Learning second language....tips?

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Bulldawg

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I am starting to learn to speak polish since my girlfriend (soon to be engaged) is polish(she speaks english and polish). I downloaded a system she sent me to learn on the comp. What should I try to learn first? Words? or the alphabet? Any other tips for learning a new language would be nice. thanks!
 
It would be good to get a proper course book if you can find any. Learning words without grammar wouldn’t be very effective and at the same time, learning grammar won’t really be feasible without a certain range of vocabulary. Generally only course books or good teachers balance this well.
 
If you have the money, I would do Rosetta Stone. I’m doing it with French – I already knew some, took it in high school and college. I really like the course. I bought a one-year subscription for something, like, $95. I went in with the University here, though, that was offering it through one of their programs so don’t know how much it would be normally.
 
My advice is to be patient and make sure your expectations are realistic. Many students drop out of language courses because they think they’ll become fluent in the language in just a few weeks. Unless you’re unusually adept at learning languages or you’re immersed in the language 24 hours a day, it will take you a year or two of study before you can comfortably use the language in a non-artificial setting.

A rough plan of study:

Phase 1 - Get coursework in the language to memorize a basic vocabulary and learn the commonly used grammar. Make sure you balance your studies between the spoken and the written form of the language. If you spend too much time on the written language at first, you will develop misconceptions of how the sounds and it will be much harder to speak the language properly later.

Phase 2 - After you finish your basic coursework, continue with the intermediate coursework, but supplement your studies with simple newspaper articles. Watch Polish movies with English subtitles and see how many words you can pick out. Speak the language whenever you can. Try to get to the point where you can understand at least a third of what’s being said in a “natural” setting.

Phase 3 - Now it’s time to remove the “training wheels” and immerse yourself in the language. Watch as much Polish TV as you can (without English subtitles). Immerse yourself in Polish books, music, and websites. Now that you have a working knowledge of the language, it’s time to learn how to think in Polish and not internally translate everything into English. The way to do this is to eliminate all use of English from your practice and only work in Polish.

Good luck!
 
I say learn the alphabet first. If you try to write down Polish words using English letters, I suspect you’ll get the pronunciation wrong because they’re not written accurately. Once you have the basics of the alphabet down, you can begin to learn vocabulary and transcribe it accurately.
 
Bulldawg said:
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     I am starting to learn to speak polish since my girlfriend (soon to be engaged) is polish(she speaks english and polish). I downloaded a system she sent me to learn on the comp. What should I try to learn first? Words? or the alphabet? Any other tips for learning a new language would be nice. thanks!
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take a class. It’s more fun!
 
I second Nanny PK and Rosetta Stone.

Also, once you have your bearings, go to a place where Polish is spoken, sort of a day vacation. Chicago has a HUGE Polish population, as does Milwaukee and parts of Texas. Give your second language some practice in a real setting. These communities also offer resources to purchase Polish books, tapes, and movies.
 
Just to clarify, what do you mean by alphabet?

Polish uses the same basic alphabet as English, but the letters don’t always make the same sounds.

Some of the other Slavic languages (like Russian) use the cyrillic alphabet, which has different letters alltogether.

It would be a good idea to start by learning the sounds all the letters and letter combinations make, but you don’t need to learn a new writing system.
 
Thanks for the tips! I am slowly starting to learn the letter sounds. Its actually pretty interesting trying to talk in a different language.
 
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