LEARNING LITERACY

MANUAL

Text: Krzysztof Trochimiuk

Pictures: Weronika Trochimiuk

Layout: Tomasz P. Antoszek

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views

only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

contained therein.

TEXT SEGMENTS

cat – word

survival of the fittest – phrase

If you are interested, – clause

I don’t know where I’m going. – sentence

- paragraph

The beginning of the 21st century has

witnessed another decade of massive

migrations in Europe triggered mainly by

the economic factor. Nowadays, many a

European family find themselves in a

language environment different from their

native one, exposing children to

challenges otherwise reserved for

multilanguage societies that we can find

for example in Luxemburg or Switzerland.

In my presentation I will address the issue

of bilingualism with the aim of trying to

establish its definition and answer the

question if it is possible to be truly

bilingual.

PARTS OF SPEECH

a, the, an – article

swim, cook, smile – verb

book, cow, letter – noun

big, cold, green – adjective

slowly, well, dangerously – adverb

up, in, far – preposition

and, or, but – conjunction

I, you, she – pronoun

Darn it!, Great! – interjection

PUNCTUATION

, comma

. full stop

; semicolon

: colon

- hyphen

– dash

“” quotation marks

’ apostrophe

... ellipsis

TEACHING HOW TO READ

Phonics – a method which teaches learners to look at letters or

letter clusters with the aim of memorizing the sounds they make and

then merging the sounds together to read a word fluently.

For example: astronaut = /a/+/s/+/t/+/r/+/o/+/n/+/o/+/t/ [au makes the

sound /o/] = /astronot/

Syllabification – a method which teaches learners to articulate

whole syllables rather than sounds and then merging the syllables

together to read a word fluently.

For example: astronaut = /as/+/tro/+/not/ = /astronot/

Look and Say (or Whole Word) – a method which teaches learners

patterns of different words. The learners are shown words

repeatedly until they memorize them as an inseparable entities. The

learners build up a sight vocabulary.

Whole Language – a method which teaches learners through a total

immersion in texts. While reading to learners some word to sound

patterns might be shown.

Whole Language and Phonics – a method which combines whole

language and phonics approaches. Immersion in text follows

understanding phonics rules.

READING STYLES

Skimming – reading to get a gist (a general

understanding of the text)

The beginning of the 21st century has witnessed another decade of

massive migrations in Europe triggered mainly by the economic

factor. Nowadays, many a European family find themselves in a

language environment different from their native one, exposing

children to challenges otherwise reserved for multilanguage

societies that we can find for example in Luxemburg or Switzerland.

In my presentation I will address the issue of bilingualism with the

aim of trying to establish its definition and answer the question if it is

possible to be truly bilingual. Apart from observations based on

academic research, I will present my personal experiences with my

own children. Since the birth of my daughters I have solely used

English when communicating with them, thus attempting to ensure

their foreign language competency. Despite a purely parenting

motivation, I have used my linguistic interest to be an active

beholder of the processes accompanying the language

development of children, noting down examples of interlanguage

transfer, acquisition of grammar paradigms and language

preferences in particular contexts.

The result: This text is about a conference presentation of a

paper on a parent raising his or her daughters in a bilingual

environment, where one of the languages is English.

Scanning – searching the text to find the desired

information.

Question: What are some examples of multilingual societies?

The beginning of the 21st century has witnessed another decade of

massive migrations in Europe triggered mainly by the economic factor.

Nowadays, many a European family find themselves in a language

environment different from their native one, exposing children to

challenges otherwise reserved for multilanguage societies that we can

find for example in Luxemburg or Switzerland. In my presentation I

will address the issue of bilingualism with the aim of trying to establish

its definition and answer the question if it is possible to be truly

bilingual. Apart from observations based on academic research, I will

present my personal experiences with my own children. Since the birth

of my daughters I have solely used English when communicating with

them, thus attempting to ensure their foreign language competency.

Despite a purely parenting motivation, I have used my linguistic

interest to be an active beholder of the processes accompanying the

language development of children, noting down examples of

interlanguage transfer, acquisition of grammar paradigms and

language preferences in particular contexts.

The result: Luxemburg and Switzerland.

