Język polski? Chcę i mogę! A1 review — university-press Polish coursebook
Coursebook with workbook
Best for: Beginners in a classroom course who want grammar made explicit from the very first lesson.
- Authors
- Edyta Gałat, Beata Sałęga-Bielowicz
- Publisher
- Universitas
- Edition
- 2018–2025
- Level
- A1
- ISBN
- 978-83-242-4158-3
What this book is
Język polski? Chcę i mogę! ("Polish? I want to and I can!") is a coursebook for beginners published by Universitas in Kraków and written by Edyta Gałat and Beata Sałęga-Bielowicz, teachers at a university Polish-language centre. Part I covers A1; Part II continues at A1+. The first edition appeared in 2018 and a corrected second edition in 2025 (about 180 pages plus a workbook and loose plates). The ISBN above is for the 2025 edition.
Who it suits best
- Beginners in a classroom course — the series is on several Polish universities' course lists.
- Learners who like grammar spelled out rather than only absorbed from dialogues.
- Teachers who want a book with many exercises, so they need little extra material.
Who should pick something else
- Self-learners without any Polish: the answer key covers only selected exercises.
- Learners already at A2 or aiming at the B1 exam soon — this is the very start of the road.
What's inside
- 9 lessons plus a holiday lesson: what Polish is like, introducing yourself, hobbies, Polish food, an ordinary day, people, invitations, the tourist in town, travelling around Poland, and Polish holidays — with a revision unit after every three lessons.
- All four skills plus spelling and pronunciation; vocabulary taken from up-to-date frequency lists; the blog as a writing form.
- Workbook, loose plates and downloadable audio.
- A key to selected exercises and transcripts of selected recordings.
What learners and teachers say
On Empik the first edition has 4.9 out of 5 from 11 ratings; the only written review says simply "I recommend it". The new 2025 edition had a single rating of 2 out of 5, with no explanation (checked October 2026). The publisher quotes two university reviewers who praise the consistent layout, the attention to grammar, spelling and pronunciation, and the "large number of tasks" that "will certainly make teachers' work easier" — expert opinions, but commissioned by the publisher. We found no reviews on forums or Goodreads.
Our verdict
A solid A1 classroom coursebook from a university press. It is a good start, not a route to the exam on its own: continue with Part II and an A2 course, and when B1 is in sight, check yourself with our free B1 practice tests.
These reviews are independent. We are not paid by any publisher or bookshop, and we do not sell these books. Descriptions are based on the publishers' information, the books' contents and publicly available reviews by learners and teachers.