ZenonPolishOrigins Team Leader
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Replies: 1533
Location: PolandBack to top |
Posted: Yesterday at 5:46 am
Post subject: Live Polish Course - The Language That Waited
A few days ago, I sent out a newsletter about a new project we are preparing: a live Polish course called The Language That Waited.
The course is designed especially for people of Polish origin. We are planning a free webinar on November 4, where Kamila, the designer of the course, will explain how the course will work and answer your questions.
Below, I am sharing the newsletter and a link to the article by Kamila:
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When I first began traveling with you, descendants of Polish immigrants more than twenty years ago, one subject kept coming up: the Polish language. It still does today.
Many of you still remember a few words your parents or grandparents used at home. Often they are names of food. Sometimes they are words that grandparents probably did not intend you to repeat, like “psiakrew” (literally, “dog’s blood”) or “dupa” (I will leave that one for you to look up  ). There might also be simple phrases like “chodź tutaj” (“come here”) or “cicho bądź” (“be quiet”). A few words, but you can still hear the person who used to say them.
Over the years, many of you have told me why Polish was spoken less and less in your families. Your parents and grandparents kept traditions, recipes, and memories of the old country. But they also wanted their children to fit in and have an easier life than they had. Learning English came first. Polish often stayed with the older generation.
And there is another explanation I hear quite often: “They spoke Polish when they did not want us children to understand.”
Now, many of you would love to understand those conversations.
Some of you have been trying for years. I remember the first guests arriving with basic Polish they had learned from CD courses or practiced with a tutor. Later came online dictionaries, translation tools, and apps like Duolingo. Today, a phone can translate a conversation and even say the words aloud for you.
All of this helps. But if you have tried to learn, or relearn, Polish, you know that recognizing words is one thing. Following a conversation is another.
You learn a few phrases, put together a sentence, and arrive in Poland ready to try. Then someone answers, and I hear the familiar complaint: “You guys speak so fast!”
To us, of course, it sounds perfectly normal.
For a long time, I have wanted to offer something for those of you who would like to go further. A way to learn regularly, with someone guiding you and helping you use what you have learned.
About two months ago, Kamila Lipowska contacted me. She told me about the Polish language school she has been running in Great Britain for years, teaching people from around the world, from complete beginners to more advanced students.
We met, shared our experiences, and talked about the people we work with. We decided that Kamila would prepare a Polish language course especially for you, descendants of Polish people.
We called it The Language That Waited.
The course will bring you together online for live lessons with Kamila and other people who have similar motivations for learning. There will be a clear structure, regular practice, and time to ask questions. You will have someone listening to your pronunciation, explaining what is confusing, and helping you try again.
Perhaps you would like to exchange a few sentences with your cousins in Poland. Perhaps you want to feel more comfortable when you visit your grandparents’ village. Or perhaps you simply want to learn more of the language you remember from home.
These are the kinds of reasons we had in mind when we began working on this course.
We are planning a free webinar on November 4 (2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT), when Kamila will tell you more about the course and how the lessons will work. If this sounds like something you have been waiting for, please join us.
Read Kamila's introduction to the course on our blog.
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