How much can you learn in a month? I work for a magazine, which was doing an article about British language learners. As an experiment, they asked me to learn a completely new language for one month. Then I had to go to the country and do some tests' to see if I could survive' in different situations. I decided to learn Polish because my great-grandmother was Polish and I have some relatives there. I can already speak French and Spanish quite well but Polish isn't a Latin-based language so I knew it would be completely different. I did a one-month intensive course at a language school in Birmingham. I thought i was good at E languages before I started learning Polish, but now I'm not so sure. I found it incredibly difficult. The grammar was really complicated and the words were not like any other language I know so it was very hard to remember them. For example, 1 thought football' was more or less an international word, but in Polish it's pilka nożna, And the pronunciation is unbelievable! Every word is full of z's where you don't expect them, like jezdzisz which means you go'. My course finished yesterday and I'm going to Kraków for the weekend to do my tests. A local guide called Kasia is coming with me and Is going to give me a mark out of 10. ​

he and my mother split up. He must have wanted the best for me, but the best was always what he wanted. He chose my school and I hated it. I had no friends there, I was miserable and didn't do well, so I was asked to leave. He must have been very disappointed, but he said nothing to me. He wanted me to be an actor like him but I'm not at all like him. I tried it for a while, but I was miserable until I met my husband. He's a vet and I'm his assistant. Now I'm doing what I always wanted to do, working with animals. My father and I have always been so different. I love animals and he loves books and music, and above all opera, which I hate. If he comes to see us (we live on a farm), he always wears totally the wrong clothes, but we still don't see much of each other. It’s because he didn't really want me to marry George. He wanted me to marry a famous film star or something, but of course I didn’t. George and I don't want children, we have our animals, but my father would love to have a grandson. Maybe his new wife will give him the son he wants, but probably not. She cares too much about being slim and beautiful. I occasionally see one of his films on TV. I find it hard to believe he's my father. He is like a stranger.

y first wife and I only had one child. It might have been nice to have more. I would have liked a son, but we just had Carmen. I see her as my best friend. I think she always comes to me first if she has a problem. We have the same sense of humour and share many interests, except that she's crazy about animals, obsessed with them - she has always had dogs, cats, and horses in her life. We were closest when she was about four, which I think is a wonderful age for a child. That's when they need their parents most. But as soon as Carmen went to school, she seemed to grow up and grow apart from her family, and any father finds it difficult with a teenage daughter. She was very moody and had an odd group of friends. There was an endless stream of strange young men coming to our house. I remember I once got annoyed with her in front of her friends and she didn't the and my mother split up. He must have wanted the best for me, but the best was always what he wanted. He chose my school and I hated it. I had no friends there, I was miserable and didn't do well, so I was asked to leave. He must have been very disappointed, but he said nothing to me. He wanted me to be an actor like him but I'm not at all like him. I tried it for a while, but I was miserable until I met my husband. He's a vet and I'm his assistant. Now I'm doing what I always wanted to do, working with animals. My father and I have always been so different. I love animals and he loves books and music, and above all opera, which I hate. If he comes to see us (we live on a farm), he always wears totally the wrong clothes, but we still don't see much of each other. It’s because he didn't really want me to marry George. He wanted me to marry a famous film star or something, but of course I didn’t. George and I don't want children, we have our animals, but my father would love to have a grandson. Maybe his new wife will give him the son he wants, but probably not. She cares too much about being slim and beautiful. I occasionally see one of his films on TV. I find it hard to believe he's my father. He is like a stranger.alk to me for days. I've always