Advice wanted for non-English speaker

jfdi

I suggest they look into a Credit Union - just Google Credit Unions for your city.

If they are part of the local community & are making their home here I'm sure they'd be receptive to the family.

ILW

chalkie99 wrote: »

I bet Spain is full of ex-pat Brits who have been there for years and still cannot speak a word of Spanish.

And they should be totally ashamed of themselves.

chalkie99

ILW wrote: »

And they should be totally ashamed of themselves.

Yes, bet they're not though.

therecordcollector

Thank you for a VERY POSITIVE and useful input.

mayday_poland

Hi there,
according to some of my mates Lloyds TSB is offering a free advice in polish language. Just phone 0800 55 69 55 69 (Monday-Friday 10am-9pm).

chicoingles

I'm not sure I can offer you any advice in particular, although I have to say that I find it rather strange that they don't even have a basic level of English having been in this country for 2 years now. Although, having said that, when I was working at EDF Energy once and calling customers about their electricity and gas accounts, I did speak to one woman who didn't speak any English at all, although her son did, so it just goes to show that these cases do arise from time to time (obviously working in a call centre environment you are more prone to being in these kinds of situations). On a side note, I have recently started learning Polish, and I have to say I am struggling with it (although I am now on to learning the present tense, and already know basic expressions, so I guess I'm not doing too badly ), and that comes from someone who is not in any way a beginner to language learning, as I have a MA in Translation Studies, which I completed earlier on this year, as well a BA in Spanish and Italian, which I completed last year. I also have an intermediate level of Catalan and a basic level of French (I did AS back in 2004). Anyway, I hope my point has been useful, despite the fact that it hasn't answered your question directly!

fudgecat

Oh dear, dfh, another spittle flecked rant based on assumptions by the "they come over `ere..." brigade. the record collector has been nothing but polite and grateful for helpful comments.

chicoingles

fudgecat wrote: »

Oh dear, dfh, another spittle flecked rant based on assumptions by the "they come over `ere..." brigade. the record collector has been nothing but polite and grateful for helpful comments.

I agree that they should ideally learn English if they want to contribute to British society, but at the same time, I've lived abroad (in Spain) for 2 years (studying as part of my degree and then for my MA; I speak Spanish) and knowing the language is essential. However, at the same time, there are times when culture shock does play its part into adjusting with a different way of life and this, if happening to an immigrant of any nationality, could be a reason why they don't choose to learn the language of the country they happen to be living in (this is unlikely, but possible). Aside from all that, all the Poles I have met, both in this country as well as in Spain, have been extremely kind, generous and intelligent, and they were my main reasons for me starting to learn their language, as well as the fact that it gives me a challenge to get my teeth into, while I'll obviously continue to stick with the Romance languages of which I already have knowledge.

inmypocketnottheirs

Back to the original post. My suggestion has already been covered, but I would be interested to know the outcome, i.e. that of a credit union.

mayday_poland

Just to let some of you know (especially dfh)that Polish is one of the official languages within European Union. It is not mandatory to speak English in the UK, or?. I met here (UK) a lot of a British Citizens who couldn't speak English. I had a few conversations over the phone and I couldn't understand their English (i.e. Virgin Media CS). The UK-Born can't speak Spanish in Spain, the UK-Born can't speak French in France, even if they are living there for years...

Don't get me wrong as I don't want to say, that I totally agree with that Polish family and I do support them in NOT to learn English in here - I don't. But... if the UK-Born can live in foreign countries without knowing a local language why other nations living within the UK can not do the same? Double-standards?

I am sure, that family is paying all taxes, same as you and me. So if speaking English or not speaking English doesn't make any difference for a "tax-man" by taking money of them, why should that be a problem for Bank?

And also maybe there is a reason why they can't speak English or learn English that fast. Maybe they are 106 year old LOL

BTW, I am Polish, sorry then for "my" English as I live here just over 37 months.