Lonely Planet Polish Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: India) [Paperback]

Krzysztof Dydynski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0864425880 | ISBN-13: 978-0864425881 | Publication Date: May 2001

This difficult language is made simple with accurate pronunciation guides throughout; an illuminating two-way dictionary; plenty of language for conversation, greetings and small-talk. An essential tool for a visit to a country where few speak English.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864425880
• ISBN-13: 978-0864425881
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,628,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the Stupid Tourist, January 10, 2003

By 

DB "DB" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Polish Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: India) (Paperback)

I brought this book to Poland with me, and it proved invaluable to someone like me who only spoke "stupid tourist" Polish. I went to the country knowing virtually nothing about the language, and the book proved invaluable in making simple, stilted communication. Without the book I would have been completely lost. The phonetic pronunciation proves invaluable for a language like Polish where the words don't sound like they look (to a stupid tourist like me).

My one complaint was the occasional presentation of very important words with supplemental information about why the word is important, but without any phonetic pronunciation. The words are essentially useless if you don't know how to say them, and in Polish, that's pretty much all the time. Other than these occasional oversights, the book does a pretty good job of guiding you through the language for basic survival.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good starting point, March 3, 2004

By 

Paul Johnston (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Polish Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: India) (Paperback)

I bought this book a few days ago knowing zero Polish. I like this book as it does a great job with phonetical spelling, making it very easy to figure out how to pronounce the words. It's also a good pocket size that you can take with you anywhere if you have a few extra moments to practice on the bus or eating a burrito or something. My goal with this book is to get something that was useful and just allow me to just get an initial foothold in the language that I'll supplement with a more in-depth course. In that regard, it's been great. I already have the basic phrases down. Plus, it's cheap!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even more content than title indicates!, April 16, 2005

By 

Lee Cichanowicz "Learning all the time" (Harrisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Polish Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: India) (Paperback)

This neat little book is much more than just a phrasebook and two-way dictionary! There is a great "chapter" on pronunciation and another great "chapter" on basic grammar. Those two sections are worth the price of the book. They effectively present what some entire books on learning Polish fail to do.

The book is arranged really nicely, too. The content groupings (chapters) and sub groupings (sections) are great for study and quick lookup. The groupings allowed me to see patterns in the language that are just not apparent in my other books.

I have numerous little English-Polish communication books and guides; but, if I could take just one to carry around Poland, it would surely be this one.