Language / Two questions for people who learn polish [57]

The combination of cases and gender is very difficult for me.
I know also Finnish which has 16 cases (you can get by on about 8-10), but no gender, so noun endings are the same as adjectives, so once you know the ending that's it. In Polish the endings are all different, and some ending are used on more than one case and for nouns and adjectives. Very tough, and difficult to just learn them all off!

Polish is still easier than Finnish though :)

Interesting and better than in English:
Interesting is the spelling like "przyczyniać się" - all those consonants together, and still pronouncable!
Better: Polish is more elegant than English, perfective verbs for example - love em. And cutifying of words (like: ciastka - cookies; ciasteczka - small cookies) - English doesn't do this, though Irish does (éan - bird, éanín - small bird)

Polish... I have been learning it for a little while now.

Language / I'm really interested in learning Polish [33]

Children's books like Wakacje Mikołajka (available in the US - google it) are I find a good way to expand vocab by reading. You'll need your słownik though and a basic understanding of Polish; how verbs conjugate, and the basics of the cases.

As an exercise I am translating it from Polish to English (This also serves to build charcter!) - and the story is funny, a good read.

Originally a french language book, there's a whole series of them (they might even be available in English, never looked).

Language / Best learning Polish CD/DVD set? [11]

I have a teacher. Best way to learn any language :)

I have used Rosetta Stone Polish for revision - It's a useful drill tool, though basic as they only seem to have a Level 1.

Pimsleur do a course also, though I haven't experience of using it.
There's a Language Now course also, based entirely around sounds recordings.
url: transparent.com/products/languagenow.htm

I started off dabbling in Polish to learn a little bit about it and a few phrases, but then I got really serious about it. I have scoured the web for anything I could find in the way of resources. There is a very good course here, free access to download: polish.slavic.pitt.edu/

The grammar book and dictionary have been very useful to me. It's a little light on sounds recordings for the lessons though.

Language / Suggestions for Children learning Polish [25]

A very good suggestion (above), learning it together.
Also, it is important to note that young children (0-4) soak up language if they are immersed in it. I would suggest long stays in Poland with your in-laws (at least a month at a time if possible), your daughter's grandparents for example, with them communicating in Polish with her all the time, palying with Polish cousins. Do this a few times a year if it can be done. And visits from them to you. Whatever is possible.

Then when back home you could create a "Polish" background by way of some of the other suggestions above, books, sounds etc.
You could try and make contact with other bi-lingual families in your area if there are any or a Polish cultural organisation.

Possibly when she is older, say 8-12 she could spend summers there and maybe go to a summer language school, but that would only really help if she has had a good early grounding in the language that she can build on. The big effort needs to be in the first few years.

I hope these suggestions are of some help to you.

Language / Wanna converse with Polish people [30]


aha, it's spelt slightly incorrectly, it should be: phrasebase.
computers, very picky :)

Language / Numbers in the Polish Language [39]

Thanks for this Ivonka :) my Polish counting is on the weak side, this ought to help.

Language / How do u guys learn polish? [20]

I study Polish in a very er, integrated way.

I'm following two courses on my own; a First year University course I downloaded (FREE! :) ), and a book "We Learn Polish", which has been around for a long time. Also I have a teacher, an invaluable resource if you don't live in Poland and want to learn the language in any sort of reasonable timeframe. I'm translating a little at a time a children's book from Polish to English and another from English to Polish which my teacher then corrects with me. This builds vocabulary and the Polish book serves as reading practice also.

For sounds practice I recently got Rosetta Stone which is good for basic sounds practice. Though with my teacher I find I don't need sounds recordings.

All of these things trundle along slowly together and will hopefully build up into a solid knowledge of the language.

My aim is to have a steady exposure to the language all the time.
I now have the courage to chat to Poles I meet - and there are lots here in Dublin these days.

