POLISH 18 - 30 years old know MUCH BETTER ENGLISH language than their own native language!

Long enough that I remember taking part of an old fashioned matura practice test (multiple choice) and getting 4 out of 20 'wrong'. For one the only 'correct' answer was a British form that is very marginal or non-existent in the US (need not) for two others a British native speaker agreed with my answer (and not the official right answer) and one just made no sense - neither of us could understand what was intended or why the 'correct'; answer was correct...

That was when I was tutoring a kid who wanted to do English matura (though English wasn't offered in his high school). He passed fine and said my advice on the Polish to English translation section was the most useful he'd gotten (look for the weirdness in the Polish question to get an idea of what they're looking for in English).

I knew on British person who didn't want their kids taking English in school because said kids were fluent enough that most teachers would feel threatened.... (they were not really native speakers though - one parent in Poland and grandparents they saw a couple of weeks out of the year in England weren't enough for that).

To be fair the general level of English in Poland has improved massively* if we're talking about basic daily face to face communication. And most people would never need anything more than that. But nonsense about young Poles speaking English better than Polish..... is just that, nonsense.

*though it's decreased in many ways over the last few years


To be fair, the Polish meanings are in line with other European languages and English is the odd language out in those cases...

It's even somewhat marginal in BrEng.


True, however when reading/writing instructions or a health/safety notice, they do need to get that right.

NOONE effectively feels and uses a learned second language as they can their mother tongue.

BS. When I read Polish posts here I often have no idea what the author wants to say. It's slow and tedious. I have zero problems with understanding English - here and everywhere else. When it's my turn to write or say, English comes out fluently and without hesitation. When I am trying to post in Polish, it's so painful that I have to use google translator.

Very true, however there are rare outliers.

Who cares?

People will always learn languages (for the foreseeable anyway) and there are always differing outcomes,

Who cares about anything?
My point is that the speed of learning a new language in a new country is a combination of immutable personal characteristics and what we control. That is why my advice that makes some angry is to drop the old language asap along with that damn hyphen. Somehow those seem to walk side by side.

That's mostly correct, however there's prior experience with languages (some people form barriers) and a few other pretty big factors that influence it.

There are no barriers, only the paths of least resistance. Like Polish delis, Polish newspapers, Polish TV and radio, Polish clubs, Polish 'hoods, Polish books, Polish language schools for kids,...

You do all that and that L2 process is like a bad joke that only eggheads get and enjoy.

There are. People create them mentally for all sorts of reasons.


Which is why I specialise in breaking down those barriers, with not inconsiderable success.

1. Lazy
2. Timid
3. Afraid

Anything else?

Just passed a sign "END WORK ZONE SPEED LIMIT". A string of nouns that is easy to read, easy to say, and easy to spell.

Now the Polish version: Koniec ograniczenia szybkosci w strefie pracy.
Which one is easier to say?

@Novi, don't how many times here I've told you (and yes, I DO know better in this case!) that ease is all relative!

Don't please let European native speakers of so-called "difficult" languages sell you that bull that they prefer to speak English over their mother tongue, let alone, that they communicate better in English, because it is a bald-faced lie!!

English is as tough for Poles as Polish is for English native speakers,and so kindly spare us the public relations song and dance.