Moving back to Poland after 19 years

Hi, I have been living in England since my parents moved when I was 4. I'm 23 now and have been thinking about moving back. There's a part of me that really misses Poland and regrets not growing up there even though it wasn't my decision to leave.

My problem is I really don't know much about actually living in Poland. How different is renting there compared to England. How would I even go about it. I have a polish passport and I'd most likely move to Kraków as I'm familiar with it and it's only an hour away from my hometown.

I am also hesitant to make the move because whilst I would consider myself quite fluent in polish and understand everything that is said, when it comes to actually speaking polish I find I am missing a lot of vocabulary and can't express myself nearly half as well as I could in English. So I'm worried about finding a job and working in Poland, making friends etc.

Not too sure what I'm looking to get out of posting on here I think mostly some reassurance that this isn't an absolutely terrible idea. I do have a lot of family in Poland but I rarely speak to them, which another reason I think despite living in England for most of my life I feel out of place here. I have a good life in England and great friends that I wouldn't trade for the world but I do often hate that we moved here and I missed out on growing up around all my family.

Give it a try and if you don't like it you can always move back to England.
The best piece of advice that my Polish father ever gave to me was:
"Don't ever say that I wished I would have."
Go for it and keep us posted here.
That is my advice to you.
Good luck and be blessed.

It's not an absolutely terrible idea but you will struggle in Poland.It is quite different to England in some ways it is better, in some ways it is worse.
I would say, try it, but keep your doors open in England.Suck it and see!

It's not going to be easy to adapt to a new life after 2 decades. If you don't feel like home in England despite having "great friends," it's not going to be much better in Poland, at least initially.

My advice would be to travel to Poland for a month and see if you still like Poland. The times you missed growing up around your family is mostly gone, so I tend to think it you'd be better off staying in England after all. But you must try Poland now so that you are not remorseful after another decade.

Great advice!

Thank you, with my old age comes wisdom.

And let's keep it that way. Go to Poland for a vacation, and when you have more money, buy yourself an apartment or a house there.

Don't.

Move to the US and be far away from the nuts who are trying their very best to have a war with Russia.

You will have to learn American but it's a lot more similar to English than Polish...

@doimwe
If youre moving to a city you will have no problem adjusting. Countryside will be different. The metropolitan areas are very western. I lived in the US my whole life and couldnt speak a word of Polsh 8 years ago. Living here full time for almost 7 years, and while its different, its better in a lot more ways than it is not better.

How is your Polish?

I can speak it but understanding it is a challenge ... especially if spoken fast...

@Novichok
My Polish allows me to survive if I am someplace that they dont speak English. I struggle with the speed in which most Poles speak, and depending on the region the different words used, or pronounced.

I have the same problem...I had to ask the RR ticket lady to switch to English when I was in Gdansk in 2017. WIth the background noise, I just couldn't follow her...


I enjoy cracking jokes and seeing that they got it - even in hospitals. In Poland, it would be impossible...In English, they wouldn't get it and my Polish is not good enough by now.

That American ad hoc small talk is a great social glue Euros don't do. I noticed that in Poland they don't even look at you at checkouts. Forget "Hi" and "have a nice day".

I am not complaining. Just saying...

I found speaking German in Poland, at least near the border area,
far more effective than English. Naturally I tried speaking Polish
where and whenever I could.

I'm sure things have changed though over the past number of years.

There are no Germans in Poland who speak only German.

If there are any, please die...

There are German retirees in Poland who don't speak Polish. They will fulfill your request someday.

Sure, 'cuz most of the older Poles (those approx. over seventy) speak German, also perhaps Russian, rather than English:-)

Polish. I don't know what you are taking, but it is not good for you. Maybe in the 50s, your theory would hold some water, but not now. I vaguely remember a very old woman, while I was a little kid, who was reminiscing about her working in the Post Office in Berlin before WWI.

You just proved my point! Most Poles over seventy years of age
don't know English, German among the educated, surely some
schoolbook Russian, but primarily Polish.

Same in most countries, except perhaps for the Netherlands or
Scandinavia. There, the average person can string together a
fairly decent (though obviously not native-) sounding English sentence.
However, correction they will not sufferLOL

I had in mind genuine Germans spending their final years in Poland because it's cheaper and possibly safer. Although this may change.

Aha, I understand.