Shocking! Test standards in Polish schools.

I've taught both and can tell you that matura is far from the equivalent of A levels.

By a country mile.

A.K. in the US, we call it "role playing" too:-)

Anytime, Telcat:-)
LOL

That's why I put equivalent among these signs ""


I didn't know that there is A-level English as a Foreign Language exam.

Indeed there are and I believe they're connected with First Cambridge as well as BEC (Business English Certificate), the latter piloted in Italy, if memory serves me correctly:-:))

German has Erstes Sprachdiplom connected with the Goethe-Institutes throughout the world!

Yes. Big in foreign cities that have British Schools.

I seem to remember an article about a Welsh-speaking student making claims about racial discrimination when she wasn't allowed to count her A level in English as a foreign language towards her university entry points requirement.

It's weird that Poles who live in the UK are allowed to take GSCE of Polish as a foreign language... shame, real shame!

It's quite normal - but the one crucial difference is that universities won't regard it as serious. It's impossible to explain quickly - but if you do something "too easy" - it won't be taken into consideration later.

What about Lithuanians/Germans doing Polish as a second language? Isn't it the same for them?

The course actually involves them studying Pollsh literature in English translation, so not by any means an easy option.

I've check it and according to various forums it's a regular exam of foreign language involving: speaking, reading, writting and listening, not a Polish literature course. I don't need to say that Poles usually get A* from that exam.

Check it a bit more carefully (and make sure you're checking the right GCSE band) - unless they've dumbed it down there is always a literature component in the higher band. And you might be interested to know that some Polish kids do not achieve a pass grade.

Actually French is only compulsory from 11 to 14 (years 7 to 9) after that most drop languages as they are not deemed useful.

As for the paragraphs the OP posted, they were not grammatically correct, but understandable at the same time, seems like grammar isnt top of the list for teachers in Polish schools.

Hi, even though I didn't read the whole discussion (in fact I read about 5 replies), I'd like to prove you somehow, that some of the children in Poland aren't as stupid as the ones, that were quoted. I'm 14 years old, second year of junior high school. In a year I'll be writing one of the most important exams in my life - egzamin gimnazjalny. Actually, when I read this topic I wasn't shocked - in every country there are some more clever students and the less clever ones. I believe that especially the second fragment of essay (but also the first one) wasn't written by an bilingual Polish-English genius, however we can't just simply think of one person as the whole nation, because it only makes a stupid stereotype. I'm going to a good school, maybe not the best in Poland, but I'm sure that every single student of my school wouldn't have written this work better. I think it depends on the school and whether the student had any additional language courses, because at school, every year since the primary school he had the same topics: animals, weather, present simple, future simple and past simple tenses and that's the end! That is why I cab understand why poorer children can't speak English well. However, the strangest thing here is that these students were given so many points for their writings. That is quite a mystery for me, because for this kind of work I'd get F grade... I'm sorry for my English, but I hope you will easily understand what I meant with my message. I just felt I needed to interfere. Greetings from Poland! :)