Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

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aspiringpolyglot
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Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby aspiringpolyglot » Tue Oct 17, 2017 9:55 am

Hi everyone,

I've recently got my hands on the Assimil book 'Polnisch ohne Mühe' and looking forward to getting stuck in. Trouble is, I only bought the book and have no audio for it.

Q1. Do you think I can realistically go through the book just using the pronunciation guide? I've noticed even flicking through the first couple of lessons that I'm unsure of how to pronounce some things but of course it's a language I've got not prior knowledge of.

Q2. If I were to buy the audio, does anyone know where I can get my hands on it for a reasonable price? I've had a look online and everywhere seems really expensive (or I'm not looking in the right places).

Q3. For all the other Polish learners out there; what other resources have you used, either standalone or in conjunction with other materials, to help learn/improve in Polish.

Q4. And finally, anyone have recommendations for some Polish music that I could listen to? I'll give most things a shot but generally not heavy metal/rock stuff. Mostly just something with a catchy tune.

Sorry for the long first post. Help is always welcomed :)
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Speakeasy
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby Speakeasy » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:31 am

Welcome to the forum!
I encourage you to roam through the different sections of the forum, read and learn as much as you can, ask questions, and contribute your own thoughts on language learning. Now then, while I do not have a copy of Assimil Polish course, I can respond to some of your questions.

Assimil Polish Audio
Aside from the websites of the major online booksellers, I do not know of a source of the audio for the Assimil Polish course.

Assimil’s Pronunciation Guide
In my opinion, irrespective of the pairs of languages involved, the use of Assimil’s pronunciation guide alone would be insufficient for the development of an acceptable appreciation of the target language’s sound system. There are numerous free resources available on the internet for learning the Polish sound system. However, most of them operate in isolation, working through a basic course with accompanying audio recordings would be a much more effective approach.

Other Resources for Learning Polish
Fellow member Chung is the resident expert on Slavic languages and, while he has not been as active of late, I do hope that he reads your post and takes the time to respond. In the meantime, I have appended below a few links that might be useful.

Proposed Polish profile -- A language learners’ forum, August 2016
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3527

Polish Profile – HTLAL, November 2005
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1557&PN=1

Assimil Polish – HTLAL, October 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39463

Level with polish assimil - HTLAL, March 2015
Although, in the attached discussion thread, I remarked that I had a copy of Assimil Le Polonais, please note that I subsequently gave it to a friend of mine of Polish ancestry. I did not keep a copy of the audio files and, as my wife reminded me only recently, in an entirely different context, of course: "Ce qui est donné ... est donné!" Nevertheless, some of the comments in the attached discussion thread might be of use to you.
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40184&PN=4

Good luck with your studies!

EDITED:
Included the link to "Level with polish assimil"
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aravinda
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby aravinda » Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:33 pm

aspiringpolyglot wrote:Q1. Do you think I can realistically go through the book just using the pronunciation guide? I've noticed even flicking through the first couple of lessons that I'm unsure of how to pronounce some things but of course it's a language I've got not prior knowledge of.

No, I can't imagine any beginner successfully using an Assimil book without audio especially if it is their sole method. Of course, one can use other resources to learn pronunciation along with the Assimil book but then the whole point of using an Assimil method is lost. Personally, I think Assimil methods are great (but usually not as a first method when the language is "distant" ). I don't know about Polnisch ohne Mühe book but their pronunciation guides for some languages are not much of a help.
aspiringpolyglot wrote:Q2. If I were to buy the audio, does anyone know where I can get my hands on it for a reasonable price? I've had a look online and everywhere seems really expensive (or I'm not looking in the right places).

Yes, the audio component of Assimil methods is very expensive. There is some chance of finding a used CD set or mp3 CD on sites like eBay or Abe. For most methods (but not all, please check before buying) whatever the base language the audio is the same. So having your searches for audio saved as " Assimil Polonais", "Assimil Polnisch" etc might help: You will get an alert when a product meeting your search terms turns up.
I am sorry but I don't have any Polish recommendations as I am not familiar with the language. I wish you all the best!
Last edited by aravinda on Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby Theodisce » Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:56 pm

