Many Polish sounds are difficult to pronounce, unless you already speak a Slavic language. Try these tips.

• An “a” has an “uh” sound, an “I” is usually pronounced like a “w”, and “w” is said like a “v”. So babka is “buhb-ka” and golabki is “gawompki”.
• Some words are said letter by letter. For example, pierogi is pronounced “pyeh-row-ghi” , and kielbasa is said “kyel-ba-sa”.
• The letter “z” can be hard to say correctly. Barszcz is said “barsch” and Na Zdrowie, which means “cheers”, is pronounced “na-zdro-ve-ye”.