Comments on: I don't speak any Polish, but I speak some basic Russian. If I visit Poland will they be able to understand it?

By: witeczek2002

witeczek2002 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

My advice is: speak English. The last time Russian was obligatory at schools was twenty years ago, and even prior to that, many students did not like the language. On top of that, you would speak Russian with American accent, and that would complicate things even more. Furthermore – Poland was NEVER communist (only some top party officials) and some Polish people might take offense if you addressed them in Russian. No, definitely stick to English.

By: Sylvieee

Sylvieee — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

some ppl think that russian and polish are so much alike. not at all. but yes, lots of ppl will understand you cuz they used to learn that in schools! so don’t expect too many young ppl to be eager to use it cuz they just don’t understand it at all! although some words are similar. what makes it different from russian is that polish comes from westernslavic languages, therefore is VERY similar to czech and slovak(you can use those and everybody will understand you!) and russian is easternslavic), which makes it a bit more difficult. but anyway, good luck!

By: David C

David C — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

Young people in Poland prefer to learn English because they now have the choice their parents never had. You will find that a lot of people over the age of 40 speak Russian because it was compulsory when they were at school, but you will have more luck with English with people under the age of 30, especially in the larger cities. As the first answerer said there are similarities between Polish and Russian but not enough for the two nations to speak to each other and be understood in the same was as,for example, Swedish and Danish.

By: ♪ ♥ ♪:::... мαятуηα....:::♪ ♥ ♪

♪ ♥ ♪:::... мαятуηα....:::♪ ♥ ♪ — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

you don;t need to speak russian in poland as many young people learn english in schools but maybe elder people will prefer you to speak to them in Russian as this was the language you used to learn in school few years a go

hope this helps

xxx

By: Mott

Mott — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

maybe some adults will understand you but you would be better of speaking english

By: XTC666

XTC666 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

I go to medical school in Poznan, Poland and I am Ukranian/Russian and speak them fluently. Yes it is similar and the elderly do speak it but ussually if im stuck and i need to speak Polish i throw in some russian words that would help me get my point across but otherwise I would stick to english. Unless u are certain they will pick up on Russian and show some hand signals lol then youll be fine.

Hope this helps

By: skyhigh2440

skyhigh2440 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:23:12 +0000

yes a bit