Have you ever felt that your Polish / Slovak / Ukrainian / Russian colleagues are somewhat rude? This slide set will explain what's going on! Because... something gets lost in translation :-)

1. Why are Polish people so rude „rude”!
Monika Chutnik
ETTA Global Leadership Consulting
Sept 2017

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We know what we do.
ETTA.
 Leadership development in
international setting
 #1 in Poland in cross-cultural and
international cooperation
 Diversity management and people
development strategies
POLAND. Czech Republic. Hungary.
Germany. Austria. Switzerland.
Russia. Malta. | Spain. Italy. Romania.

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Why this topic?
• In my training and coaching projects, I have
frequently heard complaints from international
partners that Polish people seem to be rude.
• It was hard for me to believe, as I also had the
chance of getting to know their Polish partners,
and these people were sometimes even
exceptionally nice and polite.
• Something was going on here! I decided to
investigate ☺

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Why this topic?
• I noticed that many business partners which complained
about the „rude” behaviour of the Polish colleagues came
from countries like UK, Ireland, USA, or Sweden.
• When asked about specific situations, how they know
someone was rude, they were usualy referring to the way
their Polish colleagues write mails to them = use language.
• What helped was that in my student times I had been
learning 10 languages– and even if I have not really
mastered them, I have an understanding about their
structure and logic.
• Now, have a look at this:

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LANGUAGE
Lost in Translation

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Politeness and language
• Could you please close the window?
a regular, polite sentence in English will be translated into Polish
as
• Czy mógłbyś zamknąć okno? (talking to a man)
Czy mogłabyś zamknąć okno? (talking to a woman)

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Politeness and language
However, there is an important part missing:
• Could you please close the window?
• Czy mógłbyś zamknąć okno? proszę
Czy mogłabyś zamknąć okno? proszę

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Politeness and language
• Could you please close the window?
• Czy mógłbyś zamknąć okno? proszę
Czy mogłabyś zamknąć okno? proszę
Here, politeness is expressed by using „mógłbyś”, which is a
modality of the verb. In this particular kind of phrase, adding an
extra word „proszę” would indicate double politness, and so
putting pressure on the other person: insisting or begging them
to do something.
• Politeness is expressed by using a modality of a word, not by
adding an extra word.

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Politeness and language
Similar structure like in English is present in some other
languages, too. Politeness is expressed by using extra words.
• Could you please close the window?
• Schließen Sie bitte das Fenster.
• Kan du vara snäll och stänga fönstret!
• Czy mógłbyś zamknąć okno? Proszę
IF these words are missing, then your phrase is perceived as

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Can you do it for me… NOW!

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Language families
(Indo-European)

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Politeness and language
To express meanings, Slavic languages play with:
• modifications of words. For instance, a male
name „Jan” can be expressed as
Janek = Jan who I know
Jasio = small Jan
Jasiek = naughty small Jan
Jasiuniek = my dear small Jan
• Tone of voice and intonation. Question words (do
you…?, have you..?) or a specific sequence do not
matter that much.

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How does it happen, step by step?
• Czy mógłbyś to dla mnie zrobić?
•  Could you do it for me?
•  Can you do it for me…
•  Do it for me…
•  Do it, now!
A great space for misinterpreting the intentions, especially
when voice and tone are missing.

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So what?
Hints for successful cross-cultural communication
If your native language is English, Swedish,
German…
• Please watch your Polish colleague’s intention,
tone of voice.
• Please make sure about the meaning by checking
with the Polish person on the phone how they
talk about it.
• Please remember that missing the word „please”
might be acceptable. In fact, it might even be
fully ok ☺ as we all talk just international English.

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So what?
Hints for successful cross-cultural communication
If your native language is Polish, Slovak, Russian, also Lithuanian…
• Remember that your international business partner might be
sensitive to vocabulary.
• Please remember to use the word „please” more than you would
consider usual. Develop a habit of using extra „please”s when you
speak English.
• When you write an email in English, read it again before sending it
to your international partner. Put extra „please” here and there, to
make sure your positive intentions are well understood ☺
• And don’t worry! „Please” does not mean that much in English. You
are not putting any pressure on your partner.

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So what?
Hints for successful cross-cultural communication
• Learn the language of your international
business partner. Yes! Learn Polish. Learn
German. Learn Swedish. Learn Ukrainian.
• The more you know about it, the more you
will understand and feel how it works.
Learning a new language is like entering
another universe. I can fully confirm it myself!
☺

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Grow with our best support!

18. Thank you!
Monika Chutnik
Monika.Chutnik@ettaconsult.eu
+48 888 099 551
ETTA
Global Leadership Consulting
www.ettaconsult.eu