There are several web posts that list all of the difficulties that foreign learners of Polish face. So why don't we ever see the brighter side of things?

How many times have you been told that Polish is a horror language that requires a great deal of work to learn? It can't really be so terrifying! Here are a few things that can help you practise more effectively!

1. 1. Zero Spell BEES

To conclude that English spelling is perplexing is an understatement; its grammar rules are notoriously contradictory, if not illogical, reflecting the language's complicated past. Consider the following words: Cough, however, through. It would be reasonable to presume they are all pronounced roughly the same way, but English is much more complicated than that. Polish orthography, on the other hand, is largely phonemic, which means that written letters (graphemes) normally equate to actual spoken sounds (phonemes), and after you understand the simple spelling codes, nothing will ever catch you off guard. There are a few orthographic traps here and there - the letter "ó" sounds exactly like "u" and "rz" is pronounced exactly like "" - but overall, it can be argued that Polish spelling laws are a piece of cake as opposed to English spelling rules.

2. BEYOND LIMITATION

Polish has a more versatile word order than English or German due to its heavily inflected nature. The sense of the sentence is carried by the endings of the sentences, and although it is necessary to get the declension correct, you do not need to focus too much on the location of the verb or the sentence subject. Unsurprisingly, the basic word order is the same as in English (subject-verb-object), but you can reverse it and still be understood (object-verb-subject). However, keep in mind that such changes will move the focus from one word to another.

3. LOW PRESSURE

To international ears, Polish intonation and rhythm can sound "flat," but the place of stress in words is quite predictable. Most of the time, the primary stress falls on the same (penultimate) syllable, so you don't have to worry about it too much.

4. COMMON LANGUAGE

If you do not speak any other Slavic language, Polish vocabulary will seem all Greek to you, but after a while, you will find quite a few familiar words. More loanwords from English (weekend, mecz, budet, komputer), French (biuro, fryzjer, portmonetka, biuteria) or German (dach, szlafrok, kartofel, handel) than you would think.

5. NO ONE IS PERFECT

The most important thing to remember when speaking every foreign language is that there is no shame in making mistakes - even native speakers make grammatical mistakes! In fact, Poles have difficulty conjugating certain terms, and few people can remember all of the numeral forms. That is not to suggest you should ignore grammar, but you should never be afraid to talk!

6. GRATITUDE

Regardless of how basic your Polish skills are, native speakers will undoubtedly appreciate your efforts. And that, more than anything else, will keep you motivated. Are you ready to begin your Polish lessons right away?