ANGLOS HAVE TROUBLE WITH SZCZ, SOME WITH TRILLED 'R'

One way to explain to an English speaker how to pronounce teh common szcz in Polish is to have them say such words as SUGGESTION. The 'st' in that word effectively approximates the Polish szcz.

The trilled Scottish 'r' is more problematic esp. for Americans unaccustomed to that sound, even though they are probably saying it all the time without knowing it. I recall one student I couldn't get to say robota, rasa, uta, etc. for the life me.

But this same speaker in his native English was saying geryń for gettign, beryń for betting, lołryń for loading and bołryń for boating, as is the custom of many Americans. After much effort of having him repeat geryń umpteen times I had him switch into ryba, and finally he got it.

Ash chose to go to the cinema ;)

Not ść?

ść is a softer sound(s) than szcz, but to my ears they sound the same!

Just like 'rz' and 'ź', or 'cz' and 'ć'... ;)

In modern Polish there is no difference in sound between rz and ż, is there?

They are the same :)

Good you are explaining it. The English native speakers are always having problems with pronouncing my name. It contains a lot of hissing consonants.

My name is Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz, powiat Chrząszczyrzewoszyce.

Oh, not an easy name, indeed ;) Can every Pole pronounce it without any difficulty? ^^

Polson didn't mean/write "ż", but "ź"


Ha, don't try to steal credit from the movie makers!
I think they should have copyrighted this surname :)


I think so.
This Chrząszczyrzywoszyce thing is more problematic, because at first I wasn't able to remember the whole word, it's so long and its second part (-rzywoszyce) doesn't sound similar to any Polish words :)

Nevertheless it's not hard to pronounce once you remember it.

Wow! imagine that on the back of a football shirt:)

Yup.


That's why they shortened Borussia player's name Błaszczykowski into Kuba ;)

I guess they needed to find a space for his number:)

Hehe ^^
I'm a bit disappointed, i saw a vid once, with English commentaries, great goal by Kuba against Bayern a few months ago, and they said something like 'what a wonderful goal by Kuba, the man with a name so long they had to write Kuba in the back of his shirt', lol, just tried to find it and post it here, but it seems like the vid has been removed. Pity, that was a really nice goal ;)

I think so...


Yes, it requires a little practice. I also couldn`t remember it at first, now it takes me milliseconds to utter it.
But I can`t agree the second past of the word doesn`t ring the bell. It reminds me of the surname Rzewuski.

I'm not even going to try. :P


Yes, rz is devoiced according to the advice I got on a thread I created however in real world no the difference in negligible.


I cannot do this and it bugs the hell out of me...

I don't know where you are supposed to put your tongue but I can't find the right place.

:/

The tongue approaches the back of the upper teeth but I'm at a lost as to how to generate the trill. Try pronouncing Eddie, Betty, litter, butter, etc. the American way and you will effectively be producing the trilled r.

Thread attached on merging:
polish r

im having trouble saying the r in polish, any tips on how to do it?

I actually have a lot of trouble with this as I tend to pronounce my Rs by moving the lower lip against the top front teeth so it comes out like 'awound the wugged wocks the wagged wascal...'. Consequently any rz sound is really tricky...

Sorry no real tips apart from trying to find a Pole who can demonstrate or explain the tongue position and try to use it.

guy I teach Polish can't say "palcych" :)

Practice it, preferably in private. The tip of your tongue has to vibrate against the roof of your mouth, so it is best to make sure that your tongue is relaxed. If you're really having trouble, practise it without using your voice, but just blowing air through your mouth and trying to get that flapping motion going. Still finding it difficult? Try adjusting how far behind your teeth the tip of your tongue is. Start with it right behind the teeth, and as you expel air through your buccal cavity, move the tongue slowly back away from the teeth. At some point, you should find the right amount of flappiness (or vibration if you want a more technical term).

If none of that works, try it all again but this time not in private. That way, at least someone will have a good laugh listening to you. Here endeth lesson one. Part two, anyone?

I have no trouble with Polish pronunciation, except for the trilled R. I've been learning Polish for about three years and Norwegian for four, both having a similar R sound. I can pronounce it following another consonant, gr, kr, wr(vr) and fr are the easiest, dr, tr, br and pr I tend to overdo, almost as if they were Ls instead of Rs. But words beginning with R which expect a long rrrrrrrrr sound seem to be beyond my vocal grasp.