Benjamin’s English · engVid | ENGLISH Tips for POLISH Speakers @engvidBenjamin | Uploaded June 2019 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
Cześć, witam w EngVid! (Hello, and welcome to EngVid!) When learning English, Polish speakers face particular challenges, and I want to address several of them in this lesson. First, we will talk about formality in English and how to use ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ Then, I will give you a list of seven prepositions that are easily confused, and I will teach you their usage. For example, do we say “at work” or “in work”? Do we say “on the radio” or “in the radio”? We will then move on to proper English intonation. I will demonstrate how to ask questions without sounding overdone. Many Polish speakers feel English questions are spoken with too much stress, so I will address this concern. And lastly, I will show you how to use the articles “the”, “a”, and “an” correctly depending on the word that follows it. After watching this lesson and doing the quiz at engvid.com/english-tips-for-polish-speakers , I guarantee you will feel much more confident about your English!
NEXT, watch these lessons to take your learning even further:
1. How to say the names of places in the UK: youtube.com/watch?v=MHCb2D3IMNM&t=0s&list=PLpRs5DzS7VqpcTS7hXJU4ARPwSETGI1gy&index=4
2. Mouth exercises for clear speech: Mouth exercises for CLEAR SPEECH youtube.com/watch?v=gp2VvmUJJc8&list=PLpRs5DzS7VqpcTS7hXJU4ARPwSETGI1gy&index=24
TRANSCRIPT
Hi, there. Welcome back to another lesson from engVid with me, Benjamin. Today we are looking at tips for learners of English if you are from Poland or other countries around Poland that share that language group; for example, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now, I don't know many people from Czech Republic and Slovakia. My experience is more with the Polish people that I have worked with and that I have taught. So, it will be aimed at them; but there may be areas of relevance for you, too, if you are from those countries.
So, a few general comments about Polish learners of English. First of all, one of the people I worked with at a language school, a guy called... a guy named Marrack had a fantastic grasp of English. He'd been working there for many years in England, and his level of sort of academic English was very accurate; probably higher than mine. So, I'm just saying that: Yes, there are areas that Polish people in general can work on, but that's not to say that there aren't many, many exceptions to the rules, and that there aren't some fantastic speakers out there.
Okay, let's get into a few areas for you. So, first of all: Formality. It's not the only language in which students struggle to say: "you", and have a hard time maybe calling a teacher by their first name. So, it is okay to use the second-person singular: "you". -"Are you okay today, Benjamin?" -"Yes. I'm fine, thanks. How are you, Purvelle?" Good.
"Mr." and "Mrs." Now, "Mr." and "Mrs.", these forms of address are used with a surname; so someone's second name. For example: "John Smith", I would say: "Hello, Mr. Smith. How are you today?" It's quite formal. Okay? We use surnames in... Only if we don't know someone, maybe in the world of work, and you're seeing someone for the first time and you don't want to use their first name.
But you wouldn't use it with the first name. So, you wouldn't say: "Mr. Benjamin, can I ask you something?" Okay? We might use it in a jokey way if we're speaking to a child: "Hello, Mr. So-and-so, how are you?" Or: "Hello, Master", that's the sort of junior equivalent of "Mr.". Nor do we say: "Please, Mr." More likely to say: "Excuse me." Okay? That's if I want to say something. You don't say: "Please, Mr." Same applies to "Mrs.". We don't say: "A Mrs. is on the phone", but we would say: "There's a lady that wants to speak to you on the phone." Okay?
Prepositions - a few areas of confusion, here. So, there are a few examples of when we would use "at". For example: "At work". Yeah? "At work", "at school", "at university", "at the party", "at the beach", "at the festival", "at the underground station".
"On": "Lying on my bed", "on the television", "on the radio". Yeah? "On the laptop", "On the table is a knife and fork."
"For": -"How long are you going to bed for?" -"I'm going to bed for 10 days". -"What are you doing that for?" -"So that I can have some nice dreams and rest."
-"Who are you doing that with?" -"People". -"What kind of emotion are you doing that with?" -"With a loss of happiness." So, we used "with" when we're talking about people. -"Who are you going to the party with?" -"I'm going with my friend John." -"Who are you annoyed with?" -"I am annoyed with Billy." Okay? "I am happy with Joe."
