Learning Polish at home

Can learning Polish at home be effective?

Many of you are probably wondering if it is possible to learn Polish without the help of a language school or a tutor. We believe that nothing can replace learning with another person, whether it is group classes at a language school, online tutoring or any other form of interaction. Learning with a tutor, on the other hand, can be supported in many ways and in this article we will present our subjective list of best ways to learn Polish language outside of class.

Watching TV series and films in Polish

Is watching TV series or films in Polish a good way to learn a language? Definitely yes! Especially when you already know the basics of the language. When you speak Polish at at least at an intermediate level, you are able to understand many words and, therefore, get the context out of a sentence. And by understanding most of the words in a sentence, we also acquire new vocabulary. Of course, the more fluent we are in the language, the more we enjoy watching films and TV series only in Polish, because we can effortlessly understand most of the dialogue. However, for those who are just beginning their adventure with the Polish language, we recommend watching films and series with Polish subtitles. Reading subtitles is, of course, also a great form of learning for those at higher levels. This way, not only do we become familiar with the Polish language, but we also learn the spelling and automatically remember the spelling and pronunciation. Since streaming platforms became available in Poland, learning a language has become much easier. Learning Polish from… cartoons can also be a very interesting solution! Children learn a lot from cartoons, so it is a good idea to play movies in Polish to your children from an early age.

Learning Polish at home from podcasts

Can listening to podcasts be an effective way to learn Polish? In our opinion, definitely yes! And again, we already need to be at a certain, at least intermediate level to understand podcasts. You can listen to podcasts in the car, on the tram, while ironing or feeding the baby! Therefore, it is a great way of learning Polish for everyone who is busy. Sometimes this type of learning can even be subconscious and by focusing, for example, on driving, we may not realise that we are learning the language at the same time!

Apps for learning Polish

Can Polish language learning apps be an effective substitute for normal classes? In our opinion, definitely not. We know many examples of people who have tried to learn Polish from apps, abandoning the course. This always ended in frustration. Although this type of learning certainly enriches your vocabulary, it does not allow you to use your new knowledge in practice. Can a Polish language course and simultaneous learning of vocabulary from an app be effective? Yes! We always recommend our students to use Polish language apps where they can add vocabulary learned during the classes. This way, during the next class or any interaction with a Polish language user, the student will be able to use the new knowledge in practice. We recommend learning a maximum of 15 words for about 2 or 3 days. Trying to assimilate more vocabulary may cause another frustration. So it is better to assimilate fewer vocabulary, but to memorise them well. And how can we memorise them? If we can’t use them during exercises with the teacher in class, another way is to use them in a sentence. Just write each word in any compound sentence. We can do this in a written way, or we can do it orally, talking to ourselves in the mirror, or to our wife or husband. In conclusion, apps will certainly help us learn Polish, but we need to be able to use the vocabulary from the app in practice. And the best opportunity to do this will be through conversation!

Flash cards are an effective way of learning Polish at home

Another way to learn Polish effectively, for both adults and children, can be to stick flash cards everywhere at home! If you want to learn new vocabulary, all you need to do is to buy sticky notes and stick them to your household items. This way, you can learn a new set of vocabulary each week. One week it might be kitchen appliances, another bathroom utensils and other objects. We often have so many different objects at home that there are enough topics to learn Polish for weeks or even months!

Online Polish language course

All the methods we have mentioned above are, of course, only a supplement to traditional learning. But do we mean by traditional learning? It is not, of course, „school” learning. On the contrary, at Polish Dream we have a completely different approach to learning than the one you remember from your school desk. We focus primarily on real language and a practical approach. During the online course at Polish Dream, we try to teach all grammatical elements and use them in practice. And of course, in addition to this, we largely focus on conversation, learning new vocabulary, fluency of speech, appropriate accent and enjoyment of learning. We are assisted in this by a customised programme with audio, video, texts, as well as podcasts and videos to help you learn phonetics!