Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

warren whitmore:
It's a little strange for me that some Poles claim to like English but not the English.

So are you Anglophobe or Anglophile, and if so why?

I'm Angloneutral
However if forced to make a choice: rather phile than phobe

Got some friends from the Anglosphere as well - most of whom living (or were living) in my home town - Zielona Góra

I can't only understand one thing, namly
why the fuck I'm forced to use a foreign lang still to keep in touch with anyone in my country?
It is a bit weird, considering most of'em had been living here for yrs now, which is rather to be understood as an issue "to settle down", don't u think?

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Polish is a bastard of a language to learn, Damian.

It really is.warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.04.08 o godzinie 23:38

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Steven H.:

Would anyone suffering from Polonophobia be successful at learning Polish?

You could like the Poles (or at least be curious) whilst learning the language, but then begin to dislike them.
In my case I'd had enough of the French after spending 4 years there. In fact it was partly a clash of mentalities and partly the fact that I'd had enough of living in a massive city with its various disadvantages.
So, in my case the word France stirs a certain amount of bad feeling in me, but I still like French as a language and regret the fact I rarely use it.

I kind of understand what you mean, Steve.

I've got a love-hate relationship with the Welsh language and the Welsh.

Bizarrely, I've got a first class degree in Welsh, yet a somewhat ambivalent attitude to Welsh speakers.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Sylwia Łubkowska:

warren whitmore:
I love your attitude Sylwia.

A lot of Poles who have moved to the U.K. could learn from it.

Thank you ;) But I learnt it from you, the Brits!

And I forgot to mention love, which played a big part in developing my attitude towards the English. I think mixed-nationality relationships provide the best opportunity to become really open to, if not fascinated with the culture of your partner. Before I met my (then) boyfriends I'd have said along with everyone else that British cuisine was shit and now I had to admit shepherds pie was actually quite nice, let alone scones and cream (I'd still maintain white tea is undrinkable! ;P) And the language I learnt from them and their mates was quite different from what I was taught at school or even university.

I had a similar experience with the Welsh language.

I studied the language, but never really became fluent until I met my ex-girlfriend who refused to talk to me in English.

Then the language entered my soul.

Even now I still have the random urge to say things like cae'r drws (shut the door) in Welsh.

There's a lot of stuff you can express in one language, but not the other.

The Welsh call English yr iaith fain (the thin tongue).

My main beef with my wife is that she refuses to speak to me in Polish. I've begged her to do so, but she won't. I've made her fluent in English - she should return the favour.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Sylwia Łubkowska:

warren whitmore:

Rafal Wolk:

warren whitmore:
Would it make sense to learn American English and have an animus towards Americans, or learn British English and despise the Brits?

Would anyone suffering from Polonophobia be successful at learning Polish?

I think it really depends on the reasons why you are learning any given language.

And the depth to which you wanted to learn the language.

I'd say that to get to the 'soul' of the target language, an understanding of the culture from which it derives is a must.

I agree, if only because it strengthens your motivation. And also, it really pays to at least visit one of the target language countries, because without it even the best teachers find it difficult to get the students interested in the culture.

Yup! In spite of the "lingua franca" argument I put forward earlier, I'd say that you're going to be more successful at learning a language if you actually like the culture/ people it derives from. Simply because of the source material for learning it. For example, if you like the British "thing" you'll like the British humour and end up watching British comedy and end up learning more.

I've met people who speak English and don't really like the country; they can make FCE but struggle beyond that.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

warren whitmore:
Polish is a bastard of a language to learn, Damian.

It really is.warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 20.04.08 o godzinie 23:38

It is indeed a bastard, but not impossible. I found the more I got into the language, the more I enjoyed interactions with Poles and I certainly got more respect which led to enjoying it even more.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

My best teacher is my five year old daughter.

Then my wife and family complain about my not speaking English with her.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

warren whitmore:
My best teacher is my five year old daughter.

Then my wife and family complain about my not speaking English with her.

That's interesting! I never speak with my kids in Polish, even though I could. I think the older one thinks I can't, which is sort of funny. Am wondering how long I can keep this illusion up...

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Don't you find you end up speaking a weird mixture of Polish and English with your family?

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

warren whitmore:
Don't you find you end up speaking a weird mixture of Polish and English with your family?

No. I only speak English with them. Now the reason is mainly so that the kids grow up bilingual. With my wife English was always the language because when we met I knew very little Polish. Because we stuck with English I've now got the slightly weird situation of speaking fluent Polish but she doesn't really know that I do!

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Steve Jones:

warren whitmore:
Don't you find you end up speaking a weird mixture of Polish and English with your family?

No. I only speak English with them. Now the reason is mainly so that the kids grow up bilingual. With my wife English was always the language because when we met I knew very little Polish. Because we stuck with English I've now got the slightly weird situation of speaking fluent Polish but she doesn't really know that I do!

Ha ha, that's funny! ;)) But some kids are unaware of this. I once was a nanny for a 3-year old Mauritian girl, who once asked me for a 'gateau' and there was no way she would accept I didn't understand French - since I spoke as good English as her parents, it should go without saying that I also speak French ;)) Of course, it all ended in tears! ;))

I recently hosted a couple of Germans that I met via the Hospitality Club. They both spoke very good English but insisted that I speak Polish with them because they both had ties with Poland. The guy was actually quite fluent but the girl struggled a bit and after a while I found myself getting tired by the conversation slowing down because of this and, in the politest way I could, I asked them to switch into English. I could see their disappointment, so I promised to include some Polish in our conversation, but I just felt I couldn't carry on. I hope I wasn't being selfish.

On the other hand, I know a few native English/American/Canadian people who have mastered their Polish to fluency and now refuse to speak in any other language. Their argument is that they won't forget their mother tongue anyway, while speaking Polish will keep their fluency going. And this is exactly my attitude: now that I'm back in Poland I want to jump at every opportunity to speak English with the natives, because I can no longer take it for granted. I even got to the point of getting one of my friends so drunk that he was confused about which language he should speak ;PSylwia Łubkowska edytował(a) ten post dnia 21.04.08 o godzinie 01:39

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

warren whitmore:
My best teacher is my five year old daughter.

Then my wife and family complain about my not speaking English with her.

My family always bitches about me not speaking Polish to my kids.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

Rafal Wolk:

warren whitmore:
My best teacher is my five year old daughter.

Then my wife and family complain about my not speaking English with her.

My family always bitches about me not speaking Polish to my kids.

And, since you're planning to move back to Poland, they're right. Unless your plans have changed.

Temat: Anglophobe or Anglophile?

They haven't changed, thing is, it's pretty rare that I speak Polish in general and it usually is just a couple hours at a time. I do agree with Steve's idea - speak English at home, you will be living in a Polish speaking country, kids will be bilingual.
I've learned a great deal about the English language from my wife, she's been the greatest teacher and most patient one at that.