Learn the top five reasons you should be learning to speak Polish
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| Beata: All About Polish lesson 1. Introduction to Polish and the top 5 reasons to study |
| Nick: Cześć! My name is Nick Brozowski, and I'll be your friendly neighborhood non-Polish guide to everything Polish... |
| Beata: And I'm Beata! Here as the Polish native to help you along the way. |
| Nick: That's right, this lesson is all about your home and native land. |
| Beata: Yes, and yours too, Nick! |
| Nick: Well, kind of. Since my family has Polish roots, Polish has been always present in my house. Either my dad would say something to us in Polish or my mom would cook a fantastic Polish meal. It really has started to feel like a second language to me. So, we're here to teach you the ins and outs of the wonderful Polish language. |
| Beata: Yes, Polish is a really unique language in a lot of ways. From the writing system... |
| Nick: ...to the grammar... |
| Beata: ...to the slang... |
| Nick: ...everything! It's truly a beautiful language, with a rich history and intriguing culture to match. |
| [Linguistics section] |
| Nick: So, Beata, I have some questions for you. |
| Beata: What are they? |
| Nick: All right, first question. What language family does Polish belong to? |
| Beata: That's a great question. There is a group of languages that form a so-called Slavic group, which is divided further into three subgroups…the West, East, and South Slavic group. Polish, together with languages such as Slovak and Czech, belongs to the West Slavic group. |
| Nick: So if you know somebody who's into linguistics, you can impress them with this knowledge. For most of us, including me, this is probably the first time and the time I'll come across this. |
| Beata: Right. These days there are around forty million native speakers who reside in Poland. On top of that there are about ten million Poles who either work or live abroad or have Polish ancestry. |
| Nick: I know that in countries such as Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, ethnic Poles form significant minorities. And there are also a lot of Polish speakers in Russia and Kazakhstan. What about Poles in the United States? |
| Beata: In the United States, many people have Polish origin; however, many of them no longer speak Polish. |
| Nick: Really? |
| Beata: Yes. When they arrived in America, they had to learn English first in order to find jobs. Polish was kind of neglected, and with time, many of them stopped using it entirely. You know that it takes a lot to maintain a good command of language when you're abroad, especially if it's a language with a somewhat complicated grammar like Polish. |
| Nick: Is Polish grammar really that hard? We wouldn't want to scare off our listeners. |
| Beata: Polish is an inflected language, which means that some parts of speech, such as nouns, for example, change their endings depending on the function they perform in a sentence. If your native language also has this feature, it's going to be very easy for you. If not, it's going to take some time to get used to all sorts of different endings, memorizing them, and applying them accordingly. |
| Nick: Please tell us that at least the Polish writing system is easier. |
| Beata: Actually, the Polish writing system is based on the Latin alphabet, the same one that we use in English, so it makes it a little bit easier for prospective Polish students to learn. |
| Nick: This is a really fascinating topic. Since there's a lot to say about it, we'll cover it more in depth in the next lesson. |
| Beata: Okay! Now let's talk about pronunciation for a moment. |
| Nick: Ah, yes, pronunciation. I'll tell you right now that Polish pronunciation is actually not as difficult as you might think by looking at all these diacritical signs and clusters of consonants that the Polish language has. |
| Beata: Yeah, the good thing about Polish pronunciation is that you read it like you see it. It's unlike English, where you have so many different ways to say one vowel. |
| Nick: That’s great news! |
| Beata: It's unYou just have to get accustomed to what may appear at first to be some rather strange-looking letters, and once you master their pronunciation, there's nothing to stop you from speaking like a native. |
| Nick: We actually have a series for Polish pronunciation. In those lessons, you'll learn more about Polish sounds and we'll teach you how to produce them. But it's going to be dedicated to the standard Polish pronunciation only, because from what I know there are dialects in Polish. |
| Beata: Yes, we do have numerous dialects in Polish with, among others, the Highlander's dialect from the Podhale region that even Poles have problems understanding. Standard Polish pronunciation will do. |
| About the Motherland |
| Nick: Beata, now we're going to be talking about your motherland. |
| Beata: Oh, yeah. |
| Nick: So how about going over a bit more about Poland itself? Beata, Poland and the Polish language have a long history behind them, right? |
