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Posts by Teffle  

Joined: 26 Aug 2010 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 8 Dec 2011
Threads: Total: 22 / In This Archive: 18
Posts: Total: 1318 / In This Archive: 980 		From: IRL
Speaks Polish?: Nie - odrobineczke

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Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Czesc everyone

Hope someone can help. Informally, I'm teaching English to a couple of Polish people I know.

Can a Pole who is familiar with the present perfect and past perfect tenses in english tell me an easy way to explain these tenses and their use? Is there an equivalent in the Polish language? The problem is, I don't think there is.

It's ironic that one of the easiest things about learning English is how relatively few tenses there are (e.g. no future or conditional as such) but yet the present perfect and past perfect can be problematic.

I can explain them myself no problem if I have to but if it is a usage that is unfamiliar in Polish it can be difficult for the student to easily accept.

It's the type of thing that will come with practice and context but if there was any way, relative to the Polish language that I could explain these tenses it would be great.

Dziekuję
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Thanks - what should I called that construction then, in Polish that is?

Present perfect is probably the more important though. Past perfect is not often used in everyday speech - and is kind of easily explained as "well you know the present perfect? well imagine that for usage in the past and there you go. next!"

Re simple past, I'm treating that as a beginners thing together with present and continous (inc. future usage) and will wait until the simple past has been properly grasped ( including the hilarious amount of irregular verbs) before I move on to the perfect tenses.
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

If I find out in the future Poland has more than the twelve tenses that English has, it will surprise me

Well, not really 12 tenses. Strictly speaking, yes, but some of these are merely variants are not actual distinct 'tenses' to be learned as such.

It was my understanding that Polish verbs have more cases in common use and are more irregular. I could be wrong of course.
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Life / Fascination of Poles with German Laundry Detergent [16]

so many ppl claim that it is far superior to anything found in PL

No. I don't accept this. Absolutely impossible.

To date, research has shown that there is not one single recorded case of any Polish person admitting that anything from any other country is better than a Polish made item.

; )
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Are you familiar with using time lines to illustrate verb tenses? They make things very clear and are easy to understand

Yes I do this and it's usually helpful.

12 active, 8 passive

Hang on, just to be clear, are you making a distinction between e.g. He watched the TV and the TV was watched.... ?

Because although obviously they are different constructions, in terms of teaching, I don't really consider it to be another tense to be learned. It's just a variation on an existing apsect as far as I'm concerned.
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Yeah, fair enough, you're probably right but it's not really critical to me or my students.

It's a pretty informal set up and right now, most will be content just to have enough English to "get by" as they say. I don't think they would thank me for introducing the passive right now as they are frustrated enough as it is with, amongst other unanticipated obstacles, phrasal verbs. Which IMO, are arguably more important than some of the more obscure voices/tenses - at least for the moment.

In fact, education about cultural aspects of life here (Ireland) is proving to be almost as important as the language!
Teffle   
26 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Introducing the passive at this early stage has to be done, for no other reason than for saying "I was born..." Otherwise they'll be saying "I borned" for the rest of their lives and no other teacher will be able to correct them

Yeah, there are probably quite a few other obvious uses too. You're right.

What sort of English teaching quals/experience have you got, if you don't mind me asking

No experience at all - other than what I'm currently doing. Have been doing this for about 5 years now - just the odd evening. Previous students had a fairly advanced level of English and were familiar with perfect tenses but just recently I have started teaching two new people who are more or less beginners.

I have an internationally recognised TEFL qualification but TBH I can't remember what it's called - got it 10 years ago. I'll check out the details over the next few days if you are interested.

One of the reference books I'm using was regarded as something of a bible when I did the course: A Practical English Grammar by Thomson & Martinet. Don't know how it's regarded these days. I also have one of the Cambridge practical exercise books which is pretty handy. Together with a bit of reading & chatting, the rest I make up as I go along really.
Teffle   
27 Aug 2010
Love / In Poland - guys opinion about brazilian girls [21]

Well, I'm not Polish, but taking a wild guess here, and drawing on positive sterotypes, I would think that the phrase Brazilian girl would provoke a very very positive reaction from most males on this planet. ; )
Teffle   
27 Aug 2010
Food / WHY IN POLAND PEOPLE DON'T USE ICE? [142]

Whatever about ice, on my two trips to Poland I was amazed to find that beer tends not to be served cold. Coolish, verging on lukewarm was my experience. Maybe this has come up before, but for me, a bottle or glass of lukewarm beer is just awful. I would have thought that cold beer is pretty much universal but seemingly not ?!
Teffle   
27 Aug 2010
Life / WHY DO POLES USE ENGLISH WORDS IN CONVERSATION? [396]

Yes but you can't tell me quite a few Irish folk don't pronounce it more like poob :) I knew quite a few Irish folk that did

Ahhh - the Irish deep "u" sound. Very handy. Good with making very distinguishing vowel sounds we are. : )

You see, if there were such a word as "pab" many (Southern) English people would pronounce it almost identically to "pub".

