Language
There's no getting away from it - Polish is a tough language, any early attempts at which will have you sounding like you're whispering, gargling and choking simultaneously. Many Poles, particularly the younger ones, speak a little English, but that's no excuse not to learn at least a few of those tortuous tongue-twisters, so we've included. at the bottom of this page, a brief guide to get you started. For those who wish to get more involved, there are a host of excellent language schools and Polish courses for foreigners, many of them providing translation services, which may be necessary if you plan to stay any length of time in the city. Also, if you are looking for an English curriculum school for your children whilst working in Cracow, you can find out more details from the British International School in Cracow's website.
Below: a tough nut to crack - a mouthful of Polish consonants
What do those signs mean? There are a whole range of Polish words which look pretty similar to their English equivalents, so signs such as POLICJA, RESTAURACJA HOTEL and TAXI are hardly going to tax most travellers, but here are a handful of others that may be useful: Kawiarnia - Cafe
Herbaciarnia - Tea House
Ksiegarnia - Book Shop
Mieso - Butchery
Nabial - Dairy products
Sklep - Shop
Prasa - Newsagent
Dworzec - Station
Lotnisko - Airport
The Polish language uses the Latin alphabet as in English, however you will find a few extra letters, (formed from Latin letters but with an additional slash or hook), bringing the total to 32. A few letters you won't find are: q, v, and x. The only exception to this rule are direct translations from other languages (e.g. "fax') and, of course, slang and marketing-language.
We've recently added our new audio pronunciation guide (right) to help with those tricky Polish pronunciations! If you've got some good ideas on how to make our language section better, let us know!
Comments
What does stud Anna mean
ReplyHi, I want to purchase 50 gm. Of wild, dry, Polish mushrooms. How can I do this? Thank you.
ReplySorry I meant to say that my name was Ella from the United Kingdom I typed in her sisters name instead of mine!
ReplyI have a polish friend that goes to the same school as me and is called Milena Salek
ReplyLove polish people. X
ReplyI am lucky enough to be surrounded by polish people, and been using Kefore you Know it software to slowly learn polish. Although the combination works well my biggest problem i find is learning all the bad stuff first
ReplyHi I need a translator krakow who can speak polish and english.I have an interview in polish immigration next month.so can anybody please help me to do it With lovely greetings Mohammed
Replyhi my husband is polish and we have many polish friends as well as my english friends want to learn polish but finding it very hard x
Replytruely,polish language is hard to deal with,but i'm glad i learned it,and still i'm using it with my further studies;)
ReplyTak!yes!coz i was in tri city,sopot,gydenia and gdansk in 1985 - 87 working in a project luxury ship. i love this country so and i missed people like poles specially in sopot were a work also in one of the church st andrew de bobola.hope to see you poland someday
Replyi am a national guide in tunisia. i speak french, english and spanish frecuently, a little italian and i prepare a travel to krakow to learn polish. a hard pronounciation language but nice. good luck for me and for all
Replyreally i like this language, i have 2 friends from poslska, i want to surprise them one day; when i speak it, no bad; i love u polska peaple;
ReplyThat's right Koos, and "stamp collection" can also be interchanged with "butterfly collection." It amounts to the same thing!
ReplyI've had several women say that sentence to me. Now at last I know what it means: 'Drop by tonight and I'll show you my stamp collection'. A special lot, those Poles ;-)
ReplyDzen dobrzy, bardzo dzenkue wszistkiegó nailepszego! Danke für Ihr kleines Vokabular, es wäre noch besser, wenn Sie dieses etwas erweitern. Alles Gute. Jurij
Replythis website is really cool. Its really hard to learn a new language but with this website I can do this one step at a time. oh ya. my name is ola too.!!
ReplyDo you want to learn hard but beautiful Polish language? I’m highly qualified (university diploma) teacher of polish as a foreign language and I give lessons for all levels, all age groups. With me, you will never get bored with Polish. Hablo un poco espanol tambien Please contact for rates Contact me a tel 505784352, e-mail wojaczek.a@gmail.com, gadu-gadu 8833557 Ola
ReplyLOL, what a good laugh is that language part! Do you have a sister! ^^ but seriously, what if you really lost your passport. This lady's voice is not helping anything. No way you remember that! ^^
ReplyLOL "come over in the evening, I'll show you my stamp collection" LOL! We all know what that means, don't we... Anyway, when in Rome... try and learn a word or two, we really appreciate it. Leave "chrzaszcz brzmi w trzcinie..." for your next vistit.
