Poland

History among cobblestone streets

Poland has a rich cultural heritage and many United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage spots to explore. Carpathian Mountains, the coastline of the Baltic Sea, or the winding river Vistula make the beautiful Polish landscape. Don’t miss tasting the traditional pierogis and explore cobblestone streets of Polish towns.

Polish teens tend to have a very active social life, spending time outside riding bikes, hiking, canoeing and kayaking on Poland’s many beautiful rivers. During the summer, many people go for mushroom hunting. Down time may spent relaxing with a card game like bridge.

Dziewczyny, które uwielbiają przygody! #Polishgirls #forest #Fun #siostra #afseffect #afspolska ????

A photo posted by Laura Esposito (@__lauraesposito) on

Host Family & Community

You can be hosted anywhere in Poland, but you will likely be close to one of the major cities, like Krakow, Warsaw or Poznań. Families will usually gather on Sundays to have lunch with immediate and extended family members. The country is predominantly Catholic, and religious life is prominent. Polish teenagers have quite a bit of independence and responsibility.  You may be tasked with preparing your own breakfast and getting to school on your own.

School

You’ll either attend lower secondary school (if you are up to 16 years old), which teaches a wide range of subjects, or upper secondary school (for students between the ages of 16 and 20), where students are prepared for university. Either way, you’ll learn foreign languages, history, science and math. 

Language

The main language spoken in Poland is Polish, a Slavic language, but many people also speak English quite well. AFS Poland will provide you with Polish language lessons, books and materials to help you master the language. Having a basic knowledge of English will be helpful.

Food

Food in Poland is pretty hearty, and highlights include pierogi, a kind of stuffed dumpling, stew with mushrooms and sausage, meat, cabbage, and potatoes. Bread is served with just about every meal, and people often buy fresh bread daily from local bakeries. People in rural areas tend to grow their own fresh vegetables so you can make your own salad for dinner every night. There are plenty of tasty desserts like poppy seed cake and cheesecake.

Let AFS guide your intercultural adventure

Go abroad with AFS to discover who you really are, make new lifetime friendships and immerse yourself in a fascinating intercultural experience.
TEEN PROGRAMS (UNDER 18 YEARS OLD)

Our learning program will prepare you for an amazing AFS intercultural experience. The program begins at your home country with a pre-departure orientation and continues with orientations and other supported learning activities and facilitated conversations will help you maximize your experience, cope the challenges of navigating a new culture and community and gain knowledge, skills, and a global understanding, throughout your time abroad, and as you return to you home country. AFS volunteers will be there to support and guide you and your host family through your learning journey abroad.

ADULT PROGRAMS (18 YEARS OR OLDER)

The Global Competence Certificate (GCC) program will support your intercultural learning experience. This state-of-the-art program prepares you to successfully navigate new cultural environments—during your AFS experience and long after you finish the program. Online intercultural learning modules combined with in-person sessions help you develop practical and global skills, knowledge and attitudes that employers need and mission-driven organizations believe will help achieve their social impact goals. You will receive your certification upon completion of the training program.