| Beata: That's correct. And it wasn't an easy history for either the country or the language. With many foreign invasions along the way, three partitions that took Poland off of the map for over one hundred years, the devastating effects of World War II, and the communist years that followed, I'm really surprised that Poland has achieved so much since then and that the language survived almost intact. |
| Nick: That's really unbelievable. What about the name "Poland" itself? |
| Beata: Poland is known as "Polska" to the Poles. It got its name from one of the most influential and dominant tribes that existed on its territory in the tenth century, the Polanie tribe. When the legendary tribal chief Piast succeeded in uniting tribes from surrounding areas into one political unit, he gave it the name Polska, after this tribe's name. |
| Nick: Is there any historical moment in Polish history that would be recognized as the official birth of the country? |
| Beata: Yes, actually there is. In 966, the first ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, figuratively baptizing the entire nation. This historical moment marks the official beginning of the Polish state. |
| ------------------------------- |
| Nick: Beata, who can resist the lure of Polish? Are you ready? |
| Beata: Okay! |
| Nick: We're going to give you the top five reasons why you should study Polish. |
| Beata: Starting with number five… |
| Nick: Knowing Polish will make it possible for you to read some of Poland's best literary works. Remember that there is always something lost in translation, so you better master your Polish and get ready for some serious reading. |
| Beata: Okay, number four! |
| Nick: When in Poland, you will for sure gain a lot of lifetime friends in Poles. Not only they will adore you just for trying to speak the language, but also they will constantly shower you with a lot of compliments for your efforts. Also think about all those interesting places they can take you to. You probably won't find them in any of the Polish guidebooks out there. |
| Beata: Okay. How about number three? |
| Nick: The Polish language has the largest number of speakers within the West Slavic group. |
| Beata: How about number two? |
| Nick: If you're by any chance worried that your memory will fade with the years to come, you can put an end to that right now. Being able to memorize all those infuriating grammar rules will give you a mental workout sure to keep your mind razor sharp. |
| Beata: And...the number one reason you should learn Polish… |
| Nick: You're learning much more than just a language. Learning Polish will give you great insight into the world of Polish culture, customs, and history that's impossible to get any other way. You will finally be able to put your finger on the unique Polish mentality that, for outsiders, can be confusing and incomprehensible at times. |
| Beata: That's definitely a lot of good reasons, Nick. Good work. |
| Nick: Okay, everybody, so are you ready? Get out your pen and notebook… |
| Beata: grab your iPod... |
| Nick: fire up your computer... |
| Beata: or whatever you use to study... |
| Nick: and get ready for some Polish lessons... |
| Beata: from PolishPod101.com! |
Comments
HideHello listeners, why do you want to learn Polish?
Cześć Carmen,
Thank you so much for posting and sharing your "why do I learn Polish" with us :) It's incredible what friendship can do :)
We are sure that with such motivation and a little help from our side, you will speak Polish with your neighbours in no time :) Good luck!!!
Pozdrowienia,
Łukasz
Team PolishPod101.com
Hi Maria,
They say that the more you try, the more you succeed.
So, please do not give up!
If you have any questions let us know 👍
Sincerely,
Hanna
Team PolishPod101.com
My Dad was Polish but did not speak it with us. I tried learning lots of times but never got very far.
Witaj Michael Domnin,
Dzięki za ciekawą odpowiedź 😄
We are glad you are enjoying learning Polish!
Sincerely,
Hanna
Team PolishPod101.com
Moja mamuszia była polaka. Kiedy było teenager, I spent wacacię w „kamp” dla dziecki ex sevice soldati, ale only learned trocheckę polski. Teraz jestem retired, mam dużo czasem praktikować językem, and making dużem mistakes, but lubię polskiego
Hi Benjamin,
Glad to hear that you liked reading about the history of the Polish language!
You may also enjoy this series on Polish Culture:
https://www.polishpod101.com/lesson-library/video-culture-class-polish-holidays/
In case of any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team PolishPod101.com
Truly fascinating history!
Hi Robert
Thank you for sharing your story, it's very sweet:)
Best wishes for you and your family!
Cheers:sunglasses:
Basia
Team PolishPod101.com
Why do I want to learn Polish? Because I married a Polish woman, and her parents and much of her family speak only Polish. Also, my wife and I are expecting a daughter (due in less than 5 weeks) whom we plan to name Katarzyna, and I feel we must be able to speak Polish at home so that Kasia learns it. I already know "nie dotykaj", so I'm off to a good start.
I have spent about 2 months total in Poland, and I got married there, so I'm not completely unfamiliar with Polish, but I live in Arizona, surrounded by English and Spanish, so it is hard to find spoken Polish. Since I'm primarily interested in spoken Polish, simply seeing it written or understanding the grammar is not enough.
