresser. All that wouldn't have been possible, if I didn't speak the local language.
