How To

How to Learn Key Phrases in Polish

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(42 Ratings)

You don't have to be fluent to speak a little Polish. It will take only a few minutes to learn some basic phrases to help you communicate. Native speakers will appreciate even a basic attempt to speak their language.

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Polish Phrase Books
  • Foreign Language Tape
  • Airline Tickets
  1. Step 1

    Use "dzien dobry" (jane dough-bray), which means "good day," as a form of saying hello. Polish speakers sometimes also use the English "hello" or "hi."

  2. Step 2

    Say "do widzenia" (dough ve-zen-ya), which means "good-bye."

  3. Step 3

    Introduce yourself by saying "moje imie" (mo-yeah em-yeow), for "my name is," and then add your first name.

  4. Step 4

    Be courteous by saying "prosze" (pro-shoa) for "please," and "dziekuje" (jen-ku-yeow) for "thank you."

  5. Step 5

    Use "nie" (ny-eh) for "no," and "tak" (tack) for "yes."

  6. Step 6

    Say "gdzie" (guh-dej) for "where" when you are asking for something.

  7. Step 7

    Make your life easier by asking "Czy mowisz po angielsku?" (che move-ish poe an-gell-sku), which means "Do you speak English?"

Tips & Warnings
  • Carry a small phrase book or dictionary to look up words you don't know. You can point to them if you cannot pronounce them.
  • Make use of shaking hands, a common and appreciated greeting among Polish people. When greeting, men often kiss a woman's hand.
  • Communicate with body language: pointing, drawing and gesturing will all help you get your point across.
  • The Polish language includes accent marks not noted here.

Comments  

Chaos1187 said

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on 5/31/2009 I think you can also say Dobri dehn as an alternative to dzien dobry

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 We don't introduce ourselves in Polish by saying "moje imie" (mo-yeah em-yeow) for "My name is," but we say:
Jestem, and then your name.

For example: Jestem Adam (I`m Adam) or
Nazywam sie Adam (My name is Adam)

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 When you need to ask someone for help in English, it is best to ask young people who are students. The older generation doesn't know English at all 99.9% of the time. You can also ask in international fast food restaurants.

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