Learnign Polish...any tips!?

I've been learning Polish for about 3 weeks now but have came to a bit of a logger head. I know most of the basic phrases, numbers, months etc and have brought a couple of softwares to progress but none of them seem much good and feel I am wasting my time and money with them.
Does anybody have the names of any softwares/books, techniques or general advice for me!
Much appreciated! :)

I've been trying for about 3/4 months and i'm just starting to get the hang of it, but i suppose i have no software etc. All I have is translatica.pl, a Polsko-angielski dictionary and a small phrasebook. I learn by making online friends on sites such as bebo and talk to them and try get them to teach me :p Otherwise, it's going to be really hard learning a language without people there to correct you and show you about the language etc. (: x

I also use an online polsko-angielski dictionary and have a small phrase book coincidently lol which i find really helps, i'll try that one too. I've just recently signed up to a website called interpals and hope to make Polsish friends on there on top of a couple i already have that i used to work with, so i'm glad to hear that that helps! Grammatically, i sometimes find i need something in writing though so say whats what if you know what i mean. But your right, it would be hard without people there to correct you i guess ! :)

Learning completely on your own doesn't seem to be a good idea. I think that you should try to find some course of Polish and learn there at least basic stuff.

I totally agree but I've been trying to find one and it's proving difficult. With German (which i'm learning) i went to classes 4 the basics and God knows how i would of managed it without those classes!

learning on your own is very very difficult i am doing it but have odd help on written and that side ... just the speaking side i am shite on completely

How long have you being learning for and wat did you find the best method to learn?
You can say that again!
I spoke the odd phrase in Polish when i visited Poland and some people struggled to even understand me! It makes you realise that you really do need a native Polish speaker to correct you!

Download "before you know it"
its a free basic learning package of Polish, plus other languages, its really good for the basics of Polish.
If you have any Polish friends then try to intergrate with them as often as you can and only speak Polish, i have learnt my Polish not from books, but from being around Polish friends & actually visiting Poland a few times every year for the past 10 years!
Good luck :)

I have got "before you know it" and find it really helpful :) i have learnt everything on the one i have but can't find the next level up with the programme, does it exist??
I try my best to integrate with them, but unfortunatley for me, a couple of them have just moved back to Poland, mind you, even more of an excuse to visit there i guess! :)
10 years, wow! You must be like it a lot, good for you! :)

I think the best way to learn is on the bed next to a polish beauty.

Can't say i've tried it, but if you advise it :p

I strongly advise it.A delight for the eye.And very hygienic.

No, thats just to distracting, soon ends up as underneath a Polish beauty and the conversation soon ends ;-)

[quote=djf] No, thats just to distracting, soon ends up as underneath a Polish beauty and the conversation soon ends ;-)
I sense that the topic is changing slightly! Going against ruuules hehe
Polsih women are very beautiful i must agree

Exactly.The written secret of polish language lies underneath a polish beauty.But first we have to learn the oral communication.

since november 2006 .. did one year at college doing the listening and reading side of the language .. missed enrolment for the spekaing and writing side in september (damn)

i use determination and perservance really ... have several books "301 verbs" and "jak sie masz" and some audio .. i have the BYKI trial software installed ... i can speak most of the basics but stringing longer sentences together i am struggling without a native every day or couple of days helping me out :( but alas will get there eventually

i also have a4 sheets pinned up with key words or phrases and highlighted to teach me :) in places in the house ...

I think immersing yourself in the language is the best way.
Before I went to Poland and actually heard the spoken language, I heard Polish songs and could easily make out the words. Then when I heard it, I could barely make anything out because people spoke too fast for the words to translate in my head, so I could only catch words and not full sentences. Once you hear it a lot, I think you get used to it.

I guess thats the best recipe to learn anything, with these two things your destined for success! :)
Thats what i'm aiming to do next, string together sentences :/ Could be interesting!

What a good idea! Thanks for that one! :)

What was your reason telefonitika for learning the language or did u just fancy it?

To learn a language you need to be intelligent.To be able to memorize,do combinations etc.Basically it is how fast you can think and how much you have been exposed to some stimuli.

Not to blow my own trumpet :p but I believe i have the intelligence to learn languages but it's also perserverance as telefonitika said that you need.
You don't have to be the brightest button or quickest thinker as people learn at different paces, some faster than others, but eventually if you really work at it and want it bad, no matter how slow of a learner you are, you'll get there :)
My memory is pretty good though! And I 100% agree with the amount of exposure to the stimulus, naturally, without even knowing it things tend to slot into place this way!

Totally!

i like a challenge have polish friends mainly ... oh and yeah i listen to polish songs alot various artists ... and watch polish tv (cyfra+ system)



my brother told me to do it and it helps .. says each word or phrase three times out loud though before moving onto the next you have written down :)



i write in a funny way so i am told ... :D but i am understandable

Memory is creating synapses in the brain.I mean long term memory.So how you create a synapse?There are techniques for cramming and memorization.

[
Hehe yes you are understandable! Better to write in a funny way than same old ay!?
I will definitley give it a go!

Same reasons as myself i guess!

I once read that people don't see the point in learning Polish as its a "dying" language as such a majority of the young generation in particualr are leaving Poland, but contradictory to this, I can't see it happening as so many Poles move abroad to work/live, which i think is great, (intertwining of cultures, i'll always back it!) therefore i think people of the country Poles are working/living should make the effort and learn Polish, afterall it can only enrich a person knowing another langauge!
Mind you, i guess you will always get the ignorant few that will say
"Why should i learn their language when they are visiting my county!"
I feel sorry for them, but hey thats my opinion :)

brain half asleep ... wtf .. meant to have put understood ... jeesss off to bed i go's soons me thinks

Hmmm, I have been studying Polish for a couple of years now.
I use many different courses.
Polish is tough. To learn Polish, you have to put in the work. Every day. Study.
(Rather like being at school I suppose)
But Polish is such a cool language!

You will find a good coruse, free to download here:
h t t p://polish.slavic.pitt.edu/


There are also other links to free stuff on this thread:
http://www.polishforums.com/polish_language_learning_links-17_8328_0.h tml

I've studied psychology so believe you me I know the endless techniques of memorisation, encoding, relay etc it's kind of being drilled into me :)
But strictly speaking a synapse is a signal carrier which does not store information just the middle man :)

I've got a tip - for Admin or the Moderators - change the word 'Learnign' into something resembling a word you can find in the dictionary.

Sorry, Summer. I'm sure it was just a slip of the figners - it happens to us all.

I'm confused! :/

I hadn't intended to make thigns more confusign - it's difficult enough as it is tryign to learn the Polish lagnuage.

Repeatign it out loud is a good start, but I find that actually usign a word is the best way to learn it.
It's not so much the actual words I find difficult - it's the grammar. Again, finding ways to use these different forms helps.
You need someone around who speaks Polish to be able to make this work though.

Ohh i see, sorry, it's late so my brain ahs slowed down slightly hehe

I imagine this is quite effective as you force yourself to think constantly, what is the word for this or that etc. and eventually i presume it would come naturally!
It's grammer i struggle with too! I guess i'll just keep struggling for a while with the thought in mind it will become easier! Try out a few new techniques etc!

That's not always possible i guess, i'll just speak to English friends in Polish, you never know, might even teach them a thing or too, spur them on to learn the language :)
But on a serious note :) yes it is SO helpful with a native speaker particularly grammatically and with pronunciation!