Loud tape hiss on CDs, September 24, 2004

Apparently, when coming out with the new edition, the publisher spent the money to redesign the graphics of the book, but transferred the taped material to CD, without going through the very simple step of cleaning up the audio. The result is CDs that contain loud, annoying tape hiss. What a stupid move.

Don't forget the Tapes !!!, December 18, 2002

This book is well laid out and easy to follow. However, I made a big mistake and ordered the version without the Audio Tapes. If you are beginning to learn Polish DONT FORGET THE TAPES!! Without the tapes, it's easy to become intimidated by the pronunciation, and then become disheartned, like I did..... :(

Recommended if You're Not Easily Overwhelmed, July 6, 2002
Reviewer: A reader
Teach Yourself has been revising its language books lately, and the improvements have been remarkable. You are now given practical vocabulary and dialogues with which to learn the language, and the series is especially good for tourists or business persons intending to visit the countries where the language is spoken.

Truth be told, however, Polish can be intimidating at first with its unique orthography and pronunciation. The first unit of Teach Yourself Polish will definitely be a challenge unless you've had some Polish before. But, if you're patient, what seems insurmountable at first will eventually become second nature.

The grammar notes are excellent, introducing points in a logical and consistent fashion. Certain points are introduced early and developed more thoroughly later. However, it is sometimes difficult to locate a point that was covered early in the text without thumbing page-by-page through the book since it contains NO index. If you order this book, you should try to obtain the version containing cassettes. Though they are fairly Spartan (presenting, as it were, only half the dialogues covered in the text), they are helpful for pronunciation and intonation.

By the way, this book contains twenty units, not eighteen, as the editorial review indicates.

Horrible, February 27, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
This book is probly the worst Polish book in existance. It includes very little grammer and has a very confusing format. It's simply bad, bad, bad, bad. Dont make the same mistake I did. DONT BUY THIS BOOK.

Average book, June 21, 2000

this was the first book for polish that i purchased but not the last. i got by with the book for a period of time and found it to be a quality book but nothing special. i guess what sort of slowed my progress is the fact that from day one they just threw you into the conversations. while some people might actually like this, it was a pain for me to have to be checking the word/expression list over and over for every single expression. i have found other books to be more helpful.

easy-to-read modern book on Polish for beginners, January 21, 1999
Reviewer: A reader
This book is clearly written, and easy to understand. Instead of overwhelming you with huge amounts of grammar to MEMORIZE, it takes a more conversational approach, and explains cases and conjugations as they come up. The chapters are short enough and varying. If you haven't already noticed, there are few decent books on Polish. This is a beginner course, but I am pleased with it so far.