I am alive – barely… Free English lessons are back!

I’m only half-serious, of course. I am in good health, more or less (more on that in the next lesson!) and actually thriving ( = prosperować) in the pandemic. The pandemic has been really good for my business. As you know, my live classes are only online, and so are ( = tak samo) my courses – video, pdf and audio courses of English, and trainings – the “job interview in English” series. And, as you also know, in the past few months most of our life worldwide (na całym świecie) has moved online.  

So I was already there, I didn’t have to accommodate to ( = dostosować się do) the new reality. And two things happened. First of all, my “old” 1-on-1 students ( = uczniowie indywidualni) stopped cancelling classes. They had much more time to learn English, working from home, with most of their business partners also in stand-by mode ( = tryb czuwania np. w TV), no time wasted on commuting ( = dojazdy do pracy) – so they even increased the number of classes each week!

Secondly, I was really ecstatic ( = zachwycona) to see lots of new 1-on-1 students coming to me. People who suddenly found themselves with time on their hands ( = z wolnym czasem), people whose regular ( = zwykłe; nie, nie ‘regularne’) language schools had just shut down, people between jobs, wanting to use the time to improve their English. So, yay! ( = hura!)

The upside ( = zaleta) was that I could help many more of you improve your English, as 1-on-1 classes are the most efficient ( = wydajny) way of perfecting your language skills. I saw your progress, your professional successes, how you understand more – and are more understood – and I was really joyful ( = radosna) for you!

But the downside ( =wada) was that, instead of my usual average of four 1-on-1 classes a day, I ended up with (skończyłam z) 6 or 7. This left me no time for free lessons like this one, posting mini lessons on social media, and creating new courses for you. I was really happy, but I was also knackered ( = wykończona).

And, to add insult to injury ( = na domiar złego), the schools closed!

As many of you know, I have two kids – Krzyś, 10 and Róża, 7. Before the pandemic, they spent most of the weekdays at school and kindergarten ( = przedszkole). This gave me a lot of time for undisturbed work ( = niezakłócona), and I took that for granted ( = uważałam to za oczywiste, nie doceniałam tego). How foolish of me!

When the schools closed in March, most of my friends thought that I am lucky, because I work from, home anyway ( = i tak), so having two kids at home changes nothing. Wrong! It changes everything! It’s a total game-changer! ( = coś, co całkowicie zmienia zasady gry) And I’m sure those of you who have kids and have been trying to work from home – will totally get it ( = zrozumieją).

So not only did I have to provide for the basic needs of my two wonderful kids – like making sure they get dressed in the morning, have nutritious ( = pożywne) meals, brush their teeth, don’t while away ( = spędzać) the whole days watching TV or playing games on their tablets, and clean their rooms at least to such an extent ( = do takiego stopnia) that they don’t resemble a pigsty ( = chlew). I also had to take care of their remote schooling ( = nauka zdalna) – and that was a daunting challenge ( = ogromne wyzwanie), to say the least ( = delikatnie mówiąc). All of you parents out there – I’m sure you can relate to ( = zrozumieć, identyfikować się z czymś) this!

And in case you don’t have kids, here’s how the reality of remote schooling works. First, you check if your kid has online classes at a website called Librus. It’s just as user-unfriendly as ZUS and Tax Office websites – I guess they never heard of such a thing as UX designers. Then, when you’ve checked the time of the class, you have to make sure your kid uses their tablet – or your own work computer – to use MS Teams, which is a totally independent app. The live classes are in that app. Half of each class is spent by the teacher trying to switch on their camera and microphone. The other half is spent trying to get the boisterous ( = rozkrzyczane) kids to switch off their mics ( = mikrofony), so that the teacher can actually say something. There you go, lesson over.

And then comes the homework. Of course, the parent learns about it two weeks later, when a “missing homework” note appears in Librus. You interrogate ( = przesłuchiwać) your child, and then it turns out that the teacher did say something during the class, and did paste a link in the chat, which got immediately buried ( = pogrzebany) under tons of comments from the kids. So then you have to retrieve ( = odzyskać, znaleźć) that link somehow, download a worksheet, get is printed somehow. Since my printer doesn’t have a wi-fi connection, I ended up sending the file from my son’s tablet, by email, to my computer, and then printing the file on my work printer. Then I “only” had to get my son to DO the homework, and then scan it, and send the scanned version by email to the teacher. Yes, by email, or preferably by a phone text message, because the teacher does not know how file transfers through Librus or MS Teams looks.

Oh my God!

So guys, I do hope that schools WILL open in September. Otherwise, I’ll go crazy, or kill my kids, or commit suicide ( = popełnię samobójstwo). And now that I think of that, I might do all three, actually… It’s all a matter of good planning… 😉

So, to sum up: Yes, I’m alive. Barely… 😉

This is MY reality of working in a pandemic – and how is yours? I’ll be happy to find out!

Next week I’m going to tell you about my three hospital adventures in the last few months! Take care!

PS: 

To celebrate the comeback ( = powrót) of my free English lessons, I would like to thank you for being there with me and waiting for me. And as a token of my gratitude ( = znak wdzięczności), I am offering you a 20% discount on everything in my online store. This includes video courses, pdf courses, audio courses, the trainings on job interviews in English, and… yes! Even 1-on-1 classes, and 1-on-1 job interview sessions. If you’ve been thinking about that fun “Angielski w biegu” video course, or need a brush-up before a job interview – now is the best time to get that bargain! ( = okazja, dobry interes)

The discount code is “back20”, and it’s only valid for a week, so hurry! You can use it here: https://angielskizhumorem.pl/sklep/

 See you next week, take care! 🙂