Comments on: “A Grammar of Contemporary Polish” by Oscar E Swan

By: David

David — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:36:03 +0000

Cześć,

Reading through the above, I would like to mention the Universitas series, the first books of which, by Władysław Miodunka, are excellent imho.

These two books -

Cześć, jak się masz, part one Spotykamy się w Polsce and
Cześć, jak się masz, part two Spotkajmy się w Europie

are the same books used in the Polish courses taught at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and elsewhere in Poland (for immigrants).

All cases and elementary grammatical points are covered, leaving certain subjects for more advanced works. The series includes about 10 more books on various topics.

http://www.universitas.com.pl is their site. For New York students, these books can be found in bookstores in Greenpoint.

As for Swan, true, he is a bit technical, but most of the time, these explanations can be hopped over. It’s not easy to reword the ideas in nontechnical language, and after a couple of years of study, when the points begin to become important, often you’ve picked up much if not all of that vocabulary anyway. Polish is difficult!

Powodzenia,

David B.

By: Ronald Small

Ronald Small — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:46:44 +0000

Hi Ana,
Thank you for revue of Contemporary Polish,
For me it is a good reference and definitely worth the money for the $35 it probably costs. Im pretty
sure you can obtain them from one of those crazy
University of Pittsburgh websites. I intend to write a review of Wsrod Polakow I & 2, Right now I will be going on vacation for a week.
Regards Ron,

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:36:05 +0000

Hi David!
I’m so glad that you found the book useful! I have to admit, I use it too, and I’d be lost without it, but it could be better. And yes, I am planning to visit the UK, maybe in March or April for a couple of days, I want to go to Wincanton. LOL!

Pino,
I ordered the Dana Bielec book, but it got lost in the mail and Amazon didn’t want to give me a refund. They wouldn’t send me another book either. So that one is still on my list.

By: David Honley

David Honley — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:39:24 +0000

Hi Anna!
Hope you enjoyed your trip to Antigua… You really ought to visit the dear old UK properly – haha. Anyway, re Oscar E Swan’ ‘A Grammar of Contemporary Polish’ (I got my new copy about 3 years ago for about £25 – lucky me – and I find the book very useful) at present there are five copies available on Amazon.co.uk, new and used copies, from about £50 to £75!! But of greater interest there are 2 brand new copies for $25-$30 on Amazon.com (postage free). Anyone wanting a copy of this book should grab a copy from Amazon.com immediately!
Pozdrawiam serdecznie, David

By: pinolona

pinolona — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:37:15 +0000

I really recommend Dana Bielec’s books (although recently I’ve been too lazy to look stuff up in them and resorted to guessing – a very dangerous game).

I ordered ‘Teach Yourself’ before arriving for the first time but Amazon (or my boss’s credit card) screwed up so I re-ordered Colloquial Polish by Bolesław Mazur (Routeledge). It’s not enough to learn Polish by itself – the grammar is introduced very quickly and then you’re on to the next thing – but it’s quite useful for listening practice. You get two CDs to go with the book and they start from simple conversations and move up to more complicated stuff. To start with I found it hard finding stuff I could listen to and have an outside chance of understanding, so from that perspective it’s very helpful.
It’s also much easier than trying to watch iTVP or Londynczycy on YouTube…