Following his election as the new president of the European Council on Saturday, August 30, Polish Prime Minister Donald Franciszek Tusk promised to learn English by the time he takes office on December 1.
“I will polish my English, don’t worry.”
Tusk’s joking words are now known across Europe. They may have gone down well because the prime minister was acknowledging one of his failings, but he has also put himself under a lot of pressure in naming a concrete date by which he intends to have made progress….
The important thing now is to overcome his inhibitions – and many of us should do the same. If the prime minister can acknowledge his weaknesses and work to learn the language, we can too. Let us learn along with him so we can understand Europe better, get to know it better and make ourselves better understood.”
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza, September 5
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, will be launched on Saturday, September 20. All are invited to mark the occasion at the Deer Park Branch of the Toronto Public Library between 2 and 4 pm. The book will be available at the launch, and from the 
“I will polish my English, don’t worry.” What does that mean? Will Mr. Tusk make his English more shiny? Or will his English just become more Polish? Is this cause for worry? Speaking personally, I admire Mr. Tusk’s efforts but I have other things to worry about.
Very admirable and very important. Wonder if he was inspired by this Berlitz Ad?