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Polish or Russian? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Ashiro Groupie United Kingdom learnxlanguage.com/ Joined 5803 days ago 89 posts - 101 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 37 17 May 2009 at 6:32pm | IP Logged |
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When I start learning my first Slavic language I wondered which to go for. Russian is probably the more popular and has the biggest population, economy and more chic value. But something pulls me to Poland too. I also know a Polish ex-patriate which could be helpful.
Which should I go for first? Which would be most useful to me in future? Anybody out there learnt both? I'm a native English speaker learning Spanish and plan to learn Japanese and a Slavic language in the future. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ashiro Groupie United Kingdom learnxlanguage.com/ Joined 5803 days ago 89 posts - 101 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 37 17 May 2009 at 8:37pm | IP Logged |
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I don't much about Polish culture but is it as rich and diverse as Russian? What are the Polish people like towards foreigners speaking their language?
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| Wojtek Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 5671 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Polish*, English | Message 3 of 37 17 May 2009 at 9:34pm | IP Logged |
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Hello Ashiro
I am from Poland so I think I can answer some of your questions.The most important difference between Polih and Russian is the aplhabet.Russians write in cyrylic (?) so this is additional thing to learn, Poles use the usual latin alphabet with some extentions.So from this point of view Polish is easier to learn.On the other hand I have to agree Russian is (or can be in the future) more popular.I know Russian too (at intermidiate level) and what I can tell is both languages are really difficlult like hell ;( Answering your second post: I have a great respect for all the foreigners trying to speak Polish since I am aware how terrible to lear my language is :) And I think foreigners speaking even some single words in Polish are always welcome and treated with understanding regards, Wojtek 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6904 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 4 of 37 17 May 2009 at 9:49pm | IP Logged |
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As far as Polish culture is concerned, you have to keep in mind the fact that Poland is much smaller than Russia (even if it's hard to call it a small country in European perspective. I find the culture rich and diverse. You may know poets such as Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz (Nobel prize winners) or film directors: Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polański. And that's just a few examples of Polish contemporary culture. You would definitely find something for you.
As Wojtek has already written, foreigners speaking Polish are always welcome. Poles are absolutely sure about their language being one of the most difficult in the world (which is not true), and they always have a lot of understanding. They usually thrilled (and a bit surprised) to hear that a foreigner is learning Polish, and they are usually eager to help. Polish doesn't seem to be an unreasonable choice, especially in the UK where there are lots of Polish immigrants and as far as I know, Polish is getting more popular now. Quite many immigrants don't speak English well which may leave some job opportunities for English native speakers who learned Polish. (But there're many Polish immigrants with excellent command of English, too - in Poland they're more difficult to find). Which language - Polish or Russian - will be more useful in future, depends strongly on your future plans and ideas. I would choose the one you find more appealing. If you don't know which one it is, Russian will probably be better. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Eimii Groupie United States Joined 5833 days ago 44 posts - 47 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Polish | Message 5 of 37 18 May 2009 at 1:04am | IP Logged |
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They're both difficult, but I think Polish is more difficult. Now, I haven't started learning Polish yet, but I've read some things about it. Both Russian and Polish have the case system. The Russian verb system is much less complex than than the Polish system. Russian does have Cyrillic, but this isn't very difficult to learn. I haven't worked with Polish pronunciation, but Russian can be difficult sometimes (you will know when you meet that cursed soft sign). Russian has many more native speakers and, I would argue, a richer literary history. So I would suggest Russian at first.
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| anthox Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6001 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Portuguese, Polish, Russian | Message 6 of 37 18 May 2009 at 9:11am | IP Logged |
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I was sort of in the same dilemma you are facing now. I only first really got exposed to the Polish language around three years ago, and I really was taken with the way it sounds and how it looks when written. I toyed with the idea of seriously studying it for some time, but then I decided to pick Russian as my introduction to Slavic languages, for a number of reasons (wanting to learn a lang. that uses a different script, has a more prominent literary history, interesting culture, good starting point for other Slav langs as well as for accessing material for Caucasian languages, and also it is my second-favorite Slav language in terms of phonology/sound).
So for a while I dedicated myself to Russian, trying to stay away from Polish so as not to confuse myself but still visiting her like a mistress every so often, learning some vocab, grammar here and there, etc. After about 5 or 6 months of fairly regular Russian study, I was becoming frustrated. The Cyrillic alphabet is easy to learn, yes, but I never realized how enmeshed my psyche is in Latin letters. I can easily remember a Russian word after hearing it spoken several times, but I discovered I had great difficulty retaining words I had read, simply because the Cyrillic letters would not stick themselves into my brain. I'd sound out the word and involuntarily Latinize it in my mind, and this was the only way I could remember it. Couple this with the relative difficulty of Russian grammar overall, and I started to burn out on it. I certainly intend to pick up again with Russian in the future, but for the last two months I've switched my focus to Polish and am really excited about studying it. I've been able to acquire grammar and vocab much easier, and don't have to feel like I'm committing some affront to the language by imagining it in Latin letters :). Sure, Polish literature is not hugely famous or even much known outside Poland, but this just leaves a trove of hidden gems to discover (I would assume at least... don't disappoint me, pisarzy!). Sorry for the long diatribe, hopefully my experience is relevant. Either language's usefulness obviously depends on whether you plan on visiting places where it's spoken, or frequenting people who speak it. Certainly, though, knowing one will make learning the other one later much easier. I would say to go with your gut, though, and pick whichever one appeals to you more... neither will be a wasted experience. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5839 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 7 of 37 18 May 2009 at 5:15pm | IP Logged |
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The usefulness and popularity of Polish as a foreign language is probably suffering from the fact that Poles are willing and able to learn other languages; German, English, Russian.. Unless I was planning to live in Poland or have regular dealings with Poland, I'd choose Russian any day.
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| Ashiro Groupie United Kingdom learnxlanguage.com/ Joined 5803 days ago 89 posts - 101 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 37 18 May 2009 at 7:10pm | IP Logged |
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What bothers me with Rusian is that by learning it I effectively 'alienate' most of Eastern Europe even though they may speak it.
Whereas if I learn Polish I could make myself understood in some of the other Slavic countries without the baggage of history. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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