Speaking Polish in Poland (Polish Edition) [Audio CD]

Oscar E. Swan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 157970137X | ISBN-13: 978-1579701376 | Edition: Com/Bklt

Essential phrases and vocabulary for the traveler or business person are arranged topically and presented first in English, then in Polish. Developed by Oscar E. Swan, University of Pittsburgh.
3 CDs (3-1/2 hrs.) and text

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Audio Forum; Com/Bklt edition (June 30, 2005)
• Language: Polish
• ISBN-10: 157970137X
• ISBN-13: 978-1579701376
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,936,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Old fashioned and terrible sound quality, June 12, 2007

By 

J. S. Hardman "Consultant software developer ... (Near London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Speaking Polish in Poland (Polish Edition) (Audio CD)

Speaking Polish in Poland consists of badly produced CDs and a badly produced book. The CDs have clearly been transferred from cassette, with no thought given to separating the contents into different tracks and with no concern for audio quality. The CDs have a constant hiss and variable volume. The book is no better. It looks like something that has been photocopied on an office photocopier and then bound in similar fashion.

In terms of content - there are definitely useful words and phrases in the content. However, the audio is presented simply as a list of phrases with no attempt at engaging the listener in attempts at dialog (not as far as I have got anyway - I have yet to be motivated enough to get all the way through - I have much better courses to listen to). As such, the listener's attention is quickly lost and when a potentially useful phrase goes by it is either missed completely or it is necessary to switch back to the beginning of the track (i.e. a long, long way back) to hear it again. Not good.

What makes this worse, is that some of the phrases and some of the speakers make the whole thing sound like a cold-war interrogation. The loud voice of a man in (American) English followed by the quiet voice of a woman in Polish brings images of dark, damp cells and a light bulb to mind. Not good when you are trying to engage your brain in learning a language.

All in all, very disappointing. I am tempted to give this just one star but have given it two simply because there are some useful words in there.