Book Description
Living Language In-Flight Polish is the perfect boarding pass to learning Polish before you land.

There's no better way to make use of all that spare time on a plane than to master the essentials of a language.This 60-minute program is the simplest way to learn just enough to get by in every situation essential to both the tourist and business traveler.

The program covers everything from greetings and polite expressions to asking directions, getting around, checking into a hotel, and going to a restaurant.There are even sections for meeting people and spending a night on the town.

Short lessons make In-Flight Polish easy to use, and a handy pocket-sized insert is included as a cheat sheet for use on the go. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointed
The CD contains all the information that is stated on the cover.But the structure of the content is difficult to use.Things are repeated but not directly after they have been said and there are no pauses to allow you to reapeat the words or phrases e.g.

One, two, three, four

One, two, three, four

Rather than

One, pause, one, pause
Two, pause, two, pause

Although it is not ideal I have used the CD and I am now able to mumble a few words of Polish.So the produces of the CD could argue that it did what it was designed to do.

AWEFUL!
I am going to Poland and thought something like this would be easy to review before I left.The CD is absolutely aweful.They simply say a few words each lesson (no breaking them down or anything like that) and then say you are done.I didn't learn anything.Polish is difficult to pronounce, and just saying a few words DOES NOT CUT IT! ... Read more

Book Description
The Hippocrene Beginner's Series offers basic language instruction, presenting grammar, vocabulary, and common phrases in clear, concise lessons. Review questions and exercises accompany each section, while historical and cultural material gives insight into customs and everyday situations. Books in the series are an ideal companion for students, travelers, and businesspeople.

Hippocrene Books' popular introductory guide to Polish now comes with 2 audio CDs! The book teaches the basics of Polish grammar and vocabulary in 11 easy-to-follow lessons. The audio CD feature complements the dialogue and grammar sections of the lesson, aiding the reader in understanding the language as spoken. The lessons are developed around topics with such titles as Going through Customs, Checking into a Hotel, and Extending and Accepting an Invitation. The book also includes an introduction to Polish culture and history, and is rounded out with an extensive bilingual glossary for both vocabulary and expressions. This introduction to the Polish language is designed for both classroom use and self-study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Basic Polish--Pimsleur Language Program
This item was a gift for my 17 year old nephew, who is of Polish extraction. He hopes to visit to Poland next summer. Apparently he is really excited by it and is enjoying the learning process.

Great!
Although very repetitive, these CDs make you memorize difficult polish phrases and words.Polish is definitely a very difficult language to learn, and this CD is very helpful.

Not good
I can't understand if anybody can learn polish by this course. Without any written material, I think it is impossible. Stay Away!

Pimsleur Polish
I tried Rosetta Stone Polish 1 with NO sucess
Pimsleur is the BEST way to learn Polish
I used it for two months before traveling to Poland and did very well speaking and understanding the basics of this difficult language to learn.
Polish natives thought that I was REALLY FROM POLAND and not the USA
Thanks Pimsleur
I recommend you most highly and effective

Great first step to speaking Polish
For what they try to accomplish, these CD's are well-designed. After the series, you should be able to pronounce and speak many basic phrases and combine words you know to form sentences. This will certainly help you in your travels in Poland. However, if you intend to learn the Polish language (or any language), you will need more than these beginner audio tapes. But to start out, it is fun to listen to the conversations and get yourself speaking some Polish. ... Read more

Book Description
A standard text for the teaching of Polish, this revised edition introduces two new features: a grammatical sketch of Polish and an index.Volume Two contains drills for the lessons in Volume One designed specifically for classroom instruction, a survey of Polish grammar, and an index to both volumes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good book, but only if you are VERY DEDICATED and FOCUSED on learning Polish
Not the best book for beginners.But once you get the basics down online or elsewhere, this book can give you an all-out fully comprehensive overview of the general language designed for intermediate level students.You'll need to be very dedicated to the book if you really want to learn.

not the best for beginning self study
I needed to cram some Polish fast and since the reviews here have been raving about this I bought this book for self study. However, I found that I was stuck in the first lesson because it is about pronounciation and it's impossible from the text to figure out the pronounciation from the text alone.

Not wanting to give up, I contacted the Yale Center for Language Study which, according to the book, has a set of tapes you can obtain. After a long and drawn out request that took a month (and maybe would have even taken longer if it hadn't been for a friend in Yale who physically went up to the center to get the tapes and post it for me) I listened to the tapes and found they were actually drills to Volume II (the classroon drill book). Which meant they were useful but not as useful as I had hoped.

I think this book, if you stuck with it, maybe could be a brillant course. I'm going to try it some more. The fact that it has no pictures and is not 'fun' makes it less appealing for me than other self study courses. After surveying a bunch, I think the Pimsleur tapes - expensive as they are - were the best in getting me started.

The best out there!
This is without a doubt the most useful and versatile Polish language instruction book I have found.It's not the colorful, cartoon-filledtextbook you might remember from high-school or college French class;rather, it's organized in a way that makes it wonderful for independentstudy for anybody beginning Polish.

Each chapter begins with a largenumber of mini-dialogues one sentence in length.For example, "Co tojest? To jest pioro."Translations are included with eachexample, of course.The earlier chapters then proceed with sectionsdescribing spelling and phonological rules of the Polish language. Following that is my personal favorite section, grammar!Grammar isexplained in a way that may perhaps be a little unclear in the beginning,but as your familiarity with the language improves, it WILL become clearquickly.

