Easy question :

[Gość: dradam]

If this forum is called "English only" why circa 90 % of postings are not in
English ?

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes/errors. It is a part of learning
process. So, I do not understand why correspondents are affraid to use this
language ?

With sympathy

dradam

Easy or simple?

[Gość: english-test.net]

Well, your question provides some food for thought and topics for discussions.
I think it's not important what this forum is called, the fact that the vast
majority of its participants are from Poland probably explains why many posts
are indeed in Polish rather than in English. The people whose mother tongue is
English are likely to live in Poland and therefore have at least an elementary
command of Polish.
I very much agree with your point that making mistakes is part of the learning
process and with a human language (as opposed to computer languages such as
PHP or JavaScript) there isn't really such a thing as 'a mistake' simply
because the language of human beings is just a means for exchanging ideas.
Ideas can't be mistakes, can they? So, I guess for most people making postings
in Polish it's unusual to communicate with other people in a different
language than their mother tongue, or are there any other reasons?

www.english-test.net

[Gość: dradam]

Gość portalu: english-test.net napisał(a):

> The people whose mother tongue is
> English are likely to live in Poland and therefore have at least an
elementary
> command of Polish.

I think that this is not what you meant. Or I am lost ... ! :-)))


(...) So, I guess for most people making postings
> in Polish it's unusual to communicate with other people in a different
> language than their mother tongue, or are there any other reasons?
>

I think that there is some psychological limit and it comes from traditional ,
scholarly, method of teaching foreign language. When instructor speaks
(initially) using mother tongue of students, trying all the time to translate
all she/he says back and forth between languages.

This is essentially incorrect.

In order to master "colloqial" foreign language you must forget your first
language and try to think in foreign language.Listening all the time only
foreign language ( event you do not understand a word) . Speaking comes
later... Suddenly ...

Best regards


dradam

[Gość: Gosc]

Gość portalu: dradam napisał(a):

>
> With sympathy

Why with "sympathy"? - has somebody died? ;)

[Gość: dradam]

"with sympathy" to all Poles trying to study and master English.

Yours truly

dradam

[azm]

Nothing is wrong with making errors, but as I watch people (and myself too), I
can draw a conclusion that Polish people tend to speak Polish as much as
possible and not other languages due to the fear of being laughed at for their
errors while speaking other languages.
Not too complicated, I hope? :-)

[Gość: dradam]

azm napisał:

) Nothing is wrong with making errors, but as I watch people (and myself too),
I
) can draw a conclusion that Polish people tend to speak Polish as much as
) possible and not other languages due to the fear of being laughed at for
their
) errors while speaking other languages.
) Not too complicated, I hope? :-)

In theory you are correct.

Except this aspect, that "English only" BB is entitled "English only" , and, as
you know, it is designated to an individuals learning/studying English.
Therefore THIS IS A PLACE to make mistakes.

If you do not make mistakes how do you expect anyone to use correctly
language ? I passed TOEFL/TSE (pro) many,many years ago , but I am still
learning . Even analysing ( analyzing ?) how residents of other countries are
expressing and pronouncing even simple, popular words .

Now something to enjoy . This text is only for teaching purposes . Do not try
to translate into Polish :

Since this was copyrighted over 100 years ago, I think it should be
OK to reprint.....


===================================================
copyright 1894 The Madison Institute.

===================================================
The following is a reprint from The Madison Institute Newsletter,
Fall Issue, 1894:

INSTRUCTION AND ADVICE
FOR THE
YOUNG BRIDE
on the
Conduct and Procedure of the
Intimate and Personal Relationships
of the Marriage State
for the
Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this
Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God
by
Ruth Smythers
beloved wife of
The Reverend L.D. Smythers
Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist
Church of the Eastern Regional Conference
Published in the year
of our Lord 1894
Spiritual Guidance Press
New York City


INSTRUCTION AND ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG BRIDE


To the sensitive young woman who has had the benefits of proper
upbringing, the wedding day is, ironically, both the happiest and
most terrifying day of her life. On the positive side, there is the
wedding itself, in which the bride is the central attraction in a
beautiful and inspiring ceremony, symbolizing her triumph in securing
a male to provide for all her needs for the rest of her life. On the
negative side, there is the wedding night, during which the bride
must pay the piper, so to speak, by facing for the first time the
terrible experience of sex.

At this point, dear reader, let me concede one shocking truth.Some
young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with
curiosity and pleasure! Beware such an attitude! A selfish and
sensual husband can easily take advantage of such a bride. One
cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: GIVE LITTLE,
GIVE SELDOM, AND ABOVE ALL, GIVE GRUDGINGLY. Otherwise what could
have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.