I find Polish to be generally an easy language to pronounce and spell once you know how to say the words and how they work. The only letter I don't hear is "j", and will write it as "i". Also I find words containing the sound "sze..." like "szes'c' " are difficult to get exactly right.

Polish is fun...

Language / Building my Polish vocabulary... [19]

My best way for learning words is to read a text which I have a translation for in my own language (english for me).

I find that once I start using the cases, I begin to know what the endings to use and when. Still, the case endings on words are the most difficult things for me to get right in Polish.

Study / Polish language courses in Krakow [14]

Definitely study up on the language first. I'm also looking at going to one of these Kracow courses, but I want to build up my vocab before I try it so as to get the most out of it. And do a little touristing afterwards.

Language / is there a way to make nouns adjectives? [5]

Hmm, I have been doing a lot of this lately. Here are some examples:
(polish adj - masculine endings here, substitute a or e in place of y for feminine/neuter adjs respectively)
N - celność - accuracy
Adj - celny - accurate

N - rosądek - sense
Adj - rosądny - sensible

N - pilność - dilligence
Adj - pilny - dilligent

N - wojsko - military
Adj - wojskowy - military

N - osoba - person
Adj - osobisty - personal

N - szczęście - happiness
Adj - szczęśliwy - happy

N - pewność - certainty
Adj - pewny - certain

N - tradycja - tradition
Adj - tradycyjny - traditional

N - bezpieczeństwo - safety
Adj - bezpieczny - safe

You'll notice a general pattern emerging...

Study / Polish language courses in Krakow [14]

LOL - whatever about other languages, there's no quick way to learn Polish. You have to put the work and the time in.

I would see one of these short courses as a vehicle to revise and build on what you already know rather than to learn the language from scratch. Also, the course needs to be as intensive as possible, unless you are there to do sightseeing... I would avoid anything that uses time up visiting things. Language first, culture later.

Study / Polish language courses in Krakow [14]

...exactly why you need to spend about three years studying Polish first, and then go on your intensive course...

Language / Building my Polish vocabulary... [19]

My understanding of the two words is approximately Praca=your job, roboty is the actual work.

(Hmm, I wonder what those 600 words are exactly)

There's some paralell polish and english texts here (I ran across these some time back, it took me a while to find them again):

w w w.let.rug.nl/%7Ehoutzage/polish.html
and sounds recordings of the texts in polish here, though the speaker speaks very fast...
h t t p://odur.let.rug.nl/~houtzage/poldownloadsmp3.html

...but together they will give you an idea of how to pronounce correctly and some reading material (with translation) to practice on.
Hopefully they will be of use to you.

Language / What's the best "Learn Polish" book? [33]

You will find links to some Polish language learning resources here: polishforums.com/polish_language_learning_links-17_8328_0.html

The best of these is this one, a First Year University course - totally free download :) - It's actually several books, all in pdf form.

h t t p://polish.slavic.pitt.edu/

proszę bardzo - ur welcome

Language / What's the best "Learn Polish" book? [33]

Um, what are levels A1 and A2 respectfully?

Language / genders in Nouns/ VERBAL NOUNS/ PRONOUNS/ DIMINUITIVES/ CONJUNCTIONS - A brief Polish Grammar lesson [32]

Thanks indeed for this :) I hadn't noticed it before now.
Nice one Fisz.

Language / I want to write/read/speak fluent Polish! [60]

But keep at it Camilla, with all that exposure to polish language it'll soak in...
...eventually

Life / Polish Kids - Polish speaking? Bilingual? only English? [56]

In a bilingual family, Polish in this case, the children will become fluent in the spoken language if the Polish parent speaks only Polish to them always (at least it works for other languages :) ). Meeting other Polish speakers will be good for them also, though they might start playing together with other kids in english!

