Language / Beginner learner of Polish having trouble with nouns - they change as well as numbers? [27]


The numbers 2 to 4 have different forms depending on the gender of the things they count. These are the nominative forms:

2: dwa = for masculine and neuter inanimate
2: dwie = for feminine animate/inanimate
2: dwaj = for masculine animate
2: dwoje = for mixed gender and neuter animate

3: trzy = for masculine and neuter inanimate + feminine animate/inanimate
3: trzej = for masculine animate
3: troje = for mixed gender and neuter animate

4: cztery = for masculine and neuter inanimate + feminine animate/inanimate
4: czterej = for masculine animate
4: czworo = for mixed gender and neuter animate

The Polish numerical system is really simple and straightforward, as you can see...

Language / Beginner learner of Polish having trouble with nouns - they change as well as numbers? [27]

I personally wouldn't say that it's much easier when you've learnt enough grammar to understand the structures of the language, but it certainly makes more sense then at least, and you should ultimately be able to produce the correct forms more naturally. As a beginner though, depending on your previous language learning experience, it can seem slightly crazy.

Language / Beginner learner of Polish having trouble with nouns - they change as well as numbers? [27]

I have no idea, but nobody said you could. Rosetta Stone is a waste of time and money (if you actually buy it) as far as I'm concerned.

Language / Beginner learner of Polish having trouble with nouns - they change as well as numbers? [27]

I would recommend checking out the book that SzwedwPolsce mentioned above and try to learn the grammar in a step-by-step way. It's not really possible to give a brief summary of all the different case endings as Polish is very irregular.

Numbers over 4 in Polish take a singular verb and the genitive case. I don't know how to explain this very well, maybe someone else can...

As for verbs, unfortunately you don't get three main types + irregulars like in French, Spanish, Italian,etc... There are obviously repeating patterns, but I'm not sure how many basic groups you could round this down to (and don't forget there are perfect and imperfect aspects for most verbs). In the past tense there are lots of fiddly little changes too. It would be worth checking out a book like "301 Polish verbs".

Life / Polish programs with Polish subtitles on TVP online have disappeared... [6]

Jon, I hope they will also return online because, due to not being in Poland, unfortunately I don't have access to Polish terrestrial TV, just the Internet.

Wlodzimierz, at the moment I'm watching stuff for little kids :[ (without subtitles) on Youtube because, although my comprehension of written Polish is, say, intermediate level, understanding the spoken language is, as you know, a big step up. If I could watch normal Polish programs and films with subtitles in Polish, I'm pretty sure that I would understand enough of the dialogue for it to be worthwhile. Without them, I'm still seriously handicapped by my limited Polish listening skills.

I think that watching television/films in the language you're learning with the native subtitles is kind of like when you learn to ride a bike with stabilisers as a child. At the beginning they are necessary for you not to fall off, but little by little you eventually learn to ride without them.

I know there are lots and lots of non-English speakers who use this method to learn/improve their English, but fortunately for them they have a vast amount of easiliy available material to choose from (on the Internet, on almost any DVD, etc). As mentioned above, in Polish I've hardly found anything of this sort.

It's a shame that foreign language teachers and teaching institutions (at least from what I've seen) don't promote this method more because I honestly think it's THE BEST way of improving your language comprehension once you've gotten past the beginner's stage. Maybe it's because there is no money in it for them.

Okay, well rant over anyway :P, I guess I'll carry on watching Hello Kitty until I can find something for adults with subtitles...