We all admire linguists and people who are able to learn and speak a foreign language. Sometimes, we are not aware of how much time and dedication is required to achieve it. It is important to remember that learning a language is not only about being able to speak it. We should not forget about reading, writing and listening comprehension. Moreover, there is grammar. I know this is not our favourite!

As a non-native English speaker I can assure you that learning grammar rules is equally important and will help in the learning process. However, nowadays there are some new English teaching methods which seem not to focus on grammar to such a great extent. One of them, the Callan method, is based on conversation. Students answer questions quickly and do not spend too much time thinking about how to phrase their answer. In this case, the language is acquired through listening while grammar is taught unconsciously by repeating the sentences and constructions. I believe this may sound appealing.

Another grammar- free learning method is the SITA Learning system which allows learning a language during a relaxation process. Audiotapes are specifically developed to optimise and accelerate individual learning.

No matter what method of language-learning we go for, we are still likely to make some mistakes. It is not that the method was not good enough or that we did not apply ourselves. The mistakes we make are often determined by our nationality and mostly depend on the origins of our mother tongue, accent pattern but also on cultural differences and our background.

I would like to look at some common mistakes that Polish speakers tend to make when learning English.

I have noticed the most troublesome aspect for Polish speakers when learning English is pronunciation. People tend to pronounce words as they are spelt as this is how it works in Polish. For this reason, very often when hearing a word we do not understand its meaning. Another unnatural aspect when learning English is the use of operator ‘Do’, ‘Does’ or ‘Did’ when asking questions.

Nothing can compare to the difficulty of using the definite and indefinite article though. We are taught the theory of when to use ‘the’ and when to use ‘a/an’ but we never seem to fully comprehend the reason behind it. Such a thing as ‘articles’ do not appear in Polish language so it is difficult to use them when speaking or writing.

So, when learning a foreign language, our mother tongue may prove to be an obstacle because we often compare the rules to the language we learn. This can cause a lot of misunderstanding and misuse. Therefore, It is important to embrace similarities and be aware of any differences between the two languages, and take these on board in your approach to language learning.