Nearly every topic you could want to learn about is covered byMr. Schenker in this book, including noun and pronoun usage, verbinflection, verbal particles, prepositions, dependent clauses, conditionalphrases, and so on.I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that youcould pick up this book with no knowledge of Polish whatsoever, and with areasonable effort become quite capable of conversing, reading, and writingin Polish.

Whether you're looking for a starting point or have studiedsome and want to improve, this is an invaluable resource.

Wonderful book
i have purchased several other books from amazon in order to learn polish in addition to the few that i have picked up on ebay.most of them have been helpful to an extent but NOTHING has come close to helping as much asthis book.after reading the other person's review, i purchased this andeverything that was mentioned was completely correct.you will learn atremendous amount in a very short amount of time when studying this book. there are exercises that will test your knowledge and will benefit yougreatly.1000 people could purchase this book and have a money back refundand none would send it back.this book is invaluable.don't spend yourmoney on 12 dollar books because you think it's a better value.just dropthe 30 dollars and this is the only book you'll need.

An effective tool for learning a difficult language
For some years I have STARTED to learn the Polish language as a mental exercise.Didn't think it would be too difficult, since I had already taught myself German and Italian and used these languages when visitingGermany and Italy: and had used my high school French and Spanish to goodeffect when visiting France and Mexico.So you can see that I thought ofmyself as a natural linguist without formal training.Wanted to learn aslavic language, but not Russian because of the cyrillic (sp?) alphabet, sosettled on Polish.I started with the Hugo series.Was baffled.Went onto... shall I name them or only count them?FOUR other teach-yourselfmethods.I think the trick was the organisation.I'd almost given up hopewhen I ordered Schenker's Beginning Polish.I opened on Page 1 sometime inOctober 1998, and now, in January 1999 I am starting on Lesson Eight onpage 117 and going to the races.Gentlemen, I raise my proverbial hat to atext which is slowly and inexorably opening the mystery of slavic languageto me.The complexity and beauty of Polish are evident even at this earlystage.The lessons are so subtly organised, so logically presented, that Iam only held up by the need to memorize words that used to leave me baffledand upset, but which in this text gain for me an expanding picture of theinterrelationships of words that have very little reference in thelanguages I already know.Am I making sense?Alexander Schenker in amaster at putting the puzzle together in logical baby steps.The onlypossible problem is that the student had better read EVERY WORD of theexplanations, because every word is vital.And when we study alone likethis, we don't have a professor to answer questions, but the answers arethere if you read carefully.My only regret is that I cannot seem toobtain Volume Two, which is no longer in print. ... Read more

Book Description

Fast, focused lessons for when you need to learn the essentials of Polish today

Customer Reviews (1)

A Very Good Buy - but not one-day!
I must admit I rather pooh-poohed this item when I went into the bookshop to buy a Polish CD course, and I opted for the full 'Teach Yourself Polish', which I then found much too difficult, too fast (check out the reviews for this course). So I went back to the bookshop and bought 'One-Day Polish'.

And I am so glad I did!

Ignore the 'one-day' bit, of course, but within a week together with my iPod, I was most satisfyingly grounded in 'meeting and greeting', 'finding my way around', 'buying things' and 'going to a restaurant' - I had learnt 50+ words and a number of sentences - 'wietnie!' - 'Brilliant!'; maybe not completely grammatical - as 'Magda' on the disk says - "The grammar's not completely right but you're communicating!" At least I felt I was progressing.

I think that this was an excellent, fun little course to get me started. It would be nice, however, if more use could have been made of CD technology, by allowing the listener to 'go back' to certain points straightaway without 're-winding' which is never accurate, thus avoiding all the English bits, which, after you've heard them several times, you don't really need again.

But overall I am very happy with my purchase (I can't say the same about 'Teach Yourself Polish' which I have now gone back to!) - it would be fantastic if Elisabeth Smith could produce similar courses, each one level slightly higher. That would be great. 'wietnie!'

... Read more

Book Description
This Conversational program contains 8 hours of interactive audio-only instruction, effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions.

The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Polish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Polish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding.

The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only these pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or thousands words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts.

When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed.

With Pimsleur you get:

• Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
• Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
• The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
• 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.

Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without textbooks, written exercises, or drills.

Conversational Polish includes the 10 lessons from Pimsleur's Basic Polish plus an additional 6 lessons.

The 16 lessons in Conversational Polish are the same first 16 lessons in the Pimsleur Comprehensive Polish Level 1.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good, with 2 exceptions.
It is one of the better methods I used. My Polish friends did NOT understand a couple of the words on this CD.
I feel the introductory course left out some very basic, vital words.

All in all I was able to communicate much better with my Polish friends after listening to this set just a couple of times. It was easy.

No regrets with this purchase
The method is quite amazing.I'm on disc 11 of 16 and I haven't forgotten even ONE thing I've learned!This is the first language I've taken since high school and to my surprise, it's easy and fun.

The beginning of each disc is a little intimidating because you listen to a short polish conversation with new words that you might think you'll never learn how to pronounce, let alone, remember.But by the end of the disc, confidence is back up.It may take two reviews of each lesson to move on to the next, but that is certainly no discouragement.It also does a good job in explaining WHY you say certain things, for instance, why you use a long e sound instead of a short a sound for the word "and," and it provides enough examples for it to make sense.

The conversation is limited to very basic conversation, but this is exactly the intention of this cd.It's a great launch pad to the next level...

The ONLY negative comment I have about this cd is that the majority of the conversation is focused towards a male listener, which I am not.BUT again, this is not that big of a deal, because it does a great job of demonstrating how a polish woman would speak as well. I guess I was just a little offended that Pimsleur would make the assumption/choice to focus towards a male.

Also, one last comment, which I'm sure is pretty obvious considering the media... you may be able to speak what you've learned confidently, but don't expect to be anywhere near ready to read polish. I'd recommend you save that for another time...

Like I said... absolutely NO regrets with the purchase. I have already recommended it to several friends.The method is very effective!

Enjoy and (phonetically) doe-vied-zen-ya (goodbye)!

Great for Auditory Learners!
Travelers wanting to learn basic Polish for traveling will like this program.It presents words and phrases, then continues to incorporate them throughout the remainder of the program.It presents words uniquely (from my experience), as it presents the pronounciation from the end of the word forward.It's a great program for auditory learners.

The only drawback is the lack of visual materials to follow along with or refer to.

Oh so easy!
This has to be the easiest way I've ever come across for learning another language. There's no book, it's purely audio based (8 CD edition) with each lesson being about 30 minutes. As Polish contains many sounds that we simply do not use in English, I had to listen to most lessons twice before being able to remember and pronounce all the words correctly. New words are introduced syllable by syllable and every phrase you learn is repeated numerous times in conversations in later lessons. My only minor quibble would be that as this is an American series, there's no provision for those of us in the UK in the sections that focus on how to say your nationality and monetary units. Hardly a major issue!

By the end of this 16 lesson course you can expect to be able to give common greetings, ask for and understand basic directions, arrange a meeting, count to 49, buy drinks in shops and a fair bit more.

My Polish wife found some of the pronunciation grated a little but that it was more than passable and probably easier for a non-polish speaker to learn from than a native Polish speaker would be.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not a bad value, but a bit tedious
This set is a decent value. For your money, you get a fairly broad range of phrases and vocabulary. However, the organization of information assumes that you can keep interest listening to a bunch of discrete phrases repeated one after the other with no conversations or anything remotely natural. If you can, in fact, maintain interest while listening to these tapes repeatedly, then you'll do well with this set. If, on the other hand, you need something more dynamic, you might do well to look elsewhere.

good phrasebook, lousy way to learn Polish
This is simply a phrasebook and tape.It offers nothing for learning the actual Polish language, grammar, or conversations.I was very dissappointed, but it is a bit helpful for pronunciation. ... Read more

Book Description

A fun and practical way to develop and improve conversation skills in a new language

Book Description
The new Pocket Oxford-PWN Polish Dictionary is a much-requested addition to Oxford's range of European language dictionaries. The same scholarship and authority of the acclaimed unabridged Oxford-PWN Polish-English English-Polish Dictionary have now been applied to create this paperback format dictionary.The dictionary is very easy to use, with clear signposts to help you choose the right word for the context. For example, if you wish to translate the word 'firm', this dictionary will help you differentiate between a firm handshake, a firm mattress and a firm date. It has all the everyday vocabulary you need, and is a great resource for everyone from the lover of Polish culture to the language student. It is also in a conveniently sized paperback making it portable and accessible.The whole of the dictionary has been checked throughout by Polish and English native speakers, to ensure that the information given is more accurate and up to date than in any comparable dictionary.Awarded the European Medal for Products in Poland. ... Read more

Product Description
This highly innovative and original book, aims at teaching vocabulary and basic grammar rules necessary for everyday communication. The authors introduce new words by means of illustrations explaining their meaning and the grammar necessary for their correct use. The book contains a set of practical exercises for better understanding, recycling and expanding of newly learned vocabulary. They are designed in a way that activates all language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Hence, the book can serve not only as a supplementary material at the threshold level, but also as a coursebook for beginner learners of Polish as a foreign language.Each lesson contains:- a list of new vocabulary- a short text serving as a basis for discussion- grammatical and lexical exercises ... Read more

Book Description

Weekend in Warsaw? Teach yourself Polish!

With Teach Yourself it's possible for virtually anyone to learn and experience the languages of the world, from Afrikaans to Zulu; Ancient Greek to Modern Persian; Beginner's Latin to Biblical Hebrew.Follow any of the Teach Yourself Language Courses Audiopackages at your own pace or use them as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are professionally designed for self-guided study, making them one of the most enjoyable and easy to use language courses you can find. Audiopackages include an instructional paperback book and two companion 60-minute audio CDs.

Customer Reviews (15)

It's OK but...
I think this course has some good features - it teaches you some useful phrases, without too much attention to the grammatical reasons behind them, eg., so if you wanted to just get out and have a go, you'd have something to work with. But my complaint is the same - if you want to start to understand, learn and apply rules, the grammar is spread all over the place, and only part of it - the 'easier' bits - seems to be included in the book at all. It does a bit of the accusative, eg., but not the more complicated aspects, and nowhere does it bring all the rules applying to any case together in one place, so you're left guessing a bit what the rules might be (eg. instrumental). If you wanted a phrase book, you'd buy a phrase book. You can learn some vocab, of course, but it's hard to apply it more broadly without the knowledge of the grammar to do so. The CDs are useful as far as they go, but they're not great. It's OK, but I'd expect more for the price.

Teach Yourself Polish Complete Course
THEY NEVER ARRIVED....I HAVE TRIED TO TRACK THEM DOWN THROUGH THE USPS.
please help.... i need these tapes !!!!! PLEASE HELP.

Terrible AND a RipOff
I bought this yesterday the local bookstore.The packaging on the outside reads "Includes Two 60-minute CDs".CD #1 contains 48 minutes of audio and CD #2 contains another 22 minutes.That comes out to 1 hour and 10 minutes...NOT the 2-hours proclaimed on the packaging!Very misleading.

On top of that, this book/CD set jumps into the language as if you know some of it already.Little discussion/explaination of the nuances of the Polish language.It jumps into dialogue immediately with very fast speakers (instead of slowly exploring the pronunciation in depth) and I missed several consonant sounds.The alphabet was glossed over so quickly that I had to hit "rewind" on the CD player every 10 seconds.Bad investment.I'm taking it back and hope I can exchange it for a better program!

NOT FOR BEGINNERS!!
As a language instructor of English and French(MA in TESOL) I found this book to be problematic. There are not enough listening and vocabulary activities on the c.d. As a total novice in Polish I need a lot more chances to hear the pronunciation. Each chapter gives you a very brief dialogue and doesn't even review the pronunciations of the lists of new phrases and words from the book. Then, in the chapter review they include new words and phrases not yet introduced!! Hello? How can you review something not yet introduced? My fiancee is Polish and I will be going to live and work there next year. If anyone can recommend a decent polish workbook with grammar for beginners I would really love to hear about it!

Great way of learnign polish
Polish is most definately not the easiest language to learn, but this book is a great aid in learning the basics, and beyond.
It starts with helping you throung the pronunciation of polish letters like cz, dz, cd, sz, rz, etc.Sometimes this might bring you close to despair, but once you get the hang of it, the rest of the book only becomes that much easier.

I couldn't wish for a better book, that makes it possible for me to learn polish at my own pace. ... Read more

Book Description
Containing concise explanations of grammar with related exercises Basic Polish builds confidence in using the modern language. Assuming no previous knowledge of Polish, its step-by-step approach guarantees the reader a thorough grounding in the basics of its grammar. Each of the forty units introduces a particular grammar point and provides a variety of exercises to enable the student to practice what they have learnt. Features include notes on the Polish alphabet, pronunciation and stress, full answer key to all exercises and a Polish-English glossary. Look no farther than this text for an understanding of modern Polish grammar. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Exactly what I wanted but not for everyone ...
I agree very much with the previous poster's complaints about vocabulary and clearity.You have to memorize a good 300 words to get through all of the books exercises comfortably even though vocabulary is not its goal.Also, the choice of vocabulary tends to side with the obscure.The author is attempting to explain *all* the rules including the regular but not very high frequency exceptions.She includes a handful of examples for each pattern, easily out numbering the common case.This also takes a lot away from clearity, making the language seem much more complicated than it actually is.A better introduction would have focused on drilling all the high frequency rules and simply introducing the exceptions.

All of that said, this book was exactly what I wanted.I have been studying Russian for a number of years with only a little experience with Polish, and this book was better for me than any beginner's language textbook.I just wanted to quickly memorize the rules, and start experimenting with the language.As a person who is familiar with highly inflected languages (and Russian in particular which has very similar grammar), I really actually wanted all of the rules and not just the common case.

Its a great book, but if you are starting from nothing, it cannot be your only text.This is a much better book for the slightly more advanced Polish learner.

poorly designed and not for beginners
Although this book claims to "assume no previous knowledge of Polish," this is quite incorrect.The book begins logically with noun genders and adjectives, but it assumes you already have learned a decent level of Polish vocab, or else you'll be searching (as I was) for nearly every word in the dictionary, instead of concentrating on the grammar rule at hand.To illustrate my point,exercise 3 of unit 2 asks for the following phrases to be translated into Polish: "1. big hats, 2. Polish palaces, 3. colourful umbrellas, 4. comfortable hotels, 5. pretty countries, etc."Up to this point however, very few of these words are translated into Polish, and those few that were, only in passing.This might be permissable in a vocab-builder (provided it asks for translations of words it's already defined for you earlier), but in what is supposed to be a grammar book, it distracts and detracts greatly from my learning the grammar lesson, as I waste so much time finding the words.Had the book provided the translations (or even just the gender!), but un-declinated, etc., next to each entry, it would've helped greatly--the student would see the Polish words next to their English equivalents, while allowing him to stay focused on the grammar lesson at hand.

This book would be much better if it allowed the student to focus more on the grammar.Right from the beginning, it foists large numbers of Polish words on the student without defining them, which detracts from the learning of the grammar rules.A good grammar workbook should actually have very little vocabulary (or should provide a translation and gender for every new word right on the same page the first time it's mentioned), allowing the student to focus on the grammar rules and not definitions.

I would also like to correct the earlier reviewer.After looking at the entry on the page, I believe it's not really an error per se, just a poorly written sentence.In discussing the adjective endings modifying plural "men" nouns, the author writes that the default adjective ending in this case is "i" (trudny -> trudni), but becomes "'y' after k and g."This implies that you would see "gy" or "ky" at the end of these adjectives, right? But he says earlier that "y" never comes after a "k" or "g" in Polish.Is it a misprint?Well, what I think he means is that when you have an adjective whose last consonant is a "k" or "g," you change its final syllable, which ends in a "y."ie. drogi -> drogie -> drodzy. Here we have an adjective whose last consonant is a "g" and when modifying a plural "men" noun, it ends in "y," so what the author means to say is correct, but he states it very poorly--to the point of appearing contradictory to something he wrote just five pages earlier.

All in all, I don't believe this book is worth the expense.This is my first Polish grammar workbook (although I did see many grammar workbooks when I learned German, so I know what's effective, regardless of language), and I haven't seen what else is on the market, but the faults it has (pointless distractions from the grammar lesson at hand; poorly written or confusing explanations) mar its effectiveness greatly.I did learn the grammar lesson for each unit, but not without undo frustration caused by poor writing and superfluous vocabulary.However, with what appears to be a dearth of anything comparable on the market, you might just have to get this book and suffer through its frustrations in order to learn the grammar.

