Recommended for learners: Michel Thomas Method Polish Audiobook

People use certain words and phrasings to emphasize certain things. In many cases it is quite clear. I know you disagree I am just explaining how I see it.

Much that is posted here has the 'undertone' that the Polish culture is superior. In many cases it is flat out stated and not subtle at all. The only reason I had clashes with anyone here is that they attacked when I pointed out things I viewed as flaws here (Poland) and couldn't admit truths about this country and culture. Not all Poles act this way of course but it is common.

They also feel free to slag off other cultures and make ridiculous declaratory statements about them but god forbid anyone points out factual things about Poland.

agree.. I didnt even see a insult hidden, your prob one of the most intellectual personalities aboard.. I think hes mistaken it for sarcasim, which wasnt hidden in your post, you were giving experience.. most of the time thats the way we learn vs common knowledge which is experience or something we have experienced and I am going on a one way kick here to I dont know where.. I must be tired.

:)

Well at least a couple other regular members ( Polish even) agree with me on these issues and individuals as they have said in PMs so I know its not just something I made up out of thin air.

You lost me completely here, Darius. Well, maybe because I'm not intellectual like you.

In some cases some things will receive more exposure than others. In a debate about language I would expect a certain level of... demonstrated language skills. If you fail in that respect I will point it out and I will do it without guilt or shame. The guilt and shame are on you and I see no need on my part for apologies. I see the need to correct errors in understanding on your part. That's what those in the know do. Others keep dragging the subject and then jump onto other issues, such as Polish culture this Polish culture that. Language skills have nothing to do with Polish culture or with your spats with Phillios.

If you can't hold your ground in a debate without desperately resorting to unrelated matters then cede.


I didn't. You just popped in ;)
Read the post again.


Thank you for the kind words. I was beginning to feel lonely ;)

Hitting the hay now. Have a good night all.

I agree with this , yes, but your basically accusing a virtual reader rather then discussing it , you went automatically to the I know what your doing and trying to find fault in his post.

and not everyone on this board lives in poland or is in poland. I think the majority of us are USA , Canada, UK and we have a few austrailians as well.


do you stand up for your country? is it a crime to stand up for it.. so many people come in here trolling around and no one said Poland didnt have flaws, but some of the stuff people bring up kinds sounds pretty stupid..

all Polish are theifs, theres a certain smell in poland like no other that smells like B.O. are all polish racist?, are Polish girls easy?

These are some of the threads on this site that are really idiotic, has nothing to do with a certain trait.. just people trying to annoy people. and I believe it would be equally annoying if you had a forum you liked and it was your country that was getting the flack.. I think your defence would be up too...

dont you agree?

I have a fine command of my native language and no guilt or shame at all about it at all....and I find it amusing that you think I should.


No I don't agree. Other than a couple times I got pissy and admitted I was pushing it all I have said is clear and real...not trolling nonsense like who has hotter girls. Denying everything because your back is up about nonsense doesn't fly.


And ironically Polish living abroad rather than locals here are some of the worst when it comes to the behaviors I mentioned.

nope it dont, so who here you believe isnt being real?

I dont know how you can make such a statement when you dont even know anyone here and defense is a natural born element built into every human alive including you who is on the defence right now instead of saying , ya know, maybe you have a point!!

which I do, as you do, I did agree with you, but you refuse to agree with anyone else.. so who's truely being real here?

This is untrue (oops I disagreed with you...crap no way around that...its a trap!)

I agree with people here commonly. I just won't agree with BS simply because it is the party line and unpopular not to.

Patrycja pay this fool no mind, his mind is gone. I don't even think he's American. British probaby, stirring up things as always.

See?

This is the refrain....you disagree with something insult or deny....its a stale tactic.

I am American and live in Poland whether you believe it or not and I stand behind what I say...I guess expecting the same honesty from everyone is my mistake.

so your calling my discussion with you bullshyt?


I wont take this as a undertone, because it wasnt meant as one.. I complimented someone and said ONE of our meaning the whole polish forum.

we ( me and you) have not had a discussion so I wouldnt know if you were or werent .

Maybe because I'm tired but I don't get your meaning at all. I was commenting Darius flamboyant style of writing.

all is good.

No Mexicans in Poland at the time?

Joking, of course. You mean there were no Ancient Romans about.

Whot he probably meant was that in Poland, Polish teachers probably have accents comparable to that of the Germans in Germany. In fact, I had a copy of the Thomas method of learning for Italian. I bought it for 50 pence at my local car boot and sold it on Ebay as I was not very interested in his method or subject. It is quite good, you simply sit back and listen to students learning from scratch with no text to read. I did not know that there was a Polish version. I think in languages like French, where there are lots of conection to English via Latin, it may work quite well but in languages such as Arabic or Chinese, I am not so sure.

There is no problem with the active side of your English. The glitch is with your attempts to read between the lines. You assume things are said when they aren't, and then you do what you accuse Poles of doing - you become arrogant, take easy offense when obvious flaws in your post are pointed out, you apply blanket statements and you don't admit mistakes. You may have heard the term "projection" as understood by psychologists. Try to control it.

You have some experience with Polish speakers and teachers of English, I supplemented that with mine, which is contrary to yours. In fact I was an ESL teacher in New York City myself and my employer did not see any problems with the fact that English is my second or third language. About the only issue was my, then, RP accent. The school's management wasn't particularly thrilled about it. They like NYC drool much better. It took me about a year to fix that.

American professors from renowned schools offer highest praises to Polish universities where English language and literature are studied. But you know that this is not possible, huh?

Oh, and let me assure you - if I wanted to offend you I would leave no doubt in anybody's mind that this is exactly what I am doing. For now I don't even have to do it. I would suggest that what you wrote here is more offensive to yourself than anything you think you found between the lines of my posts.


