In this video you will learn how to recognize and pronounce the Polish S, Ś and SZ sounds. This video is a sample of the "Polish Pronunciation Masterclass" course available on polishwithmoni...
I am moving full time to Poland so time to learn the language, so so happy I came across this channel. Pronunciation of sounds can be super difficult, and distinguishing between similar sounding letters or letter groupings is tough, one tip is to slow the video down to say 50% speed, and the subtleties start to appear. Another thing that would be super useful in videos is somehow to exaggerate the movement of mouth, tongue, lips, and explain what you are doing, as different movements produce different sounds. So for example, many of my Polish friends pronounce “that” as “dat” The “th” sound involves bringing the tongue forward more, which also changes the mouth shape, thus the pronunciation changes, and I show them this in an exagerated way. Being able to pronounce correctly is such an important foundational stone in a language as consonant heavy as Polish.
To me as a Czech speaker, it sound like ś is just an additional softening step in between s and š (Polish sz). I need to say, that this does not look like a particularly alcohol-friendly difference (too subtle a difference for when one loses the finesse of tongue and mouth from being drunk). :D
Thanks for the video! I found the tongue diagrams in Wikipedia helpful (search for the terms, TH-cam doesn’t like links in comments): • Retroflex consonants (tongue points upwards): ż dż cz sz • Alveolo-palatal consonants (tongue points downwards): ć ś ź dź Is this correct? The tongue positions would be the key difference for people who speak English because they are not used to them. Interestingly, Mandarin Chinese uses similar tongue positions for some of its consonants. “Hard” vs. “soft” doesn’t help me because these have many different meanings: voiceless vs. voiced, aspirated vs. unaspirated, etc.
(4:06) To my mind, in “siostra”, the combination “si” is *_just_* a positional digraph, an orthographic æquivalent of “ś”. Most probably, in order to use as few diacritics as it possible. Maybe y’all can realize this in some declensions/conjugations or comparing with “ni/ń”.
Yes, "si" before a vowel (a, ą, e, ę, i, o, ó, u, y) is a diagraph pronounced as [ś]. E.g. "siostra" [śostra], "siano" [śano]. If "si" is not followed by a vowel, then we pronounce it as [śi], e.g. "silny" [śilny], "nosi" [nośi].
@@PolishwithMonika Yep, agree. Though, I rather mean that your explanation that we should pronounce the quite short vowel “i” sounds like this vowel *_itself_* should be present - even tho’ it’s short. But, as far as it seems for me (as a Slav), this ain’t completely true - actually, this letter, when located between a consonant & a vowel, is (like in Lithuanian) intended *_only_* for palatalization and doesn’t pronounce *_at all._*
@Kyra Yeah, I might have simplified too much as I did not want to go into too many details but rather help to spot the difference. What I was referring to as the short version was [ś] and the longer version [śi].
There are more videos of this series available here: www.udemy.com/course/polish-pronunciation-masterclass/?referralCode=B400BCDFF3BFA846ED1F Videos on my TH-cam channel related to pronunciation are in the playlist "Learn Polish Pronunciation" th-cam.com/play/PLjmevIlHkTghlQj-ag-l0NVj9IbWzI9HH.html
Thank you soooooo so so much for this video! 🤍 I've only recently started learning Polish with Pimsleur. I'm on lesson 21 out of the 30 lessons they currently have, and I couldn't for the life of me hear the relevant difference between Kasia and kasza in their reading segment for that lesson. I know it's generally a bad idea for learning to try to assign English spellings to foreign sounds (like how the letter r isn't a good representation of the relevant sound in Japanese, as an example), but on watching your video, comparing to other sounds I've picked up on in my lessons so far, and trying to replicate the physical mouth shapes as you described them, I've figured out an English association that I think helps me. While both sz and si/ś can be associated with the English "sh", here's my connection to English spellings for the difference between the two: sz - I associate this with the English R sound. Something like "rsh" (in certain dialects, people might say "wash" so it sounds more like "warsh"... something akin to that sound) or "shr". Basically like the English "sh" and the English "r" sounds try to come out at the same time, combined with the tongue shape you described is the closest I've been able to replicate that sound. si/ś - This one I associate more with the English Y sound (the one at the start of the word "yes"). Again like with R before, it's a little like the English "y" and the English "sh" are both trying to come out at once, but of course the "sh" sound dominates over the "y" one. I'd also wager that si/ś is a bit closer to most instances of the "sh" sound for English in general, but that could just be the sound I'm used to hearing more where I live... Anyway, sorry for typing so much. Maybe another learner might find my comment helpful down the line, but even if not, thank you again for this video! Very helpful 😊
Thank you for the comment! I like the comparison of the English "r" and "y" sounds with Polish "sz" and "ś" sounds. This can be a huge help for those who read this! Often understanding the physical location of the tongue or teeth is very helpful in practicing pronunciation especially if we don't hear the difference.