Language / How do you say "give me a kiss" in Polish [53]


Er that's "Ná póg mo thóin" (Irish accents always point to the right).
Some potentially useful vocab here, though comewhat specialized ;)

Language / genders in Nouns/ VERBAL NOUNS/ PRONOUNS/ DIMINUITIVES/ CONJUNCTIONS - A brief Polish Grammar lesson [32]

Here's a website I just found that gives a basic intro to Polish grammar, and some self help tests..., not quite for dummies ;) Doing the questions now.

polish-dictionary

Language / genders in Nouns/ VERBAL NOUNS/ PRONOUNS/ DIMINUITIVES/ CONJUNCTIONS - A brief Polish Grammar lesson [32]

No, really, try it. 1000 questions to test and teach the user grammar. Multiple choice questions, just point the mouse and shoot, one in four chance of getting the right answer, heh.

Feedback / How did you find this site? [88]

Accident - I was searching for info on Polish cases....
...got an answer to what I was looking for too :)

Polonia / anyone been to St Petersburg? [51]

Yes, I was there once about 10 years ago when I lived in Finland - dreadful place! Everyone was trying some sort of scam. The buildings were lovely though.

And when the Russians found that I was the only non-finn on the bus, they wanted me to give them money to let me out of their country, muttering something about visas (which I didn't need).

Nothing like a 17 year old border guard with a machine gun to focus the mind - lol.
It all ended well, but I wouldn't go there again.

Still, i'm sure it's a much nicer place now. :)

Language / genders in Nouns/ VERBAL NOUNS/ PRONOUNS/ DIMINUITIVES/ CONJUNCTIONS - A brief Polish Grammar lesson [32]

Hal i just did the questions. I didn't do too bad, suprised myself.

All 1000!
Well done, I've just barely done a little over a hundred so far...
So, Polish isn't so difficult after all :)

Law / Old Polish zloty banknote, currency exchange in Poland [18]

Old Polish currendy tends not to be worth very much because of problems with inflation in central Europe after the first world war.
I have a 250000 zł note here from 1923, it's worth a dollar or so :(

I'll check your ones in the papermoney catalogue and let you know if they're worth anything. But don't hold your breath, or plan any holidays or anything!

Hmm, I checked a catalogue and some of the Polish banknotes from that era are worth quite a lot, but most of them aren't...

Language / I want to write/read/speak fluent Polish! [60]


I think what he meant here was that:
"No one says that everyone in the UK should learn Polish"

I'm thinking of the word "nikt" here in polish which can be translated as "anyone" or "no one" depending on the context.

Hmm, and I suspect that that 80% of telefonitika's might possibly be 8%...?

Law / Old Polish zloty banknote, currency exchange in Poland [18]

It's the world paper money catalogue, I looked at it in the labrary.
There are lots of PL banknotes in the 1921-38 era - if you list them here by exact date, day month, year I can try and look them up...

Language / A Native American or a Native Pole: Who is better into which language? [116]

As a native english speaker and a learner of Polish I think that Polish would be quite easy if it wasn't for the case system!

But it does have it's case system (as opposed to the "easier to learn for a foreigner" case systems in some other languages), so it's not so easy. All those different endings all mixed up together, which need to be learnt and then put to use, correctly....

Lots of exercises needed for me here I think. I shall eat my grammar book!

Spelling & pronounciation in Polish is a dream! - so easy once you learn how. The only letter I often don't hear is "j"

Took me ages to get the hang of "tak" in Polish, as it means "thank you" in Swedish....

One of the easiest languages to learn a working knowledge of, for a native English speaker is Romanian - very satisfying to study. Like German and Polish it has cases and gender and it uses prepositions. Unlike them all the case endings in Romanianare nearly the same for every case, so you have so much less to learn off.

Language / Elementary Flash Cards [6]

A nice link. Good for a quick vocabulary test.

Language / Some example sentences using each of the cases in Polish [33]

You'll find some links to Polish language learning resources available online here:
https://polishforums.com/language/learning-links-8328/

Might find something useful :)