ReplyI would have like to show you Cracow but now I am in Zakopane for summer season. Do you know it?have you ever been there?Great and different city as well as Cracow.If you need any comfy accomodation or help when there, please do feel free to contact me.May be an other time as you will be leaving soon and you need at leat 5 days to visit fully Zakopane.So for next time, check our website www.ogrodygorskie.pl. take Care .See you
Replyjust arrived in Krakow from US. would love to have someone show me around or someone that doesn't know the place either and we can explore together. I'm here for a week stayin close to Old Town from august 16 to 25
Replyhi, greetings to all polish folks... and the others too :) i moved 19 years ago to germany, was a lot time ago in Krakow. Poland is a great country and we have the most beautiful girls :) cee ya all & hf
ReplyHi, i´m from the 17 June until 19 June 2009 in Crakow. I moved with 7 years to Germany, so I speak a little bit polish as well, looking for someone, who show´s me amazing places in Crocow. Looking to hear from you!
ReplyThe site is really informative. Me and my boyfriend fly to crakow on Sunday for a few days and I can't wait to see the sites. It looks a beautiful place. My Polish needs ALOT of work though!
ReplyHa, I love speaking Polish! All my friends are always asking me to say words. It's very hard, but it's SOO worth it!! LOVE IT!!!! PS-- The sign up there it a mouthful to say!
ReplyHi, just like to find out if jeans and sneakers are allowed in the opera krakowska? not those dirty torn sneakers though! :)
ReplyIt's such a pleasure to read all the nice comments and to know there are some people who do appreciate the beauty of Poland! I'm Polish myself but leave in the UK at the moment. My bfriend is from here as well but unfortunatelly he's not that enthusiastic about the country and its people...
Replyhere is web dictionary link: http://www.dict.pl/ and here u can translate all sentenses: http://www.poltran.com/pl.php4
Replyi absolutely loveee poland!!! kocham swoj kraj!!!!!! krakow is absolutely beautiful !!!!i luv poznan as well. :)
ReplyYou'll have a brilliant time. I certainly did the Poles are amongst the friendliest bunch of people I've ever come across and Cracow maybe the most beautiful place.
ReplyI am off to Krakow around november for a short break.I have not been to an eastern country befor, so I am really looking forward to going.This Polish translation insite is brill,Infact lets be brutful, The hole site BRILL.
ReplyURODZILAM SIE W KATOWICACH TO JEST CUDOWNE MIASTO OD 30 LAT MIESZKAM W STANIE IL W MIESTECZKU ORLAND PARK HEY! PEPLE GO TO POLAND AND YOU WILL HAWE GOOD TIME! CRACOW IS NICE PLACE TO VISYT TO SHAP! EAT! DANCE! AND TO SEE MANY, MANY MORE! GO! AND SEE POLAND KATOWICE KRAKOW WARSZAWE LOVE IRENA!
Replygood info here, last but one click and listen is best, i am planing to visit in September with a view to setting up a used / antique furniture business in poland importing goods from UK i would welcome any info or contacts.... graham
ReplyI love the fact that you can hear the sound of the words too .. I will be working in a class in a primary school in September and one lil boy comes from poland and speaks very little english, so if anyone can help with links to where I can get some words used in schools like books, pencil, pen, desk, paper, ruler, listen, understand? etc would be very useful. thankies Wends xx
Replyhello! im pretending to go to krakow in setember for 2 days only....i hope that can i visit some interesting places there. i need suggestions for examples museums places to go in krakow ... thanks
ReplyI will be in krakow monday and tuesday next week which is first time, is there any body who have a spare time to show me the most important things of the town besid have a couple drinks in nice pub. my e-mail is salzburg_fas@yahoo.de
Reply"Does some one would like to work whilst practicing English or Spanish? If you have a driving license please contact me. Hola, si te interesa practicar tu español mientras trabajas llamame! "515450617 o e-mail: esperanz@mac.com"
ReplySe vi recate a Cracovia, andate a mangiare e bere in questo caratteristico risorante polacco.Prezzi abbordabili,cibi ottimi,sopratutto la carne,piatti spettacolari e personale affabile.
ReplyThis is the most informative website I have found to learn about Cracow. I would like to visit Cracow before going on to Ternopil, Ukraine. I want to see the main sites in Cracow, plus Auschwitz, the Black Madonna and perhaps Pope John Paul II's birthplace. I am wondering if I could take a train from Cracow to Lviv, or Ternopil, Ukraine? I plan to visit in August 2008. If anyone can help with advice on these subjects, please feel free to e-mail me at mzax@yahoo.com. Thank you!
