Should I learn Polish or she learn English?

Above all, speaking and being CORRECTED by an educated native speaker is key to learning another language successfully, that is, ACCURATELY as well as merely "fluently":-)

At the beggining? I don't think so. For now she needs encouragement not correcting. It's too early for that. If anything it will put her off. Giving an example by speaking clearly and correctly- sure but correcting (too much correcting that is) can slow down the process and make her feel stupid.

Depends on the type of correction! Every other word?? Certainly not, I agree! However a gentle, corrective 'recast' after a particularly faulty sentence will only help to reinforce the model in the learner's mind, so that they aren't aware of the correction:-)

My first Polish teacher would correct me at nearly every bend and turn! Sure I'd get frustrated in the beginning, but after a while, I realized it was necessary. After all, I was learning as an adult, not as a child and so reinforcement was an absolute must in order to (literally!) "cement" in both the structures as well as the noun's gender. I still have to think on occasion about the gender of a noun. This admittedly is much more important in writing than speaking.

It's simple. If you're serious about it learn POlish. She needs to learn English as she lives there, irrespective of you being there. It just takes time. My fiancee went from B1 to C1 in 2 years of skype calls with me and meeting up in school holidays and I only corrected her when she made a mistake. Polish is very difficult for non natives so you have to stick with it, but it's a great language to speak as not many people can. I am still basic after 3 years of living here but I can get by. Find a Polish class at night school and find some local Polish people and try to converse with them.

I think you always should learn the language of your partner. Maybe not to "native speaker" level, but for sure enough to be able to converse with her/his relatives and friends. No need to achieve A2.

But if you live in the country of your partner, then B2 should be a must. After all, you can go to so many expat haunts as you like where Polish is not necessary...but for me it is common decency you speak the local lingo.

I know a few fellow Belgians who after having living in Warsaw for years can barely order a beer in Polish. They are pathetic. Our Labrador can order a beer in Polish.

Hear, hear Sobieski! Couldn't concur more:-)

Now, let's hope it resonates with some of those lazy ex-pats out there who think the world should dance to their (out-of) tune!!

And if somebody could teach our daughters to talk not only in ATM but also in Polish? Our Labrador does not beg for money after all :)

Sobieski, that's a point - how does your family communicate?

Between ourselves (me and my wife) it is basically what I call "Pinglish", a mix of English and Polish. With our daughters...in Polish.

And yes I may be joking...with our Labrador in Polish (because we got him from a schroniska in Paluchy), and with our cat in Flemish (because he came from Belgium). Somehow animals stick to their given language, strange....

And what about you?

English at home, Polish with some of the extended family, English with others.

I use Polish at work all the time, so it has no appeal for me to be used after work unless I have to.

isin't it a bit selfish towards wife to make her speak your native tongue delph? You should make more of an effort. I like this poglish idea the belgian has going on.

Not really, given that she's effectively bilingual as far as language ability goes.

You (westerners) all do.But no worries you won't be taken for a retard unless in addition to sounding like a retard you also look like one.

Grubas,

It really cuts both ways. There are some Poles who sound practically as fluent, accurate and aesthetically pleasing as any erudite Anglophone could hope for, while others sound like vulgar cartoon characters, a poor parody of every Lech, Maciej and Mieszko who ever cracked open an English reader and tried sounding out the words:-) No offense.

The same for Anglophone Polish speakers. Some sound truly ridiculous and had best use an interpreter who is bilingual in both languages. Then again, there is the rare foreigner and non-Slav to boot who speaks and writes a perfect Polish. Sadly, I'm but merely such a wannabe.....though in time I'm sure I'll get there, though many will probably already be collecting Social Security by that stageLOL

you can learn if u try

charming

Smurf,

You just reminded me of a colleague of mine who also decided to learn Polish, if for no other reason, than that he worked as a model photographer and (not surprisingly!!) many top models are from Poland. His first professional shoot with a twenty-something young lady from Poland and, a la marshal arts tactics, when she was least expecting it, he "hit" her with a whopping "Dzień dobry, pani! Bardzo mi miło, proszę wejść!", at which point, upon disarming her completely he raised her right hand to his lips, barely touching it, while intoning "Całuję pani rączki!"Rather than thinking "Who's this perve weirdo!!", she was apparently so flabbergasted, she insisted that he be the ONLY one to do her modeling shoots in the US:-) All this, at a drop-dead salary!

So you see, guys! There's hope for you all yetLOL

Your teaching her may work best. Lingual immersion with a native speaker teaching helps. As for me, Rosetta Stone has helped me immensely learn Hebrew because of that, and it prepared me for my Hebrew 101 class (in which my professor is a sabrit-צברית)-so I'm blessed!

you learn Polish. Poland is perspective country.

Amen, Crow!

She should definitely learn English, of course, if she lives in England. I think you should start learning Polish too though. If you feel that your communication is limited now, then it can only help you to communicate with her that much better. Even though I only have a basic understanding of Polish, I can still use it to help my friend communicate some things that she's trying to say. And learning a new language is good for your brain!

Plus it will help you, later on down the line, to talk to her family.

I really don't understand why all people find Polish to be so difficult. I'm learning it for myself and after I have often read that it should be one of the hardest languages in the world, I'm surprised how easy it is.

Is it because it sounds like Yiddish or Hebrew? Doesn't "jak się masz" ("How are you"?), e.g., sound like "yaq shemash" ("יק שמש", "Magic [of the] Sun")?

I wonder how this girl was getting by without learning English ?

She should learn more English as it will just make her life easier here, but he should learn some Polish too.

Just be careful that she doesn't pick up too much slang as it's surprising how many rude words foreigners use without realising it :)

So you are fluent yet?

She should learn English. Maybe then she will have a better understanding of what is going on. She may not find you as charming if she fully understood what you were saying.

I personally would not start a relationship with someone that I could not fluently engage conversation with.

You would if you was a desperate Polish girl.

I would say you should learn Polish, because there are many Poles who speak English but only very few English speaker who could speak Polish. You can be proud if you are one of them!

I agree one hundred percent! It'll certainly give you a leg up [einen Vorsprung]:-)