I don't speak Polish.
Do you speak German?
Recently, I decided to go to Poland to speak at TEDx
and took just a couple of hours to learn a little Polish before going.
Generally people wait months or years before daring to use the language with native speakers,
but after just one hour of flicking through my phrasebook,
I decided to use everything I had in a Skype conversation.
It's NEVER too early to try to use your target language.
I struggled a lot, but I still managed to keep my side of the 30 minute Skype conversation just in Polish,
by using the few words I knew as imaginatively as possible,
and by using a dictionary whenever I was stuck.
Here goes!
See how that first attempt to use the language went before I was ready to use it in Poland itself!
Hello!
Hi...How are you?
Good...well.
Today is the first time I speak Polish.
Yes, this it the first time you speak Polish, bravo.
Today...only one hour studied Polish.
One hour.
Only one hour, I studied Polish.
Yes.
Good result!
Tomorrow. I will go to Warsaw.
I want to ask questions.
Questions...I vegetarian..
I am vegetarian.
Does Warsaw have vegetarians?
Vegetarian restaurants?
Restaurants...does it have?
I think so
Normally, restaurants have vegetarian food.
I don't understand.
I will write.
Normally, restaurants have vegetarian food.
OK, I understand.
I am impressed.
Please repeat...
I am impressed.
I only have one hour of Polish.
Now what?
Now you have 30 minutes extra, too.
Tell me something about yourself.
I am from Ireland.
I am a writer. Writer on a blog.
Why...
There is a conference on Thursday...TED conference.
Do you know TED?
I know.
You know.
Orange...ok.
I don't like beer.
Do you like coffee?
I like coffee.
Yes.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Good luck!
OK...good luck...