Karta Polaka – typical questions in the interview with the consul

Is there an official list of the consul’s questions?

No – the lists of ‘Karta Polaka questions’ circulating online were put together by applicants and schools based on their own experience. This page is not an official list either. We describe typical interview topics that help you prepare well, but the consul may ask about something else. You can read more about the requirements themselves in our guide to the Karta Polaka interview.

The interview has two purposes. First, the consul assesses whether you have at least a basic knowledge of Polish (if you do not present a certificate or a Polish school certificate). Second, they check your knowledge of Polish traditions and customs. So every question about history is also a language test.

Typical interview topics

Most interviews revolve around six topics – from personal matters to general knowledge about Poland.

Questions about you and your family

The interview usually starts with simple questions about you – this is the best moment to show that you speak in full sentences. Prepare a short, natural answer, but do not recite it.

Pay attention to forms that often cause trouble:

• Mam trzydzieści cztery lata – in Polish you ‘have’ an age (‘mam’), you do not say ‘jest mi’.
• babcia ze strony mamy / ze strony taty – this is how you say which side of the family your ancestors come from (mother’s or father’s side).
• urodził się / urodziła się – the ending depends on the gender of the person you are talking about.

Questions about your connection with Polish identity

The consul wants to hear what being Polish means to you personally – not stock phrases. Specific examples work best: what you do, what your family eats, which holidays you celebrate, where you learn the language.

Answer truthfully. If you have only recently started learning Polish, say so directly – it is better than an answer you cannot then expand on.

Questions about history, symbols and geography

Knowledge questions are usually short, and a good answer is a fact plus one sentence of explanation. You will find more dates and details in our cheat sheet of Polish history for the interview with the consul.

Kiedy Polska przyjęła chrzest?

W dziewięćset sześćdziesiątym szóstym roku. Ochrzcił się książę Mieszko I.

Co to jest Konstytucja 3 maja?

To pierwsza konstytucja w Europie, uchwalona w tysiąc siedemset dziewięćdziesiątym pierwszym roku.

Jak wygląda polskie godło?

To biały orzeł w złotej koronie na czerwonym tle.

Jak nazywa się polski hymn?

„Mazurek Dąbrowskiego”. Zaczyna się od słów „Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła”.

Jaka jest najdłuższa rzeka w Polsce?

Wisła. Płynie przez Kraków i Warszawę do Morza Bałtyckiego.

Z jakimi krajami graniczy Polska?

Z Niemcami, Czechami, Słowacją, Ukrainą, Białorusią, Litwą i Rosją.

Say dates in full words, the way Poles do: w tysiąc dziewięćset osiemnastym roku, not ‘w roku tysiąc dziewięćset osiemnaście’. Give the day of the month as an ordinal number in the genitive: jedenastego listopada, trzeciego maja.

Questions about traditions and holidays

Questions about holidays test both knowledge and vocabulary, so it is worth knowing the names of a few dishes and customs. We describe the most important holidays in our overview of Polish traditions and holidays.

How to address the consul

You address the consul using the polite form: pan or pani with the verb in the third person. Using the informal ‘ty’ sounds rude in Polish. These phrases are useful in any interview:

The most common mistakes in the interview

Our work with students shows that the problem is rarely a lack of knowledge – more often it is the way people speak.

• Answers learned by heart. One follow-up question (‘A dlaczego?’ – ‘And why?’) is enough to make a memorised text fall apart. Learn topics, not sentences.
• One-word answers. ‘Tak’, ‘Warszawa’, ‘Wisła’ do not show that you speak Polish. Always add one sentence.
• Words from Russian or Ukrainian. For example, in Polish a dywan is a rug lying on the floor, while the piece of furniture you sit on is a kanapa; uroda means beauty, and zapominać means to forget. Mistakes like these change the meaning of your answer.
• Wrong endings in the past tense. A woman says byłam, mieszkałam, urodziłam się, a man – byłem, mieszkałem, urodziłem się.
• Stress on the wrong syllable. In Polish, the stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable: Pol-ska, nie-pod-le-głość (stress on ‘le’).
• Pretending to understand. It is better to ask for the question to be repeated than to answer a different question from the one you were asked.

The best way to practise the interview is out loud with someone who will ask follow-up questions and correct your mistakes. We run this kind of mock interview on the ‘Karta Polaka’ course, and at a trial lesson we will check how well you already cope with such an interview.