Is It Possible For... a person who has studied Polish in College for 1 year to get good

...a person who has studied Polish in College for 1 year to get good. I am talking about myself. I went to college and studied Polish for 1 year and also studied a little on my own as well. At the time I was surround by Polish friends however as we all got older some of my friends moved back to Poland or elsewhere around the world. I am in contact with them still but they are busy with there new lives that I cannot speak with them verbally like we used to be able to.

I have just turned 35 years old and it was 8 years ago when I studied in Polish. I have recently started studying it again (you could call it a mid-life crisis lol). I am trying to surround myself with as much Polish things as possible. I am reading Polish books, watching Polish TV Shows, listening to Audio Cd's and listening to Polish music when I am in the Gym or Driving. I just started listening to Marek Grechuta and I really enjoy it because I can hear what he is saying clearly, I don't understand much of it but I do like it.

I am looking to make Polish a part of my life and I am studying at least 1 hour a day. My question is...Is it possible for someone like me to eventually become good at Polish? What I mean is can somebody my age if they put in the time get to a good level of Polish or even better. I do know that the best way to learn Polish is to be around people who speak the language but at the moment that is not possible but I would like to move and live in Poland at some point in the future.

How good can a person get when learning Polish...is there a certain level that someone who wasn't born into the language can reach or is the sky the limit? Can you get to the point where if a Polish person met you and didn't know you could think you are Polish? because I have met Polish people who have a local accent where I live and I was suprised when they told me there were Polish and they were only in the country 5 years.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, all help is greatly appreciated.

Simon

I would say that's very unlikely. My husband is Polish and says that he's met people who've lived in Poland for twenty years and still don't speak perfect Polish. He says they can be very, very good but never native level, that with the most fluent foreigners, within a few sentences you will know they're not Polish. It's because of the complexity of the grammar I suppose. He says he's never heard anyone who didn't make mistakes. However maybe some Polish members here will have a different opinion?

Now having said that, there are people who pass advanced Polish language exams which rate them as having full competency in Polish, but I don't think that even they will ever 'sound' Polish to a native Pole, anymore than most foreigners will ever pass as English or American or whatever, regardless of how fluent their English is.


Absolutely. Your age isn't a factor. You could become quite fluent in a conversational sense, even with imperfect grammar but ideally you need to try to get a balance of skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Perhaps studying towards some exams might help you to focus your efforts and it would give you a feeling of being able to measure your progress in definite terms.

I speak fairly basic Polish with loads of terrible grammatical errors but I do manage to make myself understood and can have a conversation with people. My main struggle has always been understanding what people are saying to me. Mowię ale nie rozumiem!

Thank you for your response. I will continue to learn as much as I can.

Simon