Learning English but after reading comments in DM I feel it's no use

benign, bereaved, auspicious, affable... are the last words I've learnt today.
Just checked the hudsonhicks' thread about a Pole who doesn't want to learn English (or actually as it turned out: doesn't want to attend some vocational course which requires a good command of English) and I saw a link to an article... so many hateful comments there against Poles. So hateful that I'd rather would not risk a visit to Great Britain ever.

Now I'm dishearted to English language because I see no sense in learning so advanced words. Give a me a reason to keep on learning English after I had achieved the communicative level, if I'm not going to visit any English speaking country. Isn't it a waste of time?

You should. The type of people writing this rubbish are the same types who were on the streets of Warsaw on Saturday - intolerant idiots who have no place in the real world.


No - think about if you attend international conferences and the like? The language of communication is pretty much English these days in Europe, and you never know what might come up in discussion.

I must admit - Poles in the UK, even the ones drinking Tyskie in the streets are 99.9% no problems at all.

Do not feel discouraged. You can always visit Texas. They love Polish people here :)

a.k.

It's natural to feel discouraged in any pursuit when faced with seemingly up-hill obstacles all the way combined with stupid, talentless bozos out there who insist on throwing stones in your path! Your perseverance says much more about your dilgence (pilność) than about their stupidity (głupstwo).

Hang in there and remember; there're even more opportunities out there for Poles knowing Level-A English than for those rare foreigners who learn to master superior Polish:-)

Above all, a.k. keep on learning a classic vocabulary exactly as you're doing and routinely ignore those who merrily insist on your learning low-level, vulgar slang, simply to"fit in with the crowd"!! Which crowd is it exactly with which your wish to fit in?? The fools and submental imbiciles who listen to Fox News Channel, or those who think outside of the box? Remember, a single thought is a greater monument than any cathedral!

DON'T THROW IN THE TOWEL JUST YET!!

No it's not a waste of time, don't be put off by a few racist thugs who are in the minority. BTW since your little break from PF, your command of the English language has improved 10 fold, and it seems you have reached an advanced level.

He was probably born with a hatred for Polish people.

a.k. - this type is in the minority, I am sure.
Besides your study of English is as an international language isn't it?
What is DM?
Is it the Daily Mail ? If so the type of people that comment on there generally live under little wooden bridges, and are not representative of the normal population.

how do you think we feel, the English people trying to learn Polish? Whats the point,you all seem to hate us,think we are some monster nation wanting to carve out an empire and rape polish girls on the way....so, whats the point? Give me a reason,with all the hateful ignorant trash spoken on here by Poles why I should bother learning your language? I know enough not to be ripped off by Taxi Drivers and can tell the beggars and pickpockets on your public transport to f**k off and do nasty things with their mothers,why should I learn more than that?

Thank you all for your encouragement :)

A foreigner to foreigner usually doesn't speak a very sophisticated English, that's the point. Keep it simple is the main idea of the international communication. Learning sophisticated words is useful when going abroad and expecting chatting with locals at advance level or to read fine literature.


Really? I feel otherwise. Still thank you for the compliment :)

I hope you're only amusingly sarcastic here, are you? :)

Daily Mail?
My advise is, Don't read it.

Apparently, you've forgotten to what extent the British (not only the English) are indebted to the Poles. Beyond merely the literary legacy of Joseph Conrad, for instance, just think of all those native-born Brits who could be working for below the minimum wage. Thanks to the Poles, "others" now can do those myriad jobs which the English woudl rather not do. Low-cost labor keeps prices down and rents stabile, so that people such as yourself, Isthatu, can sit in Interet cafes and post your drivel instead of having to do the back-breaking labor your Polish neighbor is doing on your behalf:-)

Na zdowie, mate! If it weren't for your loca Staszek, Zbyszek or Magda, you couldn't affort to live your own country there, friend:-) Pass that along to your bigotted, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and German fellow continentalsLOL

I'm almost sure he was just spoofing my initial comment. You can't never be sure of isthatu2 when he's joking or being deadly serious, that's true. Sometimes he crosses the thin line when his comments starts to appear bit aggressive, but I'm sure it's just the manner of his jest.

In some respects, but don't forget that the English speaking natives will use such words freely and won't care less if the foreigners don't understand ;)

Having said that, the average DM reader is unlikely to use such words too :D

...which is why, Delphadomine, English is in the sorry state it is right now (..and yes, I was joking before......sort of lol)

:-))

Those are charming words to learn, and you should take pleasure in using them... but only occasionally. Savour them like a fine, rare whisky, brought out for just the right occasion. English has thousands of words of that calibre; words you only use once, but when you do get to use them its eminently satisfying.