Case in point: poor, pour & paw.

The Irish prounounce each of these words completly differently - many people from the south of England pronounce them all the same way.

I've lost count of the amount of Poles who thought that stuff and staff were pronounced the same way becasue of their RP English teacher.
Teffle   
27 Aug 2010
Life / Strange attitude to shop naming in Poland? [5]

This is one of the things that struck me - maybe it's not typical so hopefully someone can advise.

Been to Poland twice and I thought it strangely charmless the amount of retail outlets that simply said sklep. No other information. You would have no idea whatsoever what kind of sklep it was if not for the window display - and even then it's not always obvious.

Is this common?
Teffle   
27 Aug 2010
Food / WHY IN POLAND PEOPLE DON'T USE ICE? [142]

For me beer is best some where between +6 to +8 degrees celcius

No problem with that temperature. I'd prefer more on the 6 side maybe though. The beer I had in Poland though was certainly warmer than that. I'm guessing it was into double digits - I mean at the very least, as far as I'm concerned the bottle should be cool to the touch but it was just kind of ambient.

I'm talking lager only by the way - I realise that other beers are a completely different thing as regards temperature.
Teffle   
28 Aug 2010
Language / I teach English to some Polish people - how to explain them tenses? [33]

Ok, a few comments: the way you lay it out yes, it's daunting. In reality though there is alot of crossover.

Future is easy. All forms - the verb forms are the same as those that will have been learned* already. Continuous? C'mon - you just add "ing" in all cases. Done.

I'm not saying it's all easy as such and maybe technically my reference to tenses was inaccurate - what I was getting at I suppose was verb forms/cases and irregularities. In this sense we (arguably) don't have a future in English and no conditional either - this alone is a big difference in comparison with most European languages.

But present/past perfect, yes, it's unusual and tricky.

*Now there's a construction! ;)
Teffle   
28 Aug 2010
Life / Any treatment centres for homos in Poland? [455]

Wow.

I have Polish friends, good friends, and have been to Poland. To be honest I can't say that I was overjoyed with my visits. However I put it down to my own state of mind/bad luck/particular circumstances/misinterpretation etc.

But reading through this thread and some others on this site I'm really beginning to wonder if my gut reaction and first impressions weren't correct.

Please someone tell me that racism, homophobia, sexism and general parochialism are not as rife in Poland as this site and my experiences suggest??
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Hi

I'll start by saying that here in Ireland I know quite a few Polish people - about a dozen or so fairly well and of those, a few that I am proud to call friends.

However my experience of Poland (2 trips, about 5 or 6 days each and 2 years apart) has not reflected my expereince of Polish people here at all.

I'm trying not to insult but basically this has been my experience:

Aesthetically, generally bleak soulless and depressing atmosphere.

Many people have a chip on their shoulder about Poland - we are great everyone else is crap - type attitude. From food to architecture to education ... anything really.

Homophobia, racism and a vague sexism seems to be rife.

Stony faced, almost silent population when going about their daily business

Appalling customer service in shops - even if you try in broken Polish.

Non-verbal rudeness - lots of disdainfull looks, people looking you up and down, turning their noses up etc - even in cities.

I don't really want to go on...

Does the above make any sense?

I should add too that some of the Poles I know agree with the above.

No offence intended and I fully admit that this was only based on 2 short trips but there you go. Trips involved cities, towns and villages by the way.
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

you gotta be kidding me.. a whole long list of complaints but 2 or 3 good things? wow.. maybe it's your outlook?

They say what you see is often a reflection of self.

Well based on this:

Yep...You seem to have learnt a lot about Poland in your few short visits and i have to agree with your observations

I completely agree with the OP, Teffle

You make sense,

...it's not looking like it.
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Travelling with my wife and most (but not all) of the time with Polish friends - which made thw whole thing even more difficult and awkward really.

Our Polish friends actually seemed to change (for the worse) the moment they arrived in Poland - I'm not kidding!

Areas visited by the way: £odz/Pabianice, Wrocław, Krakow...and a south central village that I can't remember the name of.

Warszawaski, re Ireland/expectation of friendliness etc, I really don't think that this is the case. I've lived in a few different countries, I have friends and in-laws of many different nationalities so a 'friendliness' culture shock wouldn't really apply.
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

There are ugly and beautiful spots in Poland, like everywhere

yes, fair enough. Didn't see much of it mind you but I did go on to say that some of the scenery was nice.

Try to talk to some Brits about the UK, or French about France, or Italians about Italy... shall I go on?

Indeed. Doesn't make it OK though. Most reasonably people do not go on like this - in Poland my experience was that most people did.

It's more that people are not used to he variety of nations you get, for example, in London. It will change, with time

Well I really hope so - for Poland's sake as well as everyone elses.

Well, we don't smile to every single passer-by - that's just so fake!

