Learn POLISH FAST with MASTER LANGUAGE (14 CDs & 1 Book based course)

I was dissapointed with the Master Language course on 3 accounts. Firstly although 14 cd are provided non have more that 15 mins audio. I am sure all 14 lessons could have been put on 2 cd maximum. As another reviewer has commented the audio quality is not the best. Personally I dont mind too much because in the real world speech is often not crystal clear so having to train your ears to listen closely is not such a bad thing. My final gripe is the quality of the printed book. It is average b/w photo copy quality. On the plus side I am finding the material very useful and I have already noticed an improvement in my comprehension of Polish. I would add that I dont think this course suits a beginner but for someone who has been learning Polish on and off for 4 years it is a useful course. There are not many Polish language courses to choose from so you have to do the best with whats available. Despite my reservations I am still glad I bought the course.

Great value for money (2/2 people found this helpful)

I recently bought one of these courses, it comes as described with 14 CDs and a large, very detailed book. The package itself is neatly supplied in a box (as in the photo) and shrink wrapped. The information, as explained in the description is based on the popular Foreign Service courses hence the political information being from the 90s. This is not really of any importance though to the learning of the language. A great course, especially at the discounted rate Amazon are selling it at.

First Class Polish Course (4/5 people found this helpful)

I've tried 2 other Polish courses, one from a well known name in language training. This one is by far the best. The training builds from the basics to a very solid base, and I found myself able to speak, and even think, in Polish very quickly. Really excellent, good quality CDs, very clear to listen to, and a book that is immensely readable and pulls the course together. I would recommend this to anyone who is serious about learning Polish.

Terrible sound quality (14/15 people found this helpful)

According to Amazon "Learn Polish Fast with Master language" was published on 10 Jul 2007. I don't know whether that is true but it certainly wasn't recorded this side of the millenium. A passage early in the course refers to John Major being the Prime Minister of Britain and Jim Baker being Secretary of State in the US. To be honest, I am amazed that it was recorded even in John Major's time - the sound quality is so poor that it sounds like a 1940s radio. That it was clearly developed for diplomats and contains instructions like "practice denying who you are" adds to feeling of it being from a bygone era. It may come on 14 CDs (some containing only 10-15 minutes of audio), but it sounds like it was first recorded on vinyl, transferred to tape, then transferred again to CD. The fact that there is one track per CD (which makes navigation painful) seems to back up the theory that it wasn't originally produced on CD.

My initial reaction to the course itself was that there would be a lot of vocabulary included. There is quite a lot (certainly including some bits that I was shocked to find missing from the Pimsleur courses), but the shortness of each CD means that the total is not going to be as great as one might have expected. Also, the way that it is presented is not conducive to self-learning, other than possibly for someone very dedicated. It must be used in an environment where the book is used constantly and where the CD player being used allows easy replay of sections within the same track. Definitely do not expect to be using these CDs whilst driving unless you are just using them for revision. If you have done other courses and then listen to these then it'll be useful revision, but if you are a beginner you really need to work from the book and listen to the CD repeatedly alongside using the book.

My advice is simple, do NOT buy this until such time as it is re-recorded without the hiss and with better structure. Giving this one star may not do justice to the amount of material, but is based on the sound quality, poor navigation, the structure and the feeling of having been cheated by the minimal amount of audio on each CD.

By the way - the product description says that this course comes with "two substantial textbooks". It actually comes with one book, substantial enough not to be something I would want to carry on the train every day (my usual place of study).

Learn POLISH FAST with MASTER LANGUAGE (14 CDs & 1 Book based course)

Foreign Service Institute

Reader Reviews:

Useful for some people (3/3 people found this helpful)

Great value for money (2/2 people found this helpful)

First Class Polish Course (4/5 people found this helpful)

Terrible sound quality (14/15 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories