There is a lot of opportunity if you want to learn Polish. Poland is a country with a large population and a growing economy and there is a sizeable number of Polish-speaking people in the US and pockets in Europe.
Polish is a rich and interesting language. Like its cousin Slavic languages Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovenian and others, Polish has a complex grammar. There are also some interesting consonant clusters and nasalized sounds. Luckily, Polish uses the Roman alphabet, so you don't have to worry about fumbling around with a new alphabet.
Unfortunately, the published language learning methods for Polish are not as abundant or as complete as with some other languages. Here are some of the best resources to begin your quest to learn Polish.
Internet/FreeSkwierzyna.net This site has a basic pronunciation guide and some free downloadable PDFs for grammar and basic phrases to get you started learning Polish.
Internet/FreeELEaston.com This is a great site for finding resources to help you learn Polish. Lots of links for grammar, news, audio, reading materials etc.
Internet/Freeicanlearnenglish.com This is a site for Polish speakers learning English, but the site also has instructions in English and lots of MP3 audio of basic words and phrases in Polish. There is also a podcast.
Book/Audio Combo/Inexpensive Teach Yourself Polish
Teach Yourself is a longstanding line of language learning products and one of the most popular and easy to find courses. They offer a coursebook with 2 audio cds to get you started on the path to learn the Polish language.
Audio Only Pimsleur Comprehensive Polish I
Pimsleurs Polish Comprehensive Level 1 is a new addition to the Pimsleur line. Pimsleurs all-audio format is a great introduction to the language, and with it you'll develop a better accent and conversation ability than with any other published language method. It's a great way to begin to learn Polish. For a more in-depth look at how Pimsleur products work, read my
review of Pimsleur products,
or you can listen to the first lesson of Pimsleur Polish free below!
Software
Transparent Polish Premium uses native speaker audio, text, video, games and dialogues to immerse you in the Polish language. With 15,000 words in mp3 format to use in your iPod or mp3 player and it can be fully integrated with BYKI. And it has a six month guarantee. Overall, a great resource to learn Polish!