If you're devoting yourself to vocabulary, a very useful website is this: testyourvocab.com. It's a great little measure of your language level which, while very basic, seems to mirror the results of the much deeper tests offered by companies like English First. Take the test, then read the Blog section to understand how your score translates for foreign learners of English.

Based on your result, you can then sign up for vocabulary.com; an excellent tool which teaches you targeted vocabulary based on what you already know. The more you use it, the better it learns your level, and modifies its word list accordingly. You even get real life examples taken from contemporary sources of news, speech quotes, magazines and even literature, so you can get the word in context. Five minutes each day (20 questions) will yield significant improvements.

Then you can sit back, look at the luscious rufescent shades of Poland's trees as they fade gloriously into autumn, and quote to yourself the first line of Keats' Ode: "Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness", enjoying and savouring the mellifluous assonance of that line and ignoring the vitriolic bile of internet forum comments :-D

If you like reading books you should keep learning these words, they crop up in books a lot, radio also and surprisingly on television in comedies etc.

Keep up the good work, you can always go to Whales, Scotland or Ireland or other places..............

Do not be discouraged...!
Specially by some trolly talk on the webz. as stated above.."haterz gonna hate".

Heckfire! A painfully large portion of native born US citizens with English first language, cannot define or use those words. I am sure if I had not been a writer's daughter I would know only two of those four.

Keep it coming, Richfilth! Your post is most inciteful:-0

Mostly, it hasnt put me off Poland,but, if you dont see the abuse thrown at Brits by Poles on here or living here then you are willfully blind to it :)


I'll tell you what AK, you have picked up the subtleties of regional English humor for sure...... of course most of what I said was light hearted,with a grain of truth, I do tell pickpockets on the airport to city centre run to F' Off in the local lingo,works a charm most of the time :)

But its OK, Lyszko I feel was only joking too with his retort, I certainly didnt take it as an insult :)
ps, Got to be said though, Joseph Conrads only real mark on anyone in Britain these days comes via a liking of the 1970s classic war movie Apocalypse Now......but,that aside,yes,expand your knowledge through great English language literature,doesn't have to be Shakespeare,it could be Harper Lee or Mark Twain :)

Isthatu2,it goes both ways I agree.

Don't worry.

I feel the same about Polish when I read the comments on onet.pl etc.

This is just internet shite and not typical.

I most certainly do not, I may be a friend of the friends of dorothy but thats as far as it goes :)

Isthatu2,You think it's one sided?

Ok, that joke didnt translate into American English then................
No,Its not one sided, it,the moaning haters b!tching about the other country/people bit goes both ways.
Lyzko jokes about me sitting on my bum lording it up while willing Poles do all the important,back breaking work in the UK that I and all other Brits are too lazy to do.

It has to be said for such a lazy race we certainly screwed up by inventing the industrial revolution then didnt we? Pretty much building the modern world.....must have been a lot of secret Poles in the Empire :)

He can joke,he is a funny guy,but, if you had seen the news reports on a respected news programe (ie,not some immigrant bashing fox news style show) then you will have seen the other side of Poles in the UK.

These Polese were moaning that Romanians and Bulgarians were undercutting them and "stealing their jobs".....they now look for state help and sympathy from us when untill recently this is exactly what the Poles were doing to UK workers and calling us lazy for losing our jobs to them......the other other side of course is Poles in lower managment positions in employment agencies abusing the under paid romanian workers they now employ in preference to their own countrypeople......

i must say that kind of pisses me off too

Yeps,but lets try and keep this on topic :)
AK, here is an example of the various uses of our language around the world.
In the UK "that kind of pisses me off " In the US, " Im kinda pissed at that". both = " that was very annoying"

" Im pissed" in the UK = Im drunk, in the US it = "Im angry"
:)

"that kind of pisses me off " is pa


Nope. "that kind of pisses me off" is normal US english as well. "I'm kinda pissed at that" sounds really off. Maybe its some weird regionalism? I've spent quality time in the midwest and west, but not much on the least coast.

Well maybe you lot are finnaly learning to speak proper.....still have not got the hang of *wanker* yet though.... :)

I don't know what you do for a living but it might be a useful thing to have on your CV if a future employer deals with English speaking customers a lot on the phone or if their representatives visit Poland.

P.S. Your English is very good!

Its certainly far more than just the *basic English* he or she thinks they speak :)