Customer Reviews

Polish:An Essential Grammar (Essential Grammars)

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

 

 

This book is especially helpful for those who have completed at least their first year of learning Polish. It is a good review of most of the basic grammatical structures a learner needs for comprehending this difficult language. The book's only short-coming is its sometimes confusing organization. A frequent user, as I am, may have to resort to tabbing some of the pages.

I bought this book after having looked far and wide to discover that there is not a single good Polish grammar book in the English language. This one is at least comprehensive and well organised.

On the other hand, it has instances of language so obsolete that no Poles use it at all and many Poles do not even know about it (e.g. 'miê'). It's clear the author has relied too much on written sources and lacks an intimate knowledge of the language, which is a pity, considering the reputation of the university she works for.

Worst of all is the contextualisation of the grammar. 'There are no trees in this forest'. So where's the forest then? It was proven decades ago in the English language teaching industry that poorly contextualised examples hinder the acquisition of language. When will Polish book writers learn this?

So why not only one star? Because it's the best on the market. If you hope to learn Polish grammar with the help of a book, I strongly reccommend this one and only this one. It helped me immensely.

What a great resource. Bielec's book provides the most succinct and clear grammar of Polish I've ever read. As an upper-intermediate/lower-advanced speaker, I've found this book invaluable in helping explain the ever overwelming nightmare of Polish declination.

The organization is in legal style, which means each chapter is a point, and within that is a sub-point, and a sub-sub-point, etc. (6.5.6.6.2) I like that; others might not.

Summarizing, this book would be useful for beginners, yet is an absolute must for intermediate and above.

I love this book, it has helped me to learn the language. He breaks it down into small enough chunks so anyone can learn. I also recomend his smaller book, "Basic Polish A grammar and workbook." I have used them together to learn the language.

As a native Polish speaker, and also a teacher, I can tell there is many inconsistencies in the material provided in this book, I know it is hard to combine Polish Grammar into one cohesive piece, so maybe it is the best one to have!

This is not a Rosetta Stone, self help guide to learning Polish. It delves deeply and precisely into the grammatical and syntactical nuances of this complex language. I would only recommend it to people who have mastered a second language already and understand the finer points of language construction.