© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

From Pole to Pole: coping with life away from home

The great travellers

There are some nationalities which you can

find all over the world. Is there a city in the world
which does not have an Irish bar or an Italian
restaurant? It seems we can add the Poles to that
list as more and more of them are living and
working abroad. In this article we will look at
some of the the positives and negatives of living in
the UK, and how Poles are coping with them.

Poles in the UK and Ireland

No-one is completely sure just how

many Poles are living in the UK and Ireland
at the moment, but it is probably around one
million. They are doctors, nurses, painters,
plumbers, managers, labourers, bankers... in
fact, it is hard to think of a job which they do
not do! There are even Poles working as
special policemen in some towns.

The good, the bad and...

Ask almost any Polish immigrant to the

UK why they came and you will hear the
same answer: to work and to earn money.
As Iwona from Poznań puts it, “I earn so
much more here that I can save up and start

my own business back in Poland.” Not
everything is positive, however. The salaries
may be higher, but so is the cost of living
and, of course, there are some things that no
amount of money can buy. Ania, from
Kraków, came back to Poland even though
she had a well-paid job in London. “I
missed my family and my home,” she says.

There is one thing, though, which

everyone agrees on. “The worst thing,” says
Ania with a giggle, “was the food. How can
English people eat like that? No wonder
they all go to Indian and Chinese
restaurants!”

Can you speak English?
Can you speak Polish?

Maybe you can, but that might not be

enough to talk to your countrymen working
in the UK and Ireland. If you go to London
or Dublin, for example, you might need to
learn something else as well. That
something is called Ponglish.

Ponglish has been invented by Poles

who are living and working in the UK and
Ireland. They need to use a lot of English
words which do not exist in Polish but a Pole

speaking English to another Pole would be
very strange. And so Ponglish was born!

How does Ponglish sound?

Ponglish sounds like Polish with

English words or English grammar. There
are several different kinds of Ponglish
sentence:

a) Use Polish grammar and English words
b) Translate English phrases word for word
c) Use English idioms translated into Polish

There are examples of Ponglish sentences
below - see if you can translate them into
normal Polish or English.

Is it OK to use Ponglish?

It depends, of course, on who you ask.

Some of the older Poles in the UK frown on
Ponglish and think Poles should speak pure
Polish, but younger Poles find Ponglish
more and more useful. Like any slang, there
are times when it would be OK to use it, and
times when it would not be OK.

Around one million Poles are living in Great
Britain and Ireland at the moment

Kan ju spik ponglish?

Try to understand some of
these examples >>>>>>>

“Daj mi fona, jak już będziesz fri, to wezmę dzień offa i wydajmy trochę keszu.”

“Rano lepiej jechać tubą, niż brać autobus, bo w city jest okropny trafik.”

“Odbierz call od frenda. Pewnie ma break i zamiast iść na lunch postanowił z tobą spiknąć.”

“Jestem partaczem w banku w city.”

“Aplikowałam na pracę i czekam na call.”

PETER MORAN
MARCH 2007

ar

ou

nd

E

n

g

li

sh

© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

From Pole to Pole: coping with life away from home

1 ____________________

There are some nationalities which you

can find all over the world. Is there a city in
the world which does not have an Irish bar
or an Italian restaurant? It seems we can add
the Poles to that list as more and more of
them are living and working abroad. In this
article we will look at some of the the
positives and negatives of living in the UK,
and how Poles are coping with them.

2 ____________________

No-one is completely sure just how

many Poles are living in the UK and Ireland
at the moment, but it is probably around one
million. They are doctors, nurses, painters,
plumbers, managers, labourers, bankers... in
fact, it is hard to think of a job which they do
not do! There are even Poles working as
special policemen in some towns.

3 ____________________

Ask almost any Polish immigrant to the

UK why they came and you will hear the
same answer: to work and to earn money.
As Iwona from Poznań puts it, “I earn so

much more here that I can save up and start
my own business back in Poland.” Not
everything is positive, however. The salaries
may be higher, but so is the cost of living
and, of course, there are some things that no
amount of money can buy. Ania, from
Kraków, came back to Poland even though
she had a well-paid job in London. “I
missed my family and my home,” she says.

There is one thing, though, which

everyone agrees on. “The worst thing,” says
Ania with a giggle, “was the food. How can
English people eat like that? No wonder
they all go to Indian and Chinese
restaurants!”

4 ____________________

Maybe you can, but that might not be

enough to talk to your countrymen working
in the UK and Ireland. Speaking English is
important, of course, but if you go to London
or Dublin, for example, you might need to
learn something else as well. That
something is called Ponglish.

Ponglish has been invented by Poles

who are living and working in the UK and
Ireland. They need to use a lot of English
words which do not exist in Polish but a Pole

speaking English to another Pole would be
very strange. And so Ponglish was born!

5 ____________________

Ponglish sounds like Polish with

English words or English grammar. There
are several different kinds of Ponglish
sentence:

a) Use Polish grammar and English words
b) Translate English phrases word for word
c) Use English idioms translated into Polish

There are examples of Ponglish sentences
below - see if you can translate them into
normal Polish or English.

6 ____________________

It depends, of course, on who you ask.

Some of the older Poles in the UK frown on
Ponglish and think Poles should speak pure
Polish, but younger Poles find Ponglish
more and more useful. Like any slang, there
are times when it would be OK to use it, and
times when it would not be OK.

Around one million Poles are living in Great
Britain and Ireland at the moment

Kan ju spik ponglish?

Try to understand some of
these examples >>>>>>>

“Daj mi fona, jak już będziesz fri, to wezmę dzień offa i wydajmy trochę keszu.”

“Rano lepiej jechać tubą, niż brać autobus, bo w city jest okropny trafik.”

“Odbierz call od frenda. Pewnie ma break i zamiast iść na lunch postanowił z tobą spiknąć.”

“Jestem partaczem w banku w city.”

“Aplikowałam na pracę i czekam na call.”

PETER MORAN
MARCH 2007

ar

ou

nd

E

n

g

li

sh

© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

around English

activities sheet

Discussion

1.

Do you know anyone who has gone abroad to work? Why did they go? What did they think of it?

2.

What do you think would be the positives and negatives of working in the UK? Work with a friend and try to make a list.

3.

How important do you think knowing English is for Poles working in the UK? Are any other languages useful?

First reading

Read the text quickly to check your answers.

Organising the text

The headings of the paragraphs are missing from the text. Match the headings with the paragraphs:

Is it OK to use Ponglish?

Poles in the UK and Ireland

The good, the bad and...

Can you speak English? Can you
speak Polish?

How does Ponglish sound?

The great travellers

Vocabulary

Find words or phrases which mean the same as these:

Paragraph 1
looks like/sounds like/feels like...
deal with a problem or a situation...

Paragraph 4
others from your nation...

Paragraph 2
someone who fixes pipes, toilets, sinks...
someone who does physical work...

Paragraph 5
literally/exactly...

Paragraph 3
feel sad because you don’t have it any more...
a little laugh...

Paragraph 6
make a face to show unhappiness with something...
clean/without anything mixed with it...

Translation

Try to translate the Ponglish sentences at the bottom of the page into English and Polish. When you’ve finished, see if your trans-
lations are the same as your friend’s.
Now try to write some Ponglish sentences of your own and show them to the rest of the class.