City Basics LANGUAGE SMARTS
MARKET VALUES
Attempting discourse in the Polish language can be terrifying and humiliating, but fortunately for you many Poles, particularly young people, have a healthy command of the English language. Though you can probably get by without it, learning a few key Polish phrases will nonetheless smooth your time in Katowice and may even win you friends and admirers.
Prices in Poland are still fairly competitive despite increases over the last couple of years particularly in the prices of cigarettes. Here are some typical everyday products and prices. Market values as of June 28, 2018 based on €1 = 4.35zł
On the downside, Polish is officially recognised as one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn. On the upside, however, unlike in English, words in Polish are actually spelled the way they are pronounced. This is a great help once you know how to pronounce each letter/combination of letters. While many letters represent the same sounds as they do in English, below we have listed those particular to Polish, followed by some basic words and phrases. Powodzenia (Good luck)!
Basic Pronunciation
‘ą’ sounds like ‘on’ in the French ‘bon’ ‘ę’ sounds like ‘en’ as in the French ‘bien’ ‘ó’ is an open ‘o’ sound like ‘oo’ in ‘boot’ ‘c’ like the ‘ts’ in ‘bits’‘ ‘j’ like the ‘y’ in ‘yeah’ ‘w’ is pronounced like the English ‘v’ ‘ł’ like the ‘w’ in ‘win’ ‘ń’ like the ‘ny’ in ‘canyon’ ‘cz’ and ‘ć’ like the ‘ch’ in ‘beach’ ‘dz’ like the ‘ds’ in ‘beds’ ‘rz’ and ‘ż’ like the ‘su’ in ‘treasure’ ‘sz’ and ‘ś’ like the ‘sh’ in ‘ship’ ‘drz’ like the ‘g’ in ‘George’ ‘r’ is always rolled
Polish Words & Phrases Yes No Hi/Bye (informal) Hello/Good day (formal) Good evening (formal) Good-bye Good Night Please Thank you Excuse me/Sorry
McDonald's Big Mac Snickers candy bar 0.5ltr vodka (shop) 0.5ltr beer (shop) 0.5ltr beer (bar) Loaf of white bread Pack of Marlboro cigarettes 1 ltr of unleaded petrol (98) Local transport ticket (1 journey)
10.20 zł 1.89 zł 29.90 zł 3.29 zł 7.00 zł 2.69 zł 16.00 zł 5.24 zł 3.20 zł
€ 2.34 € 0.43 € 6.87 € 0.76 € 1.61 € 0.62 € 3.68 € 1.20 € 0.74
FACTS & FIGURES TERRITORY Poland covers an area of 312,685 square kilometers and is the ninth biggest country in Europe. It borders the Baltic Sea (528km) and seven countries, namely Belarus (416km), Czech Republic (790km), Germany (467km), the mysterious Russian exclave of Kaliningrad (210km), Lithuania (103km), Slovakia (539km) and Ukraine (529km).
Tak Nie Cześć Dzień dobry
(Tahk) (Nyeh) (Cheshch) (Jen doh-bri)
LONGEST RIVER The river Vistula (Wisła) is Poland’s longest river at 1,047km and flows through Krakow and Warsaw before reaching the Bay of Gdańsk (Zatoka Gdańska).
Dobry wieczór Do widzenia Dobranoc Proszę Dziękuję Przepraszam
(Doh-bri vyeh-choor) (Doh veet-zen-ya) (Doh-brah-noats) (Prosheh) (Jen-koo-yeh) (Psheh-prasham)
HIGHEST POINT The highest peak is Rysy (2,499m) in the Tatra Mountains along the southern border with Slovakia. In comparison, Katowice’s landscape rolls a bit more gently with the city’s elevation between 266-352m above sea level.
My name is... Mam na imię... I’m from England. Jestem z Anglii Do you speak English? Czy mówisz po angielsku? I don’t speak Polish. Nie mówię po polsku. I don’t understand. Nie rozumiem. Two beers, please. Dwa piwa proszę. Cheers! Na zdrowie! Where are the toilets? Gdzie są toalety? You are beautiful. Jesteś piękna. I love you. Kocham cię. Please take me home. Proszę zabierz mnie do domu. Call me! Zadzwoń do mnie!
14 Katowice In Your Pocket
(Mam nah ee-myeh…) (Yehstem zanglee) (Che moo-veesh po an-gyelskoo?) (Nyeh moo-vyeh po pol-skoo.) (Nyeh row-zoo-me-ehm.) (Dvah peevah prosheh.) (Nah zdrovyeh!) (Gdjeh sawn toe-letih) (Yes-tesh pee-enk-nah.) (Ko-hahm chuh.) (Prosheh za-byesh mnyeh doh doh-moo.) (Zads-dvoan doh mnyeh!)
POPULATION (2016) Poland - 38,483,957 Warsaw - 1,744,400 Kraków - 761,100 Łódź - 700,982 Wrocław - 635,800 Poznań - 542,300 Gdańsk - 462,249 Katowice - 299,012 LOCAL TIME Poland is in the Central European (CET) time zone (GMT+1hr). When it’s 12:00 in Katowice it’s 05:00 in Chicago, 06:00 in New York City, 11:00 in London, 12:00 in Paris and Berlin and 19:00 in Tokyo. Polish summer time (GMT+2hrs) starts and ends on the last Sundays of March and October. iyp.me/katowice