Customer Reviews

Pimsleur Polish

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was wary when Pimsleur promised I would speak Polish in 10 days. I have tried some of the "instant language" computer program in the past, and they all (I) failed miserably. I am going to Poland in eight months, so I figured I needed that much time. I honestly am able to converse and understand Polish in less than two weeks! This system gives you the tools to be able interact and ask the right questions to continue expanding your Polish vocabulary. The only draw-back is that there is only one set in this series. The secret is, when you try to read, write and speak a language to learn it, your brain has to process the written word, translate that to a word in your head, then translate it to/from English (or even more steps if you are writing it). This course bypasses that whole decoding process, and goes straight to your language learning center. You could speak English long before you could read or write it. This course is based on the same idea. Study these tapes, learn nouns as you need them and you can confortably move about in Poland!

I wanted to learn Polish since I already studied Russian. This course is excellent. I have also studied Spanish & German with Berlitz tapes, and this is as good as the Berlitz "Think & Talk" tape program,(except that the latter does not cover Polish.)

My only regret is that the course could not continue into more advanced language studies.

Definitely worth the money and time.

The Pimsleur Polish audio tapes are 10 lessons that are 30 minutes each. These tapes did a great job of introducing the basic Polish language. The audio tapes are much better than learning from a book because you get to hear the Polish pronunciation of words. It is also nice to be able to replay each lesson over and over to hear the language and to grasp concepts that don't sink in after the first listen.
The pace of the tapes was good. The first five audio tape lessons were slower paced. It allowed someone who knew nothing about the Polish language to follow and learn at a good pace.
The last five lessons were faster paced and covered the basics of the Polish language. I was happy that the conversations in these tapes were similar to what someone might encounter when trying to talk to someone in the Polish language.
The only negative was that there was not enough explanation of conjugating verbs. I wish the Pimsleur tapes could spend one lesson on the conjugation and learning of verbs.
Overall, I was happy with these tapes. They did a great job of teaching the basics of the Polish language. The repetition exercises helped and I would recommend these tapes to everyone

I study Polish American History, and I am not Polish! So I wanted to learn a little Polish to talk to my fellow Polish scholars and not seem like an oaf. I usually did each lesson twice before I moved on. The true test came two months after completing the course, I met two Polish natives. To my surprise, I was able to communicate in a basic sense and not embarrass myself! (I did even order a beverage at an establishment that only spoke Polish.) Even funnier, I am also learning Chinese and I find myself occasionally responding in Polish! This was an outstanding start, and worth the money!