This was a great explanation of how to actually produce the required sounds and mouthing techniques. Great job 👏
Best explanation of these sounds I have heard so far. Thanks!
To najlepszy film o tych trudnych literach. Dziękuję bardzo
The comparison of similar words but with the different sounds is SUPER SUPER helpful. Thank you! It helps me train my ear to hear the differences!
You are wonderful. Such an impressive way of teaching Polish. Wish I can learn perfectly. Thanks.
I am moving full time to Poland so time to learn the language, so so happy I came across this channel. Pronunciation of sounds can be super difficult, and distinguishing between similar sounding letters or letter groupings is tough, one tip is to slow the video down to say 50% speed, and the subtleties start to appear. Another thing that would be super useful in videos is somehow to exaggerate the movement of mouth, tongue, lips, and explain what you are doing, as different movements produce different sounds. So for example, many of my Polish friends pronounce “that” as “dat” The “th” sound involves bringing the tongue forward more, which also changes the mouth shape, thus the pronunciation changes, and I show them this in an exagerated way. Being able to pronounce correctly is such an important foundational stone in a language as consonant heavy as Polish.
Hi, just went for a package for 5 Polish lessons in Gdansk, and you just are 1000 times better. Dzieki!
This really helped make these sounds and hear the difference much more clearly. Thank you!!!
I started learning Polish a month ago... and finally! I get the difference between ś and sz. Your videos are helpful. Thank you so much! 👍🏻
Myslalem, te juz nie znajde lepszej nauczycielki polskiego a tu prosze jestes ty.
Learn more about the Polish pronunciation with my course "Polish Pronunciation Masterclass" available on my website: polishwithmonika.com.
Bardzo Dziękuje dla pani.naprawdę to jest fantastyczne lekcję.
Thank you so much for very important topic. I really like your lessons about pronunciation.
This was great! Can you do more pronunciation sounds?
To me as a Czech speaker, it sound like ś is just an additional softening step in between s and š (Polish sz). I need to say, that this does not look like a particularly alcohol-friendly difference (too subtle a difference for when one loses the finesse of tongue and mouth from being drunk). :D
Its more like Soft S, if you dont know how to say it just say Czech "S" or Czech "Sí"
Wow, amazing explaination.. I just subscribed to your channel, your other videos are really helpful as well
This is so helpful, thank you
Thanks for the video! I found the tongue diagrams in Wikipedia helpful (search for the terms, TH-cam doesn’t like links in comments):
• Retroflex consonants (tongue points upwards): ż dż cz sz
• Alveolo-palatal consonants (tongue points downwards): ć ś ź dź
Is this correct? The tongue positions would be the key difference for people who speak English because they are not used to them. Interestingly, Mandarin Chinese uses similar tongue positions for some of its consonants. “Hard” vs. “soft” doesn’t help me because these have many different meanings: voiceless vs. voiced, aspirated vs. unaspirated, etc.
Thank you. Am learning for her
I wish to meet her ❤️
Wow, outstanding video 👏👏👏
Fabulous! Magnifico!