Of course, I don't expect you to but I wasn't expecting most people to simply look so miserable either. And yes, silent - when walking along busy streets or in a galeria I woiuld expect a certian level of background noise or babble - it just wasn't there

And that is simply not true - service happens to be terrible less and less often. And we still get the benefit of your local friendly shop! Also, my fiance gets by in his brokne Polish and people really appreciate the fact that he's making an effort!

Well my broken Polish ddidn't do me much good. I admit I didn't get bad service all the time but yes, a lot of the time certainly.

I really think you've got a huge chip on your shoulder yourself. People in the cities have their own business to mind and in the villages they are just curious

Where do you get the idea that I have the chip?!

Come to my town and I'll arrange for you to have a short bus trip and I'll plant a dozen or so actors on the bus who will stare at you continuously at the same time for the duration of your trip and you might know what I mean. This was in a city by the way.
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Well plk I honestly don't think I have a problem with my outlook. As I've said, I have lived in other countries and visited many and have enjoyed the experiences - sometimes loved it.

I'm aware that what I have said sounds very negative but it was my experience. I'm struggling to find positive things to say simply because I struggled to find positive things.

Again, I reiterate that the Polish people I know, I really like - in fact I would say that I love a few of them. My times in Poland were not completely terrible and I did meet some nice people and was treated with hospitality generally but for the most part, what I posted was what I encountered. Put it this way though, I don't think I would ever go back.
Teffle   
30 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Sexism? Their joking aside, where did you see it?

I mentioned a vague sexism - old fashioned manners/chivalry that spilled over into patronisation and machismo some of the time.

E.g. my wife being repeatedly ignored when the glasses were being filled around the table - general deference to the male (i.e. me) for decision making and expecting me to answer for my wife.

Noticed quite a few older males kind of "rationing" their wives alcohol intake - often the women didn't get their own drink and were kind of given a little from time to time from their men.
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Take your sick believes about what sexism is back to Ireland...

bollox. there is no machismo in polish culture.

LOL. Well done. In one post you have managed to demonstrate 2 of my original observations: a comment with racist undertones and the old belief that Poland is great and has no negatives.

You managed to even make some questionable "Balkan" type comment further on ... unreal.
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Since when do Polish and Irish people belong to different races?

You know exactly what I mean.

Update your vocabulary please

No thanks, not necessary.

As for the "unladylike" comments form mafketis? well, I rest my case.

Sorry, that last comment was from wroclawboy, not mafketis.
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Jeden, I quoted two sentences and they are both short - I don't need to bold both quotes do I?

For racist replace xenophobic.

(Fair enough mafketis - but don't tell me you didn't know what I meant)

If you don't think a suggestion that you take xyz back to [named country] has xenophobic undertones then it's worse than I thought.

I don't see how there is any other way to read the assertion that "there is no machismo in Poland" as being blindly jingoistic - not to mention utterly illogical.

I do think a woman showing obvious and open pleasure (and anticipation of) a good stiff drink is going to raise eyebrows (and the assumption that she has a problem and shouldn't be indulged).

I agree but it's not what I was describing. Also, the above should apply to men too anyway IMO.
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

So is worse than you thought. She simply doeasnt`t want be trated like irish girls by irish men, If You find our gentlmen way of act toward women as sexist.

There is other way... There is no machismo in Poland is a true statemant.

I'm sorry, but I don't actually know what you are talking about.

third: I don't offend any Irish ppl... it you call it rasism, wow then no wonder that you see it everywhere

So, are you honestly telling me If I told you "take your beliefs back to Poland" that you would not consider the remark to be motivated by xenophobia?

What about if I told a black person to "take their customs back to Africa" - just a normal statement with no implications or undertones - right?

I don't think so.
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Travel / My (short) Poland experiences - bad luck? [142]

Then Mr.Irish from land of tolerence, better search carefully this forum to find out how many "racist" comments me as PoleI must bear. Check RevokeNice yout fellow countryman comments

Getting a little worked up there are you?

No thanks, I won't be bothering to search the posts of other members - but at the same time, I have never attempted to deny that there is intolerance/xenophobia in Ireland either.

I can't take someone who tells me to "take my sick beliefs back to Ireland" and who denies that there is any machismo in Poland whatsoever too seriously anyway.

In Poland a men who don't let the women walk first through the door are the worst louts and boors. No complex-ridden feminist will tell me there something wrong with good manners!

Now who is jumping to conclusions? When have I ever said that I have any issue or problem with anything anything like this?
Teffle   
31 Aug 2010
Life / Polish pride. PL stickers, flags and the white eagle! Where does our obsession come from? [79]

I can understand the OP's observation for reasons mentioned by MareGaea & Seanus.

I would have thought though that given our history the same thing would happen in Ireland but it doesn't really - at least not that I've noticed. You get a bit of flag flying but it's confined to villages in contentious border areas and with strong republican traditions.

I'm talking about the Irish republic by the way - in Northern Ireland, flags/symbols etc are much more widespread and have a deeper significance. This is the case too in certain parts of Glasgow I think.