Polish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Polish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0743551214 | ISBN-13: 978-0743551212 | Edition: 16 Lessons

Polish is the official language of Poland where it is spoken by about 38 million people. It is also spoken by more than 4 million people in Eastern Europe and in North America. There are many dialects of Polish. Pimsleur's Polish teaches Standard Polish, as spoken or understood throughout Poland.

Polish, Conversational

• Sixteen 30-minute lessons of spoken Polish language instruction. These sixteen lessons are the same as the first sixteen lesson of Pimsleur's 30-Unit Comprehensive Program.
• Each lesson includes an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures and includes practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons.
• Essential grammar and vocabulary. Topics include: greetings, numbers, meals, shopping, telling time, scheduling activities, and asking and giving directions.
• No mindless repetition! Converse with native speakers in natural (and useful!) conversations.
• Easy, fast, fun and effective language acquisition.
• Completely Audio - anytime, anywhere. No computer necessary! Unlike expensive software programs which tie learners to a computer, Pimsleur courses are available in CD or mp3 format to meet your needs.
• Receive an instant credit of $150 to trade up from the Conversational to the full Level 1 Comprehensive CD course.

Pimsleur® equals success. Just one 30-minute lesson a day gets you speaking and understanding like no other program.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Pimsleur programs provide plenty of positive reinforcement that will keep learners on track, and we found that Pimsleur gave us more proficiency and confidence in speaking the new language than any of the other language programs we reviewed." -- AudioFile Magazine

"EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE...each section within the lessons is short enough to hold our attention, and there is enough repetition to teach even those who consider themselves slow learners...Pimsleur [programs] are extremely thorough and easy to use -- quite lively!" -- Boston Herald

"Learn French while commuting, German while jogging, Spanish (or Russian, Italian, and Japanese) while cooking all with NO WRITTEN MATERIALS!" -- New York Daily News

"Designed for the ear and not the eye...the lessons provide PERFECT 30-minute bites of work." -- St Louis Post-Dispatch

"Learn to habla español or parlez français before your next trip aboard. The interactive LESSONS CHALLENGE STUDENTS to use new words in conversation instead of memorize them." -- American Way (American Airlines inflight magazine)

"I tried other language programs with little success...This is the best by far!" -- Pamela A. Mitchell, Pilot, International Society of Women Airline Pilots

About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles:  the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.”  This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 16 Lessons edition (February 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743551214
• ISBN-13: 978-0743551212
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Polish
  • #28 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Polish

More About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur (b. 1926, d. 1976) devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. He was fluent in French, good in German, and had a working knowledge of Italian, Russian, Modern Greek, and Mandarin Chinese. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French and a Masters in Psychology from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Linguistics at UCLA. He later became Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center (a state-wide language lab) at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. He did research on the psychology of language learning and in 1969 was Section Head of Psychology of Second Language Learning at the International Congress of Applied Linguistics.

Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method (The Pimsleur Method) that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called "Graduated Interval Recall." This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the "Pimsleur Programs."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh so easy!, May 17, 2007

By 

T. Morey (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Polish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

This has to be the easiest way I've ever come across for learning another language. There's no book, it's purely audio based (8 CD edition) with each lesson being about 30 minutes. As Polish contains many sounds that we simply do not use in English, I had to listen to most lessons twice before being able to remember and pronounce all the words correctly. New words are introduced syllable by syllable and every phrase you learn is repeated numerous times in conversations in later lessons. My only minor quibble would be that as this is an American series, there's no provision for those of us in the UK in the sections that focus on how to say your nationality and monetary units. Hardly a major issue!

By the end of this 16 lesson course you can expect to be able to give common greetings, ask for and understand basic directions, arrange a meeting, count to 49, buy drinks in shops and a fair bit more.

My Polish wife found some of the pronunciation grated a little but that it was more than passable and probably easier for a non-polish speaker to learn from than a native Polish speaker would be.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many gaps, April 15, 2008

By 

Vlk B. Leafe "Vlk" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Polish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

I did learn some from these lessons, but I found that there were too many gaps to make it really useful. We do learn to establish if the person with whom we are speaking speaks English and/or Polish, but we do not learn how to become acquainted. It would be useful to know how to make acquaintances through questions like "What is your name?" We only learn formal forms of address. Another gripe that I have is that the pronunciation is not consistent. There is too much of an emphasis on translation from English into Polish and not enough on trying to think in the language. Yes when we are learning our native language as children we learn to speak before we learn the grammar, but we are immersed in the language. Yes, this course is easy, but we do not really learn to communicate.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Auditory Learners!, October 10, 2007

By 

R. Kuprowicz "Travel Enthusiast" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polish, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Polish with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) (Audio CD)

Travelers wanting to learn basic Polish for traveling will like this program. It presents words and phrases, then continues to incorporate them throughout the remainder of the program. It presents words uniquely (from my experience), as it presents the pronounciation from the end of the word forward. It's a great program for auditory learners.

The only drawback is the lack of visual materials to follow along with or refer to.