How to learn Polish ASAP? (speaking is my priority)

ok, i want to learn to both speak and read polish, but speaking it would be my priority, can anyone advise me- should i learn to speak it first, then learn to read it later, or should i learn to both speak and read at the same time? bear in mind that i wish to learn to speak polish asap, and not learn to read if this will slow me down. all help appreciated.

Unless you live among Poles I can't see how you can learn Polish, or any other language for that matter, without learning how to read/write in that language.

i was afraid someone would say that!! thank you for the advice.

Speak it first. that's how children learn a language because they are too young to read. That's also the suzuki method for violin. You first play by ear then read the notes.

best of luck .. ive been learning for almost 2 years and i am not constantly surrounded by polish people and it is difficult ... you will need to read some of it to understand what you are saying i would have thought ...

Are you sure?
I would have thought they learn by first listening, and listening and then listening some more, before finally they start uttering the first clumsy words. Depending on gender and other factors, that takes usually between 1 and 2 years.

I'm not sure if it is possible to learn a language, including a foreign one, by first speaking it. How does the learner know what to say?

my point exactly .. :-)

children learn differently than adults.

If you want to speed your process up, you need to listen to as much Polish as possible. So tapes, songs, listening to the radio and native speakers is advised.

As many mentioned here: Polish is a difficult language and some basic grammar would help you in a long run.

Reading Polish isn't so difficult actually - learn the rules for how the alphabet and a few letter combinations are pronounced and you'll be well on your way.

I've never had much luck learning Polish words out of context - stick them in a sentence and they change their endings and sound different. It often seems more useful to learn phrases - or several words stuck together in a useful and grammatically correct combination.

/c

there are lots of software around, where one can listen to native polish speakers, speaking, so I guess this would be better than trying to read it from a book and mispronouncing the words.

Well, I think it's different for everyone. It depends if you're a visual learner (essentially a reader) or an audio learner. Myself, I am a visual learner. It's easier for me to learn a language by first learning the alphabet & pronunciations by reading. It's hard for me to learn by hearing because I'd rather see how to pronounce it.

how would you know how to pronounce it, if you never heard it:)

byki.com

the university of pittsburgh has some online lessons also.

polish.slavic.pitt.edu

go hang out mask and see if you can do it in a month too. lol

thank you all for your advice, its just all a bit intimidating at the start i think.

Look learning polish would take you a couple of years. Belive me i was born in poland and now i live in canada speaking polish is getting harder and hardder.

I married a polish man and am constantly around family members speaking polish - just being around it hasn't helped me learn! I got cd's from the library which helped, but it did nothing for reading/writing. I finally shelled out the money to purchase Rosetta Stone software which is a great help! It uses pictures, words, and pronunciation so you learn to speak and read at the same time.

As a native english speaker who has taken both spanish and german lessons, polish is much, much harder! I have a difficult time remembering the letter combinations and the sounds are unnatural for me. But, I am determined to learn!

lol I know it doesn't seem to make sense. But, for example, the "sz" I read that it is pronounced like "sh" so that way when I read a "sz" I'll know how to pronounce it. And anyway, when I reaaally have a hard time, I ask my boyfriend to help me pronounce things. So I learn either way =]

and for those of us who haven't got a polish boy/girlfriend one of the best ways is to hear some spoken polish by a native speaker accompanied by reading the dialogs in text.....for example could you pronounce "szczecin" straight out of a book first time without hearing it spoken first?

good luck with your learning, and make sure you pass on any good tips:)

I know that the University of Pittsburgh has quite a good site - you should check it out!

Hmm. I really want to learn Polish (and French) its good to know that I am not totally wasting my time listening to Polish and French radio online- I have no clue what is being said but it kinda helps get in my head.

and this is the beauty of Polish ... Learn the pronunciation rules and a great deal of what you vocalise will be pretty close*. It's not like English where you need to learn the pronunciation of word after word after ....

Unfortunately it's a bit of a two-edged sword - I can read stuff out loud that is passably-understandable to someone listening, but which I don't understand at all :D

*given the expected difficulties with some sounds - for me they represent a physical problem of delivery unrelated to my head knowledge of the sound.