Polish pronunciation

Polish pronunciation and foreigners

Polish people are very open to foreigners and foreigners trying to learn Polish.  However it is almost impossible to speak Polish without an accent, if you did not grow up and live your whole life n Poland.

Polish accents

With some minor exceptions like, those from the Tatra mountains or the East, Poland really does not have regional variations in accent.  So Polish people can tell if you are not 100 % homegrown Polish.

How sensitive are Polish ears

That is right, if you learned Polish from yours parents in the States, Polish people can tell. If you are Polish born, but then move to the UK for a while, guess what, Polish people can tell. Even a few years abroad, can in some cases, change your Polish orthographically perfect Polish accent into something else. Polish grammar is hard enough, however, Polish orthography and pronunciation is maybe harder. So that when Poles hear you speak, they will make a comment among themselves, oh he must have lived abroad for a while, you can hear his accent.  Usually when they are watching someone on TV.  It is not always the case of course. However, Polish has such rich distinct sounds, you pronunciation will be off if you do not hear and use it everyday. This makes Polish not only the hardest language to learn but also the most pronunciation sensitive language in the world.

Tags: hardest-language-to-learn, Polish, Polish-grammar, Polish-pronunciation