Learning another Language

So me and my wife are booked to go to Warsaw Poland in the spring of 2014 (next Year)...We want to learn the language over there. We thought about getting something like Rosetta Stone to learn polish but we also noticed the local college teaches it as well. Do ya'll think we should do it at school or go with a home course? Any advice on learning another language would be helpful and thanks!!

Get yourself a Polish Bible, so you can learn while you learn. I'm serious, I did that when I was learning Spanish and it helped a lot because I knew some of the verses already, and because there was unfamiliar grammar and vocabulary.

If you can find a Polish audio-Bible as well, that would be great, so you can get used to the sound of their language, and reading along.

Btw, is your ancestry Polish? I live at no great distance from Canada's first Polish settlement, Wilno: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilno,_Ontario
A lot of people in our area have Polish ancestry, which IMO is pretty cool

DBF's ideas are pretty decent. To your original question though, I suppose that depends on 1) schedule (will classes be convenient that you can make them) 2) finanaces (how much is the class vs the software) and 3) what type of learner you are.

I suspect you'd get more from the class. You'd feel more compelled to go, you could ask questions and you'd interact with others speaking the language. Of course, the teacher may suck, too.

You should be able to pick up a fair amount in a year. Once you get there you'll be amazed at how fast you catch on, too. You'll likely also find they are more afraid to speak English (which they likely know well enough) than you are Polish.

I had only a year of German in 85-86 and finally got to go for a week in 2001 and again 2005. I still knew enough I could read a fair amount and could ask for what I wanted in restaurants and stores. The hardest part is trying to listen to natives speak since they obviously talk fast and it's hard to process that quickly. I'd only pick up a few words here and there.

I'm not sure if there are Polish people around you who are able to help you to speak Polish?

Most people who are speaking an other language like to see people are taking the time to speak with them in thier own language.