Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]

Hi guys!

A friend of mine has been in Poland for a couple of years now working for two well-established schools. He has now decided to open his own private English school to complement his small but steady income. However, he says that now he feels that he's afraid of getting his name out there in fear of being found out by the schools that he works for because they might see his as being competition for them.

My friend is a genuine guy and would never steal students from other schools.

Do you think he should just keep quiet, or be honest and just say that he's doing some extra work?

Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]

To be honest, I think the reason why he's a little apprehensive about the whole thing is the fact that he overheard the manager at one of the schools say something like: "If you want to work here, you've got to tell us exactly where you're working". And something like: "It wouldn't be in our interest to employ you again if you're thinking about opening your own school".

Personally, I agree with you there Seanus- Keep shtum!

Language / Need advice on how to improve Polish language skills [134]

I can't believe why wanting to know the absolute precise way of saying things is so important at such an early stage of learning a language like Polish. In my opinion, forming basic sentences, listening, learning vocabulary and grammar should be mastered first. After a few years of learning, you'll begin to hone your techniques as you go along.

Simply worrying about the differences between - "eszcz" part to sound identical to the "eść", seem to be splitting hairs at such an early stage of learning Polish if you ask me.

Language / Need advice on how to improve Polish language skills [134]

Oh, well in some way yes. However, I don't think as a beginner someone can truly 'nail' the pronunciation; that comes with time.
It's like when people come to learn English with a native speaker, they practise their pronunciation amongst other things.