As far as music is concerned, I would suggest artist like Maanam, Perfect, Budka Suflera, Varius Manx, Hey, Edyta Bartosiewicz, Lady Pank, Republika, Kasia Kowalska, Kayah, Anita Lipnicka, Anna Maria Jopek, Myslovitz. Those are "mainstream" artists who became popular in 80ties and 90ties. While some of them tend towards rock, their music is played in mainstream media and the "rock" part is not to heavy. Note that I excluded hard rock, metal, punk and reggae, which were thriving in during the final decade of the communist rule and in the 90ties. Neither did I include the much despised genre called disco polo. The music industry in Poland has been fairly huge ever since the end of the last world war, so there is no shortage of good artists. Lyrics are predominantly in Polish. As you are fluent in German, you may benefit from reading this article: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polnische_Popmusik .
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby aspiringpolyglot » Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:30 pm

Speakeasy wrote:Welcome to the forum!
I encourage you to roam through the different sections of the forum, read and learn as much as you can, ask questions, and contribute your own thoughts on language learning. Now then, while I do not have a copy of Assimil Polish course, I can respond to some of your questions.

Assimil Polish Audio
Aside from the websites of the major online booksellers, I do not know of a source of the audio for the Assimil Polish course.

Assimil’s Pronunciation Guide
In my opinion, irrespective of the pairs of languages involved, the use of Assimil’s pronunciation guide alone would be insufficient for the development of an acceptable appreciation of the target language’s sound system. There are numerous free resources available on the internet for learning the Polish sound system. However, most of them operate in isolation, working through a basic course with accompanying audio recordings would be a much more effective approach.

Other Resources for Learning Polish
Fellow member Chung is the resident expert on Slavic languages and, while he has not been as active of late, I do hope that he reads your post and takes the time to respond. In the meantime, I have appended below a few links that might be useful.

Proposed Polish profile -- A language learners’ forum, August 2016
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3527

Polish Profile – HTLAL, November 2005
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1557&PN=1

Assimil Polish – HTLAL, October 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39463

Level with polish assimil - HTLAL, March 2015
Although, in the attached discussion thread, I remarked that I had a copy of Assimil Le Polonais, please note that I subsequently gave it to a friend of mine of Polish ancestry. I did not keep a copy of the audio files and, as my wife reminded me only recently, in an entirely different context, of course: "Ce qui est donné ... est donné!" Nevertheless, some of the comments in the attached discussion thread might be of use to you.
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40184&PN=4

Good luck with your studies!

EDITED:
Included the link to "Level with polish assimil"


Thanks for taking the time to write such an extensive reply. Much appreciated! I'll definitely have a look through all the links you've posted

Xander
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aspiringpolyglot
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby aspiringpolyglot » Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:33 pm

aravinda wrote:Yes, the audio component of Assimil methods is very expensive. There is some chance of finding a used CD set or mp3 CD on sites like eBay or Abe. For most methods (but not all, please check before buying) whatever the base language the audio is the same. So having your searches for audio saved as " Assimil Polonais", "Assimil Polnisch" etc might help: You will get an alert when a product meeting your search terms turns up.
I am sorry but I don't have any Polish recommendations as I am not familiar with the language. I wish you all the best!


I'll keep in mind the suggestion about searching using different languages. Thanks

Xander
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby neumanc » Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:44 pm

Hello aspiringpolyglot, Assimil "Polnisch ohne Mühe" including book and cds is currently available on Ebay-Kleinanzeigen for 15 Euros plus shipping: https://m.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/polnisch-lernen/720228507-271-736. Good luck!
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aspiringpolyglot
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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby aspiringpolyglot » Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:48 pm

neumanc wrote:Hello aspiringpolyglot, Assimil "Polnisch ohne Mühe" including book and cds is currently available on Ebay-Kleinanzeigen for 15 Euros plus shipping: https://m.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/polnisch-lernen/720228507-271-736. Good luck!


I already have the book. I'm guessing the shipping wouldn't be too costly though. Thanks for sharing neumanc!

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Re: Polnisch ohne Mühe - Assimil

Postby Voytek » Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:03 pm

Find a decent pronucnciation guide on youtube and use a handmirror to master, as far as possible for you, Polish pronunciation.

Maybe starting from minimal pairs is the most resonable course of action.

I don't want to scare you off but try to muse on this:
http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/~krynicki/my_pres/my_pres_6c.htm

Good luck.
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