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Does anyone speak any polish?

15 replies

memoo · 04/09/2008 12:47

I have a new boy who has started in my class today who speaks only polish. He doesn't understand any english at all.

I have ordered some cd's ect to help me learn polish until his english improves but in the mean time I still can't communicate with this child.

I wondered if anyone knows even a few words of polish that I could use like toilet, drink etc.

OP posts:
zippitippitoes · 04/09/2008 12:48

cant you ask him..

zippitippitoes · 04/09/2008 12:49

sorry that sounds a bit abrupt i didnt mean to

like taker him to the loo and ask him waht he calls it etc

memoo · 04/09/2008 12:51

I can't ask him because he doens' understand any english and doesn't understand what i'm asking him.

I have taken him to the toilet etc but her just shakes his head.

He is only 4 and terrified!

OP posts:
RubyRioja · 04/09/2008 12:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RubyRioja · 04/09/2008 12:57

This reply has been deleted

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memoo · 04/09/2008 16:19

thats a really good idea Ruby.

I feel so sorry for him, he was so upset this morning and just kept crying "mama".

OP posts:
cat64 · 04/09/2008 16:31

This reply has been deleted

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chipmonkey · 04/09/2008 17:02

The poor little pet! A teacher friend of mine said she had a little boy in her class who only spoke German. She tried and tried to teach him English to no avail. Eventually one day, he pointed to the door and said "doras" which is the Irish word for door ( I'm in Ireland and the children are taught Irish in school).

Sunnybunny · 04/09/2008 17:02

Dziendobry mean Hello or Good Morning. It's pronounced jen-dobry. Try that tomorrow.
Jak sie masz (Yak she mash) means how are you. If he says nie dobrze (nye dobsha) in reply, it means he's not ok. Dobra (pronounce as it sounds) means good. Nie dobra means not good. So you could point to various objects to see if he wants to do something or play with something and ask dobra?

Dowidzenia (do-vidz-enya pronounce 'do' as if you're saying 'dot') means goodbye. Some of this spellings may need checking because it's a while since I've written any Polish.

P.S Jestes (yest-esh) zmenczona (zmen-chona)
means 'Are you tired?'. Also tak is yes and nie (nye) is no

makeminealargeoneplease · 04/09/2008 17:15

Poor little thing, that must be so awful for him. Just had a little google and found this. Its from this website here

Yes: Tak (as in tick-'tack')
No: Nie (as in 'nyeh'-nyeh-na-na-na)
OK: Dobrze ('dough' plus a 'b' then 'she')
Excuse me: Przepraszam (difficult to pronounce because it includes that oh-so-not-English combo - 'p' merges into 'shey' followed by 'pra' and 'shem')

What: Co (often used like an English 'what??' and pronounced 'tso')
Where: Gdzie ( 'guh' and 'jay')
When: Kiedy ( 'key yeh dey')
Who: Kto ( 'k' and 'toe')
Why: Dlaczego ('dlah' and 'che' and 'go')
How: Jak ('yak'')

Poles are big on greetings. Remember how to say 'good day'. You can even say it at night - it has such universality here.

Good day: Dzien dobry ('jean' and 'dough' plus 'bree' like the cheese)
Hi: Czesc (use this one on friends only: 'che sh ch' but run it all together as one sound)
Bye: Czesc (works like 'aloha' or 'ciao' or 'salut', making informal comings and goings easy)
Good bye: Do widzenia ('dough' and 'wid zen ya' comes close enough)
I don't speak Polish: Nie mowie po polsku ('nie' as above, 'moovie' then 'po' as in really poor, and 'pole sku')
I speak English: Mowie po angielsku ('moovie' 'po' angielsku)
I don't understand: Nie rozumiem ( 'nie' we know by now and 'row zoo me m' works for the operative word)
Help me please: Prosze mi pomoc (for those unexpected tourist emergencies - note the 'prosze' making yet another appearance, 'mi' is just like 'me' in English in sound and meaning and the 'po moats' functions as the HELP signal)
Please write that down: Prosze to napisac (when you 'nie rozumiem' but want to, stumble out 'prosze' as above then 'toe' which means it, and end with 'nah pee sach' which means write)

robinpud · 04/09/2008 17:22

I have spent today finding Bulgairan words to support a child I will be teaching as from next week in year 3 who has no English.

As others have suggested, can you use makaton symbols to help him?
We use this as a visual prompt.
I won't even be able to say hello to this child as I can read the Bulgarian. this si apparently tree дърво.. not sure if it is.. hope it is!

Good luck with the little one

dilemma456 · 06/09/2008 20:08

Message withdrawn

dilemma456 · 06/09/2008 20:11

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robinpud · 06/09/2008 20:46

Oh god that's fab; i can put that into my smartbook files and play it on the interactive whiteboad when she comes into the classroom. It's a start!

JLo2 · 11/09/2008 22:50

There's a great little program that you can download for £3 that has masses of phrases on it that helps them learn english. It's fab! The children love it.
HERE

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