Counseling methods on learning Polish as a foreign language

at the School of Polish for the Foreigner StudentsUniversity of Lódź, Poland

ON THE RIGHT TRACK 2010

IThe School of Polish for Foreign Students

University of Łódź

 The School of Polish for Foreign Students at the University of Łódź  (Studium Języka Polskiego dla Cudzoziemców Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego) was established back in 1952 year.

 It is the oldest and the largest centre in Poland where foreigners prepare themselves to study in Poland and where they learn Polish language to start up a new period of their life which may be connected with professional, personal, or other, reasons.

So far, around 20 000 students from more than one hundred countries have studied at the centre. Every academic year 400 to 600 foreigners, as well as students of Polish origin, participate in language courses organized at our center. 

• More than half of our students are from distant countries of Asia (majority of them from China and Vietnam), Africa (mostly from Angola, Cameroon. Nigeria). Up to 10 persons every year come to learn Polish at our centre from South and North America. Usually other half of our students are from East and West European countries, among them also Erasmus students.

• The School employs 35 experienced teachers (and many freelancers) professionally prepared to teach Polish as a foreign language as well as other subjects, such as: history, geography, knowledge about Poland, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics. Among our teachers there are researchers, authors of textbooks and members of the State Commission for the Certification of Proficiency in Polish as a Foreign Language. 

• Our teachers taught Polish language to foreign students at numerous universities all over the world. 

The School offers the following courses in Polish:

■ a 9 month preparatory course (1000 hours) for future undergraduate and postgraduate students (candidates may choose one special field of Polish: humanities, medical sciences, science and economy); starts in October;

■ a 5 month regular course (500 hours) for those candidates who intend to increase their knowledge of Polish. Among the participants of such classes there are foreigners who arrived in Poland on professional demands, exiles and foreigners who have Polish spouses.  Upon completion of the course, its participants may decide to enroll for English or French studies in the University of Lodz or other Polish national universities fully recognized by the European Union to attain a bachelor or master degree; such a course starts on October and March,

■ a 4 month classes for Erasmus students enrolled at University of Łódź (100 hours); starts every semester,

■ a 1 month September course of adaptation for Erasmus students intending to study in various Polish universities (100 hundred hours),

■ a 1 month summer course (100 hours), ■ other types of courses organized on foreign students’ demand, such as weekend or 

evening courses for the foreign workers employed in Polish companies.All the classes are offered on beginner’s, intermediate and advance level, according to the participants’ needs. Our website is: sjpdc@uni.lodz.pl.

IIThe counseling methods

at The School of Polish for Foreign Students University of Łódź

1. The Student Section’s workers and the Polish language/subject teachers advise foreign students on:

their adaptation in Poland: on accommodation, health care, shopping, contacts with The Passport Office, writing different kinds of applications, filling in different types of forms; 

how to deal with different issues in the public space: offices, bank, post-office, medical centers and how to cope with difficult situations (theft, illness etc.). 

2. The staff advices the learners on:

- their academic career:how to the select proper level courses and academic studies’ profile and on how to register as a candidate into the university recruitment system.

- their linguistic progress: during office hours - every teacher - 2 hours weekly and would-be teachers -10 hours during one semester for one student group); how to solve different problems they meet while learning Polish and the subjects;how to develop proper learning strategies. Some subject teachers communicate with students via webside, providing them with tasks and evaluation (e-learning).

Also there is a coordinator of the foreign students’ cultural and social life at the school who advises them on how to cope with different problems in Poland.

3. Cooperation with ‘Wspólnota Polska’ Association (Polish Commonwealth) – organizing cultural activities for the students of Polish origin, advising the students how to obtain maintenance grants.

4. Cooperation with The Office of Employment – advising unemployed persons of Polish origin and authorized foreigners on how to apply for language training grants.

prepared by: Grażyna Zarzycka