Pod koniec semestru będziemy mieć więcej rozmów, a mniej pisania.

Pod koniec means towards the end of or near the end of.

So pod koniec semestru means towards the end of the semester.

This is a fixed expression, and it is very common in Polish:

• pod koniec dnia = towards the end of the day
• pod koniec roku = towards the end of the year

It is a little different from:

• na koniec = at the end / finally
• w końcu = finally / eventually

Because pod koniec requires the genitive case.

The base form is semestr, but after pod koniec it changes to semestru.

So:

• semestr = nominative
• pod koniec semestru = genitive after pod koniec

This is something you usually just learn as part of the expression pod koniec + genitive.

Będziemy mieć is the future tense of mieć.

Polish imperfective verbs form the future with będę / będziesz / będzie / będziemy / będziecie / będą + either:

• an infinitive, or
• a past-form-like element that agrees in gender and number

So you can get:

• będziemy mieć
• będziemy mieli / będziemy miały

In this sentence, będziemy mieć is very natural because it is:

• standard,
• common,
• and gender-neutral

That is especially useful when we does not need to be identified as masculine-personal or non-masculine-personal.

Yes, you often can.

For we, the alternatives are:

• będziemy mieć = gender-neutral
• będziemy mieli = if the group is masculine-personal or mixed
• będziemy miały = if the group is all female / non-masculine-personal

So będziemy mieć is often the safest form when you do not want to specify gender.

Because Polish often omits subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending.

The ending -my in będziemy already tells you the subject is we.

So:

• będziemy mieć = we will have

Adding my is possible, but usually only for emphasis or contrast:

• My będziemy mieć więcej rozmów, a oni mniej.

Because więcej and mniej normally require the genitive.

So:

• więcej rozmów = more conversations
• mniej pisania = less writing

Here:

• rozmów is the genitive plural of rozmowa
• pisania is the genitive singular of pisanie

This is a very common pattern in Polish:

• więcej czasu = more time
• mniej pracy = less work
• więcej książek = more books

Because the two nouns work differently.

Rozmowa is a countable noun, so Polish treats it as individual conversations:

• one conversation
• two conversations
• more conversations

That is why you get więcej rozmów.

Pisanie is a verbal noun meaning writing as an activity. It is usually treated as uncountable, like writing in English. So you get:

• mniej pisania = less writing

So the difference is not random:

• rozmowy = separate countable events
• pisanie = an activity in general

It is a noun, specifically a verbal noun formed from the verb pisać.

• pisać = to write
• pisanie = writing

In the sentence, it appears as pisania because it is in the genitive singular after mniej.

Polish uses verbal nouns very often:

• czytać → czytanie = reading
• mówić → mówienie = speaking
• uczyć się → uczenie się = studying / learning

Here a shows a contrast.

So in English it can sound like:

• and
• while
• whereas
• sometimes almost but

In this sentence, it contrasts two quantities:

• more conversations
• less writing

So a is not just a simple joining word. It signals one thing in contrast with another.

Because in Polish, a is normally preceded by a comma when it joins parts of a sentence in contrast.

So:

• więcej rozmów, a mniej pisania

This comma is standard Polish punctuation.

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible.

The given sentence:

• Pod koniec semestru będziemy mieć więcej rozmów, a mniej pisania.

is natural because it starts with the time expression and sets the scene first.

You could also say:

• Będziemy mieć pod koniec semestru więcej rozmów, a mniej pisania.

That is also grammatical, but the original version sounds more natural in many contexts.

Yes. That would mean towards the end of this semester.

Compare:

• pod koniec semestru = towards the end of the semester / towards semester’s end
• pod koniec tego semestru = towards the end of this semester

Adding tego makes it more specific.

Yes, that is possible, but it changes the structure a little.

• Będziemy mieć więcej rozmów... = We will have more conversations...
• Będzie więcej rozmów... = There will be more conversations...

Both are natural, but the original sentence focuses more clearly on what we will be doing/having.