My Languages

Languages are my passion. I grew up bilingual, which probably contributed to my interest in linguistics, and in learning languages for fun. I learn every day on my own, and every day I discover something new and interesting.

Polish

My native language, my love, and my field of interest. I am fascinated by its grammar and history. While trying not to be a prescriptivist, and having fun with how I speak and write, I do know the rules and abide by them when producing texts or presenting something in Polish. I pride myself in having excellent pronunciation and diction.

German

My native language, and the first I learned. I hold a C2 certificate from Goethe Institute (namely the KDS), and obtaining it was quite a bit of work, even though I am bilingual! Because I have been living in Warsaw and acquired German from my father and resources like TV, books, and radio, my German tends to be very proper and a bit formal – which is changing now since I do have German-speaking friends my age. And I have been working with German for over 7 years now.

English

I have to admit, it took me some time to become proficient, mostly because while everyone else in school was focusing on English, I put all my effort into learning French. It was only when I finally decided to watch Star Trek in the original language – and not in German – I realized my English wasn’t that bad… I fell in love with the Scottish accent, worked hard to obtain my CAE certificate (grade A, C2 level), and studied English Language at the University of Glasgow. Now I use English basically every day, at work and at home.

Portuguese

Because why not. I started learning it for fun in 2020, all by my own. It’s been a very interesting journey, and I learnt a lot about the very process of learning a new language! I maxed out the whole Duolingo course in Portuguese, I am still in the middle of the Babbel app course, and at some point I took private online classes to get myself speaking. The pandemic made it difficult for me to attend the CELPE-Bras exam, but I hope to pass it at the Superior Intermediate level (ca. B2) in the near future.

Hindi

For private reasons, and for an exciting challenge. Again, like Portuguese, I learn Hindi on my own. I maxed out completely the Duolingo course, placing me at around A2, and I am still looking for another app to teach me more. I am amazed by how parts of Hindi grammar are similar to Polish grammar, and how peculiar some other structures are. Finding these similarities is what makes learning a new language so fun.

Klingon

Well, I don’t speak it yet… But I started learning. And it is a language that can be learnt and spoken! It is a made up one, yes, but also one of the most developed, with new additions coming every year, so you can express any thought as you would in a natural language. There are courses and books available which I have; I even attended qepHom in 2019 and met Marc Okrand, the creator of Klingon. I just need the day to be a bit longer than 24 hours…

Others

I also learnt French for 7 years, and while I still can understand written texts, I am not as fluent as I used to be. I also learnt Latin for 5 years in school, which I loved and which helped me with my French and Portuguese. Furthermore, I had a short stint with Ancient Greek in high school, and Korean at Samsung. While I can’t say I know these languages, it certainly makes learning other languages easier, and served as an amazing mental exercise.