help for son's polish girlfriend

Is this a wind up ? How has she managed to work in U.K. for five years without knowing the language and surely the safety of cooking chips is the same in Poland as in England
If he can’t explain to her the safety of the kitchen after five years how have they managed to do anything together including making children ?

The incident with the chip pan could happen to anybody and is one of the most common causes of kitchen fires in the country - so I wouldn't read too much into that one incident, but the wider problem is one of learning the language as the doorway to better integration. Sadly the FE colleges rarely offer free English lessons any more, but most towns and cities have charities that can and do. Rather than find Polish resources perhaps you could offer to babysit so she can go to a class, or direct her to free English lessons on the internet.

You mention "grandchildren", plural. How many, and what age are they?

Who nearly burnt the house down, was it him or her?

It can happen, our neighbours did that.
And surely they cook chips in Poland too? It can't be due to a language problem.

She could try this online resource:
www.esolcourses.com/

I am surprised, though, most Polish people I know who have been here a while speak excellent English.

including making children
Bluebelle

Safety of a chip pan would be the same in Poland, so can’t be a language thing. I got rid of a chip pan aeons ago after my teenage kids burnt the kitchen, I then got one of those electric fryers. Now I just don’t cook chips!

Hi Suzied - I think language is not needed for procreation! I know, we have no idea how they manage their everyday life.

Hi, they have two little ones aged 2.5 and 3 months.

Thanks for your comments - I had hoped there would be some sort of manual I could give her that explains life in the UK but never mind! Appreciate the support.

some sort of manual I could give her that explains life in the UK

I'm struggling to understand this to be honest. Surely domestic life in the UK is the same as life in Poland, isn't it? Or are you saying that Polish families "wander off, leaving a full pan of chips on the stove"? And do Polish familes not do "basic safety"? Are they all reckless with the safety of their homes and children? And if she's managed to run a household successfully for the past 5 years, why is she only now making life threatening mistakes? If this is a genuine enquiry, it doesn't seem to me that the problem is just a lack of understanding English which doesn't seem to have much bearing on the problem anyway.

You could buy one of those air fryers for them.
bestreviews.com/best-air-fryers
Much more healthy anyway than deep fried chips!

The instruction manuals for everything are in many different languages these days - we keep the English part (2 pages usually) and throw away the other 40 pages!

some sort of manual I could give her that explains life in the UK

eg
In the United Kingdom people eat a lot of chips.
If you do want to be like the British and eat chips then it is best to buy oven chips to cook in the oven on a tray or to go to the fish and chip shop to purchase them. You may find that British people refer to this shop as 'the chippy'.

I could get my DD to translate that into Polish for you if you like, she used to teach there.

what?

I am only being helpful

I know. I'm just musing over the whole situation haha

Oh, good, I thought I had said something untoward.

All of the Polish people I know are very competent , would know how to cook chips and not burn the house down . Why does she not know English after 5 years , this has got to be a wind up surely !

My SIL works with a handful of polish lads who have only been here a couple of years. They can make themselves understood .

Please! a manual to teach her about U.K. what the heck has your son and all you lot been doing for the last five years
Do manuals about life in uk really teach about frying chips
Oh come on is it April 1st
I don’t know one Polish person who doesn’t speak pretty good English and if she s worked here for five years been with your son and had two children I would think she’s managing ok
What’s wrong with you helping her with her English over a coffee

Eat pierogi ! If she can cook pierogi without them bursting I take my hat off to her !
She's got a newborn and a toddler , her husband can make the damned chips !! No wonder she's tearful !

How about you learning some Polish ?
Dobranoc .

The OP said He nearly burned the house down!

Could it be that the polish lady is a bit depressed or just plain fed up and possibly a bit homesick?

Does she have any polish friends to provide support and just have a chat with in polish

If she does have a polish friend maybe they could help with the language and culural differences?

Ps tell son to chuck the chip pan

You say that she has lived & worked in the UK for the last 5 years, but has limited English, what sort of work has she been doing?

Also, with 2 small children, has she had contact with health visitor etc, has she been encouraged to go to mothers and toddlers?

Sorry, but feeling a bit , with children of those ages, there would usually be some sort of contact with health visitor, doctor etc.

Apologies if I'm wrong.