On the other hand, the bride's terror need not be extreme. While sex
it at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be
endured, and has been by women since the beginning of time, and is
compensated for by the monogamous home and by the children produced
through it.
It is useless, in most cases, for the bride to prevail upon the
groom to forego the sexual initiation. While the ideal husband would
be one who would approach his bride only at her request and only for
the purpose of begetting offspring, such nobility and unselfishness
cannot be expected from the average man.

Most men, if not denied, would demand sex almost every day. The wise
bride will permit a maximum of two brief sexual experiences weekly
during the first months of marriage. As time goes by she should
make every effort to reduce this frequency.

Feigned illness, sleepiness, and headaches are among the wife's best
friends in this matter. Arguments, nagging, scolding, and bickering
also prove very effective, if used in the late evening about an hour
before the husband would normally commence his seduction.

Clever wives are ever on the alert for new and better methods of
denying and discouraging the amorous overtures of the husband. A
good wife should expect to have reduced sexual contacts to once a
week by the end of the first year of marriage and to once a month by
the end of the fifth year of marriage.

By their tenth anniversary many wives have managed to complete their
child bearing and have achieved the ultimate goal of terminating all
sexual contacts with the husband. By this time she can depend upon
his love for the children and social pressures to hold the husband
in the home.
Just as she should be ever alert to keep the quantity of sex as low
as possible, the wise bride will pay equal attention to limiting the
kind and degree of sexual contacts. Most men are by nature rather
perverted, and if given half a chance, would engage in quite a
variety of the most revolting practices. These practices include
among others performing the normal act in abnormal positions;
mouthing the female body; and offering their own vile bodies to be
mouthed in turn.

Nudity, talking about sex, reading stories about sex, viewing
photographs and drawings depicting or suggesting sex are the
obnoxious habits the male is likely to acquire if permitted.

A wise bride will make it the goal never to allow her husband to see
her unclothed body, and never allow him to display his unclothed body
to her. Sex, when it cannot be prevented, should be practiced only in
total darkness. Many women have found it useful to have thick cotton
nightgowns for themselves and pajamas for their husbands. These
should be donned in separate rooms. They need not be removed durning
the sex act. Thus, a minimum of flesh is exposed.

Once the bride has donned her gown and turned off all the lights, she
should lie quietly upon the bed and await her groom. When he comes
groping into the room she should make no sound to guide him in her
direction, lest he take this as a sign of encouragement. She should
let him grope in the dark. There is always the hope that he will
stumble and incur some slight injury which she can use as an excuse
to deny him sexual access.

When he finds her, the wife should lie as still as possible. Bodily
motion on her part could be interpreted as sexual excitement by the
optimistic husband.

If he attempts to kiss her on the lips she should turn her head
slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead. If
he attempts to kiss her hand, she should make a fist. If he lifts her
gown and attempts to kiss her anyplace else she should quickly pull
the gown back in place, spring from the bed, and announce that
nature calls her to the toilet. This will generally dampen his
desire to kiss in the forbidden territory.

If the husband attempts to seduce her with lascivious talk, the wise
wife will suddenly remember some trivial non-sexual question to ask
him. Once he answers she should keep the conversation going, no
matter how frivolous it may seem at the time.

Eventually, the husband will learn that if he insists on having
sexual contact, he must get on with it without amorous embellishment.
The wise wife will allow him to pull the gown up no farther than the
waist, and only permit him to open the front of his pajamas to thus
make connection.

She will be absolutely silent or babble about her housework while his
huffing and puffing away

[orys100]

This is the best text I've been ever read.
I have to translate it for my wife.

And what about topic?
In my opinion Polish affraid to use foreign
languages due to methods of teaching it.

Polish teachers pay attention to grammar correctness
instead of to improve of the communication skills.
I have my own experience end now I have problem with
communication in english with my sons even though they
have been learning english for 3 years.

Sorry for a mistakes, but I'm a victim of this method too.

Rick

[mmaly]

Guyz,
be realistic.
Some people here haven't come to speak English.
They've come to ask a stupid question, because they hardly ever use a dictionary or they just don't know how to use it.
Do you think they will understand if you use English all the time?
If you want to practice your English, it's a good idea to get yourself Yahoo Messenger and talk to people all over the world instead of trying to force some Polish adolescents to stop using their mother tongue while they are here.