The most effective methods to learn the Polish language?

...only on the surface, Currian! Scratch deeper and the gaps, gaping holes, glaring errors etc.. will come a pourin' out 'till ya gotta turn of the spigot, trust me:-)

Anyone can mimic US slanguage, curse words etc,,,, with a makeshift Aussie/American accent. Few can actually speak, much less write, our language correctly (and even enjoyably!)

LOL

I'm finding this book to be quite engaging: amazon.co.uk/Colloquial-Polish-Complete-Course-Beginners/dp/0415157528
Only paid £4 for mine though!

The odd episode of Świat Według Kiepskich provides an amusing way to learn also. It's inherently funny even if you don't fully understand what's being said!

I know! I think I've borrowed almost every Polish movie Netflix has to offer! Sometimes twice! I'll be watching along, catching every other word, feeling pretty confident-- and then I turn the subtitles off. Suddenly my comprehension goes down to "Dzien dobry", "nie", and "rozumiesz?" Oh well...

"Wśród Polaków", published by the Fundacja Kosciuszka in the late 90's, is a textbook with CDs, updated. It's a little old, but good:-) It's almost all in Polish with no translation, but instead illustrations to help adults learn organically, i.e. as children, without simplifying too much!

I am feeling your pain with you......this is the level I revert to yet when I am alone in my kitchen I can ask loads of things in polish and answer questions that may crop up but then when face to face I am -errrrr mam errr na errr imię errrr Miss Happy-. So I m feeling your pain too :)

I'm reading the Harry Potter series in Polish. I have them memorized in english practically. So I figured why not use a book I've read a million times to help me learn Polish?

Dobrym sposobem jest znaleźć sobie znajomego na facebooku plus ciężka własna praca ;)

The good way to learn Polish is to find some friend on fb plus your hard work ;)

not really. poles that speak polish speak polish, but can't teach (generally). you gotta know what questions to ask.

beware of the polish teacher that claims they can teach you polish.

best way is to chant koorva 500 times and one has learnt 1/2 polish:)

But you must know how to roll that R otherwise you are doing it wrong! :-)

Slightly connected question. What are currently the best language schools in Warsaw? I did Polish at Antwerp University initially, but when I came to Poland many years ago, I did some follow-up at IKO. Which are the best outfits these days?

I was told many years ago, during the mid-90's, that Jagiełłoń University in Cracow had one of the best Polish for Foreigners programs around. As I vaguely recall too, it was sponsored by among other organizations, the Kosciuszko Foundation here in New York which offered exchange partnerships. Perhaps they no longer do this, I'm not sure.

I don't know anything about schools in Warsaw, but for me it would be about finding a good teacher rather than a good school.

You could have bad luck and get a bad teacher in a good school which would ruin things for you.

I have listened to some of Kamila's podcasts, in my opinion she seems like a good teacher and it would be worth taking a trial lesson with her on skype.

polishpodcasts.com/2012/09/01/new-podcast-ale-to-byl-weekend-czas-przeszly-past-tense/

I use 'Po Polsku 1'. It is reasonably good, but it's all in Polish; there's not an English word in sight (understandable I suppose). I have to get one of my Polish mates to act as interpreter...

Whats the point of using a textbook to learn Polish, written in Polish, when a beginner wouldn't be able to read it?

Ideally he should use it with a teacher, but the teacher should also speak in Polish and avoid the students native language except in exceptional circumstances.

This book is made for teaching Polish through Polish, there are pictures etc. in the book, there is also a teachers book with advice on how to teach Polish through Polish.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this method.

One of the big advantages is that you have to speak Polish, this is particularly useful if you are learning Polish outside of Poland, if you don't speak Polish in your Polish class you would never speak Polish, the student wouldn't make much progress and forget what was learnt.

Everyone has their own methods and it is up to the student to do what suits them best.

My school textbooks for French were always written solely in French... quite common, I think?

(and - in my job - one of my requirements for textbooks for my MFL department is that they're written solely in the foreign language)

I still can't see how a beginner would know enough Polish to ask the teacher to explain the cases, conjugation,declensions and other grammatical concepts. Surely a book in you own native language would be best to explain this?


I take it you were allowed to ask your teacher in English for explanations?

Of course, though sadly, much of the class was done in English anyway.

In my school, I'm debating the possibilities of banning the use of Polish in foreign language classes. Haven't made up my mind, partially because I use it occasionally too. But we're dealing with kids, so - different!

Right again, Catsoldier, at least in part!

An eternal pity the same method for teaching English globally isn't practiced, NEARLY enough (if at all, in some places!):-)
If the English teacher/instructor isn't a native speaker, that's bad enough. If the students or pupils never learn correct pronunciation or idiomatic usage, as the feeling is,"Oh, it's only English, so that's okay, i.e. good enough!", this is almost criminal. And the parents of those children have to pay for it on top of everything else??

Here is some interesting reading about using the target language to learn a language:

The run before you can walk approach might be OK in a classroom with a Polish teacher, who can give you explanations of how the language works in your own native language, As a self study book, it would probably be a hindrance, if you have to look up every other word in a dictionary. Asking a Polish friend for help may not be the answer either because chances are, if he or she is not a teacher of Polish language they probably won't be able to explain the language's nuances etc. There are exceptions of course.

Looks quite engaging, Catsoldier! I'd figure though that ideally the teacher of the target language as "primary" language should be a target language speaker, e.g. should have the target language as their mother tongue, no?

I agree with you, but anyone learning Polish should get a teacher to help them.


definitely.

That's very true and I will do so myself in time. I also think it would be best do a lot of self study before taking lessons with a teacher. The reasons are, it would give the learner a good head start on how the language works, and they would also know what to expect, when they take their course/lessons in the future.

Catsoldier, glad as usual to see we're on the same homepage:-)

Back briefly to the Sadowska book, I only just received it this morning and so have merely had a chance at this moment to thumb through it. So far as I'm able to detect, she handles the knotty subject of Polish grammar a little more didactically, and less academically than the Zagórska Brooks "Polish Reference Grammar" (197?) - Mouton, the latter just shy of Sadowska's almost seven-hundred pages!! I think Brooks tends to use the grammar as a thesis explanation for other scholars instead of specifically for foreign-born intermediate to advanced learners.

This again is but a surface impression. Furthermore, I'm scarcely knocking either book; they're both equally outstanding, but in different ways:-))

Care to share any other impressions?