In-depth reading – in this type of reading

everything is read carefully, but it does not mean

that all information is important!

An example of what a reader might find important:

The beginning of the 21st

century has witnessed another decade

of massive migrations in Europe triggered mainly by the

economic factor. Nowadays, many a European family find

themselves in a language environment different from their native

one, exposing children to challenges otherwise reserved for

multilanguage societies that we can find for example in

Luxemburg or Switzerland. In my presentation I will address the

issue of bilingualism with the aim of trying to establish its definition

and answer the question if it is possible to be truly bilingual. Apart

from observations based on academic research, I will present my

personal experiences with my own children. Since the birth of my

daughters I have solely used English when communicating with

them, thus attempting to ensure their foreign language competency.

Despite a purely parenting motivation, I have used my linguistic

interest to be an active beholder of the processes accompanying

the language development of children, noting down examples of

interlanguage transfer, acquisition of grammar paradigms and

language preferences in particular contexts.

TEXT STYLES

Narrative writing – type of writing, which is a text

supposed to tell you a story.

Example:

When Jack came home, he didn’t know what was going to

happen next.

Descriptive writing – type of writing which focuses

on telling the reading about how

something/somebody looked, tasted, felt, smelled,

sounded.

Example:

The Tatra Mountains rise suddenly towards the clouds in

the southern part of Poland, creating a magnificent wall of

jugged rocks.

Informative (expository) writing – type of writing is

all about the subject without any personal

opinions. In other words it is a “how to” type of

text.

Example:

In order to turn the device on, the user has to first turn the

right knob left and the left one right.

Persuasive writing – type of writing contains

personal opinions that are supposed to convince

the reader to the opinion of the author.

Example:

Chocolate ice cream tastes better than vanilla ice cream,

and, since it makes me smile every time I eat it, you should

buy it too.

READING TEST

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde

Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the

ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is

taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed

it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn

mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the

wrod as a wlohe."

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/03/31/if-can-raed-tihs-msut-be-raelly-smrat/

MIND MAPS

Mind Map – A diagram used to visualize,

organize, brainstorm information.

Elements of a mind map:

main idea branch twig

Elements used when creating a mind map:

Key words:

Colors :

Yellow Black

Green Red Blue

Sizes and shapes:

Pictures:

Icons:

Symbols:

Simplified mind map “buying a house” :

SURVIVAL POLISH

Polish is a language with challenging pronunciation and a very complex

grammar. However, it could be fun to learn. One might even see it is a way to prolong

proper brain functions as any doctor would recommend to people of all ages to take up

a hobby that involves acquiring new mental skills. Ergo, if you want to make sure your

brain stays young then learn Polish.

As many of the sounds used in Polish are not present in some other European

languages, let us first acquaint you with a simplified phonetic transcription system. In

order to spare you some intellectual sweat over phonetic transcription symbols, the

transcription in this manual is coded in an intuitive way. If somebody is not a native

speaker of English, please try to make out the sounds by applying the English

pronunciation patterns. Phonetic transcription will always be provided in slashes / /, for

example kupić /koopeech/ - to buy. As you notice, a section of the transcription is in

bold. It serves to indicate the position of the stress (the part of a word that you say

louder and with a very careful enunciation). In Polish the stress is almost always in the

same place, namely the second to the last (penultimate) syllable.

Basic phrases

good morning/good afternoon - dzień dobry /jayn dohbrih/

good evening - dobry wieczór /dohbrih vyehchoor/

goodbye - do widzenia /doh veedsenya/

good night - dobranoc /dohbrahnohts/

yes - tak /tahk/

no - nie /nyeh/

thank you - dziękuję /jengkooyeh/

please - proszę /prohsheh/

here you are - proszę /prohsheh/ (Polish is very fortunate in

this respect as one word allows you to make

polite requests and offer something to

somebody).

I'm sorry - przepraszam /pshehprahsham/

excuse me - przepraszam /pshehprahsham/ (once again

Polish makes it easy and you can use the word

przepraszam when you’re sorry and when

you’re trying to get someone’s attention).

