Amania is helping me to get a bit more daring with my Polish skills. She is letting me order food and other things for us and occasionally rescuing me.

This is the first beer I ordered in Polish on my own!

2 weeks ago

It has been an interesting first couple of days speaking Polish. Amania and her family seem to understand me. I am picking up perhaps every 10th word unless it is a phrase I know well. The thought running through my mind most of the time is “I know that word…but what the heck is it?” And occasionally I take great satisfaction when my hosts seem shocked that I know how to say something. It was interesting when I asked in Polish where the bathroom was located and was met ith a string of Polish words that sounded totally unfamiliar. Luckily, the speaker’s hand gesture saved me for having to say I did not understand. From where I started and for what I can do, I would give Pimsleur two thumbs up. Still, I am happy to have Amania for those difficult situations. 3 weeks ago

and trying to learn Polish is not as efficient as I thought. I lose count of my reps when listening to the language lessons on my IPOD. I can listen to music with no problem, but it doesn’t work as well listening to the language lessons. I will have to go back to listening to my language lessons during my work commute and listen to the news in the morning and evening at home. I really want to make some headway in both Polish and Spanish. 3 weeks ago

I’ve now completed Pimsleur’s Polish I audio course twice (in part because there is no Polish II). The second time was much easier and I learned new things as well as realized that I had forgotten some things by the time I went through an entire cycle. I should have enough time to go through the lessons one more time before the trip.

It is strange. I feel like I know greetings, pleasantries and travel phrases. So my language skills in any setting will be rather hit or miss. I think my skills will make me sound rather random, but sense that my friend and her family will be very understanding. 2 months ago

Today I finished Lesson 30 of Pimsleur’s Polish Language class. It is supposed to be 30 lessons in 30 days but it took me about four month.

I did not follow the directions to move on to the next language each day but instead, repeated lessons until I felt a sense of mastery. On average, most lessons took three repetitions to really learn. I seldom did lessons on weekends or holidays.

There are still three months before my trip. I plan to restart my lesson in a week. It has been so long since we did certain sections, that I’ve already forgotten some things. 4 months ago

Re started 4 months ago

almost every day. I still have a long way to go learning to sight read words. I have to learn the phonics of the language. I am still enjoying this goal. 5 months ago

It can be a challenge to keep language lessons fresh. I’ve been using the Pimsleur recordings in my car on the way to work and that is going well. Today, was an off day and not having any place to drive, I was a bit down about doing my lesson. If I do it at my desk, I tend to get bored and fall asleep.

So I decided this would be my classroom today, our local nature trails. I put on my headset and hiked for about 45 minutes while doing lesson 20. I wonder if anyone heard the man walking through the woods saying ”Come in; pleased to meet you” and “How many children do you have?” in Polish? 5 months ago

I’m up to lesson 16.

This morning I managed to say, “Excuse me, I understand Polish, but your speech is too expensive.”

I can only hope that my hosts have a good sense of humor. 6 months ago

I have to work on the basic phonics of the language, but I am doing a little better than I thought. I can pick out words from my co workers conversations, and it helps listening to them speak Polish and compare the sounds to what I am hearing on the lessons. I am going to have to get help with the basic phonics, but I think my boss would love to be the teacher on days we are not busy at work. 7 months ago

czesch!
if any of you join livemocha.com (a free language learning site that I prefer to rosetta stone) give me your username & we can be friends! 7 months ago

I want to visit Poland next year, and while I have a friend who lives there, I want to be able to communicate the basics on my own. A couple of weeks ago, I downloaded the Pimsleur Polish I. It is a struggle because the sounds are so different for me. BUT…I try everyday, mostly in my car during my long commutes. 7 months ago

I think that I will be able to learn enough from these cds and the book to communicate with the Polish speaking drivers at work. It will make it much easier on myself and on the drivers if we can communicate. I also want to learn enough that I can get my Polish speaking coworkers to help me with the more complicated communications down the road. I am hoping to get my GD and my daughters interested. Anyway, I am having fun learning Polish as well as Spanish. 8 months ago

A librarian at the Main Branch helped my find the Polish Language CD’s. He actually went and found them and then brought them back to me. I was impressed with his customer service. I discovered when I got home that although he gave me a short beginners course and a longer more indepth course, I will need to go back and get Part A of the more in depth course. He gave me Part B. I am going back to the library today after church. It is finally open on Sundays again since school has started. I will bring back the ones he gave me because I have already added them to my IPOD. I got a book on Polish Language, but I needed some audio to get familiar with the sounds. I am excited to get started. 8 months ago

I work with all Polish speaking or Spanish speaking people. I am going to try and use that to my advantage and focus on learning the two languages while at work. I help my co workers with their English all of the time. I edit their emails, read things they bring from home, and help them expand their vocabulary. I am going to get the same help from them. Everyone seems willing to help. I think we could all benefit from each other while getting paid to do our jobs. Thats what I call a 2 for. 8 months ago