Language / Easy texts to practice Polish sentences/reading/vocabulary? [33]

@KoszalinChris

I have only just come across this one, they are a bit dated but contain text and audio for 100's of languages, including Polish:

fsi-languages.yojik.eu

Haven't looked at it in great detail but the FSI course seems OK.

Language / Where did you start or the best techniques for learning Polish. [85]

I think that the Arlena Witt YouTube channel mentioned above would be excellent resource for learning Polish, if there were text transcripts of her videos in Polish.

youtube.com/watch?v=2nG-kTU1xkk&list=PLJ-cNWgEeSubipvRKLhNB5r2WEtm4254e

That way, you would be able to use the text with a tool, such as readlang / learning with texts / Foreign Language Text Reader (FLTR). Especially, if you then grabbed the A glossay of the vocabulary at the end with new words and their meanings would be beneficial.

Language / Where did you start or the best techniques for learning Polish. [85]

@Lyzko

I have found, by watching Polish YouTube channels, such as Let's Polish, that even Poles who have a very good grasp of the English language struggle to pronounce words beginning with "Th"

They nearly always pronounce it "dis" or "dat".

A great place for native Poles to learn English is Arlena Witts YouTube channel:

youtube.com/watch?v=2nG-kTU1xkk&list=PLJ-cNWgEeSubipvRKLhNB5r2WEtm4254e

I watch her videos to try to understand as much as I can. I can only understand the gist of it, as I am almost a complete beginner, but she pronounces her words very clearly and the videos are very entertaining referencing English Movie and TV clips to illustrate certain points.

I just wish that there was a similar channel that did this type of think for native English speakers. In English, explaining grammer and phrases / words by refering to Polish media clips.

Language / First Year Polish Second Edition Revised and Expanded - Oscar E. Swan (White Cover) [13]

@Ziutek

Yes, that is what I was led to believe too. I purchased supplementary material (audio + workbooks) from Ohio State University Foreign Publications (OSUFP). The audio files do not match the Swan book that I have. It is the Second Edition and this is what book is listed in the workbook.

The lady that I talked to on the phone (via skype) at the OSUFP told me that she had never had anybody contact her before about a mismatch between the Swan book and audio files that they sell.

I thought that she had sent me audio files from the first edition of the book by mistake, but she assures me that this is not the case.

I have since found out that the audio files she sent me are for the First Edition of the book. I checked it with Google books and the text in the 1st Edition matches the audio she sent me.

RESOLVED- PLEASE CLOSE THREAD

Language / Where did you start or the best techniques for learning Polish. [85]

I have only been learning Polish for a very short while and started because I work with a lot of Poles. I wanted to understand what they said amongst themselves, and also wanted to try to talk to them in their own language.

I also thought that if I could learn Polish, then other languages would become easier. I currently drive trucks for a living and a lot of the agency personnel and even the permanent employees are polish.

What other languages do I know? I know a little French, as I studied it in school about 34 years ago. I also know a few words of German, as I spent 3 years in Hameln with the British Army (though I wasn't in the country for approximately 9 months of the each year, as I was deployed elsewhere). I wish I had tried to learn more of the German language though.

The following are Polish language items I have used / are using to try to lean Polish:

Pimsleur Polish (30 lessons)

Micheal Thomas (Total and Perfect)

Glossika (Fluency 123)

FLR Method - by Moses McMormick

The Usborne First Thousand Words in Polish

Colloquial Polish - Bolesław W. Mazur

Polish for Dummies

SuperMemo Polski Bez problemu

UDemy Polish Course

Teach Yourself Polish (Get Started in Polish and Complete Polish)

Polish Readers (all of them)

Real Polish - 100 Stories

Polish Pod 101

BYKI4 Polish - discontinued

Transparent Languages Polish online course (This replaced BYKI) - transparent.com/byki-discontinued.html

Krok po Kroku + e-polish.eu

Books (without audio component).:

A grammer of Contempoary Polish - Oscar E Swan
- Worbooks + Audio for Swan book from Ohio State University - Do not match book exactly.
First Year Polish Second Edition Revised and Expanded - Oscar E Swan
Speaking Polish in Poland
301 Polish Verbs - Klara Jenecki
Conversational Polish Quick and Easy - Yatir Nitzany
DK Visual Polish English Bilingual Dictionary
BBC Polish Phrase Book and Dictionary
Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary

FREE RESOURCES

lektorek.org/lektorek - excellent materials, but unfortunately without audio.
101languages.net/polish/polish-language-survival-kit
Memrise
Duolingo
Anki
50languages.com/phrasebook/en/pl
YouTube - Multiple YouTube Channels

I have found I seem to learn best by listening to native phrases and conversations, whilst reading.

Pimsleur was the first course I purchased, but I found the lessons fairly boring and slow paced. Also there isn't any written text to accompany the audio, which I think is a missed opportunity, as I find it helpful to read the text whilst listening.

Example from just hearing the audio of the word (Sher Prash Ham), I would never of guessed the word was spelled:

przepraszam

Course I am using the most, at present:

Polish Pod 101
SuperMemo Polski Bez problemu
Transparent Languages Online
Real Polish 100 Stories
Listening to Arlena Witt YouTube Channel for Polish learning English and trying to understand as much as I can

If anybody is interested in my opinion on any of the following or a bit of a short review, let me know.