My name is ... - Nazywam się... /nahzeevahm sheh/

I’m lost - Zgubiłem się (MAN) /zgoobeewehm sheh/

zgubiłam się (WOMAN) /zgoobeewahm sheh/

I don't understand - Nie rozumiem /nyeh rohzoomyem/

I don’t speak Polish - Nie mówię po polsku /nyeh moovyeh poh

pohlskoo/

Say it in English, please - Po angielsku, proszę /poh angyalskoo

prohsheh/

Where is ...? - Gdzie jest...? /gdjeh yest/

ATM/Cash point - bankomat /bunkohmut/

bank - bank /bunk/

toilet - ubikacja /oobeekahtsyah/

taxi rank - postój taksówek /pohstooy tahksoofehk/

restaurant - restauracja /rehstowrahtsyah/

museum - muzeum /moozehoom/

railway station - dworzec kolejowy /dvohzhehts kohlayohvih/

bus station - dworzec autobusowy /dvohzhehts

owtohboosohvih/

airport - lotnisko /lohtneeskoh/

hotel - hotel /hohtehl/

hospital - szpital /shpeetahl/

pharmacy - apteka /uptehkah/

police station - komenda policji /kohmendah pohleetsyih/

tourist information office - informacja turystyczna /eenformutsyah

toorihstihchnah/

street - ulica /ooleetsah/

left - lewo /lehvoh/

right - prawo /prahvoh/

straight - prosto /prohstoh/

How much is ...? - Ile kosztuje /eeleh kohshtooyeh/

this - to /toh/

it’s too much - to zbyt drogo /toh zbiht drohgoh/

small - mały /mahwih/

big - duży /doozhih/

different - inny /eennih/

ticket - bilet /beeleht/

Could I have the bill/check, please? - Proszę o rachunek /prohsheh oh rahoonehk/

1 - jeden /yehdehn/

2 - dwa /dvah/

3 - trzy /tshih/

4 - cztery /chtehrih/

5 - pięć /peeanch/

6 - sześć /shehshch/

7 - siedem /sheeadehm/

8 - osiem /osheeam/

9 - dziewięć /jehveeanch/

10 - dziesięć /jehsheeanch/

Polish letters

You might find yourself in a situation when you will have to sound out the name

of a location, person, direction, etc. In order to facilitate it for you, underneath you will

find some tips how to handle some of the exotic letters, consonant clusters, and

counterintuitive pronunciations.

cz - sounds like ‘ch’ in beach

ć - sounds like soft/smiling ‘ch’ in chew

dz - sounds like ‘ds’ in beds

dź - sounds like soft/smiling ‘g’ in gin

dż/drz - they both have a very similar pronunciation close to ‘g’ in George

ł - sounds like ‘w’ in wow

w - is always pronounced as ‘v’ as in vast

ń - sounds like ‘ny’ in canyon

r - is always rolled (just like in Scottish English)

sz - sounds like ‘sh’ in ship

ż/rz - both sound like ‘su’ in measure

POLAND

Basic Facts

Poland [Polska] is a medium-sized country of almost 40 million people with the

capital city in Warsaw [Warszawa]. The northern part of the country dips in the Baltic

Sea and the south is fenced off by the Sudetes

and Carpathian Mountains. The Vistula (Wisła)

is the longest river cutting Poland into two

halves – eastern and western. Due to moderate

climate, Poles and tourists can enjoy reasonably

warm summers, fairly cold winters and well-

defined springs and autumns. In the summer,

you may relax on the sandy beaches of the

Baltic, rent a yacht and sail on one of the

hundreds of lakes in the Mazuria, or, for

example, trek the mountains. In the winter, Poles usually go skiing to one of the

numerous and modern ski-resorts in the south. Apart from the Baltic and the mountains,

the country still boasts a sizeable acreage of forests, thus, compared to some EU

states, there seems to be a better-than-average ratio of human habitat to wild nature.

