samotnik 5 | 7 26 Jan 2024 #1I am looking for bilingual books in Polish and English that also have an audio track available either as a purchase or "free" public read-along on youtube for example.The paper book or ebook would have Polish on one page and English on the other page. Some words may be in colored or bold print if they have the exact same meaning.The audio track is listened to while reading. Anything that is not understood can be read in English and an additional Pol-Eng dictionary can be consulted.A bilingual ebook may be best for quick copy and paste of words into an online or offline dictionary and other tools.I found this Italian-English youtube video as an example: youtube.com/watch?v=KBR4NYbERYIThis method can be used at any level of language skill and in my case I need to expand my vocabulary and reading skills.Even if you are limited with your communication with people for whatever reason you still need to be able to read and engage with signs, paperwork and digital platforms to complete many basic life tasks, so the self-learning read and listen method can be helpful if you don't have a teacher or want to bother people in public with questions that they may not even know the answer to or even want to answer anyway.I will update this thread if I find any titles or sections in a book store.So far I have found many Polish paper and ebooks with their audiobook versions, but not a bilingual edition with English translation.A workaround is to purchase two separate paper or ebooks in each language if a translation is available.You can also find many "free" ebooks and audiobooks, here are a few examples:youtube.com/results?search_query=polski+audiobookwolnelektury.pl/katalog/wolnelektury.pl/katalog/audiobookiwordproject.org/bibles/audio/33_polish/index.htm
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 27 Jan 2024 #2As a foreign language teacher, I caution against the down side of bilingual education for adults learning a second language.While it can be useful while learning to see the trot in one's native language right alongside the language being learned,in my experience, this can also serve as a crutch which can actually slow down instead of speed up the learning process.When the mother tongue has been removed and the learner is then forced to communicate in their "new" language, frequentlythey can become tongue tied and rely more and more on their first language, gradually losing idiomatic control of the languagethey are trying to acquire. The result is that the learner will be looking for someone to constantly feed them the words inEnglish, or whatever their native language and the new language will never become a reality for them.
johnny reb 48 | 7,144 27 Jan 2024 #3As a foreign language teacher,What foreign language do you teach, Lyzko ?
johnny reb 48 | 7,144 27 Jan 2024 #4Or should I have said, "Which foreign language do you teach, Lyzko ?"
jon357 74 | 22,060 27 Jan 2024 #5No. "What" is correct here. "Which" would be correct were there a limited range.
Novichok 4 | 8,117 27 Jan 2024 #6The best and only way to learn the "new" language is by staying away from foreigners.Step 2: Drop the old one ASAP and especially before your first child is born and never look back.
johnny reb 48 | 7,144 27 Jan 2024 #7@LyzkoI didn't hear you, Lyzko."Which foreign language do you teach, Lyzko ?"
Joker 3 | 2,326 28 Jan 2024 #8As a foreign language teacher,What language do you teach? Can you help me to speak Polski Jedyek?
Alien 20 | 5,059 28 Jan 2024 #9Which foreign language do you teach, Lyzko ?"What language do you teach?Eskimo?
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 28 Jan 2024 #10I've taught college level German to US students for nearly twenty-five years and findthat source language texts prove more valuable in the long run, often frustratingas they can be in the beginning for reasons which I stated.
Ironside 53 | 12,423 28 Jan 2024 #11I've taught college-level German to US students for nearly twenty-five yearsAre you the reason that Americans are bad at languages?
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 29 Jan 2024 #12If Poles all learn English as you do, I shouldn't be at all surprised LOLTruly knowing a language goes way beyond merely the idiom, the slang, the grammaror the vocab, Ironside!The reason your English is workaday fluent, yet will never be native, is precisely becauseyour language breathes, bleeds your Polish mother tongue.Such passionately, blithely unbridled arrogance bordering, indeed often exceeding, purenastiness in my direction, reveals little of the more space giving Anglo-American, the ironywhich allows the other bloke the benefit of the doubt, even if you hate their guts.Conversely, my Polish will probably always be stymied by the mere fact that I by naturetend to hold back my unbridled passions and am usually quick to compliment rather thaninsult, indeed will apologize instead of keeping up the attacks.Back to the thread of bilingual education, again, having taught German for umpteen years,learning to translate only serves to satisfy the momentary need to "understand" a spokenutterance, yet in the end doesn't allow the student to express themselves independently inthe target language.
