The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover during the course and include typical themes, vocabulary fields, grammar, cultural content and skills work for the language and the level. The Outlines are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers always plan their lessons with the specific abilities, aims and interests of the students in their classes in mind.

• Polish Level 1
• Polish Level 2
• Polish Level 3
• Polish Level 4
• Polish Level 5
• Polish Level 6
• Polish Level 7

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Introductions (informal and formal)
• Pointing to common and useful objects, naming them
• Small talk and “breaking the ice” (incl. how to get from the formal mode on to the first-name terms
• “I live here” – giving address
• Asking for directions
• Eating & drinking. Ordering food and drinks in restaurant / cafe. Names of popular food
• Shopping. Have you got…? How much is…? How much do I pay?
• Asking for time
• Numbers
• Polish sounds and letters. The alphabet and pronunciation

Grammar:

• Formal / Informal mode in Polish
• Verbs and conjugation
• Present tense
• Nouns: genders in Polish
• Adjectives: masculine, feminine and neutral forms
• Pronouns – subject, object, possessive
• Cases in Polish – short introduction
• Word order – sentence, question, negative
• Questions – yes/no, Is this…? Yes, it is… / No, it isn’t. Where is…? Who is it? Whose… it is? What is it like?
• Giving instructions (imperatives)
• Key prepositions: in, on, at, etc.
• Key adjectives and adverbs – size, shape, personal opinion, colours
• Key linking words (and, or, but, so)

Cultural content:

• Polish cuisine, the most popular Polish dishes
• Basic politeness conventions in Poland in formal and informal situations

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking – inc. situational exercises & interaction
• Basic pronunciation rules
• Plenty of listening activities
• Writing practice – inc. postcards, e-mails, etc.

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important subjects covered in the previous course
• Describing things (colors, size, features, etc)
• Describing people
• Jobs, hobbies and interests
• Family
• Talking about self & others, inc. family – key personal info incl. How old are you? What is your occupation?
• Days of the week
• Questions about time – continuation
• Daily life – routines, free time. Going places
• Inviting and responding to invitations (how to accept and how to decline)
• Meetings and social gatherings
• Party and Leisure Time. Talking about leisure interests
• Saying what you like, dislike, want or prefer
• Describing weather.
• Money and Shopping

Grammar:

• Review & practice previous level grammar topics
• Singular vs. Plural nouns
• New verbs
• Imperatives (colloquial and polite forms)
• Declension of nouns and adjectives
• Adverbs
• Possessive forms
• “There is”: Jest – “There isn’t”: Nie ma
• Double negatives: Nic nie mam. / Nigdy nie pije mleka., etc.
• ‘Want to + infinitive’
• Clauses with “ze” (‘that’)
• Revision of numbers: 20-100, 100-10000.
• Word-building: diminutive suffixes, adjectives – adverbs. More linking words (either… or… / neither… nor…)

Cultural content:

• Popular Polish websites
• Polish lifestyles and common hobbies

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking – inc. situational exercises & interaction
• Revisiting pronunciation rules and numbers
• Plenty of listening activities
• Writing practice – e.g. CV

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important topics covered by the previous courses
• What did you do last week?
• Time: months of the year
• Talking about the future, future plans and expressing future wishes
• Travel and Sightseeing: making bookings/enquiries (on the phone and via e-mail)
• Geographical directions: North, East, South, West
• Accommodation: household objects and appliances, renting and furnishing an apartment
• Asking for/giving directions and information
• Describing places
• Longer answer phone message: listening to and leaving
• Listening to and participating in longer phone conversations
• Reading longer e-mails
• Reading advertisements
• Reading and writing text messages
• Writing/reading postcards from holidays

Grammar:

• Revision & practice previous level grammar
• Past Tense
• Future Tense
• New verbs and verbs conjugation in the past
• Future Tense
• Declension of nouns
• Prepositions

Cultural content:

• The geography of Poland
• Polish "texting" conventions
• Read simple authentic Polish press articles

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking – inc. situational exercises & interaction
• Writing practice – e.g. application letter
• Plenty of listening activities

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important subjects covered by the previous course
• Weather: small talk, weather forecast, seasons
• Health: symptoms, visiting a doctor, healthy lifestyle – giving advice, making a phone call
• Appearances and looks: body parts, describing people
• Past facts: biography
• Listening to a longer radio program
• Sport: types of sport, sportsmen, rules, places, listening to sport coverage/news, telephone enquiry
• Education and Studies: study skills, memory, courses
• Traditions, customs and special occasions in Poland and around the world
• How to wish someone: to get better, happy birthday, good luck, a good trip etc.
• Business/Office: understanding business cards, what is/what do we do in the office, business vocabulary, conversation in the office/business meetings

Grammar:

• Adjectives: in the present and past
• Past Tense – cont
• Imperatives – giving instructions – cont.
• Nouns – cont.
• Grammar presented will be the grammar used for each function/theme'

Cultural content:

• Prominent Polish figures
• Important cultural traditions and celebrations

Skills Work:

• Formal language: listening to and making a formal speech/presentation
• Reading and writing a formal letter
• Reading and writing season/birthday wishes

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important subjects covered by the previous course
• Appearances and character: describing people
• History: famous people/events, our ancestors, talking about finished and unfinished past
• Feelings and emotions: e.g. hope, fear, worry, talking about future plans
• Education, exams, courses
• Living in a city: architecture, housing, facilities, services, entertainment, landmarks
• Environment: nature, animals, countryside
• At work: working patterns, types of jobs, job ads, job interviews
• Comparing: e.g. wiecej niz, bardziej niz
• Expressing opinions and preferences: uwazam, ze…/…jest lepsze, bo…/Moim zdaniem…
• Agreeing/Disagreeing
• Justifying opinions
• Describing situations
• Listening to an interview
• Taking part in a pair/small group discussion
• Taking part in a short discussion
• Talking about pros and cons: Na przyklad, z drugiej strony
• Nouns: plural and singular
• Ordinal numbers: first, second, etc.

Grammar:

• Comparative and superlative adjectives: gruby – grubszy – najgrubszy, bardziej impulsywny
• Time expressions: jutro, pojutrze
• Past tenses
• Verb: singular and plural: e.g. powinienem, powinnismy
• Relative clauses: ktory, ktora, kto ,gdzie, kiedy
• Idioms and popular Polish sayings: “pracowity jak mrowka”
• Grammar presented will be the grammar used for each function/theme'

Cultural content:

• Polish history
• Polish culture within the work environment
• Popular Polish idioms and expressions

Skills Work:

• Reading a short text that includes data
• Reading a biography
• Writing informal letter
• Writing a short argumentative text

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important subject covered in the previous course
• Travel and Leisure
• Objects and appliances: describing purpose of things and how things work, e.g. W mikrofalowce mozna szybko przygotowac jedzenie.
• Celebrations and Traditions
• Technology, Media and Internet
• Books and Films
• Hobbies
• Fashion and beauty: paying and accepting compliments, detailed descriptions of people, hair styles, clothes, beauty products and toiletries
• Food and eating: cuisines around the world, eating habits and diets, table manners, kitchen utensils and appliances, cooking, recipes, writing a recipe
• Encouraging, making recommendations
• Expressing preferences
• Expressing satisfaction/dissatisfaction/disappointment
• Expressing wishes and expectations: e.g. Chce zeby…/Chcialabym, zebys…/Powinienes…
• Asking favours: czy moglbys…?
• Giving and receiving advice
• Making comparisons
• Relationships with other people and feelings

Grammar:

• Talking about future + conditionals: what if…
• Passive and Active: Oszust zostal zaaresztowany.
• Complex sentences

Cultural content:

• Polish traditional values and relationships
• What it was like to live in communist Poland!
• Around the world: emigration/immigration, ethnic minorities

Skills Work:

• Study skills and techniques
• Reading longer texts including statistical information, figures, data
• Reading and writing a review
• Writing a short argumentative text, e.g. to express own opinion
• Writing a longer letter
• Taking part in a discussion and expressing own opinion
• Conversational strategies - taking part in a longer conversation/debate: openers, showing interest, turn-taking, active listening, joining in a conversation, “maintaining the floor”, closing the conversation

Themes/Lexical fields could include the following elements:

• Revision of the most important subjects covered by the previous course
• A wide range of topics including: social issues: employment, human rights, equal opportunities, discrimination; economy, politics, emergencies, environment, media and advertising; culture and entertainment; beliefs and religions, etc.
• Expressing necessity
• Asking for and giving permission
• Offering help/services and promising/accepting help and expressing gratitude
• Using services: dry cleaning, alterations, hair and beauty salon, repairs etc.
• Expressing uncertainty
• Expressing interest/lack of interest
• Accepting, refusing, protesting, agreeing, disagreeing
• Persuasive language
• Criticizing and responding to criticism
• Expressing positive and negative opinion/indifference
• Reporting
• Common idiomatic expressions
• More adjectives – how to make adjectives stronger/weaker, e.g. quite good, pretty good.
• Prepositions of time, e.g. until, since, from, between
• Numbers and figures: measurements, financial issues
• Recognizing different types of texts/formal and informal register
• Sequencing events/linking action and consequence, e.g. due to, hence, as a result, eventually

Grammar:

• Grammar presented will be the grammar used for each function/theme
• Conditional sentences: If the weather is nice, I will go for a walk. If I was rich, I wouldn’t work

Cultural content:

• What it is like to live as a foreigner in Poland
• Polish slang and idiomatic expressions

Skills Work:

• Making a speech/presentation to a larger audience
• Listening to longer recordings: listening for gist and detail
• Listening to a longer radio program
• Reading a book/film review
• Reading and discussing an interview
• Reading longer texts for gist and specific information
• Summarizing information: speaking and writing
• Filling in longer forms: e.g. course application
• Writing a commentary based on reading an article
• Writing advertisement, invitations, formal letters
• Writing an argumentative essay