the POLSKI blog

Wow. I never thought I would say this, but I’m really impressed by the latest attempt by the Polish Foreign Ministry to promote Poland. They have just launched a website called “Do you know Polska?” which is a cross between a quiz, a social media-powered photo- and language-sharing site and a promotional hub aimed at [...]

Go on, admit it. You’ve ALWAYS wanted to impress your friends with a Polish tongue twister. Right? And if you think “She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore” is difficult, try these. Here is my top five. Let’s start with one of the most difficult pieces of Polish literature, a short poem by Jan Brzechwa, called [...]

The weather in London has been really mild over the past few weeks, but don’t let it fool you. It’ll get cold and miserable soon.  Already everyone on the tube is sneezing and it made me realise that I never really told you how to express your dissatisfaction with lower temperatures, did I ? If [...]

March is always a busy month for me as many of my good friends celebrate their birthdays. And many of them are Polish. I have recently realised that this basic phrase – happy birthday – has not featured in my Polish your Polish series yet. What an oversight! So what do you say (or write, [...]

I’ve been asked by a few people to post something on basic questions regarding directions and asking for help in Polish. And as the summer holiday season is upon us, here are some basic phrases you may need while travelling in Poland. Let’s start by buying a ticket. Any ticket. Bilet Ticket. The plural is: [...]

I don’t know how it happened, but Easter is already here. It’s time then for another mix of Polish Easter phrases and traditions. Easter in Polish is Wielkanoc which is obviously the most important holiday in the Christian calendar, and in a deeply Catholic country like Poland, it comes with a whole set of traditions [...]

My previous post made me realise some of my readers might be a bit confused now. Why ‘Polska’, if the blog is called ‘Polski’? What’s the difference? Well, let me confuse you even more. ‘Polska’ can be used as a noun, a proper name – simply the name of the country, Poland. But ‘polska’ (with [...]

If you’re on a diet, look away now. Last Thursday Poles celebrated Tłusty Czwartek, aka the Fat Thursday. Tłusty Czwartek is mainly celebrated in Poland and in Germany and it marks the end of the carnival. It’s the last Thursday before Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday the following week. So what is Tłusty Czwartek [...]