I don't believe in any miraculous methods. They are mostly gimmicks. The method that always works is a lot of time, mind and practice put into the learning of a foreign language.


I feel honored.
Thank you.

What a flaming topic.

I had a good English teacher and he was not a native speaker. He had an accent, of course, all non-native speakers have. When we started at grammar school, he spent more than a week to teach the phonetics. As a foreigner, you won't ever be perfect, but the miracle lies in the thing that non-native speakers must make the effort and learn the pronounciation as good as they can (regardless the actual English accent they acquire in their studies or neighbourhood). In my experience, most non-native English speakers find it hard to make that effort.

Language teaching in East-Europe has always had an emphasis on grammar. They - nearly literally - pound it in your head. Then you go to England (or anywhere) and you find that they use double negation and the remnants of conjugation are even more non-existent (e.g. "I ain't got none", "he don't", "you was" etc.).

So I ended up speaking Brummie English with a Hungarian accent. :) But my spelling is still better than a native's, thanks to my education.

Geez! All this from someone recommending 'learn Polish' CD.

I've tried it, the teacher is as far as I can tell, a Polish woman. She has a Polish accent. She speaks good English and speaks Polish in a clear manner helping you with word order and pronunciation. The students on the CD (it's made like you're the 3rd person in her class) are English and Canadian or American.

End of.

How does it compare to Pimsleur? Better or not?

bay of pirates has this.

Really? Thanks for the tip! :)

Merged: 2012 edition of Michel Thomas Method (Start Polish, Total Polish, Perfect Polish)

Hello all,

I started this thread as I could not find any reliable first user accounts on its quality and content. If you have used it beyond first few lessons, I'd like to hear about your experience.

Most of all, do you think is it worth the money for beginners? If you have also used Pimsleur, how does it stack up to it? Does it complement or replace Pimsleur?

Please keep in mind I am specifically interested in 2012 (and are they really new when compared to 2009 versions?) editions of these courses.

Is anybody on this forum currently learning Polish?

So has anybody used Michel Thomas course for Polish or any other language? What are your thoughts on it?

Yes, I'm learning Polish by this method.

I was working in the UK a couple of years ago and bought the introductory course on-line through audible.co.UK. It's on my laptop and also mirrored on my Android mobile.

I'm back in the UK again and I'm about to pick it up, again.

I'm going to buy the new "Total" course, this week.

I found the introductory course to be useful and easy. I'm working with Polish people which means I can get some practice.

Hello fellow learners of the Polish language. Since I am an avid fan of the Michel Thomas Method, I would like to chime in on this discussion. I have used both the "foundation" and "advanced" method to get a head start before taking a year of college French, German, and Russian; the results have been spectacular. In fact, my professors all asked me at one point during the first few weeks of instruction, if I had previously taken a class on X language. The Michel Thomas Method does an excellent job on introducing you to the language and making you feel comfortable learning it.

On the Polish version:

First I have to state a few things. Michel Thomas is the founder of this method, however he passed away in the mid 2000s. The only programs where you can learn a language with Michel Thomas include: German, Spanish, Italian, and French. The other languages use native speakers, who are trained to teach the way Michel Thomas did -so you are not being cheated if you do not decide to work on the languages Michel Thomas has taught. In fact, I believe that the Michel Thomas Polish course is the best. As I previously stated, I have gone through the foundation and advanced course in German, French, and Russian but I have also done; Spanish (even as a native speaker), Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese (yes I am crazy about languages). In my opinon I have decided to continue learning Polish, in part because how well the Michel Thomas Polish course has been constructed. By that I mean that I have managed to pick up Polish easily because of how clear, how much in depth the Polish teacher goes into the grammar, and how admirable the students and teacher are. If you have never heard of the Michel Thomas Method, I encourage you to try it. It is much cheaper than other language learning programs like Rosetta Stone, paying for instruction, etc. If you have any questions about Michel Thomas Polish, feel free to ask me :)

do you know if the "start version" is included on the "total version" ?

meaning that if i want to buy the complete set do I need to buy only the Total + Perfect? (Foundation + Advanced) or i should also buy the Starter one?

Regards,

George

Slim182 : From Amazon : Start Polish with the Michel Thomas Method is an hour of essentials taken from Total Polish with the Michel Thomas Method. (Total is the classic Michel Thomas Method course, now enhanced with extra vocabulary, on-screen learning, and exercises.)

I used the Pimsleur Polish course for my trip to Poland this year. I used the downloadable version and had it on my phone and used it when I had free time; pretty convenient . I learned enough Polish to make my way around and get by. Personally, I liked it. It's a great introduction to the language. Price is fair, too.

Hi George

Yes, the "Start" is included in the "Total".

So, all you need is the "Total" and the "Perfect".

(The terms "Foundation" and "Advanced" apply to the older formats ... I think they re-jigged this to "Total" and "Perfect" as a marketing thing ... Just looks better, I guess.)

The Michel Thomas is a great tool for learning a language ... However, it's a good idea to have other material, eg. a vocabulary picture book, grammar book, phrase book, flash cards, etc. Plus, there are a lot of good videos on Youtube.

Merged: Course of self-study after completing all Michel Thomas CDs?

I have greatly enjoyed the Michel Thomas CDs (finally a use for my old CD player!) and will soon complete the full set available in Polish (Total + Perfect). Can anyone suggest the next step for self-study? One person on amazon.com recommends Polski Bez Problemu+, but does not specify the level at which to start.

For reference, I'm a native US English speaker; I think I'm a good language learner in general but I don't have any additional background in Polish beyond the Michel Thomas CDs.