Word order in the Polish language?

Hi! I'm really interested in learning Polish, but I have no idea where to start. Does the language use any kind of word order rules? Like in German it goes Time - Manner - Place. Any good books or websites anyone can recommend would be much appreciated. x

Try: Colloquial Polish The Complete Course for Beginners by Boleslaw W Mazur, published by Routledge.

Thanks very much Sion. x

There’s some excellent reference material at polish-translators.com/grammar. The tables of noun- and adjective-declensions will be useful in due course but they will be very daunting at first sight.

I would suggest that you start by concentrating on the difference in pronunciation between the Polish consonants ś ć ź dź and sz cz ż dż. When you first hear them, the first four will probably sound like the second four, but to Polish speakers they are entirely different! What you should avoid is pronouncing either set like the English sh ch zh (as in pleasure) and j as in jam. Get this right at the beginning and you will save yourself trouble later.

I attach a diagram of the tongue position for ś ć ź dź.

polish_si.png

The very best book for learning Polish and I think that it is still in print though you may have to order it is called Beginning Polish Volume One by Alexander M. Schenker. You may be able to get one on e-bay or Amazon. com. Watch out for the Colloquial Polish Book as it has been reprinted in a different format and I always find the old ones better. If you want to learn vocabulary, then get hold of the Berlitz travel guides-the vocabulary is very fine all divided up into various sections. I used this little book and got an A grade in G.C.S.E. Polish.