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Posts by tonywob  

Joined: 14 Jun 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 12 Oct 2010
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tonywob   
13 Aug 2009
Language / I'm learning Polish using the Michel Thomas Method [9]

This course is both good and both at the same time.

The good points are that you start saying things very quickly and are encouraged to create your own sentences. After the first hour, you can put together simple sentences. You don't necessarily understand why things are so, e.g. You just learn to say the genitive "tego" instead of "to" in negative sentences.

Now the bad things:

- The tutor's voice. I find her quite annoying, her Polish doesn't sound right to me. I'm quite sure she doesn't pronounce "ć" or "cz" correctly.

- The guy who is learning. His pronunciation is so bad, and the tutor hardly ever corrects him. e.g. He never says "y" properly at the end of adjectives.

- When listening in the car, you end up needing to pause because the guy or woman talks all the time and confuses you. It's hard to keep pausing, especially when you should be driving.

- The mnemonics are so incredibly bad and stupid, but surprisingly they actually work, e.g. Why does the chair go to Bolivia? Dlaczego, :D

Also, I never listened far enough through the course, but she doesn't seem to mention informal speech, everything is pan/pani, etc.

It's not a bad course, but don't use it on its own, and get someone to help you with your pronunciation. If you are like me, you won't be happy with just learning phrases, but you'll want to know why something is so.
tonywob   
15 Jun 2009
Language / Już and jeszcze [36]

Brilliant, thanks for the help. It's starting to make sense now :-)

So "juz" in this context, is kind of like the "already" in the American expression, "Let's just go to the cinema already", when given a choice of things to do.
tonywob   
14 Jun 2009
Language / Już and jeszcze [36]

Hi,

I'm having trouble understanding the meaning of "już" and "jeszcze". I understand so far that jeszcze means the verb is still on going, like English "still", e.g.

Jeszcze czytam ksiażkę -> I am still reading the book

and also "even"

Ta ksiażka jest jeszcze lepsza -> This book is even better.

However, I can't get when to use "już". According to the translator and my grammar book, it means "already and yet". But I'm seeing used in all sorts of phrases that don't seem to make sense, e.g. To ja "już" wybieram kino.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of an article or good explanation on the usages, etc..? Thanks