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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Learning Polish is apparently easy.

"Yes, Polish grammar is complex, but it's nowhere near as complex and random as English grammar."

And to think I've lived in Poland for all these years, and never known that Polish grammar was much simpler than English grammar.

Thanks Jamie. I think I'll throw all my Polish grammar books away, as the language is so simple any fool can learn it in a few months.
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Keith Byrne

Keith Byrne Director, Select
Training Solutions

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

tbh I have to agree with Jamie. Don't throw away your grammar books, though. They're why it's easy. The steps:
1. Learn the pronounciation of the alphabet, which is so phonetic, Poles spell words by slowing down pronunciation of the word.
2. Learn the grammar. Admittedly, this is a bitch, but just as English speakers can get away with four or five tenses out of twelve, You can get away with three out of seven cases in Polish.
3. It's all just vocabulary after that!
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Come off it, Keith.

There is no noun declension in English.

Verbs do not change according to person.

English nouns are generally gender neutral.

I admit that the tense system of English may be difficult for foreigners.

But apart from this, English has one of the easiest grammars of all the world's languages.

And I don't see how anyone can speak 'reasonable' Polish without knowing the case endings.warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 10.06.08 o godzinie 01:29
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Ewa B.

Ewa B. redaktor, tłumacz

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

I love both Polish and English but it's not an easy love. Both of them are sneaky and tricky ;-)
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Keith Byrne

Keith Byrne Director, Select
Training Solutions

Temat: Polish is an easy language:


And I don't see how anyone can speak 'reasonable' Polish without knowing the case endings.


'Cause really, there's only a few, that they use again and again. Look at a list of about 100 masculine nouns in the nominative, then the genetive, and you'll notice patterns.
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Ewa B.

Ewa B. redaktor, tłumacz

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Actually...you're right Keith;)
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Ilter K.

Ilter K. Business Developer,
Music Producer, AVID
Certified Instru...

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Polish is not an easy language to learn. No discussion about it.

It might be beautiful for some, but far from being easy.
If it would be easy, I should have been speaking Polish right now.
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

"Number one; there are popular television programs that feature professors who rule on correct Polish pronunciation and grammar."

vs.

"A spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept originated in the United States, and is usually perceived to be a solely American practice[1]; part of the reason could be that English has an exceptionally complex and arbitrary orthography."
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Keith Byrne:
tbh I have to agree with Jamie. Don't throw away your grammar books, though. They're why it's easy. The steps:
1. Learn the pronounciation of the alphabet, which is so phonetic, Poles spell words by slowing down pronunciation of the word.
2. Learn the grammar. Admittedly, this is a bitch, but just as English speakers can get away with four or five tenses out of twelve, You can get away with three out of seven cases in Polish.
3. It's all just vocabulary after that!

I'm not sure whether you are joking there.
Surely learning pronunciation, grammar and vocab is what you'd do with any language...

I'm afraid Jamie didn't really provide much argument to back up his opening statement. Understanding that 'cz' is actually easy to say doesn't mean that the language is in fact easy to learn.

And BTW
"Number two; one of the most prestigious degrees one can obtain at university is Polish philology"
I'll tell me friend that has worked in admin in a freight forwarding company, as a receptionist in the purchasing department of a manufacturer, and (of course) as a teacher of Polish, that she is made up for life with her degree.
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Ilter K.

Ilter K. Business Developer,
Music Producer, AVID
Certified Instru...

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Maybe Jamie was just having fun?

Or he is THE talent.
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Keith Byrne

Keith Byrne Director, Select
Training Solutions

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Steven H.:

And BTW
"Number two; one of the most prestigious degrees one can obtain at university is Polish philology"


Now that is number two!
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Michał Hubicki

Michał Hubicki Prawnik

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

I guess it might be a hell for foreigners to learn the grammar and pronunciation. "Brzeszczot" for example is among my favourite tongue-brakers for English people - short and impressive ;] Thanks God I've got it as my primary language ;]Michał Hubicki edytował(a) ten post dnia 10.06.08 o godzinie 00:07
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Rafał D.

Rafał D. Head of Production,
Locon Sp. z o.o.

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Michał Hubicki:
Thanks God I've got it as my primary language ;]

OK, say "R". In English! ;)
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Rafał D.:
Michał Hubicki:
Thanks God I've got it as my primary language ;]

OK, say "R". In English! ;)
"R"....;)
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Jamie Stokes

Jamie Stokes Redaktor

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

I seem to have stumbled into a minefield. Stand very still and think carefully before making your next move.

I didn't say Polish was an easy language. Learning ANY foreign language is extremely difficult, but I don't think Polish is particularly more difficult than any other. On the other hand I do think it looks more difficult more to native speakers of English because of it's very different use of the Latin alphabet, and I do think that Poles tend to emphasis it's difficulty to foreigners because they are conditioned by the Polish education system to regard their own language as something difficult to be mastered rather than something natural.

Still alive?
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Jamie Stokes:
Learning ANY foreign language is extremely difficult, but I don't think Polish is particularly more difficult than any other.

How well do you speak Polish, Jamie?

And other languages?

Personally, I've started learning, well, quite a few.

The only one I really mastered was Welsh.

(I'm not Welsh, and don't come from Wales).

I can say with a reasonable degree of objectivity that it is far harder to learn Polish than Welsh, for the simple reason that the grammar of Welsh is far simpler than that of Polish.

(No irregular verbs, no case endings, for example).

Like English, Welsh is one of the world's 'easy' languages. Polish is happens to be one of the 'difficult' ones.

Not as difficult as, say, Hungarian, but difficult nevertheless.warren whitmore edytował(a) ten post dnia 10.06.08 o godzinie 01:26
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Ilter K.

Ilter K. Business Developer,
Music Producer, AVID
Certified Instru...

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Jamie Stokes:
...but I don't think Polish is particularly more difficult than any other. On the other hand I do think it looks more difficult more to native speakers of English because of it's very different use of the Latin alphabet,...
Jamie,
I will not be dealing with the "native speakers of English" part for obvious reasons.
In my mother language, I have special letters representing the similar sounds to "cz" and "sz" of Polish. But that sound over there on Warszawa is not the same in my language. That is softer.
"r"s in Turkish is pretty strong. But not as strong as Spanish "r"s. There at least 2-3 different types of "r"s in Polish.
And that was only about 3 sounds in total.
If speaking well is the subject, Polish is THE difficult language, even for me.
Forget about Americans. I've witnessed, it is almost impossible for them to have a decent pronunciation.

... and I do think that Poles tend to emphasis it's difficulty to foreigners because they are conditioned by the Polish education system to regard their own language as something difficult to be mastered rather than something natural. Still alive?
I respect your feelings.
But I've never heard such a weird idea, that my own perception of a new language can be affected by Polish education system.
Have you, by accident, attended the courses given by Polonicum?
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Jamie Stokes:
On the other hand I do think it looks more difficult more to native speakers of English because of it's very different use of the Latin alphabet

Polish pronunciation is difficult.

Try saying the difference between 'bociek' and 'boczek', 'proszę' and 'prosie'.
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Ilter K.

Ilter K. Business Developer,
Music Producer, AVID
Certified Instru...

Temat: Polish is an easy language:

Ńńń! Ńńńń!!!

PS. "Ni!" is definately much easier.ilter Kalkanci edytował(a) ten post dnia 10.06.08 o godzinie 01:40
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Temat: Polish is an easy language:

As in the Monty Python knights.

Not really so difficult.
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