- 1). Learn the Polish alphabet. Polish uses essentially the same alphabet as English, with the addition of some special accented characters. Review a copy of the Polish alphabet, such as that on the Omniglot language website, and familiarize yourself with the order of the letters. Practice copying out the alphabet in your own handwriting to make it easier to remember.
- 2). Master Polish pronunciation. The stress in Polish words falls on the penultimate syllable, so the name of the capital city "Warszawa" pronounced with the emphasis on "sza." Use online resources such as the audio files on the Apronus website (apronus.com/learnpolish) to listen to the correct pronunciation of each letter of the Polish alphabet. Repeat each letter aloud, comparing your pronunciation to that of the audio track. Pay particular attention to letters that look the same in English and Polish but have different pronunciations. The Polish letter "j," for example, always sounds like the "y" in English "you" and never like the "j" in English "jar."
- 3). Expand your Polish vocabulary. Use websites such as Zem (zem.co.uk/polish) to learn basic Polish phrases such as "good morning," "please" and "I understand." When you encounter a phrase for the first time, say it aloud to yourself to practice your Polish pronunciation. Write the phrase down in a notebook to help you remember how it is spelled and increase your chances of recognizing it again. Develop a system for learning Polish vocabulary, ideally setting aside half-hour each day to learn new Polish words.
- 4). Study Polish grammar. Use websites such as Polish Grammar (polishgrammar.com) to read about the basic grammatical rules in Polish. Polish has seven grammatical cases and the ending of nouns changes depending on the gender, case and number of the noun. Study the rules one at a time and complete the online drills and exercises to test your understanding.
- 5). Expose yourself to as much Polish as possible. One of the easiest ways to learn Polish is by immersing yourself in the language. Listen to Polish-language radio broadcasts, such as those available for download on the website of BBC Polska, to develop your listening comprehension skills. Practice your reading skills by reading about Polish current affairs via the online Polish newspaper, "Gazeta." This will increase your understanding of Polish culture and you will absorb new vocabulary by seeing it used in context.
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