Because I'm also a professor at the medical school, I could take formal Polish courses for extremely little at the university (like $25 per course), and I've wanted to do that for a couple years now. Sadly I can't really fit that into my schedule, so being able to study Polish online late at night is much more convenient. Pronunciation is extremely important to me, so the audio is very important for me to pick up little quirks in the language that native speakers are often not even aware of.
Why do I want to learn Polish? Because I married a Polish woman, and her parents and much of her family speak only Polish. Also, my wife and I are expecting a daughter (due in
Hello Jair,
I hope you'll love Wrocław. It's a beautiful, old city, but with a vibrant cultural climate too!
Also - powodzenia (=good luck) with learning Polish. I hope our site will make it an enjoyable experience for you.
Katarzyna
Team PolishPod101.com
Dzien dobry!!!!
I will learn Polish because I will relocate to Wroclaw for work at the end of June.. I speak Portoghese, English, Italian and Spanish and Polish will be my next language for the next years...
I'm really excited about it.
Pozdrowienia
Jair Ribeiro
Hello, My name is Tom. I'm 67 years old, started studying Polish to learn exactly what my babcza was saying in 55 year old audio tapes singing Christmas Carols. I've since learned that and probably know Thousands of Polish words but need the Grammer to be able to construct proper Sentences. I live on Long Island New York go to Polish church which my dziadek help build in the year 1915 , ten years after arriving in the states from Poland. I Have polish TV channel and watch a lot of DVD's in Polish with English subtitles. I only wish I had have started Polish pod 101 sooner as it is far superior to other language courses. With my giant vocabulary, especially from church I think that I am like a box full of parts to make a watch and hopefully this instruction will make all my pieces come together to be fluent.....................Thanks for listening.....Tom
Hi Carlos Thomas Lawrence!
Thank you for posting!
Wow, that's very impressive! I think it's great that you learn a new language at this age! :thumbsup:
We will try to help you as much as possible, so please let us know if you have any questions!
Engla
Team PolishPod101.com
I am 78 years old and my wife wants to return to Poland and I am going to live there so I have to learn the languageí speak English and Spanish fluently anda bit of German and French so I guess polish won't be too hard for me,I am a retired teacher here in Costa Rica.
Carlos
You are welcome Annette!
Elena
Team PolishPod101.com
Dziękuję bardzo, Elena!
(thank youvery much)
Hello Annette,
Wish you good luck in your studies! :smile:
Elena
Team PolishPod101.com
Hi, I am Annette, Dutch native speaker. My son lives with a Polish woman for 5 years now. She speaks English and is learning to speak Dutch, so I wondered if I could learn to speak a bit (or more) Polish. That's why I looked on the internet and found your course. I will really give it a try. Since I am almost 60 learning cost me more time, but I'm really interested in people and languages, so I hope I will make it... :)
Szanowny Laura:
Dziękuję bardzo za odpowiedzi na mój komentarz.
~ = Thank you very much for your response to my comment.
I am admitting I used Google Translate. Sometimes Google
Translate makes errors. My Kartuli ena = ქართული ენა
teacher Lika Baiashvili = ლიქა ბაიაშვილი
said it doesn't even work for Kartuli ena ( = Georgian
Uczyłem się języka gruzińskiego.) to English and English
to Kartuli ena. I don't know if that is true for Polish and
will get an Upgrade later. You will know because you
are fluent teacher and will be able to correct me, but
I don't expect you to do that unless I pay for a course.
Since I am rather poor I could get a course for several
months and study intensely for that period, but not
right away because I am taking Japanese and Swedish
at U.Vic. continuing studies and more than two languages
is too many to work on at once unless I were younger.
Say around May 2015 A.D. to August 2015 A.D. is my
planned Polish Study Period. I already took Polish
from my Teacher Dr. John Dingly but now am forgetting
it, which is very unfortunate - needs refreshing.
Pracuję też na bycie identyfikator języka.
Eva / Jewish: Eev (or Eve )
= Trying to get that in Hebrew but
not yet successful.
My Russian Name: Анастасия Юрьева
My Georgian Name: შავი ( = Black )
My Avarsky Name: Аина
My East Indian Name: කාලී ශිවා ( In Sinhalese script) = Kali Shiva
My Polish Name: I don't know yet/ Jeszcze nie wiem.
But I will search for one.
My Japanese Name/Also Old Hungarian: ildiko
Yes, 319(Dozenal) A.D. is an important date
but don't blame me totally.
My Chinese Name: Probably Cantonese: Häna
My Swedish Name: I don't know yet / Jag vet inte ännu.
My German Name: Eva Braun
My Italian Name: Santrina ( The Famous Number 35(Dozenal
= 41(Decimal)
My Maldak18(Dozenal) Name: Doris Vol