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Do Polish Peoplespeak foreignlanguages?

A Report by Randstad Research Institute

Do Polish people speak foreign languages?A Report by Randstad Research Institute | 3

Rynek pracy w sektorze Raport Instytutu Badawczego Randstad

The political, economic and social transition in Poland over the last couple of decades has completely reshaped the job market, redefining the whole educational system along the way. Polish membership in the EU, with its freedom of movement and opening of the Western European labour markets, and the tremendous increase in exports of goods and services from Poland coupled with an inflow of foreign investment are bringing dramatic changes to the qualifications and competences employers are now expecting in new recruits. Foreign investment is by far the most prominent driver behind this change. Over the last 20 years, more than 25,000 foreign investors have established their presence in Poland, creating a total of 1.5 million new jobs and investing over 150 billion euros. This decade has seen the emergence of shared service and outsourcing centres as a sizeable portion of the investment pie. These centres serve customers who generally do not speak Polish; therefore, in combination with the developments mentioned above, the job market has seen a huge increase in demand for employees skilled in one or even multiple foreign languages. This trend can be clearly observed in large urban areas, which have so far been the most attractive to foreign investors, especially Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Katowice, Gdańsk and Poznań.

New potential investors, as well as companies with a history of operations in Poland, often look for an answer to the question if and how well Polish people speak foreign languages. This question is usually prompted by concerns about choosing a region where candidates with relevant language skills are the easiest to find.

To support you in seeking reliable information that you can use to make informed decisions, we have prepared the attached report from the Randstad Research Institute based on the results of surveys conducted by Millward Brown.

The report includes statistics on the proficiency levels in six common foreign languages in a population of 40,000 respondents across Poland. Additionally, the data have been sorted by six selected urban areas and voivodships.

I do hope that you will find our report a source of valuable information aiding your success in business growth planning.

Enjoy reading!

Monika Malina-Stelmasik

Randstad Sales Support Director

Welcome

Do Polish people speak foreign languages?A Report by Randstad Research Institute4 | Do Polish people speak foreign languages?

A Report by Randstad Research Institute | 5

Introduction

Survey highlights

Survey facts

How many people speak foreign languages in Poland?

What languages do Polish people speak?

Foreign language proficiency by city

Foreign language proficiency by region

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Table of contents



A half of the Polish population say they speak a foreign language.

The greatest number of people not speaking any foreign language live in Wielkopolskie Voivodship, and in the city of Katowice.

English is the most widely spoken foreign language in Poland.

Most fluent English speakers live in Warsaw and Kraków.

Every fifth Pole speaks Russian, and every sixth speaks German.

The easiest place to find someone to talk to in German or Russian is Wrocław.

A command of French, Italian or Spanish is rare.

The most likely place to find someone speaking good French is Warsaw.

Candidates good or fluent in multiple languages are easiest to find in Warsaw and the Tri-City.

Wielkopolskie is a region marked by the greatest disparity in language proficiency between the voivodship at large and its capital, Poznań.

The statistics included in the report are based on the Target Group Index survey carried out at monthly intervals (in the period from January 2013 to June 2014) by the Millward Brown research company.

The surveys were conducted using direct interviews in households of randomly selected respondents. The data employed in this analysis relate to over 40,000 respondents (N = 40,883) aged 18 to 65, who were asked to self-assess their foreign language skills (self-reported proficiency).

Men49.12%

Women50.88%

Elementary8.95% No answer 0.14%

Higher27.33%

Basic vocational30.86%

Secondary32.72%

Working(casual to full-time) 62.45%

Not in labour force37.55%

Aged 35-4420.12%

Aged 25-3424.02%

Aged 45-6542.67%

Aged 18-2413.19%

Gender

Education

Age groups

Current occupational status



Survey factsSurvey highlights



Nearly half of the respondents (49.6%) admit to at least elementary skills even if only in one foreign language. The majority of that group (19.32%) have a basic command of just one foreign language. Those with good to proficient skills in one or more foreign languages account for 23.36%.

16.53% of the respondents from Warsaw and 14.02% from the Tri-City say they know two or more languages at a good to proficient level. The city of Poznań has the highest percentage of residents (34.49%) who know one foreign language well to very well among the surveyed regions. Poznań has also statistically the lowest number of people (22.57%) who do not speak any, even basic, foreign language. However, as many as 60.57% of Wielkopolskie’s residents (the highest figure for the surveyed voivodships) know no foreign language at all.