-"Where are you going to, Benjamin?" -"I am going to a place that is unknown." Okay? "I am going to", okay? But we can also use it with "getting married": "I am getting married to that lovely girl.", "I am getting married to that dashing young man". "Dashing" meaning handsome. […]
Cześć, witam w EngVid! (Hello, and welcome to EngVid!) When learning English, Polish speakers face particular challenges, and I want to address several of them in this lesson. First, we will talk about formality in English and how to use ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ Then, I will give you a list of seven prepositions that are easily confused, and I will teach you their usage. For example, do we say “at work” or “in work”? Do we say “on the radio” or “in the radio”? We will then move on to proper English intonation. I will demonstrate how to ask questions without sounding overdone. Many Polish speakers feel English questions are spoken with too much stress, so I will address this concern. And lastly, I will show you how to use the articles “the”, “a”, and “an” correctly depending on the word that follows it. After watching this lesson and doing the quiz at engvid.com/english-tips-for-polish-speakers , I guarantee you will feel much more confident about your English!
NEXT, watch these lessons to take your learning even further:
1. How to say the names of places in the UK: youtube.com/watch?v=MHCb2D3IMNM&t=0s&list=PLpRs5DzS7VqpcTS7hXJU4ARPwSETGI1gy&index=4
2. Mouth exercises for clear speech: Mouth exercises for CLEAR SPEECH youtube.com/watch?v=gp2VvmUJJc8&list=PLpRs5DzS7VqpcTS7hXJU4ARPwSETGI1gy&index=24
TRANSCRIPT
Hi, there. Welcome back to another lesson from engVid with me, Benjamin. Today we are looking at tips for learners of English if you are from Poland or other countries around Poland that share that language group; for example, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now, I don't know many people from Czech Republic and Slovakia. My experience is more with the Polish people that I have worked with and that I have taught. So, it will be aimed at them; but there may be areas of relevance for you, too, if you are from those countries.
So, a few general comments about Polish learners of English. First of all, one of the people I worked with at a language school, a guy called... a guy named Marrack had a fantastic grasp of English. He'd been working there for many years in England, and his level of sort of academic English was very accurate; probably higher than mine. So, I'm just saying that: Yes, there are areas that Polish people in general can work on, but that's not to say that there aren't many, many exceptions to the rules, and that there aren't some fantastic speakers out there.
Okay, let's get into a few areas for you. So, first of all: Formality. It's not the only language in which students struggle to say: "you", and have a hard time maybe calling a teacher by their first name. So, it is okay to use the second-person singular: "you". -"Are you okay today, Benjamin?" -"Yes. I'm fine, thanks. How are you, Purvelle?" Good.
"Mr." and "Mrs." Now, "Mr." and "Mrs.", these forms of address are used with a surname; so someone's second name. For example: "John Smith", I would say: "Hello, Mr. Smith. How are you today?" It's quite formal. Okay? We use surnames in... Only if we don't know someone, maybe in the world of work, and you're seeing someone for the first time and you don't want to use their first name.
But you wouldn't use it with the first name. So, you wouldn't say: "Mr. Benjamin, can I ask you something?" Okay? We might use it in a jokey way if we're speaking to a child: "Hello, Mr. So-and-so, how are you?" Or: "Hello, Master", that's the sort of junior equivalent of "Mr.". Nor do we say: "Please, Mr." More likely to say: "Excuse me." Okay? That's if I want to say something. You don't say: "Please, Mr." Same applies to "Mrs.". We don't say: "A Mrs. is on the phone", but we would say: "There's a lady that wants to speak to you on the phone." Okay?
Prepositions - a few areas of confusion, here. So, there are a few examples of when we would use "at". For example: "At work". Yeah? "At work", "at school", "at university", "at the party", "at the beach", "at the festival", "at the underground station".
"On": "Lying on my bed", "on the television", "on the radio". Yeah? "On the laptop", "On the table is a knife and fork."
"For": -"How long are you going to bed for?" -"I'm going to bed for 10 days". -"What are you doing that for?" -"So that I can have some nice dreams and rest."
-"Who are you doing that with?" -"People". -"What kind of emotion are you doing that with?" -"With a loss of happiness." So, we used "with" when we're talking about people. -"Who are you going to the party with?" -"I'm going with my friend John." -"Who are you annoyed with?" -"I am annoyed with Billy." Okay? "I am happy with Joe."
-"Where are you going to, Benjamin?" -"I am going to a place that is unknown." Okay? "I am going to", okay? But we can also use it with "getting married": "I am getting married to that lovely girl.", "I am getting married to that dashing young man". "Dashing" meaning handsome. […]
