Is Polish on Duolingo?
Yes, from English. Here is what it leaves out

Short answer. Yes, but only from English. On 19 October 2026 Duolingo's list of 313 courses had one Polish course, for English speakers, with about 2.1 million learners; there is no Polish from Ukrainian or Russian. Lessons include short speaking exercises, but Duolingo's own pages do not list Polish for its conversation features Video Call and Roleplay. For real conversation add an AI partner such as Praktika, Talkpal or Talkfirst, and for the B1 exam for EU long-term residence a tool that follows the exam format.

How we checked

On 19 October 2026 we downloaded the public course list behind Duolingo's courses page (duolingo.com/courses). It has 313 pairs of "language you learn" and "language you learn from". Polish appears as a language you learn exactly once: from English, with 2,126,006 learners. Polish speakers can also use Duolingo the other way round, to learn English, German, Spanish and six other languages, but that does not help you learn Polish.

For speakers of other languages the picture is narrower. From Ukrainian, Duolingo teaches nine languages and from Russian eleven, and Polish is not among them in either list. So if English is not your strong language, you learn Polish on Duolingo through English.

Course lists change. If you are reading this much later, look at duolingo.com/courses yourself; we update this page when we check again.

What the Polish course gives you

The habit. Duolingo is good at making you come back every day for a few minutes: short lessons, a streak, reminders. For Polish that means steady contact with vocabulary, spelling and the letters that look strange at first, such as ł, ż and ą.

Some speaking. Duolingo's blog post on speaking skills from February 2026 says that from the first lesson there are speaking exercises that ask you to repeat words, translate sentences out loud or take part in short dialogues. You say a prepared sentence into the microphone and the app checks it.

We did not check Duolingo's prices: they depend on the country and on current offers, so look in the app.

What it leaves out

A conversation partner

Duolingo's open conversation features, Video Call and Roleplay, are part of the Max subscription. The Max announcement lists Roleplay for English speakers learning Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. The January 2026 post on Video Call lists English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean and Chinese. Polish is in neither list, and we found no Duolingo page that adds it. Check the app before you pay for Max to talk in Polish.

This is the gap that matters most. In a lesson you repeat or translate a sentence someone wrote for you. In real life and at the exam, someone asks you a question you did not expect, and you have to build the answer yourself, with the right case endings, while they wait.

Explanations in Ukrainian or Russian

The only Polish course is taught from English. Ukrainian speakers have a free alternative for the start: Babbel's Ukrainian site offers Polish A1 and A2 free for Ukrainian speakers.

The B1 exam

Long-term EU residence in Poland requires Polish at B1. The state exam has a written part of four modules and an oral part of up to 15 minutes, and you need at least 50 % in each module and in the oral part. Duolingo is not built around that format, so it will not tell you whether you would pass. How the exam works is in Polish B1 for EU long-term residence, and the speaking topics in the B1 oral part: topics.

What to add for speaking

If you like Duolingo, keep it for vocabulary and add a tool where someone answers you. We compare these in AI conversation partners for Polish; in short:

• Talkfirst (our product): you talk out loud with an AI partner in Polish from A1, and after each conversation you see your pauses and mistakes explained in English, Russian or Ukrainian. There is also an oral B1 mock exam with three tasks and a score in per cent. Free: 35 voice minutes a week and a full mock exam once every 7 days; Pro: 140 minutes a week for 500 Telegram Stars per 30 days.
• Praktika lists Polish among its 14 languages; its free plan has limited speaking practice and basic feedback.
• Talkpal teaches Polish among many languages and gives 10 free minutes a day, more free time than Talkfirst.
• ChatGPT or Claude can hold a Polish conversation if your prompt sets the level and asks for corrections; see Polish with ChatGPT and Claude.

For lessons, flashcards and exam apps beyond Duolingo, see the review of apps for learning Polish.

A routine: Duolingo plus conversation

About 25 minutes a day is enough to keep both sides moving:

1. 10 minutes of Duolingo. Your daily lesson, for the streak and new words.
2. 10–15 minutes of conversation. One topic a day: introduce yourself, your work, your flat, your weekend. Answer out loud in full sentences, then read the feedback and say the corrected version again.
3. Once a week, one grammar point. For example the genitive after nie mam (I don't have), then use it on purpose in your next conversation.

First phrases to start with: basic Polish phrases. A full plan from zero: how to learn Polish.

If you need B1 for residence

Duolingo alone will not get you through the oral part. Practise the exam tasks out loud against a timer. Talkfirst's oral B1 mock exam gives you three tasks, a picture, a monologue and a role-play dialogue with the formal Pan or Pani, and a score in per cent; "would pass" starts at 50 %, as in the regulation. The scale is ours, because the official marking criteria are not published, and the mock exam does not score pronunciation. For the written parts, past exams on polskitest.pl are closer to the real thing than any lesson app.

Frequently asked questions

More Polish guides: all guides.