Language / Free and accurate Online Polish-English / English-Polish translator? [49]

You could try this one:

lektorek.org/polish

Language / First Year Polish Second Edition Revised and Expanded - Oscar E. Swan (White Cover) [13]

@Ziutek

Thanks for your reply. However, both books have the exact same ISBN you cannot be sure that the text in Google Books is actually from the version with a white cover. I actually ordered a book from an online seller and the photo had the wite cover, but i received the yellow covered one.

Language / First Year Polish Second Edition Revised and Expanded - Oscar E. Swan (White Cover) [13]

@DominicB

Thank you for your reply. I already have the files that you stated are at lektorek

Have you actually tried to download the audio files, lektorek program and computer drills?

When I try to download them, they are not available to download and produce a 404 (page not found) error.

If you have managed to download the audio files and computer drills etc, then could you please explain how you did it?

Here is my attempt, screencasted using Jing

screencast.com/t/2RDKliSS

Best Regards

Dave

Language / Learning Polish to communicate with my boyfriend's family - where to start? [16]

@ireland

Couldn't you just start by asking your boyfriend how to say different phrases in Polish?

You could also download the audio to Colloquial Polish by Bolesław W.Mazur (for free) and learn phrases using that, then practice them with your boyfriend.

routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/colloquial/language/polish.php

Language / A good place to start learning Polish? [29]

Hello,

I have been trying to learn polish, for a few month now and have amassed quite a few learning resources, both free and paid for. I have found the following YouTube channel by Arena Witt very useful to get the melody of the language.

youtube.com/channel/UCIj6yjWVKPKO5zNLBjQ8Beg

The site is aimed at Native Poles who are trying to learn English, but I have found that I am starting to pick out more and more words from the videos and get the gist / meaning of what she is talking about.

You could also try the following you tube channels aimed at native English speakers:

Easy Polish - Learning Polish from the streets
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA5UIoabheFN7GIhcfUGQT2S5_U5sWnhK

Arek Błażkowski
youtube.com/channel/UCYKWKnF5IiHnk2PuwBrhm4w?pbjreload=10

This channel is aimed at Poles learning English, but as it has both the English and Polish text I just use it in reverse.

Jezyk Angielski
youtube.com/channel/UCc-OFjP1q1Rd15NTJXOd_1g/playlists

Again this channel is aimed at Poles learning English, but it also works in reverse too.

Let's Polish
youtube.com/channel/UC9a-V-9qyKXxSyxEBDC5tBw

A YouTube channel by a Pole aimed at helping English speakers learn Polish.

Polish Course by Jarowsław Hajduk
youtube.com/channel/UC51VV50h0zI7FxRMLdmTuaw

Polski z Anią // Polish with Ania
youtube.com/channel/UCOJ8InFS6bdCVzsZKIdmK4w

More advanced, covering the dreaded Polish grammer and the seven cases (Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Instrumental, Locative and Vocative).

You could also try using iTalki, once you have a little experience with the language. italki.com

PS

Do not try to start learning Polish by studying the Grammar. It will fry your brain!! Ignore the grammer, but learn phrases with the correct grammer usage from native audio.

Find books and phrases with audio, so that you can learn the phrases naturally. After all, you learn't to speak your native language before you could even read, when you didn't have a clue about grammer. The grammatical use of the language came automatically, as you naturally assimulated the language

This was highlighted to me when I was speaking to a Pole on iTalki and he asked me "How would I say that in the Present Perfect tense?"

I'm a native English speaker, who has been on this earth for over 49 years (czterdzieści dziewięć lat) and I had to lookup what he was talking about.

I believe that I speak English well, and that my spelling and grammar are adequate.
However, I left school at 16 years old and therefore didn't attend university.

Language / Easy texts to practice Polish sentences/reading/vocabulary? [33]

@KoszalinChris

Hi,

I'm new here but here are a few suggestions to help with reading practice with audio.

1. lppbooks.com/Polish/index.html

I have these books myself, though I have only read a little of them. I have only just started to try to learn Polish recently.

The good thing with this website is that you can download the audio files for each book and also a sample of each book (which contains about 1/3 of the book).

2. realpolish.pl 100 stories

The realpolish website is run by a native pole Piotr and the 100 stories series gives you the stories from two perspectives / viewpoints. (1st and 3rd).

realpolish.pl/polish-learning-materials/

3. You could also try Steve Kaufmans LingQ (not free), however if you are computer savvy you can achieve the same for free using:

a. Learning with texts - lwt.sourceforge.net/
Help with installing - mezzoguild.com/how-to-install-learning-with-texts-lwt/

b. Foreign Language Text Reader - sourceforge.net/projects/fltr/
This is a Java program and therefore will run on any computer with the Java Virtual Machine installed (which most have).

Both these tools above require that you have your own text available. Which you can grab from YouTube video transcripts, Polish new sites with videos. You could also join the LingQ site with a Free account and just grab the content that he has ammased to use with these FREE programs.

4. Read Lang (Też, nie gratis) - readlang.com

This is a reader that works in a web browser and allows you to go to a Polish website and read the text. Just click on the words you don't know and it shows the English (or whatever your native language is) translation.

Hope this short post is helpful to somebody.

Regards

Dave