Social Life in Poland

Language

Learning the language may be a great help in developing a social life in Poland. The official language of Poland is Polish and 98% of the population speak it. The other 2% speak one of the minority languages – German, Ukrainian or Belarusian. Polish originated in the areas of present-day Poland from several local Western Slavic dialects, and shares some vocabulary with Slovak, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Czech languages.

Most younger people can speak English as English is taught in school. Older people learned Russian instead of English, so their English may be more basic. The great thing is that if you have children they do seem able to absorb languages easily, and unless your Polish is very good they will soon be translating for you.

Social Life in Poland

Poles are demonstrative and friendly. Greetings are animated and even an English “hello” will be greeted with fervour. They are always happy to try to teach you some Polish. If the toast is “bruderszaft”, be delighted and don’t decline it. It seals a feeling of brotherhood – and the beginning of first-name terms. And it is safer to use “Pan” for Mr or “Pani” for Ms with their first name and not the surname, which may be taken as a slight. It isn’t hard to make friends in Poland and there are plenty of dating sites if all else fails – but you do need to be cautious if using them.

If you are moving to Poland from UK you will be pleased to know that Poland has a vibrant cultural scene. There are about 280 art festivals every year with a wide variety of interests – especially jazz. Warsaw has a vibrant nightlife and the city of Krakow is famed for its inspiring architecture and wonderful museums, art galleries and castles.

There are also many natural attractions which you can enjoy, coastlines and mountains and National Parks scattered around.

Tourist information centres have rather generous amount of information on the sites to visit, and the local library will have details of the culture – theatre, music, art, or clubs you could join – which is a good way to learn more Polish and make new friends.