Speak Polish
Being Polish is something that Polish people are proud of. It is very interesting!
Contents
Steps
- Get serious about speaking Polish: Practice every day.
- Immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. Visit Poland!
- Talk to people and find out what the language is like.
- Learn some basic words like "Hello" and "Nice to meet you". Do not ask for curse words!
- Learn how to roll your tongue as each 'r' has to be rolled.
- Get a book, CD or computer software on how to pronounce Polish words. Use this guide to help you: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Polish/Polish_pronunciation
- Start with these introductory phrases:
- Hi - Cześć (pronounced something like chesh-ch. The "Cz" combination is like "ch" in church or "t" in truck! The last letter "ć" is much softer like "ch" in cheetah, or cheap)
- Hello - Witaj (vee-tie a little bit more formal but easier on your tongue than 'cześć')
- Hello - Dzień dobry (djen do-bri, meaning "Good day")
- How are you?- Jak się masz? (Yak she mash) (Informal)
- How are you, (Miss/Madam)? - Jak się Pani ma? (Yak she pa-nee ma?, formal to a woman)
- How are you, (Sir)? - Jak się Pan ma? (Yak she pan ma, formal to a man)
- I am good - (Mam się) dobrze (mam she dob-zhe)
- I am bad - (Mam się) źle
- Can you speak Polish? - Czy umiesz mówić po polsku?
- Do you speak English? - Mówisz po angielsku? - informal (Moo-veesh po ang-yel-skoo?)
- Do you speak English? - Czy mówi Pani po angielsku? (Chi moo-vee pa-nee po ang-yel-skoo?) (formal, to a woman)
- Do you speak English? - Czy mówi Pan po angielsku?(Chi moo-vee pan po ang-yel-skoo?) (formal, to a man)
- Tak, mówię - Yes, I do.
- Nie, nie mówię - No, I don't.
- Troszkę - A little bit.
- What is your name? - Jak masz na imię? (Informal, first name only)
- My name is Jan - Mam na imię Jan.
- What is your (full) name?- Jak się nazywasz? (Informal, first name + last name)
- My name is Zenon Stefaniak - Nazywam się Zenon Stefaniak.
- Nice to meet you - Miło mi Cię poznać (informal)
- Nice to meet you (Miss/Madam)- Miło mi Panią poznać (formal, to a woman)
- Nice to meet you (Sir) - Miło mi Pana poznać (formal, to a man)
- Goodbye! - Do widzenia! (Do vee-dze-nya)
- Bye! - Cześć (informal)
- See you soon - Na razie (informal)
- See you soon - Do zobaczenia (formal)
- Yes - Tak
- No - Nie
- Please - Proszę
- Thank you - Dziękuję (djen-koo-ye)
- You are welcome - Proszę
- Excuse me! Sorry! - Przepraszam. (pshe-pra-sham)
Tips
- Listen when someone is saying it and repeat exactly what you hear.
- Don't get discouraged; just keep at it! You can do it!
- Don't worry about not having the pronunciation exactly right! Of course you will always have a little bit of an accent.
Warnings
- Many Poles will tell you Polish is very hard, do not listen to this!
- Don't be scared to try to speak in Polish. It is never too late to try!
- Don't worry about not having the pronunciation exactly right! Of course, you will always have a little bit of an accent.
- Don't get discouraged; just keep at it! You can do it!
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