Pronunciation and stress course – speak so that Poles do not ask you to repeat

When it is worth working on your pronunciation

The course is for people who hear “słucham?” (“pardon?”) more often than they would like, even though they know the words and grammar. It is also useful for those who are preparing for the oral part of an exam, work with clients, or simply want to speak more confidently. Pronunciation is easiest to set at the beginning of learning, but it can be improved at any level.

What you will learn

The most important thing is distinguishing sounds that change the meaning of a word. If you pronounce kasa, kasza and Kasia the same way, the other person has to guess what you mean.

Stress and sentence melody

In Polish the stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable: koBIEta, uLIca, dzięKUję, warSZAwa. When a word gets longer in inflection, the stress moves together with the ending: POlak, but poLAka; SZKOła, but szkoŁAmi. The exceptions concern mainly the plural forms of the past tense and the conditional mood: BYliśmy, ZRObiłbym. We also practise the melody of questions – in Polish a question without a question word is recognised precisely by its intonation: Masz czas?

Tip: you do not need to exaggerate the stress. It is enough if the penultimate syllable is a little longer and stronger than the others.

Exercises for your mother tongue

Every mother tongue “carries” different habits into Polish, which is why the programme starts with a diagnosis. Examples of what we work on most often:

• English speakers – the hard (trilled) r, the difference between y – i, pronouncing p, t, k without aspiration.
• Spanish speakers – distinguishing s, sz, ś and c, cz, ć, the Polish w and h/ch, consonant clusters such as chrząszcz.
• Russian and Ukrainian speakers – the Polish ś, ć instead of the soft consonants of your own language, ł and l, fixed stress instead of free stress.
• Arabic speakers – distinguishing p and b and the vowels e, i, y.

We describe all the letters and sounds in our guide to the Polish alphabet and pronunciation.

What the classes look like

A lesson lasts 50 minutes on Google Meet, always individually – the teacher has to hear each of your sounds well. First you practise listening (can you hear the difference?), then single words, then sentences and short dialogues. The teacher shows how to position your tongue and mouth, and gives explanations in Polish, English, Russian or Spanish.

Five stages of work on your pronunciation

1. Diagnosis – you read a short text and talk; the teacher notes which sounds and words cause difficulty.
2. Hearing the differences – before you start speaking differently, you must hear how sz differs from ś.
3. Sounds one by one – starting with those that most get in the way of understanding.
4. Stress and intonation – in words, then in whole sentences.
5. Free speech – a conversation in which the teacher checks whether the new habits also stay with you outside the exercise.

Included in the pronunciation course price

• Individual lessons with exercises for your mother tongue.
• A list of your difficult sounds and words for daily practice.
• Feedback on voice recordings via WhatsApp and a monthly progress report.

Start with a pronunciation diagnosis

Book a trial lesson – already in it you will hear which sounds are worth improving first. Pronunciation combines well with the conversation club or with individual lessons.