Degrees with Polish
At Sheffield, you can study Polish from scratch and combine it with the study of one or two other modern foreign languages (Russian, Spanish, German or French), or take it as an optional module. Our students highly recommend it:
We would thoroughly recommend studying Polish at Sheffield to all budding linguists looking for something a bit different. We have found the course to be diverse, challenging, and ultimately very enjoyable. Poland is a burgeoning and much underestimated country with a rich cultural heritage and speaking the language can open many doors – it certainly marks you out from the crowd. While we can´t deny that its grammatical challenges are many, much time is dedicated to overcoming these hurdles, and this only serves to make it all the more rewarding. Moreover, by studying Polish as part of a language dual, we had the chance to spend an amazing semester in Kraków, certainly one of the most vibrant and welcoming cities in Europe, and an experience never to be forgotten. Polecamy! (Peter Mason and Anthony Lifsey, 4th Year, French/Russian with Polish.)
Learn more about Polish at Sheffield
Language classes
At Sheffield, we focus on acquiring Polish for communicative competence but we do believe that a competent and confident speaker is one who is aware of the fact that language is situated in a conceptual and cultural context. For that reason, at each level, your course will be team-taught by a native speaker conversation tutor and a non-native speaker grammar instructor.
In addition to a fun handbook (copies of which are provided free of charge by the Polish government), we use a variety of innovative on-line interactive materials for the study of language and culture that have been developed here in Sheffield.
Structure
The structure of with Polish degrees is split over three levels, with a year abroad between levels 2 and 3. In other words, all of our programs including Polish are four-year programs.
You spend your first year acquiring the basics of Polish grammar and conversational skills, and learning about Polish history through seminar work. The second year focuses on giving you the communicative skills for the Year Abroad and getting you to read and discuss texts in Polish. In your third year, you´ll spend a semester in Cracow, and in your fourth year your language tutors will make sure you graduate knowing even the most advanced grammar points as well as the lexical terms needed to enter the (Polish) job market.
Many students take advantage of Polish summer school scholarships, offered to us by the Polish Ministry of Education, which pay the entire cost of attending a three- or four-week course in one of Poland´s major cities.
You can find out how each level is structured on the following pages:
