Bought "Rosetta Stone" software and trying to learn Polish...

In preparation for a trip to Poland next year I decided I would try my best to learn enough Polish to be able to at least order food in a restaurant.

I bought software published by "Rosetta Stone" that is supposed to include roughly 250 hours of language training. I'm nearly half way through the CD and while I feel I've learned a lot (since I started with nothing) I'm a LONG ways from being able to converse with someone even at the level I can speak Spanish with just 2 years of high school Spanish.

Basically, I'm looking for suggestions on where to go from here. I'll probably finish up the Rosetta Stone CD in November. What can you recommend for a busy guy with 2 kids and very little opportunity to actually attend classroom training?

Thanks.
-gw

well ale jaja mate. im trying also to learn polish. you must be from scotland???with a name like gordon. perhaps england. i wish you luck , as the language is gobbledegook.
rosetta stone>im against getting anything like that from internet. one: its expensive.and two: when you hear someone pronouncing polish from tapes or the internet . and then try it yourself. its really difficult. meaning, you think you have got a word perfect, and you say it to polish person and they dont know what your talking about.

you are better sticking to the basic, dzien dobry and dobranocs and stuff like that,but i guess you can progress. and just not sure of your situation.
do you know anyone polsih from work or soemthing.

thats your best bet. practise your pronunciation with them .
and try a class if possible. dont go to pub. go to class

all the best
oh you can always try and get someone form this site to msn with you like i do

pa pa(mate)

Thanks for your thoughts.

I'm an American.

plg, you said you were also trying to learn Polish. How? Are you taking classes?

Unfortunately, I wasted a golden opportunity. My next door neighbor was from Poland and after 5 years we became friends, but now he has moved away. He and his wife want me and my wife to go with them to Poland next year. I was hoping to learn some Polish without even telling him and surprise him when we get there.

5 years I could've been speaking Polish with him - I'm sure I'd be pretty far along by now.

Krysia, there is no way I'm ready for skype! My understanding of polish is at the level of stuff like (pardon my spelling): Mezczyzna i kobieta glodny

I've got a long ways to go.
-gw

when there is some polsih people in my work

if they ever leave i'll keep my studies up

very interesting and very difficlut language

its my new hobby

and gordon (thats a scottish name im sure)

give krysia a go>>>she wont bite

shes fluent in english/polsih

Man, she doesn't know what she's in for. I'm sure I'm a terrible speaker. In fact, I don't care if I can speak it so much as understand what someone is telling me. That's my primary goal.

Gordon is a family name, I'm the 3rd Gordon in a row, my son is #4. My wife's family is from Scotland (Shand) but I have no clue about my heritage.

Krysia, let me finish this Rosetta Stone and then I'll try to get you on skype. I'll be traveling a lot for work in the next month so I have plenty of time to practice.

BTW, what's the time zone difference between New York/EST and Poland?

-gw

My wife is Polish. I found in the beginning that if I didn't work on pronunciation I could be mistaken to have a Russian dialect and pronounce words differently which can be important since a lot of words given the smallest twist can mean something completely different. Then when it came to sentence structure, I quickly realized that if I didn't want to be saying 'I to-be' I to-go' 'you to-be' you to-go' then I'd better get my head wrapped around some grammar...then it got hard! 7 cases to identify and learn. Polish on the plus side can usually form sentences with fewer words than it would take in English to say the same thing. One thing my wife wouldn't except from me is that pronunciation of 'cz' and 'sz' is not 'ch' and 'sh' in Polish like they are in English.- there's a slight variance. -Good luck!

NY to Warsaw = 6 hrs
Skype = beautiful thing

Well I guess you can call my job interesting....I call it something else though.

I tend to know more about Polish grammar now than I do about English. I think I'd be the last one you'd actually want as an English teacher. I just know how to use the language...I don't really think that much of how it's structured because it comes second nature to me. Polish on the other hand, I always have to consider grammarically. My wife has the same problem in the reverse.

nutts="you hit the nail on the head"

i cannot pronounce sz, cz examples. the number 6 in polsih and 'hi'

impossible

my brain is 'sh' and 'ch'

even then i cannot pronounce them with that either

ale jaja!!!!!!!!!!
i can pronounce that though. so thats one thing . lol

Try to say:
szary - gray
czary - magic

theres thousands of them in polsih dic
you dont have to remind of krysia

x

lol

Gordon, I went through that program at the end I had to get a dictonary because
it doesnt explain fully what there saying. Its a good program though.

I like this one by transparent.com/languagepages/polish/polish.htm

It has practical conversation that you really can use with people and explains
everything in Polish and English. The price was way cheaper too.
Like these guys say its best to have some Polish friends to help you.
powodzenia

Cheers sledz

Just paid a visit to that site and i've just downloaded the Before you know it software thng. Will give it a whirl.

Thats what I did then I purchased the full version " learn polish now #10"
It comes with the complete " before you know it" you can even download it to a mp3
or ipod player. I`ve been doing good with it, worth the 50 dollars for sure.

I was just getting ready to buy Rosseta Stone for Polish. 300 bucks. Are you telling me it's not worth it?? I've used the Spanish version and thought it was the wah-hoo!

It is a good program I bought it last year it was only $180 then?
I learned alot from it. Got confusing towards the end for me though
but it was worth it. I`m working with that other program now seems
alittle more user friendly. Rosetta covers the basics and has a good way of making
you memorize.

Since I'm a native polish speaker I can help yopu with some things I guess.... just don't expect me to understand everything YOU write xD

That is the thing the way i hear things i spell and it is just not possible in polish really issit? x

donno issit sarah ???????????

I dunno like the word kutass? x

you're scottish that one should be easy - it's like loch as in loch loman (i know the last bit is spelt wrong)

Nothing is easy in polish hee hee x

sarah - once I stopped feeling like a retard and was comfortable with my friend it got easier - the sounds are quite different to english sounds and the whole composition of sentences is different but getting there...

Topic attached on merging:
Rosetta Stone

Does anyone out there have an opinion on the Rosetta Stone's Polish software?

I am interested in learning as much Polish as I can between now and next June, which is when I plan to visit Poland for the first time.

I see that Rosetta Stone only offers one level at this time. I have contacted them to see if there are any plans to release more advanced levels....but it does not appear to that they are.

I'm curious to know if level one gives enough information to allow one to at least have general understanding of the language and speak enough to get around. Or I should consider another product?

Rosetta Stone
Its a good program,

Very basic at the beginning, grammer school level

It teaches alot if you have time, but if you need sentences and want to be able to
communicate quickly I would defenitly recommend

transparent.com/languagepages/polish/polish.htm

it includes everything from byki

Thanks Sledz! I looked at that sight and I think it will be perfect.

why is the polish language impossible to learn???

Most Poles speak polish. Many non-Poles speak Polish. Just need practice.

i ave been practising...bye speak to quick!!! is there any good websites about learning polish??

http://www.polishforums.com/polish_language_learning_links-17_8328_0.h tml

read the entire thread...

if its anything like russian than it has crazy hard grammar. I've heard some of the more baltic areas have really tough grammar. idk, i don't know nearly enough polish to contribute anything to this. so i apologize.