Post #998446

2026-04-07 09:13 UTC

We’re searching for the answer to a fascinating question: How many languages do you actually need to get by in Europe? This is a series exploring how well Europeans can understand each other across borders, without defaulting to English every five minutes. Today, we turn to the heartland of Europe: #Poland, #Czechia and #Slovakia #language #europe

Replies (3)

@europeanspodcast@mastodon.social 2026-04-07 09:17

Do you speak one of these languages? How do you manage with your neighbours? If you speak Sorbian or Silesian, we definitely want to hear from you!

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@platlas@en.osm.town 2026-04-07 10:18

@europeanspodcast@mastodon.social I've heard that younger generations, not born in Czechoslovakia strugle a bit with some words. As teenager in 90s, I was mostly reading in Czech because more foreign books were translated to Czech than to Slovak - as it was and still is bigger market. Now some books are even translated from Czech to Slovak >.> But still there is dialect continuum with the Moravian dialects of Czech and Slovak dialects west of Little Carpathians.

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@djembro@universeodon.com 2026-04-07 10:43

@europeanspodcast@mastodon.social I’m learning Polish along with Ukrainian. I’m amazed at how similar they are. When I come across a new Polish word, I first think of Ukrainian words that sound close. Half the time, I correctly guess the meaning of the Polish word. I do have to say, in my opinion, Polish would be a lot easier to read/pronounce if it were rendered in Cyrillic! Someday, I’ll read up on the history of the Polish language.

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