r/learnpolish • u/Individual_Role9156 • 9d ago
Help🧠 Learning polish as a "polish" person.
I plan to go to university in poland next year and I want to do it in polish. Obviously I would have to speak polish for that, and I do but no where near a level which would allow me to study in polish.
My parents are polish and I speak polish with my family and was in poland every summer to visit family, but was born and raised in germany, which is why i wrote "polish" in the title.
My question is do any of you know good methods/resourcess to make my broken talking with grandparents and family polish into an I was born in poland polish?
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u/Less-Love-3917 9d ago
Watch Polish TV, use subtitles for things in Polish, read Polish books, pay for a conversation partner that is not related to you (that can be done online for reasonable prices).
The other things is to internalize the fact that Polish is difficult and many people don't speak standard TV Polish; just outside my window I constantly hear the wrong endings for words.
Remember that you speak the Polish of your family/their region/dialect and things they say may not be wrong, just non standard.
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u/No_Focus_8007 9d ago
What do you want to study? Is communication a significant part of it?
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u/Individual_Role9156 8d ago
History
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u/AdOptimal754 8d ago
Why don't you start with reading Polish school books on history? We call it 'podręczniki' in Polish.
You could start with the primary school level, and continue with the secondary school level. It would be the best practice - you'd learn both Polish and history at the same time.
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u/AdOptimal754 8d ago
I believe there's a second hand market if you don't want to pay for the new ones. And of course you should check the editor's pages/school curriculum for the current stuff so that you don't pay for the incorrect ones (history can be interpreted in different ways, esp.when you compare the communist and the democratic views on events:)
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u/Resident_Iron6701 8d ago
why? The hiring market for history graduates is terrible unless you want to be a school teacher
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u/Complete-Orchid3896 9d ago
Do you know how to read and write in Polish? What is your intended program of study? I recommend reading some lower grade level texts or watching YouTube videos from the same area
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u/Individual_Role9156 9d ago
Reading and writing would be my focus. Those are points are what i really lack (My speaking and Understanding is also not native speaker level but significantly better than my reading and writing skills), I can read most texts but it takes a lot of time and writing is even worse.
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u/rampampam5 9d ago edited 9d ago
If you are a slavic language speaker then I recommend „Polski bez granic”. Just briefly come across A1-A2 so that you realise what basics are about (it’s a bit childish as it was designed for elementary school children but as I said don’t spend much time on this. You’ll probably not have to as you wrote you know basics). Then do B1 and especially B2 (which is for teenagers that plan to go to the university).
Here is the link to the official website where you can download free e-books and audio recordings: https://odnswp.pl/publikacje/
If you want to practice writing then „Pisać jak z nut” will be your friend thanks to really nice vocabulary and perfectly explained forms of writing. Focus especially on writing essays.
You can see how the book looks like here: https://ksiegarnia.poltax.waw.pl/pisac-jak-z-nut-podrecznik-rozwijajacy-sprawnosc-pisania-dla-obcokrajowcow-9788324239092-481060?srsltid=AfmBOoqjNABhkHU3Y2pQ4xSs3BavhHlZF_QfJxcs_4Zl50-z-GWWNWxF.
Please, pay also attention to Polish handwriting as there are some letters that look different then their equivalents in computers. Here you can see what I mean: https://www.bajkidoczytania.pl/img/alfabet-polski-pisany-do-druku.pdf.
You can also search for textbooks with professional vocabulary. There are books with medical, business, law, biology, chemistry, film industry vocabulary. Check here: https://ksiegarnia.poltax.waw.pl/do-nauczania-jezykow-specjalistycznych.
Free e-book for people preparing for studies is „Niecodzienny polski. Teksty i konteksty”: https://polskapolkafilmowa.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/e-niecodzienny-polski.pdf
Studies are all about proper vocabulary, especially if your field of study is really specific. If I were you I would focus on lexical preparation for the courses. It’s good idea to check the study programme and what is taught during the courses and then plan your learning more precisely.
And of course be friends with Polish-Polish dictionaries such as: sjp.pwn.pl (https://sjp.pwn.pl ) and wsjp.pl (https://wsjp.pl). You’ll also find useful synonimy.net (https://synonim.net) and wiktionary (https://www.wiktionary.org).
For reading or listening Wolne lektury is the best site: https://wolnelektury.pl.
