Speak Polish clearly: free pronunciation test
Find out how clear your Polish pronunciation is. Take the free Polish pronunciation test, get a score for every word you say, and learn the sounds Polish learners find hardest, from the nasal vowels to sz, ś and rz.
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The hardest Polish sounds for learners
Y and I
Polish i is like 'ee' in 'see' and softens the consonant before it (pił, kino). Polish y is a different vowel, said further back, close to the i in 'bit' with the tongue pulled back. Mixing them changes words: był (he was) and bił (he was hitting), my (we) and mi (to me).
Nasal ą and ę
Ą sounds roughly like 'on' and ę like 'en', with the nasal sound blending into the vowel instead of ending in a full n (wąs, mięso). Before p and b they turn into om and em (ząb, dęby), and before t and d into on and en (kąt, będę). At the end of a word, ę is usually said as a plain e: idę sounds like 'ide'.
sz, cz, rz and ż
These are hard, hushing sounds made with the tongue tip raised and pulled back: sz as in szafa (a darker English sh), cz as in czas (a darker ch), and rz and ż, which sound the same, like the s in 'pleasure' (rzeka, żaba). Keep your lips relaxed and your tongue tip up.