Polish is a language related to Russian, Czech, Ukrainian, Croatian and Bulgarian, all member of the Slavic group of languages. Two of the closest languages to Polish are Czech and Ukrainian. Considering that these languages stretch from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea there is a remarkable mutual-intelligibility between them that other language groups don’t have. Piwo, or pivo how it is pronounced (in Polish) and written in other Slavic languages, which can get you a beer in all these countries. That’s quite handy.

It is a language spoken by some 40 million people in Poland and abroad, and has 9 extra letters to contend with (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż). The combinations of these letters will leave you quite confused as to what the pronunciation will be. To top that all off Polish, like its cousin Croatian tends to bunch consonants together which leaves you even more confused e.g Wszyscy, przedszkolaków and the city Szczebrzeszyn. Good luck!

Interestingly Polish is the language that Borat speaks when he starts his greeting and not Kazhak. Jak sie masz? How are you? Dzien kuje – Thank you