How much of the language do I need to know to get around Katowice?
I recently took a sudden interest in traveling to Katowice for an upcoming Counter Strike event. Poland and Polish language have never been on my mind until a week ago, but I'm infatuated and extremely excited to check out a new place.
What level of language proficiency would be enough to get around? I plan to fly into Krakow and take a train to Katowice. I really don't think I'll be doing much outside of the event other than getting food and hitting some bars, but I want to make things easy as possible for the food/hotel staff. I JUST started Duolingo for Polish, and plan to work hard at it for the next 4 months until I leave. I'll do what I did for Japanese and consume some Polish language media to get an understanding of natural spoken Polish.
The only foreign country I've been to is Japan, but I'm quite comfortable with the language there, and there's lots of written English. I'm under the impression that English is semi-popular as a second language in Poland, but I would rather put the work in and accommodate the locals rather than vice versa.
Additionally, do you have any tips on better ways to advance my language skills, or cool things to do in Katowice? I'm a big pinball fan, and there's a pay-one-price pinball arcade there that I'm super excited to check out, but otherwise just plan to walk the city and enjoy the sights.
Thanks [: