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Complete PICLE corpus of essays by Polish advanced EFL students (330,000)
/^t/It is usually the case that the first encounter with English, for both the adult and teenage learners, is very rewarding. Everyone who takes up learning is acquainted at least with several phrases or well-known words they have come across in their everyday life, watching satellite programmes, playing computer games or simply from their mother tongue, which is replete with loanwords. The fact that English nouns on the whole are not subject to inflection and verbs do not conjugate makes the beginners feel confident and motivated to learn such a language that appears to be 'much easier than Polish and Russian'. For those who are risk-takers speaking does not pose any problems at all, as they simply make use of the scope of vocabulary they have acquired so far and try to make themselves understood. Once the learners have overcome the fear of mastering the infamous sixteen tenses and the rules governing articles, over which every beginner loses sleep, they come to the conclusion that English grammar is digestible and even comparatively easy. Another argument supporting the alleged effortlessness of mastering English, or at least the ability to communicate easily in it, is the abundance and accessibility of pedagogical material, both authentic and inauthentic, designed for teaching this language. Taking advantage of the comparative studies of English and Polish languages enables teachers to predict and eradicate possible errors made by learners and thus facilitates learning.