Poland.Culture

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Culture

Religion:
 The majority of the Polish people belong to the Catholic Church, about 95% of Polish people.  There are four main branches of Catholicism in Poland: the Byzantine-Ukrainian, Armenian, Neo-Uniate, and Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics are the biggest branch and have about 28 million people.Pope John Paul II became Pope in 1978. He was the first non-Italian Pope in nearly 500 years. Although, Catholicism is the biggest religion practiced in Poland, but there are also a variety of other religions practiced as well. For example, Protestant, Jehovah's Witness, and the Polish Orthodox Church.

**Education:**
 The Polish Education System is organized into three tiers: 1. Primary 2. Secondary 3. Higher Education. Children usually begin their Primary schooling when they are 7 years old and are usually there until they are 15. After Primary School, students enter Secondary school and there are 5 different types of Secondary School. The five types of Secondary school are: 1. General Secondary School 2. General Technical Secondary School 3.Secondary Vocational School 4. Secondary Technical School 5. Basic Schools.Each of these schooltake 4 years (on average) to complete, that is the same as the high schools in the United States!



Language:
 Polish is a Western Slavic language and over 40 million people speak it! Polish is a difficult language to learn, but a lot of young Polish people know at least a little English. If you look at the Polish Alphabet to the right, you will notice that there is no Q, V, or X!  Here are some greetings that Polish speakers often use: Na zdrowie! means Cheers!,Czesc means Hi, Dziekuje means Thank you. From the of these words, it is obvious that pronouncing these words can be difficult! To hear how these words are pronounced go to this website [](the soundbites are at the bottom of the page). (Ager 1998)

Food:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">There are many foods that are considered to be staples of Polish life, but here <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">are the most popular: Pierogi, Bigos, and Barszcz. Pierogis are dumplings filled <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">with savory fillings like potatoes, meat, and cabbage, or they can be filled with <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">sweet fillings like strawberries, chesse, blueberry. I have actually had the potato and cheese pierogis and they are DELICIOUS! Bigos is a traditional hearty stew made with pork sausage or kielbasa and cabbage. It is very popularin Polish homes. Barszcz or Borscht is also a popular Polish soup, but the originsis debated between Eastern European countries. Barszcz is basically a beetroot soup and is most commonly served hot in Poland, but other countries <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">prefer it cold or chilled. (Warsaw life 2003)



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Polish Music and Art:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Music has always been valued by the Polish people. Polish music is generally upbeat and a lot of music has songs associated with them. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">Chopin is a popular composer from Poland and his music is still well-known and a lot of people still learn how to play the pieces he wrote. To hear samples of Polish music and music from Chopin go to this link <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">[]. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Below is a YouTube clip of the Polish National Anthem as an example of classic Polish music. media type="youtube" key="3M9wrLN_dV0" height="390" width="480" toc <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Polish artists mostly followed the European trends, when Europe was in the Romantic period so was Poland. Jozef Chelmonski and Jan Matejko are two famous painters that came from Poland. This is a painting by Jan Matejko titled //Stanczyk upon the arrival of the news of the loss of Smolensk during the ball at the court of Queen Bona//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 36px;">**National Holidays:**


<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">There are three main National Holidays in Poland. The first is on May 3rd and is called Constitution Day. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">This day celebrates the first Polish Constitution andthe people celebrate it be having picnics in parks and going to Spring-inspired events. The second is on the August 15th and is called theDay of Assumption. This day celebrates the victorious Battle of Warsaw in 1920. To celebrate this holiday Catholic masses are held and people usually spend most of the day in Church. The third holiday is on November 11th and is called the Polish Independence Day. To celebrate this day people hold major celebrations and participate in the Race of Independence.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">1. What day is Constitution Day celebrated? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> A. March 5th <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> B. November 1st <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> C. May 3rd <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> D. December 25th

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 2. Which of the following is a cultural Polish food? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> A. Hot dogs <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> B. Pierogi <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> C. Pizza <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> D. Spaghetti

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Highlight next to the numbers to find out the answers to the questions! <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 1. C <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> 2. B

Information for this page was received from: Churches and religious life in poland. (n.d.). //Polska//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from en.poland.gov.pl/Churches,and,Religious,Life,in,Poland,397.html

Famous polish people. (n.d.). //Poland for visitors//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.polandforvisitors.com/travel_poland/famous

Polish alphabet and pronunciation. (n.d.). //Omniglot//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/polish.htm

Polish food. (n.d.). //Warsaw life//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/polish-food

Polish holidays and customs. (n.d.). //Poland//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://en.poland.gov.pl/Polish,holidays,and,customs,412.html

Polish language. (n.d.). //Wroclaw life//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.wroclaw-life.com/language/language.php

Polish music. (n.d.). //Rootsweb//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~atpc/heritage/culture/music.html

System of polish education. (n.d.). //StudijÃ¸ kokybÃ«s vertinimo centras//. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://www.skvc.lt/old/PL/System.htm