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 30 Jan 2024 #13However, monolingual texts or readings w/accompanying dialogues in the language being acquired must besupplemented exclusively with visuals in order to make clear what the learner is learning in a languagenot their own. The danger is that the learner simply learns to translate into their native tongue instead oflearning the language they wish to know.Otherwise, it can be an exercise in frustration, that's obvious.
Novichok 4 | 8,117 31 Jan 2024 #14Are you the reason that Americans are bad at languages?Americans know the only language worth knowing...having taught German for umpteen years,Nobody needs German.
jon357 74 | 22,060 31 Jan 2024 #15must besupplemented exclusively with visualsIt really does depend on the learner.For self study, some people respond well to parallel texts. I don't think anyone would suggest using them exclusively.
mafketis 37 | 10,913 31 Jan 2024 #16For self study, some people respond well to parallel textsCheap hack for very casual study...Put newspapers in the target language in your twitter feed.Try to read the tweets that show up and then use the 'translate' option to check yourself.Quick way to pick up lots of journalism vocabulary (maybe not the most useful on a daily basis but.... also necessary to read media).
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 31 Jan 2024 #19@Novichok, and everybody needs English??I see you haven't kept up with the news of late,but Germany has been the number one migranthot spot in Europe for the last ten years and counting!If Germans all knew, at least spoke, English as thoughthey were educated native American English speakers,you might have a small point. However, nothing could befurther from the truth.
Miloslaw 19 | 5,008 31 Jan 2024 #20Nobody needs German.True.I studied it for two years, useful but not needed.and everybody needs English??I'm afraid that they do, which is why every country in the world is teaching it as a second language.....French was very strong once but English has beaten it to a pulp,As for German?Who cares?
Novichok 4 | 8,117 31 Jan 2024 #21An English-speaking person needs another language like Bill Gates needs a financial advisor to tell him how to invest wisely for retirement.
jon357 74 | 22,060 1 Feb 2024 #22native AmericanCherokee?American English speakersWhy would someone who loved to Europe need or want a form of English from elsewhere?FrenchGermanIt's quite amusing but also depressing sometimes to watch monolinguals on holiday in France or Spain or even visiting Germany.
Novichok 4 | 8,117 1 Feb 2024 #23monolinguals on holiday in France or Spain or even visiting Germany.Monos go abroad to see things, not to debate Socrates and Plato. English is more than enough...
jon357 74 | 22,060 1 Feb 2024 #24And the linguistically challenged miss out on so much.Only being able to go to bars and restaurants that are tourist traps, getting ripped off in shops and taxis, unable to speak with people they meet.However we aren't talking about the unfortunate; r are discussing parallel texts as a learning aid.As I say, they are useful for some learners.
Novichok 4 | 8,117 1 Feb 2024 #25And the linguistically challenged miss out on so much.I spent nine months in the Netherlands. What did I miss by not speaking Dutch?
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 1 Feb 2024 #27@Rich, you missed the humor, the complete armchair security in knowing thatyour Dutch conversation partner was as sure of his English as a native speaker, as wellas being armed with the knowledge that that partner was naturally, conventionallyexpressing, rather than approximating, their feelings only in order to prove a point!!Doesn't it sort of gall you when people of any age substitute an f-bomb for a perfectlyrespectable English vocabulary word, merely in order to sound "cool"?Bugs the bejesus out of me, that's for dang sure.As I said at the start of this post, don't you want to know for absolute certain ifsomebody from a another country's yankin' yer chains? What better way than byknowing their language.
Novichok 4 | 8,117 1 Feb 2024 #28What better way than by knowing their language.I don't talk to people who don't know my language. Their loss...Oh,...almost forgot,,, "my language" is American.I read your first paragraph twice and I still have no idea what you are trying to say - in English...Next time assume that I am a low-IQ serial murderer and that I will hurt you if you talk to me like this again.
Lyzko 45 | 9,442 1 Feb 2024 #29Your circle of conversation partners is growing ever smaller, I see.Obviously, you are lexically or maybe DISlexically challenged, asthe words I used and use in all of my English-language posts areplain to anyone who graduated from a decent US high school, forgeteven about college or university:-)
Miloslaw 19 | 5,008 1 Feb 2024 #30I don't talk to people who don't know my language.I think that is a little bit extreme.English is, without question THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE.But i speak Polish and French and a smattering of German too.Polish and German are useless, but with English and French I have been understood everywhere I have travelled.