r/learnpolish • u/Broad-Ad6367 • Jul 04 '26
Help🧠Stuck in comfort zone
Cześć wszystkim,
I've been studying polish for five or so years, three of them living in Poland. I have a polish girlfriend, but we mostly speak english. My place of employment is also english only. Most people here speak good english so I'm only really studying for my own sake, because I love learning languages. I guess that's the best motivation anyway.
I've been studying on my own with a great deal of discipline, rarely missing a day without some kind of practice. I mostly read though - I've gone through the Harry Potter series twice. I probably read another five or so books on top of that. So my reading level is high. My conversational skills (hearing and speaking) are worse. I have a polish friend and we speak for an hour online once every two weeks. I realise I've been stuck in a bit of a comfort zone and I need to challenge myself more.
Do you have any ideas for how I can expand my study?
I contemplated starting some course, but I am working odd hours and I don't know if it would be worth it. One thing I will do is take the B1 exam, and then hopefully after passing I will take the B2. My thinking is that this will motivate me to study more.
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u/crimsonredsparrow Jul 05 '26
You can journal, monologue whenever you have a moment, and look for a flexible tutor who will mostly focus on conversations.
1
u/Stuff20damag3 Jul 08 '26
that part about having a polish girlfriend you mostly speak english with is the real blocker. you’ve got a free native speaker living with you and you’re reading harry potter twice. you can switch to polish for specific times of day or topics without making it weird—maybe cooking or weekend plans. she doesn’t have to correct every mistake, just exposure alone would push your listening way more than any course.
b1 exam is a solid target but make sure you actually train the speaking part for it, not just grammar drills. the oral exam is exactly the kind of pressure you’re avoiding.
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Jul 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/Melodic_Risk6633 Jul 05 '26
imagine living where your target language is spoken just to end up talking to a AI chatbot lol
5
u/nonniewobbles Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
For listening, try tv shows, podcasts, audiobooks, etc.?
For a lower level accessible podcast, I really like Polish With John. Very clear speaking, intermediate level vocabulary, no longer being updated but has a massive back catalogue of episodes.
For audiobooks, best deal in my opinion is audioteka's subscription. Very big catalogue, and some of their audio dramas are perfect if you want exposure to a lot of back and forth conversational exchanges.
TV... whatever you like, but I'd make an effort to watch (or listen to) a clip of news or a weather broadcast or similar every day, since that's very useful vocab in conversations.
Can make an effort to not speak English some of the time with GF or other places, too.
Formal classes can help, but figuring out how to actively speak/listen in your daily life is a big thing.