Giving YOU the chance to SPEAK!!
Polish speaking students
Poles are perfectionists...
Poles are perfectionists...
Poland is the country where I trained to become a teacher. I did my CELTA course in Wroclaw at International House in 2010. Before I became a teacher, I spent a bit of time in Poland as a tourist and always enjoyed myself, especially the Polish beer which for me is the best in the world. After I decided I was going to leave Russia to work in another country, the choice was easy, it was always going to be Poland, I held and still hold the country in high regard, and so I spent 3 academic years in Poland.
Polish students for me are like no other. The level of English I found in Poland was always generally high, especially in Warsaw. Most of my students usually came with at least an upper-intermediate level of English, but they also came with something else..... a lack of confidence and belief. It really is so surprising that someone can have such a good level of English and still doubt themselves when clearly they have arrived at a very respectable stage. This could be that all Polish students are perfectionists, or they have a mentality when it comes to learning English that I'll never understand, but what I do know, they are always ready for engaging conversations and willingness to use their English when you give them the chance.
As I mentioned above, the level of English among Polish students is usually already high, so the kind of mistakes they make aren't usually big. Overusing the present continuous when talking about general habits, the wrong preposition because they've translated the preposition they use in their language, but nothing major. Building their confidence and belief is a much greater task. Over recent years while doing Skype English lessons and Zoom English classes my greatest satisfaction has come from working with a few guys from Poland who after an academic year's worth of lessons found their confidence, belief, and brand new jobs in either international companies or abroad.
Giving YOU the chance to SPEAK!