Because of that, you may still see European bisons, wolves and lynxes roaming the

dense forests in the east (UNESCO World Heritage Site), not to mention many

ornithological heavens in various location across Poland. Just as any other European

country with a rich culture and long-standing traditions, Poland boasts a number of

landmarks that are worth a visit. Their list would be too long for this presentation but a

selected few would be cities such as Cracow (Kraków), Warsaw (Warszawa), Wrocław,

Gdańsk, Toruń (with their museums, historical monuments, festivals and concerts), the

salt mine in Wieliczka, the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, the Table Mountains

with magical rock formations, and many, many others.

History

The history of Poland as a

state starts in the middle of the 10th

century, basically the moment

when the Duke Mieszko and his

court accepted Christianity in 966.

The first king of Poland, Bolesław

the Brave, was crowned in 1025

and from then on Poland was a

kingdom, becoming one of Europe’s superpowers in the mid-16th century. After its

golden age, it started to weaken thanks to limited powers of the elected kings and too

much control of the state vested in magnates, marshals and gentry until it was

partitioned among Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1795 after a succession of three

partition treaties. Poland was able to regain independence in 1918 but could not

withstand German and Russian armies attacking its borders almost simultaneously in

September 1939, which marked the beginning of the Second World War. Towards the

end of the war, in Yalta three leaders of the Allied forces (F.D. Roosevelt, W. Churchill

and J. Stalin) decided the fate of Poland, by moving its borders to the west, cutting

down its territory by circa 20%, and putting it under the Soviet influence. Due to the fact

that Poland remained on the “wrong” side of the Iron Curtain, for almost 45 years it had

to comply with the social, political, and economic agenda set by USSR, which severely

limited its potential, exposed people to censorship, persecution and even torture as well

as executions (especially during the first decade after WWII). In 1989 and 1990 the first

free elections were held, allowing a democratic coalition to come into power. Poland

joined NATO in 1999 and in 2004 became a member of the European Union.

Culture

Polish culture is rich and varied. Each region of

the country has its own traditions spanning cuisine,

traditional dresses and music, but also architecture and

sometimes even language. In the world history one of

the most famous Poles is undoubtedly Nicolaus

Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik), who was able to prove

scientifically that it is the Earth revolving around the

Sun and not vice versa, as had been believed before.

Another famous Polish scientist was, for example,

Marie Skłodowska-Curie who formulated theory of

radioactivity and discovered two elements, namely polonium and radium. The list

scientists could of course go on. In the realm of music the biggest name in Polish

history is Frederic Chopin whose compositions included sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes,

nocturnes, polonaises, études, impromptus, scherzos, and preludes. From the point of

view of the written culture, the selected few names that could be mentioned are the

following: Henryk Sienkiewicz (novelist),

Władysław Reymont (novelist), Czesław

Miłosz (poet, prose writer), Wisława

Szymborska (poet) – all Nobel Prize

laureates, but also, for example, Stanisław

Lem (science-fiction and philosophy) or

Ryszard Kapuściński (journalistic literature).

This list is not comprehensive and its sole

goal is to work your appetite for discovering

more about Poland and its culture.

Food

There are a number of items of a typical Polish diet that are a must-try for

visitors. One of the most common of these is kiełbasa /keeawbasa/ which has a

German counterpart, namely Wurst. Though the closest alternative is sausage, kiełbasa

is usually made of pieces smoked meat (unlike minced/ground and boiled meat in case

of sausages) and has different flavours depending on a particular spicing or curing

procedures. Another type of dish that every traveller should try when visiting Poland is

bigos /beegohs/. Usually the meal is translated as hunter’s stew and you can make it by

stewing meat and kiełbasa in sauerkraut. Polish cuisine is also renowned for its pierogi

/peearohgee/. These are stuffed dumplings usually filled with meat, cheese, sauerkraut

or various type of fruit. Apart from kiełbasa, bigos, and pierogi, in order to experience

Polish cuisine one has to taste three types of soup, one of them being barszcz

/bahrshch/, beetroot soup served with noodles or potatoes or a crêpe roulade filled with

pâté, the second – żurek /zhoorehk/, sour flour soup served with potatoes and white

sausage; and, finally, kapuśniak /kahpooshneeack/ sauerkraut soup served with

potatoes and a rib rasher. For dessert, one may try one of a great varieties of cakes (for

example, cheesecakes, apple cakes) or Polish doughnut – pączek /pohnchehk/.