The Polish FAST Course is designed as a survival language course. The emphasis is on developing the necessary language skills to handle the most frequent situations a visitor would meet with while traveling in Poland. This course is divided into 14 units with grammar exercises following unit 14. Topics covered are: exchanging greetings and introductions, looking for someone at the embassy, getting around on foot, using the telephone, eating out, staying at a hotel, shopping, social life / visiting with the neighbors, making appointments, giving a party, getting around by car, dealing with emergencies, and doing repairs and renovations. Learning activities in most units are: cultural notes, dialogues, exercises and drills, additional vocabulary, and language notes.
The Polish Familiarizaton and Short-term Training (FAST) Course has been developed by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) School of Language Studies Polish teaching staff, under the direction of Hedy A. St. Denis. The field test version was prepared in 1985 by Krystyna Stypulkowska-Smith. Grammar review exercises were written by Krystyna Sadlowska in 1988. Technical guidance during the early stages of development was provided by Martha Gowland. Hedy A. St. Denis and Michael S. Allen edited the text. Special contributions in proofreading, formatting, revising, and course design were made by the Polish teaching staff: Anna Budzinski, Izabella Cornwell, Grazyna Gerlach, Victor Litwinski, Ewa Paz, Katarzyna Szymariska, EWa Vorndran, and Krystyna Wolanczyk.
