Polword Ltd. - Schol of Polish Language and Culture - London

Hanz B.

I started taking Polish lessons with Edyta in May of this year. The school appeared to have quickly adapted to fully remote learning as I have yet to visit their physical campus. The remote classes work really well, small groups of students mean you have a reasonable amount of time to practice and receive assistance. Edyta is a great teacher who is clearly very experienced and patient when it comes to learning such a difficult language, and in the added difficult conditions of not being in an actual classroom.
I highly recommend Polword to anybody looking to begin learning Polish.

Jake L.

So far I have been learning Polish with Polword for a little over a year, and I plan to continue with that as long as I live in London.

The school has been really excellent for me. My class size has always been 3-8 people, fluctuating a little as people dropped out or new people of the same level came in, but in general I have been with the same core people ever since I started, with the same teacher (Anna). I find this class size is large enough that we can do group conversation exercises, but small enough that Anna can be (and is!) individually attentive to everybody there. It's nice to get to know the people you're learning with, too!

Polish has more unfamiliar grammar to native English speakers than (say) French or German, and Anna has always been very good at describing these structures, conjugations and declensions in a clear way both in the more "intuitive" manner, and the full linguistic terms for those who want it. I always feel like when I make mistakes, it's because I've forgotten some aspects of the language rather than Anna not having been clear. That's not to say that I'm inundated with information; I think the lessons move at a very sensible pace, neither too slow nor too fast.

The lessons always feel like the staff want us to succeed and to help us. It always shows that Anna cares about us - she has always given me lots of personal feedback on homework (when I've remembered to send it!) and she's always been engaged and helpful all the way through the lessons, from the start to the end.

Everyone I've met at Polword has been very friendly, from Anna my teacher to Edyta in the office. We've swapped to teaching online on video chat since the coronavirus pandemic, and aside from a couple of hiccups at the beginning, it has all gone very smoothly. Aside from the pleasant nature of learning in person, I don't think we're missing out on anything given that we can't all meet in one place.

Lily K.

Polword is an excellent Polish language school! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for high-quality, friendly, professional, and fun Polish classes. I've been studying with Polword (in live Zoom classes) since March 2020 and am enjoying it hugely. Edyta is a fantastic teacher and the classes have a supportive and relaxed yet well-organised atmosphere.

Matthew C.

Very friendly and fun lessons. I’ve really improved since starting. Polish is a difficult language to learn, the teachers recognise this and offer lots of help and support. During lockdown online classes started up very quickly so we could continue with our learning.

Macsen B.

Very good service and kind staff - were very understanding when I was unable to continue with the course (nothing to do with quality!) and refunded me.

Katy H.

I thoroughly recommend Polword - I have been learning Polish with Edyta since April and she is a wonderful teacher. Her explanations are clear, she is very friendly, and the course flows at a good pace. Excellent value for money.

J J.

The first thing I want to say about Polword is something that many probably won't care about, but it has honestly made my time at Polword so much more enjoyable and engaging. (Skip to final paragraph for more general comments.)

One of the problem with the Polish language for me is that many sentences require you to gender yourself (as male or female specifically) and/or for others to gender you (as the same). I was therefore very aware that joining a class would inevitably lead to me being misgendered every other sentence. In any case, when contacting Edyta (founder of Polword) to arrange the lessons via email, I exclusively used "male" endings (which most people would not expect when seeing me) to at least establish myself as using those pronouns. When I met Edyta face-to-face for the first time, I was fully prepared to viciously defend my choice, perhaps correct the assumption that I had "made a mistake", and even then have Edyta probably switch to female endings regardless of how I chose to speak of myself. And yet, without even batting an eye, Edyta saw me and continued to refer to me with my chosen pronouns. I don't know whether this was because Edyta thought my Polish good enough to recognise I was making a conscious choice or whether Edyta is simply aware of trans issues, but I cannot explain how much this meant to me, especially given that I have met people who would have baulked at using male pronouns for me because it would "be embarrassing" or "sound odd to other people" to refer to me that way. This is not limited to Edyta either; my teacher Agnieszka also does so, and has even corrected other students when they use the wrong pronouns! Honestly, I feel I can wholeheartedly recommend Polword as a trans-friendly learning environment, despite the aforementioned problems of the Polish language.

Regarding the (group) lessons, the teachers that I've had have all been very helpful and friendly. They will let you speak, and correct you afterwards when necessary, or improve the wording of the sentence. They help a lot with pronunciation as well, often repeating the word back to you so you can hear how it should be said. The lessons vary from teacher to teacher but generally involve a fair amount of class discussion, some exercises from a book to practice vocabulary, listening and grammar, and often a small grammatical topic as well. Polword also offers a free taster lesson, which is important for figuring out how the teacher/group/level will fit you. Overall, I would definitely recommend Polword to anyone starting out or continuing their journey with Polish 🙂

Rosie B.

I'm really enjoying my Polish classes with Polword. I can now talk about some things in Polish and understand basic conversations. It is hard work, but well-worth it. I recommend the school to anyone who wants to learn Polish 🙂