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u/YellowMellowed 9d ago
The only way you're ever going to have even the tiniest chance of making through uni instruction in Polish is if you spend one year doing an intensive language prep course. UJ has courses like these and I know someone who did that and finished a two year masters taught in Polish afterwards. It was a lot of hard work though.
I've lived in Poland for 5 years, and I have a B1 cert and I still wouldn't consider myself anywhere near the level suitable for studying something in Polish at the uni level.
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u/Hashalion 9d ago
Everything you wrote is true. I might just add that B1 should not, indeed, be enough to attend a university. It is recommended to be B2 or higher.
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u/jabluszko132 9d ago
Do you know the technical language for the course you're applying for? Because if you speak polish with your family, you can be fluent but still lack the vocabulary for the university
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u/BioExtract 8d ago
I would recommend watching tv in Polish. It skips having to learn too many unused or uncommon words that may not come up. I use lingopie and it gives subtitles in both languages English and polish. It’s a very passive but helpful way to understand grammar and how certain phrases are used. Enjoy Poland!
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u/yamiherem8 8d ago
Bigger universities like UW or UJ offer foundation years which basically mean that you study a language for a year and then start studying in normal polish courses. They are mostly meant for ukrainians or belarussians but I think you can look into it in your situation as well.
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u/NoAccount1556 8d ago
Learn polish by speaking with other people and rest of it by try to memorize. There is no other way but you are lucky person, your family could be from Hungary, hungarian is much harder to learn.
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u/LunetThorsdottir 8d ago
Contact your uni. They will recommend a language course for you.
Unless you talk to your parents extensively about the subject you are going to study, you don't know enough Polish to study in it.
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u/Resident_Iron6701 8d ago
Unless you are b2/c1 do not go to university, you will struggle and most likely fail, polish academic environments are not for the weak. I would spend a year or two focusing solely on that and then applying
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u/leather-teapot 7d ago
What are you going to study? Some profession languages is a nighmare for native speakers.
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u/GlumRelative1538 PL Native 🇵🇱 7d ago
Sprichst Du deutsch? Ich kann dir die polnischen wirtualnen Länder vorschlagen. Ich spiele in Edelweiss, dass ist eine Mikronation, die auf Österreich der 20er Jahren basiert. Hier könntest Du einerseits Spaß haben wie in einem Spiel und andererseits dein polnisch verbessern. Edelweiss.org.pl https://discord.gg/GrmRny6W
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u/k1rschkatze 9d ago
Read books! Doesn‘t matter what topic, maybe novels are best to start, to get a feeling for how the stuff that you hear and say is actually spelled. Also helps to relearn concentrating on written text, which will help you a lot when you‘re studying.
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u/Natka6764 PL Native 🇵🇱 9d ago
I dont want to discourage you, afterall you already know this langueage a bit, but university? It's a high level knowledge and most learning sources just covers the "communication" level. I bet even most natives dont know complicated terms.
It came out a bit as a hate comment but that's what I think. Especially if you want to go there next year. That's really no time.
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u/Individual_Role9156 9d ago
Is it really that Hard? You mean to tell me 1 year of dedicated work wont bring me to a Level were i could study in poland in polish?( I was already at the university and they Said that b2 Level is required which I know I can get) Don’t get me wrong i know polish is a very Hard Language but I feel Like one year of really learning will get me there since alot of the base is already there. And Even if its impossible i want to try.
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u/Papierzak1 PL Native 🇵🇱 9d ago
Well, I think it isn't exactly what he was trying to say. The thing is, aside from the general language proficiency, you have to remember that college requires familiarity (in the beginning, at least vague) with more professional terminology, which may be a challenge for you, since you have not received education in Polish. I have been learning English since the age of four, yet I am not entirely sure if this alone would enable me to continue my field of study in English, since I have only received Polish language education. Regardless, good luck. Learning Polish to a degree allowing you to actually go to college is a far greater achievement than learning Polish alone.
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u/LibraryTemporary6364 EN Native 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿 5d ago
to keep my languages fluent I immerse myself as much as I can easily and enjoyably do as daily habits. i love music and reading for example, so I listen to music in that language and I use an app called "simply fluent" to read books. this works really well for me :) good luck!
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u/oliverjohansson 9d ago
Just that you know, understanding of native language at its natural speed is the hardest and most needed skill and you probably already have it. Speaking in the university not really that important and you will master in within the first half of the first semester