Language /
Why is the Polish language so difficult? [309]
Nie wyciągnij pochopne wnioski...(wrote jon) - 2 basic mistakes which learners find hard to master.
The 2nd one is that negation requires the genitive, hence wniosków.
But a linguistic quirk even more difficult to grasp (esp. since orders are often issued on the spur of the moment without time for consideration) is the fact that the imperfective form of the verb is required for negative imperatives. The 10 Commandments are a good example:
Nie zabijaj (not zabij), nie kradnij, nie cudzołóż, etc. Zamknij bramę, but - nie zamykaj bramy.
So jon should have written: nie wyciągaj. But for a learner that is an honest mistake if he started learning from scratch only a decade ago. Besides, a grammatcial fine point does not impede communicaiton which after all is any language's prime objective.
Actually time alone is not a factor. One has to be lingusitically disposed and receptive, and Anglos with their largely uninflected lingo have trouble acquiring inflected languages. I recall when learning German, my monoglot (English only) classmates were amazed the the simple word "the" goes through three genders and four (actually 8 if the plural is considered) cases.
Secondly, the best learning method is total immersion -- cutting oneself of form one's native tongue and interacting exclsuively with natives. By virtue of teaching English such detachment was not possible in his case. If he had had a Polish-only spouse, that might have made a difference, especially if she was a polonistka.