The author would've done well to have sat back, decided exactly what grammar point he wanted to get across to the student in each unit, and given exercises that kept driving at that point (or built upon the points from the earlier units), without forcing the student to learn huge amounts of new vocab at the same time.

A vital resource
This book is the first I have encountered to delineate Polish grammar in any systematic fashion. It covers all parts of speech and their various nuances in exhaustive depth. However, do not expect to learn the language solely from this book. It is intended to grammatical supplement to a more comprehensive course, such as Berlitz or Pimsleur.

The only complaint I have against this work is its errors. They aren't plentiful enough for me to recommend a substitute (nor is there one!), but be on the lookout for inconsistencies. One example may be found at the top of page 21, where we are told that the default plural ending is -i, or -y following the letters g and k. In fact, it is the opposite, with -i proceeding those two exceptions. There are a handful of others, so read with skepticism. ... Read more

Book Description
Polish: An Essential Grammar is the sole up-to-date Polish grammar available to English-speakers. A reference guide to the most important aspects of the language, it presents a fresh and accessible description, focusing on genuine patterns of use in the modern language. The ideal reference work for the independent learner the business traveler or the researcher, this grammar is written without jargon and with a special focus on areas traditionally problematic for English-speakers. The preliminary section on the Polish alphabet, the range of contemporary usage and grammatical examples, and the comprehensive index contribute to the accessibility of the book. Sections also focus on aspects frequently left out of less-detailed works (such as the diminutive noun, vowel and consonant changes, irregular verb declension and declension of words into different parts of speech) making this book an essential companion to the student of Polish even as study continues to advance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Nie ma drzew w tym lesie.
I bought this book after having looked far and wide to discover that there is not a single good Polish grammar book in the English language. This one is at least comprehensive and well organised.

On the other hand, it has instances of language so obsolete that no Poles use it at all and many Poles do not even know about it (e.g. 'miê'). It's clear the author has relied too much on written sources and lacks an intimate knowledge of the language, which is a pity, considering the reputation of the university she works for.

Worst of all is the contextualisation of the grammar. 'There are no trees in this forest'. So where's the forest then? It was proven decades ago in the English language teaching industry that poorly contextualised examples hinder the acquisition of language. When will Polish book writers learn this?

So why not only one star? Because it's the best on the market. If you hope to learn Polish grammar with the help of a book, I strongly reccommend this one and only this one. It helped me immensely.

Matko boska!
What a great resource. Bielec's book provides the most succinct and clear grammar of Polish I've ever read. As an upper-intermediate/lower-advanced speaker, I've found this book invaluable in helping explain the ever overwelming nightmare of Polish declination.

The organization is in legal style, which means each chapter is a point, and within that is a sub-point, and a sub-sub-point, etc. (6.5.6.6.2) I like that; others might not.

Summarizing, this book would be useful for beginners, yet is an absolute must for intermediate and above.

Great for Beginners and Intermediate
I love this book, it has helped me to learn the language.He breaks it down into small enough chunks so anyone can learn. I also recomend his smaller book, "Basic Polish A grammar and workbook."I have used them together to learn the language.

An excellent grammar review
This book is especially helpful for those who have completed at least their first year of learning Polish.It is a good review of most of the basic grammatical structures a learner needs for comprehending thisdifficult language.The book's only short-coming is its sometimesconfusing organization.A frequent user, as I am, may have to resort totabbing some of the pages. ... Read more

Book Description
The most commonly used Polish verbs are listed alphabetically, one verb per page, and fully conjugated in a table format. Other helpful features for both language students and travelers include English-Polish and Polish-English verb indexes listing nearly 2300 verbs, and common Polish idioms using verbs. The book also features puzzles, Polish proverbs, self-tests, and other aids designed to improve students' familiarity with and usage of Polish verbs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

It's like a verb-stuffed pierogi...
Another reviewer describes this book as, "thorough". That is an understatement!

If you want to know the intricate details of Polish verbs and the conjugations of the most common, look no further. In fact, it is so thorough at times, it can be intimidating, especially if you are learning the language outside a classroom setting.

For example, the frequentive aspect is treated for appropriate verbs despite the admissionthat, "The frequentive aspect is hardly ever used now." Jumping from Germanic to Slavic languages was tough enough for me, without having to ignore seldom used aspects of the language which appear alongside the parts I want/need to focus on.

Great
Is a great reference for anyone who wishes to speak Polish. Provides detailed conjugations and tenses. Overall awesome.

Useful resource, excellent improvement over previous edition
I bought 301 Polish Verbs to supplement an intensive beginning Polish course, and I am very pleased with this book.The verb charts are quite helpful, and I transferred many of them to flashcards to help me study.
The crucial difference between 301 Polish Verbs and its predecessor, 201 Polish Verbs, is that (in addition to the extra 100 verbs) 301 Polish Verbs includes a long introduction that includes solid yet brief explanations of the grammar not only of verbs but also of the different cases that the verbs take.
The verbs are grouped into verb groups that are all listed under the same single heading verb.The perfective and imperfective form of the verb, as well as other related verbs with the same verb "root", are all listed on a single page.This grouping is helpful for learning that all these verbs are related and their tenses work the same way.However, the groupings can make it difficult to look up a particular Polish verb, as the verbs are listed alphabetically by the heading verb, and one must check multiple indexes to find out which heading verb it is listed under.
The example sentences at the bottom of each page are very helpful to illustrate the usage of the different verbs in context and to "see" how the verbs take different objects in different cases.However, I would have liked there to be more example sentences--some verbs (though not "heading" verbs) do not even have a single example sentence.

Great for Poles, Too!
My Polish teacher had me order several of these books for her other students after she saw my verb book. Apparently, a book of similar quality and scope does not even exist in Poland, or at least she didn't know of one that was so clear and easy to use.I'm still a beginner, so I'm only using present tense. But the index is great, as it has both English and Polish verbs indexed. Perhaps the book could be a bit smaller, and for some verbs (such as wiesic, i think (wiem, wiesz, wie, etc.) these are not clearly conjugated in the main section. Still, this book is a necessary supplement to my Polish textbook and lessons.

I guess the only thing that might improve this is a CD-ROM!

GREAT BOOK!
THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK FOR HELP ON CONJUGATION OF POLISH VERBS.EVRYTHING YOU COULD WANT TO KNOW IS IN THIS BOOK.THE SEMI-LARGE PRINT IS ALSO A VERY NICE FEATURE.IT IS EASY TO READ AND THERE IS NO CONFUSION BETWEEN LETTERS THAT CAN LOOK ALIKE.301 POLISH VERBS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ... Read more

Book Description
Vocabulearn - The One and Only Audio Foreign Language Vocabulary Builder Language learners know that after acquiring basic words, phrases, and grammar, expanding foreign language vocabulary is essential to developing the power to really communicate in the new language. Vocabulearn is unique in its ability to build a broad vocabulary.Words are organized into the categories nouns, adjectives and adverbs, expressions and verbs: Level 1 contains the 2500 most frequently used words and phrases. Levels 2 and 3 move on to increasingly more complex words and phrases. ... Read more

Book Description
Lounge with locals on the beaches of the Baltic Sea or sing along to Polish folksongs with the Grale (mountaineers) of the Tatry Mountains.The Berlitz Polish Phrase Book contains essential expressions, everyday conversations, and up-to-date words and phrases to help you communicate with confidence and travel with ease.The Berlitz phrase book is the unparalleled market leader in its category.Language Notes Text: English, Polish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Polish Phrases book
The book is nicely organized! I speak polish and I bought the book as a gift; I was nicely surprised to see that for those who do not speak the language, this book is well written.Most of the words have great pronunciation, which is important since this could be difficult part of learning the language for someone who is not accustom to hearing it. I certainly recommend it for those who want to use this aid book to communicate in Poland!

good if you're ging to Poland
I thought this would be more useful phrases for everyday Polish, not for travel to Poland.It's a very good travel book.Sections broken down well so you can easily find the right phrases, but this is more for travel.

Berlitz Polish Phrase Book
What a find!!Anyone travelling to Poland will find this
phrase book really handy!Wish I had it with me the last
five times that I visited Poland.It covers everything
that you will need to know about food, restaurant odering,
sightseeing, travel, doctors, etc. etc.You'll never leave
home without it again!!!!

Polish phrase book & Dictionary
This publication was very helpful.I will use it in the future.

A Good Phrase Book
This is definitely a good phrase book, the pronunciation guide words are a big help. Depending on how far you plan on going with your polish studies, makes a big deal when it comes to purchasing this product. If you are looking to pick up on a few important phrases or common words, this book will serve its purpose. If you looking to learn a bit more than basic communication. I still recommend this book in addition to some other Polish self-learning courses, preferable an audio or CD-ROM tutorial. Like Eurotalk or Rosetta Language Online. This book will help you commit to memory some of the things these programs teach you, while your at the office or out and about, and need a convenient reference to check your memory against. Overall this is a good product. ... Read more

Book Description
With hundreds of travel-related expressions including greetings, questions, numbers and more, the Berlitz Phrase Book & CD offers business and leisure travelers key words and phrases needed for a trip abroad. In print and audio, up-to-date, relevant content make Berlitz Phrasebook and CD an essential tool for today's travelers. Each foreign language phrase is repeated - slowly at first and then at normal speed - so learners can build confidence.

Features
* Listen-and-repeat approach helps travelers acquire and retain new vocabulary.
* Audio narrated by native speakers.
* All the phrases on the audio CD appear in the accompanying phrase book to allow the user to associate the spoken and written word. ... Read more

Book Description

The official language of Poland, Polish is also the main language of communities in the United States, Canada, Ukraine and Brazil. This new edition of this best-selling course has been completely up-dated to make learning the language easier and more enjoyable than before. Written by an experienced teacher and author, Colloquial Polish offers a step-by-step approach to today's spoken and written language.
Features include:
* Lively dialogues
* Lots of exercises with full answer key
* Jargon-free grammar notes
* Extensive Polish-English and English-Polish word lists
Two 60-minute cassettes are available to complement this book. Recorded by native speakers, they will help perfect pronunciation and comprehension skills.

Customer Reviews (4)

well-written but poorly planned
This is a lucid and well-written language book, that delves quickly into realistic and colloquial conversation. Descriptions of grammar rules and usages are thorough, and descriptions of the typical "patterns" of noun & verb endings may spare the learner from too much rote memorization.

The problem with this book, and it's a substantial problem, is that it is not at all suitable for beginners- at least not by itself. New grammatical structures are unnecessarily introduced in the context of new vocabulary. Instead of learning in baby steps, you are expected to learn several new things simultaneously. Many new words are never again seen in subsequent chapters, and this book puts far too much emphasis upfront on the exceptions rather than the rules. I'm amused at how often the book plays "gotcha" with the brief exercises by highlighting exceptions as often as rules; sometimes these exceptions aren't even introduced in the text.

If you are a very disciplined student and have other resources available, it's possible to get through this. In my case, I skimmed through each chapter, and memorized all the new words before even attempting the exercises. But, as the exercises are terse and focus too much on exceptions, it's possible to master a chapter and still not be able to readily construct even the most basic sentences in Polish. You need other resources- either a workbook, a teacher, or some practice via reading Polish children's books.

The accompanying audio cassettes are practical, in terms of learning to listen to full-speed Polish, but I'd argue that for most learners (myself included), it's far more effective in the long run to start slow and steadily build up to speed.

If you already know Polish and are looking for a compact but nuanced, tedium-free review, this book is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, it completely misses the mark as a "complete course for beginners."

Well, for a good part, this is worth your money.
Colloquial Polish is a satisfactorily written book that comes with a pair of cd's and cassettes. But all you need to are the cd's. Too bad you end up paying for the cassettes too.

Anyways, I'm on lesson 17 now and I feel that I've made some sort of accomplishment and beofore long I will have finished the whole book. This isn't particularly a major problem, but my learning hasn't been fully smooth and trouble-free for reasons that are because of the book and the language itself. I'll tell you about my problems with the language and the book.

The book isn't too bad. But the reason I say it is only satisfactorily written is because there is a considerably serious problem with it. Just one. In Polish, it is necessary to learn both the imperfective and perfective verbs. (However, a minority of verbs exist in only an imperfective form.) For example, 'do' is robiæ(imperfective) and zrobiæ(perfective).

With the imperfective, you can say the following:
I do(present tense)
I was doing(imperfective past tense)
I will be doing(imperfective future tense)

And with the perfective form you can say the following:
I will do(future perfective tense)
I did(perfective past tense)

The author thinks that perfective verbs aren't too important and (finally) introduces them in lesson 13. And the reason why I was somewhat pissed was because imperfective and perfective verbs, with the execptions of common yet relatively few in number of irregular verbs (I hope) share the same conjugation rules after all! By lesson 13, you will have learned several imperfective verbs, but guess what? You encounter very few perfective ones. And what's more, there are some verbs that are completely different from each other like: mówiæ(imperfective) and powiedzieæ(perfective) which mean speak. These two do not look or sound similar to me and there are more that are like that. If you want this book, I'd advise you to look up in the glossary or a Polish-English dictionary for the perfective counterpart of any imperfective verbs you learn until lesson 13. Don't worry too much about the conjugations. They show you the conjugations of irregular verbs at the back of the book or you can go tohttp://www.logosconjugator.org/newverb/verba_dba.verba_main.create_lang_page?lang=PL&total_verb=1156

And also, they did not bother to record everything and the total length of recorded material comes to about 1 hour and forty something minutes. I'm not complaining about that because it only turns out to be something less than 2 hours but because not everything is recorded. These are: one reading lesson, and three brief letters which they should've recorded anyway. Why oh why? And unfortunately, there is a 'Recipe for Potato Pancakes'. Why did they even put that in? They offer no vocabulary assistance and give only a translation. When I speak a language, I want to know and understand exactly what I'm saying. It's like listening carefully to a song in another language but not understanding it but they teach you to say it and tell you whats it means only.

In Polish, you'll have to know that adjectives and nouns always have to come in a case. There are seven in all. Although they will take a little time to learn, they will not prevent you from learning the language.(There are five genders in existance for this language, but thankfully, they it seem like there are only the usual three:masculine, feminine, and neuter.) But you will learn the five genders.

And what I find worst are the sounds. There is nothing that could annoy you more than not being able to pronounce the language correctly. In Polish, several consonants have a 'soft' pronunciation and a 'hard' one. Soft and hard ones are considered different but as a native speaker of English in the US, I cannot understand or hear the difference in the 'b' sound between 'bank'(this loanword in Polish uses the hard sound) while the 'b' in 'bilet'is soft. I got a dictionary for the heck of it, and it even uses different symbols in the phonetics to show pronunciation between hard and soft. The book explains it briefly followed by examples, but I still just don't get it. Also, I don't understand the difference in sound between the letters '' and '¯' as they sound the same to me. I wonder what I will do...to correct my pronunciation...sigh.

Anyways, you'll make it through with this book, but I think the sounds is what's really bad. it's not that they don't show you, its just that I can't understand these differences.

Good for those who know some polish
I grew up in a Polish speaking family and have taken lessons. I think without that this book would quickly leave me behind. There is some tendency to make things a little more difficult than they could be by adding extra words in greetings. I bought this book for review and to help me retain what I learned, and I think it serves this purpose. Really a good buy with book, tapes plus CD.

A practical guide for new adult learners of Polish
B.W. Mazurs colloqial POLISH provides good practical examples for adults trying to learn Polish for the first time. I have tried several other books which have also been quite good however some are a little short on detailedexamples. This book seems to me to suceed better than some because multipleexamples are often used. I found the practice section examples at the endof each lesson to be well chosen. ... Read more

Book Description
Now learning a foreign language can be enjoyable as well as challenging, and not require a trip back to the classroom. Available in both book-only or book-and-cassette format, these Three-Month Language Courses are outstanding self-study programs designed for the individual seeking to acquire a good working knowledge of a language in a short amount of time. Devoting just over an hour daily to the course, the program provides grammar lessons, contextual conversion drills, relevant word lists, and graded exercises, giving you an immediate and practical grasp of the language. In addition, pronunciation is made easy with Hugo's unique "imitated pronunciation" system, which represents foreign sounds with English syllables. Whether you are a businessman tackling an international account, a student preparing for an adventurous holiday, or simply a lover of new languages, the Three-Month Language Course makes learning easy, satisfying, and more fun than ever before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Scatterbrained
I've been searching a long time for a book that could effectively teach both pronunciation and grammar, and this still isn't it.

On the one hand, the tapes are very effective for getting the sound of the words 'in your ear,' and you find that you can soon say 'krzyczysz' without stuttering. : )The book is also helpful for verbs, although it does run through them very quickly.

On the other hand, the British way (I assume) of handling the declining of nouns (and pronouns and adjectives, etc. for that matter) is very disorienting in the way it teaches a seventh of single noun at a time.It would be a lot easier if they would explain all seven cases right at the beginning instead of 'all right, this month you'll learn 'I...' , next month you'll learn '...like...', and the month after that: '...chicken.' What's the use of learning 'he' when you don't learn 'him'?This makes learning a single word excruciatingly frustrating, impeding memorization, while easily making errors.

On the whole, though, I'd say it is worthwhile as a starting point for getting a sense of the layout of the language.

Limited Usefulness - not an audio course despite the tapes
I was very disappointed in this course. I bought the course because it had both a book and an audio component. AUDIO: The tapes start off with an excellent section on pronunciation, but soon they're just saying unrelated sentences without any translation. The tapes are completely unsuited for use without the book. There are several long conversations that are useful for practice in listening, but they are not really intended to help you speak better. The narrator's British accent and idioms are very distracting for an American, not to mention that she starts each lesson with a condescending lecture. That approach will not go down well with Americans, either. The BOOK: The book is fairly good for initially learning the grammar, although it gets terribly bogged down very early on with learning the numbers. Each chapter has written exercises which were helpful. The book is not good as a reference due to the weak index and the fact that topics such as prepositions are sprinkled throughout the book.

Good Book (from the cover)
it seems a very good book if you want to learn polhish quickly... Niceilustrations... ... Read more

Book Description
Comprehensive Polish includes 30 lessons of essential grammar and vocabulary -- 16 hours of real-life spoken practice sessions -- plus an introduction to reading.

Upon completion of this Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will be able to:

* initiate and maintain face-to-face conversations,

* deal with every day situations -- ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family,

*communicate basic information on informal topics and participate in casual conversations,

* avoid basic cultural errors and handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements,

*satisfy personal needs and limited social demands,

* establish rapport with strangers in foreign countries,

* begin reading and sounding out items with native-like pronunciation.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Pimsleur Conversational polish
Excellent and easy to learn and understand
I used my lessons so much when I traveled to Poland and the Polish natives thought that I was from Poland and not the USA
Thanks Pimsleur
I highly recommend this to all wishing to learn this most difficult language.

There is no better language program out there
I have tried many different language programs over the years and Pimsleur is hands-down the very best. I bought Pimsleur's Italian 2 years ago to prep for a trip to Italy and, within a month, I learned enough to get around with ease and was able to carry on a decent conversation with the locals. The Polish language is a little more difficult to master, but YOU CAN'T NOT LEARN it with Pimsleur. Seriously folks, don't even bother looking at other programs.

4 Conversational Polish
Clearly the place to start for conversational Polish.Each 25-30 minute lesson fits nicely into the daily commute.If you are serious about learning Polish, bite the bullet and purchase Comprehensive.If not sure, start with the Conversational for a test drive.Pimsleur is excellent for developing the sounding and flow of the language, and my new-found Polish colleagues were impressed.Repetition incorporates the language into your usable memory.The program does not come with a reference book and you will occasionally find it difficult to decide what letter you're trying to sound out in the words.Purchase a good dictionary and you'll be OK.At the end of Comprehensive you'll be able to perform simple tasks, but your vocabulary will be extremely limited.The audio courses available from other manufacturers do not fit into the American educational style.They can be used following Comprehensive to increase vocabulary.An excellent supplement for written (and audio Polish) is the First Year Polish course, available online at the Univ Pittsburgh.

A Must-Have for Learning Polish
This audio CD is AWESOME! I purchased it before my first trip to Poland. I had absolutely no background in Polish. 'Couldn't find any classes to take. I purchased this series at the suggestion of a friend. Wow! I couldn't believe how easy it made the language.

The phrases are those that would be used in casual conversation... which is exactly what I needed. The people I met were convinced that I really knew the language! When they started rattling off things I didn't understand, I was able to express my limitations w/ the language.

I enjoyed Pimsleur for Spanish but Pimsleur for Polish is excellent!

Do Not buy this product
I have not compared this product to its comptetors, so I cannot judge how good it is realative to them.

However, in itself, it is not a useful introduction to Polish. Both I and another visitor to Poland had used it before our trips and found it inappropriate.
Pimsleur spends a great deal of time on very complex sentences ("Where, madam, would you like to get something to eat?" - which in Polish is a much longer and very tonue-twisting sentence), but does NOT teach such fundamental basics as:

- My name is ...
- How much is?
- US consolate.
- How far is?
- How do I .... ?
- Nice to meet you.
- I'm from...
- Where are you from?
- What do you do for a living?
- Do you like .....?
- Is ... safe/good/reliable/trustworthy/usual cost, etc?
- This is my wife (daughter, son, etc)
- I am going to ....(Warsaw, etc)
- What do I need to declare?
- I am a (doctor, teacher, etc)
- Taxi, train station, bus station, subway,
- North, south, east, west


In fact, our joke was that the program might better be named the PIMPsler program, because so many of the lessons were given to such dialogues as:

"Madam, would you like to get a drink?..... At my hotel?"
"No."
"Then would you like to get a drink at a restaurant?"
"No."
"Then, Madam, may I buy you something?"

If you were a travelling letch interested in dealing with an escort service, these might be appropriate. For a family trying to find their way around, the content was unhelpful and counterproductive. ... Read more