I interviewed one of my friends who learned Polish. He studied Polish as an adult and learned it to the fluency level.
In his posts he tells you what he did to learn Polish. Further he tells you why some people do not learn a language and lastly gives some advice on how to learn a language.
Here is the web address of my other site which has this interview in four parts. The first part is the most boring and you can skip to the second part of the interview if you would like, which is the meat of the interview.
http://www.claritaslux.com/how-i-learned-a-language/
After reading this interview please come back and leave your impression on it. Also let me know how you personally learned Polish if you have already.
If you are starting to learning Polish
If you are just starting out learning Polish, take heart, you can speak the language. It just take a little bit of motivation and the right method.
I personally moved to Poland and speak Polish now. I learned it myself. I think my friend in the interview speaks Polish much better than I. I am more the cobbler who wears the worst shoes. That is not true, but he is at a higher level. I speak Polish all day long, watch movies and read books in Polish and write in Polish, its just that I have to improve my grammar a bit. I want to sound like Adam Mickiewicz, but in Polish talk more like Arthur Fonzarelli, which is not bad.
OK read the Interview with a Polish speaker and let me know what you think.
Tags: Learn Polish

14 responses to How I learned Polish – Interview
hello,I’m Miriam and I’m very much interested in learning Polish! i think it is a fascinating language and i need to learn it because I’m thinking of moving to Poland in a few years. The grammar its really hard for me but I’ve been told that my accent and pronunciation of words its perfect,maybe due to the fact that my first language is Portuguese! anyway I found this website very helpful.
Thanks about my Polish grammar site. I am looking foward to developing it more. If you have good pronuciation in the Polish language I am very impressed.
Miriam, let me know how you do with Polish and again I am very impressed as I think Polish pronunciation is the hardest.
Hello, I’m brazilian and I descend from Poles. Actually, I’m studying Polish and I’ll probably go to Poland and make a trip around the country in 2011. My pronounciation is very good according to my teachers, who lived in Poland, and I’m working hard on the grammar, so I guess I’ll be OK when I go there. Thank you for the site, it’s awesome and it’s helping me a lot.
Thank you very much for your kind words. If you have any questions about living in Poland ask, I know it is just a visit but if you have Polish roots you can get a green card no problem of course.
I’m portuguese and I’ve been studying by myself for 2 years already, but I don’t study everyday, just occasionally. Sometimes I get too frustrated with the language, sometimes I feel great when I have those “clicks” in my head and I understand stuff.
I have a big notion of grammar already, but I still lack a lot of vocabulary and other things, such as speaking. I can’t practice speaking where I am, so my accent is just awful and if I had to talk with someone my brain just wouldn’t be able to. It would process Polish way too slow.
What I’m doing to learn polish is by writing a lot and reading too. When I write I have a couple of polish friends to check on it and they correct the mistakes + teach me what’s wrong about them, that way I learn a bit more.
Still.. I have a tough time learning alone since I can’t pay for a course yet. I’d like to give a shot at flash cards, is there anything you would recommend?
I am setting up a few things including programs with mp3. I can not wait, as once I get some technical aspects of some sites I am working on it will help you a lot. What about gutenberg.org they have free mp3 with Polish books. Also there is Polish TV via the Internet tvpolonia.com – I will set up as mentioned some Polish language exchanges sites, which will be very helpful. I can not wait until this is going. I work day and night on these projects and have a family so I am so sorry it takes time.
Polish is a great language and I am really happy you are learning it. By the way Portugul is a dreamy place to live.
Thank you for the reply!
It’s okay and perfectly understandable that you don’t have much time to complete your projects faster. I’m already happy by being able to read this website~ There’s no need to rush. I’m going to check the sites you recommended above! I hope I can manage to get out of this ‘hole’ I’m in soon!
And yes, Portugal is a very beautiful place!
Thank you once again and I’ll be waiting patiently for new updates on the projects!
I also find the Polish language fascinating. I, Like Miriam have good pronunciation, but my difficulties lie with the conjugation and declination side of things.
I first learned some Polish the hard way. I was invited by a friend to visit her home and stay with her family for a while. None of her family spoke a single word of English, and as I was the guest, I considered it only polite to persevere without just saying nierozumiem all the time. My friend’s mother just talked at me constantly, and to begin with, I nodded and smiled politely. It was only when I thought about things, I realised that I was possibly nodding, when I should be replying in the negative. This made me more determined to learn. That was back in 1995. I was very surprised how much I retained, when returning to Poland recently, to be with my Polish girlfriend. Now, as I intend to live and work in Poland, I am trying to find the right method. I am fortunate in some ways, that I have previous basic knowledge, as it helps me when relatives of my girlfriend visit us and talk to me, but I feel that now is the time to knuckle down and learn more on the grammar side. It is not the easiest of languages, it’s true; but it is a polite and interesting language to learn. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Very interesting personal history, I am very curious about your progress.
Dzien dobry ! Jestem studentka polonistyke. Studiuje jezyk polski. But I have no things to study it. Finally I found your blog out. Thanks a lot. If i become the one who can speaks Polish well, I’ll write a comment for you again. Dzienkuje serdecznie
Ah ha , and Jestem Koreanka.
Hi Rachel, Thanks for the kind words about my Polish grammar site. Where are you studying Polish?
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