ReplyThis site is very helpful. Im a 14 year old History Student and i am travelling to Poland next year to visit Auschwitz and the salt mines etc. Poland seems like such an interesting country, so much history. Anyone has any knowledge to share feel free to email. touch-of-glitter@hotmail.com Thanks.
ReplyThis is an excellent site with amazing links and suggestions. Thankyou so much for this much needed help for a first time visitor to Poland. Na zdrowie!
ReplyI off to Krakow later this year any tips on best places to visit while there? Also I am REALLY interested to visit any disabled charities and organisations, particularly ones that cater for Deaf, and Blind people... can anyone help????
ReplyVisiting Kracow in July and really looking forward to it. If any nice poles know a Katarzina (kasca) Bluckasz aged 27/28 from Katowice, who I was lucky enough to meet a long time ago could you please forward this e-mail address to her (tonzat@fsmail.net) and let her know that Tony Tyrer was trying to get in touch with her to see how she is doing! Many Thanks.
ReplyTo the guy who was disappointed that there was no mcdonalds - if you;re actully serious, and that is a real complaint, there is one at the top of florianski street, by the gate itself. If you arrive from the nigth train at 6am it's about the only thing open!
ReplyIf you need a professional, efficient and creative linguistic coach to guide you through the harshness and mystification of the Polish language, you may contact me at: sylwia.gruszka@gmail.com. I speak English, French and Spanish, and I'am an experienced Polish teacher.
Replyhelp!!! how much the things cost in Krakow... examples please!!! hotel, taxi, beer, dinner... thanks a lot
ReplyMy girl friend is Polish, We hope to visit Kracow later this year. I'm picking up the language quite well. It's interesting and fun to learn! This site is great! I'm going to develop a few lessons for other people in the future, will let you know when they are ready. They'll be audio based to download.
ReplyIn terms of the toilet signs just think freudian. Triangle male. Circle female. Not so hard really is it? Whoops another freudian slip.
ReplyHeya jst passin im 16 ahn im away 2 vist mi best friend Justyna in June who livez in Poland in Crakow (Katowice) n i have read a few commens on here of how good it iz coz i have never bn 2 Poland b4 and im really nervous so thnkz xxxx
ReplyMerry Christmas is "Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia", but you can say just "Wesolych Swiat", that's more like a general "happy holidays".
ReplyBy the way, if anyone would like to talk about Poland with me, or anything for that matter, just drop me a line, my skype name is modnypan2006
ReplyI am British, i have travelled most of Poland and must say i loved it so much i had to stay. I now live in a town called Woszislaw Slaski. I just love the Polish culture, the food, people, history, arcitecture, language music, films.....everything. I am learning the language with help from books, CD's, friends and my Polish girlfriend who i have been dating and living with for almost 6 years, we are son to marry and start a family, well our family has already started, we have a cat which we brought over from the UK where we met and used to live. I don't speak much Polish as it's very difficult but i am determined to succeed, the Poles are always suprised that a foreighner, especially a Brit is speaking Polish, their praise and compliments kind of keeps me going wanting to improve, they are such good people, i'm so glad i decided to make Poland my home!
ReplyJust want to say that the comments are right. I attempted my first few words after reading them. Much easier than the pronunciation guide.
Replypolski nie jest taki trudny jak sie wydaje no mo¿e to przez te wszystkie ¿ rz ch h ó ale do mówienia ortografia nie potrzebna :P
ReplyActually, this is more phonetically accurate (from an actual Pole): Thank you is Djen Koo Ye, Please is Pro she, Good day/morning is Djen Dough Breh, Hello is Chesch, Welcome is Vee Tam, Yes is Tack, No is Nye
ReplyVery quick and dirty and technically/phonetically not lexically correct, but enough to get by: Thank you is Jen Koo Yuh Good day/morning is Jen Dough Bruh Hello is Chetch (fetch with ch at front) Welcome is Vee Tum Yes is Tock, Yes-Yes is Tock Tock No is Nyay (like Yay! but add the n at front) This was good enough for our first trip in July and helpful, friendly Poles quickly corrected us and helped us to refine our pronunciation as we and our 4 year old vainly tried to "get it".
ReplyAn important tip when needing the loo: Girls, you're the circle. Fellas, you're the triangle. I've never quite worked out why...
ReplyHere it is link to some page from polish university where you can find useful "survival polish" phrases. Enjoy learn polish. http://www.emapi.us.edu.pl/poland/pdf-y/polish.pdf
ReplyYou need to spell them how you say it. Iknow how to pronounce the words above but if you asked me to read them i would suffer. My girlfriend is polish and i am learning as much as i can. Cracow is my favorite european city.
Reply
Kawaleria Szarza Smaku
Europejska
Krakow Pinball Museum