Thank you so much ^^
the 2 sh sounding ones are hard but i think im getting it
This helped so much
(4:06)
To my mind, in “siostra”, the combination “si” is *_just_* a positional digraph, an orthographic æquivalent of “ś”. Most probably, in order to use as few diacritics as it possible. Maybe y’all can realize this in some declensions/conjugations or comparing with “ni/ń”.
Yes, "si" before a vowel (a, ą, e, ę, i, o, ó, u, y) is a diagraph pronounced as [ś]. E.g. "siostra" [śostra], "siano" [śano].
If "si" is not followed by a vowel, then we pronounce it as [śi], e.g. "silny" [śilny], "nosi" [nośi].
@@PolishwithMonika
Yep, agree. Though, I rather mean that your explanation that we should pronounce the quite short vowel “i” sounds like this vowel *_itself_* should be present - even tho’ it’s short. But, as far as it seems for me (as a Slav), this ain’t completely true - actually, this letter, when located between a consonant & a vowel, is (like in Lithuanian) intended *_only_* for palatalization and doesn’t pronounce *_at all._*
@Kyra Yeah, I might have simplified too much as I did not want to go into too many details but rather help to spot the difference. What I was referring to as the short version was [ś] and the longer version [śi].
@@PolishwithMonika
Ok, got it
👏👏👏👏👏
obrigado
Does this series finished？I want to see more ponetic comparision. thanks
There are more videos of this series available here: www.udemy.com/course/polish-pronunciation-masterclass/?referralCode=B400BCDFF3BFA846ED1F
Videos on my TH-cam channel related to pronunciation are in the playlist "Learn Polish Pronunciation" th-cam.com/play/PLjmevIlHkTghlQj-ag-l0NVj9IbWzI9HH.html
Its B2 Course?
Thank you soooooo so so much for this video! 🤍
I've only recently started learning Polish with Pimsleur. I'm on lesson 21 out of the 30 lessons they currently have, and I couldn't for the life of me hear the relevant difference between Kasia and kasza in their reading segment for that lesson.
I know it's generally a bad idea for learning to try to assign English spellings to foreign sounds (like how the letter r isn't a good representation of the relevant sound in Japanese, as an example), but on watching your video, comparing to other sounds I've picked up on in my lessons so far, and trying to replicate the physical mouth shapes as you described them, I've figured out an English association that I think helps me. While both sz and si/ś can be associated with the English "sh", here's my connection to English spellings for the difference between the two:
sz - I associate this with the English R sound. Something like "rsh" (in certain dialects, people might say "wash" so it sounds more like "warsh"... something akin to that sound) or "shr". Basically like the English "sh" and the English "r" sounds try to come out at the same time, combined with the tongue shape you described is the closest I've been able to replicate that sound.
si/ś - This one I associate more with the English Y sound (the one at the start of the word "yes"). Again like with R before, it's a little like the English "y" and the English "sh" are both trying to come out at once, but of course the "sh" sound dominates over the "y" one.
I'd also wager that si/ś is a bit closer to most instances of the "sh" sound for English in general, but that could just be the sound I'm used to hearing more where I live...
Anyway, sorry for typing so much. Maybe another learner might find my comment helpful down the line, but even if not, thank you again for this video! Very helpful 😊
Thank you for the comment!
I like the comparison of the English "r" and "y" sounds with Polish "sz" and "ś" sounds. This can be a huge help for those who read this!
Often understanding the physical location of the tongue or teeth is very helpful in practicing pronunciation especially if we don't hear the difference.
i am suffering with these types of S 😭😭
which is why chinese speakers find mandarin so hard to pronounce or understand
I cant hear any difference between s^ and sz...
for me sz and ś are the same thing
ś is soft, sz is strong
@@freeX04 but still man when speaking i cannot see the difference
Odd that I speak a non European language that has all these sounds.
Which language?
mandarin r equals polish rz