Language mastery does not stop at level C2.
I’m not the first to propose this idea, but especially for written texts we really need to add some new difficulty levels: D1 and D2, to describe academic texts that use a lot of smart-sounding words.
A good way to get started learning these words is by learning Greek, Latin and even Proto-Indo-European roots that are shared by a large number of words, many of which are very advanced (and make you sound smart and cool):
| Words with root VOR |
Words with root NOC | Words with root PLAC | Words with root BR/ PR/ FR |
| devour, voracious, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, locavore | noise, annoy, noisome, obnoxious, nocebo | please, pleasure, pleasant, placid | burden, born, pregnant, embarrassed, freight, freighter, porter |
Hey, Tim! The material’s really curious and surprisingly easy to remember. Have you come across something similar? And another thing – why are you learning Polish? I mean, it does sound nice, but … I can recall how I was learning it several years ago just for kicks and since my greatgrandfather was from Poland, I decided to have a go. But as soon as I realized, it’s just another Russian to learn – oh God these verbs endings – so that was it, sadly.
Hi Elizaveta!
If I have found similar materials- no and yes.
First the “no”- I have not found anything of this type for people learning English as a second language.
Now the “yes”- there are lots of materials like this for native speakers of English learning their own language.
Here is such a book for adults (I once ordered a used copy of this book on Amazon and it never arrived- argh!):
https://www.amazon.com/Greek-Latin-Roots-English/dp/1538128632/ref=sr_1_8?crid=10W84LV8FDTUP&keywords=greek+and+latin+roots&qid=1692389306&sprefix=greek+and+latin+roots%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-8
There was also this book, which is intended more for schoolchildren, maybe twelve-year olds. The examples sometimes were silly and made me a bit embarrassed when using it with adults:
https://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Latin-Greek-Roots-Level/dp/1580492002/ref=sr_1_3?qid=1692389535&refinements=p_27%3AElizabeth+Osborne&s=books&sr=1-3&text=Elizabeth+Osborne
Finally, there are lots of flashcards for learning Greek and Latin word roots. Just do a quick search on Amazon and you will see lots of them.
Thanks a lot for taking time to write an elaborate answer! I used to be an avid reader, but the overpowering feeling of stress and anxiety has brought that to an end. I tried to lure myself into reading buying a couple of great comic books as a birthday present, they’re still lying around though unpacked. It’s time for podcasts or audiobooks. I think you’re doing great. When ist a big milestone calling for a celebration? 35th, which you’ve probably already achieved, 40th, 50th? You should certainly celebrate it!
Now to your second question, about why I am learning Polish. Well, I am not actively learning it now- Polish is something that I pick up and stop and then pick up again.
I first started learning Polish many years ago after meeting a talking squirrel in an industrial region of Poland; I bought a stack of Polish books and made my way through various parts of them to communicate with the squirrel on her own terms, even though her mastery of English left nothing to be desired.
Then last summer I learned that I would be posted to Poland for a contract job, and went back to my stack of books audio materials. Some time before then I had begun routinely losing my train of thought and found it quite disturbing- was I losing my faculties? People had to remind me what I was talking about! Studying Polish cured me of that ill quite quickly- my brain just hadn’t had enough exercise.
There was also an element of neurotic completionism- “I have this stack of books, so I need to plow through them all”.
But the main reason is that it’s enjoyable! I like the way it sounds and it’s just fun. I have quite a few friends in Poland and I click well with them; of the many places I have visited, including where I was born, it’s the one where I feel the happiest and most comfortable.
Hurray to neurotic completionism and a talking squirrel!
I once tried to talk English with an Indian dog and it did exactly what I asked for. I would say Indian villages with lots of friendly stray dogs that seek company and are eager to communicate are my happy place, I’m not fussy about the hygiene aspect of such an interraction. And in Poland I met a few doppelgangers – my sister’s and an old friend’s, that was funny and we hit it off at once.
Ah, WordPress doesn’t want me to publish my comments again…((
Hurray to neurotic completionism and talking squirrels!
I once tried to talk English to an Indian dog and to my surprise it did exactly what I asked for. My happy place is an Indian village with lots of stray dogs that are friendly and eager to communicate and cuddle up sometimes – I’m not fussy about the hygiene aspect of such an interaction. As for Poland, I met a few doppelgangers there – my sis’s and an old friend’s – and we hit it off at once.