Learn Polish Online
We've put together a selection of material
for English speakers interested in learning Polish as a foreign
language. The material should enable you to use some basic Polish on
your visit to Skwierzyna and the rest of Poland.
Here are just a few interesting facts about
the Polish language:
I - There are more than 46 million
people who speak Polish in Poland. More than two million people
speak Polish outside of Poland, in countries like Canada, the USA,
the UK, and Germany. The United States alone has around one million
Polish speakers!
II - Almost 99% of people living in
Poland state that Polish is their mother tongue.
III - Polish includes many words
taken from other languages. These include: Russian, Latin, French,
German, Italian, and English.
IV - The Polish alphabet has 32
letters, 9 vowels and 23 consonants:
a, ¹, b, c, æ, d, e, ê, f, g,
h, i, j, k, l, ³, m, n, ñ, o, ó, p, r, s, œ, t, u, w, y, z, Ÿ,
¿
The letters q, v, x are not
normally used in the Polish language except in words taken from
English and other languages, e.g., fax, veto, cv.
V - Polish is often said to be one
of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn.
Particulary difficult is the pronunciation of sounds; and the
complex gender system (with five genders!).
Polish
English / English Polish Dictionary (an online bilingual Polish
English dictionary)
Basic
Polish Phrases (some of the most useful Polish phrases together
with sound files so you can listen to the sounds of Polish!)
The
Polish sound and spelling system (a pdf file which describes the
basic principles behind sound and spelling system behind the Polish
language)
Polish
Grammar (a 76 page FREE beginners guide to Polish grammar from
the University of Pittsburg)
Useful
Polish Words (another vital easy to print pdf file of the most
important 3000 Polish words with English translations)
Learn Polish
(learn Polish online for free. Downloadable audio files. Learn the
most useful words and phrases in the Polish language)
Polish
Short Stories (a series of interesting short stories written for
intermediate learners of Polish)
|