Life /
Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]
I'm from England but recently lived and worked in Warsaw for 15 months. In my experience the majority of foreign people who live and work in Poland won't even try to learn Polish. Most ex-pats (English, Irish and Americans) I knew were business people and spoke mainly in English when in meetings, so didn't feel the need to make the effort. Personally I've been learning Polish for around 10 years and now have an intermediate level of speaking, reading and writing. I've only come across about 4 people who have become fluent in Polish in all the time I've been learning.
I decided that if I was to live in Poland then it would be extremely hypocritical not to make any attempt to communicate in Polish - after all, how many times do you hear English people say about foreigners in the UK "if people can't speak English then they shouldn't be in England"?
Whilst in Warsaw I made a conscious effort NOT to mix socially with native English speakers. Almost all of my work colleagues were Polish, as were most of my friends and my flatmate. It's such a difficult language but really the only way to get better is full immersion.
I'm back in England now but try to keep up the learning as I hope to return to Warsaw again next year - possibly for good. So if there are any Polish people/teachers in the Manchester area who would like to meet up for Polish chat, please feel free to contact me :)
