It’s one thing to master the bare necessities for speaking Polish, like how to order food. Those finite, controlled interactions are great, but they aren’t exactly “conversation.” To be able to have a free-wheeling conversation with someone in a new language, you have to really have a grasp of the language. But there are some shortcuts! Learning how to talk about how you spend your free time in Polish, for example, is one way that you can develop your small talk skills.
Of course, “free time in Polish” is a pretty broad category. And if you spend all your free time playing chess, you’ll probably need to learn the more minute details of talking about rooks, queens, knights and the rest. But for an overall look at various activities, we collected some of the most basic vocab you might need. And if you want to hear how each word or phrase is pronounced by a native speaker, just click the play button next to each term.
Talking About Free Time In Polish
General Hobby Vocabulary
theater — teatr
play — sztuka
movie theater — kino
television — telewizja
musical — musical
museum — muzeum
exhibition — wystawa
sculpture — rzeźba
painting — obraz
photography, photo — fotografia
gallery — galeria
to paint — malować (imperf.), namalować (perf.)
drawing — rysunek
film — film
to dance — tańczyć (imperf.), zatańczyć (perf.)
literature — literatura
book — książka
to read — czytać (imperf.), przeczytać (perf.)
music — muzyka
to sing — śpiewać (imperf.), zaśpiewać (perf.)
instrument — instrument
guitar — gitara
piano — fortepian
game — gra
to play — bawić się (imperf.), pobawić się (perf.)
sport — sport
soccer — piłka nożna
gymnasium — fitness klub
team — drużyna
to go shopping — iść na zakupy (imperf.), pójść na zakupy (perf.)
second-hand — używany
eating out — jeść poza domem (imperf.), zjeść poza domem (perf.)
restaurant — restauracja
club — klub
bar — knajpa
cafe — kawiarnia
Free Time Phrases
How do you spend your free time? — Jak spędzasz czas wolny?
I love going to restaurants. — Uwielbiam chodzić do restauracji.
I play soccer twice a week. — Gram dwa razy w tygodniu w piłkę nożną.
I will sunbathe and read. — Będę się opalać i czytać.
Do you feel like going dancing? — Masz ochotę iść potańczyć?