Mowimy Po Polsku – A Beginners Guide to the Polish Language by W. Bisko, S. Karolak, D. Wasilewska, S. Krynski. A practical textbook which opens with pronunciation and spelling, and is followed by twenty-six basic lessons in Polish. This specific edition was released in Warsaw, Poland, circa 1966. That being said, the cheapest version you can find online ranges between $50-$200. We recommend that you search for something slightly more affordable. I was lucky to have found this edition for under $5 at my local second bookstore, The Iliad Bookshop. Mowimy Po Polsku is a difficult manual, yet with determination one finds that the discussions of the different parts of speech and verb tenses are easy enough to navigate through.
Each lesson departs with an illustrated scene and matching dialogues, which are accompanied by its English translation (placed side by side). Each lesson also focuses extensively on (but not limited to) conjugation, imperative moods, and enclitic forms of personal pronouns. Detailed (and quite comical) illustrations and charts are included! These are the essentials: “…but Captain, we don’t need any luggage. After all, our journey is only a make-believe one!” [… ale kapitanie, nie potrzebujemy bagażu. W końcu nasza podróż jest tylko udana!]
Comprehension at the departure of any language study project is going to be confusing, so be sure to set aside the right amount of time and secure a space that allows you to truly focus. Turn off your device(s), put on a record, and be sure to stock your reading area with the following items: Chocolate, decaffeinated tea, a spread of berries + cheeses, and alkaline water. I always recommend that 1-2 hours each day will allow you to master the material gradually.
“Dialogues are based on scenes recorded by actors of the Warsaw stage: “Splendid. Fetch the fruit, and I’ll give Gapa some water. The dog is also hot.” [Wspaniały. Przynieś owoc, a ja dam Gapę trochę wody. Pies też jest gorący.] ”
If you’re like me, the best part about learning a new language is adapting to how we form a different relationship with the, at first, quite foreign combination of letters and how they are pronounced. I like to write out, by hand, all of the contents as I go through each and every lesson. It is essential to this process that we activate our brains intentionally — when writing by hand your brain becomes more active, than if one was simply typing on any number of devices. Press the pen onto paper, witness the letters you write out, and speak them while you write. This activity activates the sensorimotor parts of the brain.
I also find that if I am not exactly feeling that my attention can be focused on a lesson, I turn to the pages where there are plentiful definitions to sort through. There is no right way to study, all that matters is that you remain consistent with your sessions. I will also note, that in this book there is a very small vocabulary at the back of the book (pgs285- 326), so be sure to pick up a full Polish dictionary.
Here are some definitions I enjoyed working through: tylko [tilko] only, merely; na razie [na razhye] for the time being, for the present, as yet, just now; awantura [avantoora] fuss, row, brawl; babcia [bapchya] granny; życiowy [zhichyovi] of, pertaining to) life: vital; kwiatowy [kfyatovil] pertaining to flowers, floral; trombi [trombee] he trumpets ; chetnie [khentnye] willingly; wróćmy [vroochmi] let us return.
My studies in language departed from my love for foreign films. Back in the early 2000's I got lucky and landed a job working as a product appraiser for a record store in Studio City (CA), which led me to spend the majority of my time there managing the foreign film section. It's true, Amoeba Records wasn't the only place that excelled with their diverse inventory of obscure music and other-worldly films. So from then on, I'd lock myself in my bedroom and watch films out of Poland, Germany, Tokyo, Brazil, and other far away places that I knew I'd never have enough money to explore in person. What better way to get a know a culture, then to understand their language.
Because Mowimy Po Polsku , our featured textbook, is over fifty years old, I recommend you pair it with a more recent study guide, and stop by the Mówić po polsku platform —a site where you can learn Polish, and for free. Co za uczta (What a treat)!
“After the sentences and a discussion of their component parts, isolated or relatively rare linguistic phenomena are described, such as the syntax characteristic of individual words, including verbs, the formation of word forms which exhibit certain peculiarities, and, finally, idiomatic expressions.”
During your studies be sure to also take note of certain enclitic personal pronouns which are also featured, such as the following: (/ˈklɪtɪk/ from Greek κλιτικός klitikos, “inflexional”) a morpheme in morphology and syntax that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but depends phonologically on another word or phrase. Latin had three enclitics that appeared in second or third position of a clause: denim ‘indeed, for’, autumn ‘but, moreover’, vero ‘however’… etcetera.