Notably, when looking at the results for the whole country, it can be seen that the foreign language speaking population is always the highest in the largest urban area in each of the voivodships shown above – considerably above the average for the given voivodship. This gap is the narrowest in Upper Silesia (Śląskie), probably because of the highly urbanized nature of this region.

How many people speak foreign languages in Poland?

Foreign language skills among Polish people Values

Know no foreign language or some basic foreign words 50.40%

Know one foreign language at an elementary level 19.32%

Know two or more foreign languages at an elementary level 6.92%

Know one foreign language at a good to proficient level 18.02%

Know two or more foreign languages at a good to proficient level 5.34%

N = 40,833

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Know no foreign language or some basic foreign words

Know one foreign language at an elementary level

Know two or more foreign languages at an elementary level

Know one foreign language at a good to proficient level

Know two or more foreign languages at a good to proficient level

PoznańKrakówKatowiceTri-CityWarsawWhole country

N = 40,833

Wrocław

Foreign language skills by city

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Know no foreign language or some basic foreign words

Know one foreign language at an elementary level

Know two or more foreign languages at an elementary level

Know one foreign language at a good to proficient level

Know two or more foreign languages at a good to proficient level

WielkopolskieMałopolskieŚląskiePomorskieMazowieckieWhole country

N = 40,833

Dolnośląskie

Foreign language skills by voivodship



English is undoubtedly the most widely and best known foreign language. As many as 17.39% of respondents say they know this language at a good to proficient level, while only just above 5% admit a very good command of the next most common foreign language, i.e. German. English also ranks first among the foreign languages that Poles can speak to a fair level (communicating using basic phrases).

The above statistics are further confirmed in a report published in November 2014 by Education First, an international educational company supporting English learning in different parts of the world. According to that report, Poland comes sixth in the world for English proficiency, outperforming such countries as Austria, Germany or France. More to the point, the proficiency level of this language among Polish people has been improving year by year at a rate substantial enough to take Poland to the top among all European countries surveyed for this criterion (EF English Proficiency Index, http://www.ef.pl/epi/).

Nearly 13% of the interviewees claim they can communicate in Russian using basic phrases, which places this language second among the foreign languages spoken at a fair level. Only a few less respondents (11.7%) reported similar proficiency in German.

The proficiency in the other three languages, that is French, Spanish and Italian, lags behind at a mere few per cent.


Good to fluent Fair PoorN = 40,833


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

French 0.78% 1.20% 2.74%

English 17.39% 16.90% 14.06%

German 11.69% 16.15% 5.32%

Russian 12.91% 23.74% 5.21%

Spanish 0.33% 0.48% 1.45%

Italian 0.43% 0.53% 1.49%

Denmark

Netherlands

Sweden

Finland

Norway

Poland

Austria

Estonia

Belgium

Germany

EF English Proficiency Index

69.30

68.98

67.80

64.39

64.32

64.26

63.21

61.39

61.20

60.88

Dorota Zabłocka, RPO & MSP Manager Randstad:

The robust score of Polish people in the language proficiency ranking is one of the main reasons why investors are so willing to locate their service centres in Poland. The availability of people speaking not only English but also another European language is a very important asset. The SSC/BPO sector is now in the top three largest employers in Poland. There is no other industry growing so rapidly at the moment. The major urban areas attract those who know foreign languages and who want to use them at work, and they are fully aware that this improves their employability.



Foreign language proficiency by city

The residents of Warsaw can boast the highest English proficiency among all the surveyed cities as more than 40% of them have a good to proficient command of the language. Kraków and Poznań come next, with scores markedly above 30%.

Every twentieth Pole, most likely a resident of Wrocław, is good or fluent in German, and the same for Russian. Also every tenth city-dweller in the Tri-City and Warsaw claims proficiency in German.

Russian proficiency is usually rated as “poor” (knowledge of isolated words and expressions), but the group reporting this skill is still larger than other poorly spoken languages. This is probably explained by the fact that learning Russian was compulsory across all levels of education in Poland until 1990, and a good many people can still remember the basic phrases in this language.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

WrocławPoznańKrakówKatowiceTri-CityWarsaw

English by city


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%


German by city


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%


Russian by city


Dorota Zabłocka, RPO & MSP Manager Randstad:

Large university cities facilitate the learning of more than one foreign language for young people. Moreover, with the wide range of language courses available at private schools, foreign language skills can be mastered through the latest teaching techniques frequently employed by native speaker teachers. It is worth noting that various language learning options are also offered in secondary schools, with international student exchange programmes arguably bringing the best results.



Foreign language proficiency in Mazowieckie Voivodship

Warsaw and the Mazowieckie Voivodship

The capital definitely attracts people with strong foreign language skills. Among the surveyed regions, it is Warsaw where you will find the highest percentage of:

•goodtoproficientspeakersoftwoormoreforeignlanguages(16.53%); •fluentspeakersofEnglish(20.55%); •proficientspeakersofGerman(3.48%); •comfortablespeakersofFrench(3.2%).

Mazowieckie voivodship manages to keep up with the capital. Compared to the other surveyed voivodships, Mazowieckie has the smallest share of the population speaking no foreign language and the biggest (23.33%) share speaking at least one foreign language well to fluently.

People living in Mazowieckie are most proficient in English; almost 26% of the respondents are good or fluent speakers of this language. On the other hand, German proficiency appears weak, with the largest number of respondents admitting not speaking the language at all.

Of all the voivodshops surveyed, Mazowieckie has, however, the highest percentage of respondents able to speak good or fair Russian.


Language proficiency in Warsaw

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

French 4.56% 2.67% 4.68%

English 42.01% 20.01% 9.55%

German 13.10% 12.74% 9.46%

Russian 19.99% 21.52% 10.05%

Spanish 1.22% 1.06% 4.34%

Italian 0.73% 1.25% 3.74%


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

Language proficiency in Mazowieckie

French 1.70% 1.48% 2.84%

English 25.83% 17.74% 12.49%

German 9.49% 11.80% 5.44%

Russian 16.17% 24.49% 7.18%

Spanish 0.52% 0.82% 2.28%

Italian 0.35% 0.74% 1.98%

Dagmara Chudzińska-Matysiak, Randstad Staffing Regional Manager:

Warsaw, as an attractive job market offering exciting career prospects and relatively high salaries, is a natural destination for migrants from other regions within Poland. Many new arrivals have excellent foreign language skills. In addition, a well-developed system of higher and secondary education guarantees a steady inflow of candidates with high language competences.



Tri-City and the Pomorskie Voivodship

The Tri-City urban area, comprising the cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, has the highest concentration of fluent speakers of Russian, French, Spanish and Italian compared to other cities. English and German proficiency levels are equal to the national average.

In comparison to the other voivodships surveyed, Pomorskie has the largest population of good to fluent speakers of German and fluent speakers of Russian. Proficiency in French and Spanish, although the highest nationally, hovers between 1 and 2 percent.

Italian

Good to fluent Fair PoorN = 836

Language proficiency in the Tri-City

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

French 3.06% 2.41% 3.49%

English 31.54% 20.64% 17.99%

German 9.13% 16.06% 10.45%

Russian 4.51% 14.97% 8.82%

Spanish 2.27% 1.39% 1.84%

0.61% 0.82% 1.83%


Language proficiency in Pomorskie

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

French 2.99% 1.53% 2.41%

English 23.02% 16.68% 12.97%

German 10.14% 14.05% 8.63%

Russian 8.30% 15.99% 9.53%

Spanish 1.26% 0.76% 1.27%

Italian 0.39% 0.54% 1.23%

Magdalena Celmer, Randstad Professionals Regional Manager:

The geographic location of the Tri-City – the sea gateway to the world – and the related tradition in logistics and transport have been definitely at play in the development of language competence by the local urban residents. Schools, colleges and universities based in the Tri-City offer compelling FL learning options, which ultimately translates into the availability of employees able to comfortably communicate in a foreign language. On top of that, the growing market of business service centres and investments by numerous multinational corporations have encouraged qualified people with strong language competences to flock in from other regions.

Foreign language proficiency in Pomorskie Voivodship



Katowice and the Śląskie Voivodship

The residents of Śląskie voivodship and Katowice have the weakest command of foreign languages, compared to the other regions. English and German proficiency at the proficient or fluent level is less widespread than in any other city. None of the respondents from Katowice reported even a fair knowledge of French or Spanish.

Likewise, the proficiency in individual foreign languages across the whole Śląskie voivodship is below the national average.


Language proficiency in Katowice

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

French 0 0 5.94%

English 17.95% 22.38% 21.67%

German 14.49% 9.15% 4.23%

Russian 12.63% 38.32% 5.92%

Spanish 0 0 5.86%

Italian 0 3.53% 4.42%


Language proficiency in Śląskie

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 100%60%

French 0.59% 1.19% 3.76%

English 30.70% 15.10% 48.73%

German 12.85% 15.37% 5.99%

Russian 9.87% 23.03% 2.81%

Spanish 0.19% 0.10% 1.38%

Italian 0.31% 0.58% 1.91%

70% 80% 90%

Dorota Zabłocka, RPO & MSP Manager:

Katowice and the whole Upper Silesian urban agglomeration are heavily industrialised and until recently foreign language skills did not matter much for employment opportunities, which undermined the motivation to learn foreign languages. Interestingly, as many as 529,000 people admitted in the 2011 National Census to speaking the Silesian dialect, which some researchers consider to be a separate Slavonic language. Thus, Polish may be the first foreign language for many in Upper Silesia.

Foreign language proficiency in Śląskie Voivodship



Kraków and the Małopolskie Voivodship Poznań and the Wielkopolskie Voivodship

A considerable share of the population of Kraków (37.7%) speak fluent or good English. Conversely, the percentage of FL speakers of German (4.86%) or Russian (5.65% – the lowest figure for the surveyed cities) is small. The situation is similar across the whole of Małopolskie.

Foreign language proficiency rates in Poznań and the Wielkopolskie voivodship correspond to the national average. It is worth noting that the largest group of respondents reporting a fair command of French, Russian, Spanish and Italian from all the surveyed regions occurs in Poznań.


Language proficiency in Kraków

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 80%60%

1.43% 1.81% 5.07%

37.70% 24.34% 16.18%

18.76% 33.77% 4.86%

13.66% 30.52% 5.65%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

0.55% 0.46% 1.63%

0.59% 0.90% 1.23%

70%


Language proficiency in Poznań

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

1.67% 3.24% 4.71%

33.68% 19.63% 12.95%

19.24% 16.82% 6.85%

29.76% 15.22% 8.31%

0.36% 3.56% 4.95%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

1.82% 1.02% 1.33%


Language proficiency in Małopolskie

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

0.50% 1.43% 3.11%

19.16% 17.60% 16.74%

11.37% 22.20% 3.58%

8.77% 26.05% 3.12%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

0.26% 0.35% 1.07%

0.61% 0.61% 1.28%


Language proficiency in Wielkopolskie

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

0.54% 1.08% 1.75%

13.10% 13.84% 13.93%

10.76% 16.30% 4.79%

9.76% 16.71% 3.38%

0.24% 0.75% 1.38%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

0.17% 0.39% 0.80%

Foreign language proficiency in Małopolskie and Wielkopolskie



Wrocław and the Dolnośląskie Voivodship

The residents of Wrocław are the best German speakers of all the regions covered; 11.5% of respondents know this language well and at a proficient level. Wrocław also scores well for proficiency in Russian.

Foreign language proficiency levels in Dolnośląskie voivodship do not rise above the national average.


Language proficiency in Wrocław

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 70%60%

0.74% 2.34% 4.48%

29.51% 20.58% 12.25%

19.63% 22.05% 11.04%

18.71% 19.41% 10.62%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

0.10% 1.10% 0

0.72% 0.74% 2.90%


Language proficiency in Dolnośląskie

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

0.40% 0.81% 1.86%

14.08% 15.81% 13.72%

15.12% 20.45% 6.84%

11.80% 20.24% 4.09%

Spanish

Italian

French

Russian

German

English

0.12% 0.31% 1.32%

0.55% 0.30% 1.60%

Dorota Zabłocka, RPO & MSP Manager:

The geographic location of Wrocław in the Berlin-Warsaw-Prague triangle helps the residents make the most of learning and practising a foreign language. The residents of the city can cross the the border into another country in little more than ten minutes and test their language skills in the real world. Nowadays, the city attracts a good deal of foreign investment, not only in the business services sector but also in logistics as well as research and development, where proficiency in foreign languages plays a vital part.

Foreign language proficiency in Dolnośląskie Voivodship

Randstad Polska Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 13402-305 WarszawaT: +48 22 274 10 00E: [email protected] www.randstad.pl

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