This intensive course provides a solid command of the fundamentals of Polish grammar, while also ensuring a functional command of basic Polish history and culture. Special emphasis will be placed on reading and the application of written Polish, from literary texts to website navigation.

The course will familiarize students with various common types of texts (reports, tables, websites, advertising) and styles (formal, informal, and to a limited extent, academic); will help them learn to extract key information or the main idea of a text, and to recognize common knowledge, beliefs, attitudes; and will help them to recognize and conform to the textual and verbal norms of Polish discourse.

By the completion of this course, students who speak one or more Slavic languages other than Polish are expected to acquire an ACTFL proficiency "Intermediate Mid" or better in reading. Students with no background in Slavic languages are expected achieve "Novice High" in reading. All students are expected to achieve an ACTFL proficiency of "Novice High" or better in listening, speaking, and writing.

This level of proficiency requires acquisition of all regular grammatical patterns and the most common irregular patterns, a vocabulary of 1,000 to 1,500 words (of which at least 500 will be high-frequency items), and an array of common communicative norms.

Students are encouraged to participate in a study-abroad opportunity, for example the Adam Mickiewicz University summer program, which begins shortly after the conclusion of CLI's Polish program.