A2 · Getting started
Longer stories about daily life, past and future.
- Krokodyle w słonej wodzie There are hundreds of crocodiles in the salty lake, and the lake once grew and covered farms and roads. Audio
- Jezioro poniżej morza Polly finds a big salty lake in a dry valley, with old coral in the rocks around it. Audio
- Wzgórze pełne dziur Men dig the blue stone out of the hill by hand, because machines would break it. Audio
- Woda, która stała się twarda Inside the grey rock there is blue stone, and it comes from only one place in the world. Audio
- Kamień spłynął rzeką Polly learns that the blue stone came down from the mountains, and that it has a name. Audio
- Niebieski kamień na plaży Polly flies along a coast between mountains and the sea, and finds a strange blue stone. Audio
- Plaża, na której nic nie ma Polly finds a long empty beach in a national park, and then she flies home. Audio
- Zwierzę, które robi kostki Wombats make cube shaped poop, and now we know why. Audio
- Ten ptak śpi podczas lotu Frigatebirds fly for many days and sleep only a little. Audio
- Obiad całego kraju In the Dominican Republic, everyone eats the same lunch at the same time. Audio
- Jak pszczoły robią miód Honeybees turn sweet flower nectar into golden honey through hard teamwork in the hive. Audio
- Długa droga jedwabiu The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China with Europe for many centuries. Audio
- Amazonka, największa rzeka The Amazon is the river that carries the most water in the world. Audio
- Ośmiornica i jej trzy serca The octopus is a clever sea animal with three hearts and blue blood. Audio
- Kable pod morzem Long cables under the ocean carry almost all of the information that travels between countries. Audio
- Pierwsze światło we wsi While the whole village sleeps, one window glows: the baker lights the oven so fresh bread will be ready by... Audio
- Mały ptak w zegarze In Germany's Black Forest, carved wooden cuckoo clocks call out every hour while children wait and laugh. Audio
- Miasteczko, w którym zabroniono umierać When a small Italian town ran out of space in its cemetery, the mayor signed an order telling people not to... Audio
- Kot, który jeździ autobusem Every morning a cat climbs onto the same city bus, watches the streets go by, and gets off at his own stop. Audio
- Ryba, która wspina się po wodospadach In Hawaii, a fish smaller than your finger climbs up waterfalls taller than buildings, using its mouth as a... Audio
- Para i małe talerzyki A first night at a Taipei night market, where pointing, smiling, and one brave question buy a very good... Audio
- Kolacja ugotowana przez wulkan In the Azores, people cook food inside a hot volcano. Audio
- Ostatni pociąg Tomas misses the last train in Tokyo and sleeps in a tiny room. Audio
- Pusty kubek On his first day, Pedro drinks from a cup that is not his. Audio
- Numer czterdzieści siedem Carla waits a long time at the clinic for a small cut. Audio
- Zagubiona w Lizbonie Sofía gets lost in Lisbon and a woman helps her with a map. Audio
- Pokój z balkonem Marcos gets a hotel room with a nice balcony. Audio
- Stolik dla jednej osoby Mia eats alone in a small restaurant, and the waiter helps her choose. Audio
- Przyprawa, która kiedyś kosztowała tyle co złoto Saffron comes from tiny flower threads picked by hand, and for most of history a pound of it cost about the... Audio
- Jezioro, które znika każdego lata In Slovenia, a huge lake fills a valley in winter and then vanishes underground every summer, leaving... Audio
- Park obok mojego domu A squirrel describes the small park next to its tree: the pigeons by the benches, Mr. Badger and his bread,... Audio
- Obiad, który nigdy się nie kończy In Spain, the best part of lunch starts when the food is finished. It even has its own name. Audio
- Nigdy nie zamawiaj latte we Włoszech In Italy, the word latte does not mean coffee. One small word can bring you a big surprise. Audio
- Skąd pochodzi kawa Coffee begins as a red fruit on a green plant and travels far before it fills a cup. Audio
- Spanie w nocnym pociągu Night trains in Europe carry travelers between cities while they sleep in cozy beds. Audio
- Długi bieg zwany maratonem The marathon is a very long running race with a curious and surprising history. Audio
- Miasto, które kładzie złoto na lodach Kanazawa in Japan makes almost all of the country's gold leaf, and wraps whole sheets of it around soft ice... Audio
- Lot, który trwa dziewięćdziesiąt sekund A tiny plane hops between two Orkney islands in Scotland on the shortest scheduled flight in the world. Audio
- Czego ogień nigdy nie zabrał Polly looks at Kanazawa one last time, waits out the rain, and flies away over the sea. Audio
- Lampiony na pracującej ulicy Polly walks a lantern-lit street of old wooden teahouses that still works today, and finds ice cream... Audio
- Kuchnia o pierwszym świetle Before sunrise, Polly visits Omicho market, three hundred years old, where crabs are sold in winter. Audio
- Bite, aż prawie go nie ma Polly visits a gold leaf workshop, where a piece of gold the size of a coin becomes a sheet as big as a table. Audio
- Sześć rzeczy, którymi ogród powinien być In Kenrokuen garden, Polly sees koi in a big pond and ropes that keep snow off the pine trees. Audio
- Białe dachy i długie mury At Kanazawa Castle, Polly finds long stone walls and roofs made of lead that look white. Audio
- Miasto, które ocalało Polly arrives in Kanazawa, an old city between the sea and the mountains that was never bombed in the war. Audio
- Różowy kolor nie istnieje Pink has no wavelength of its own; it is a color the brain invents when the eyes see red and blue light... Audio
- Świecisz się właśnie teraz The human body constantly emits an extremely faint light, invisible to the eye but detectable with a... Audio
- Głośne siorbanie jest uprzejme In Japan, slurping your noodles loudly is not rude, it is a sign that you are enjoying the meal. Audio
- Wodospad, który spada w górę On very windy days, strong gusts can blow a Norwegian waterfall's spray back up into the sky. Audio
- Krąg i poranny statek On her last evening, Polly finds an old stone circle and sits quietly at its edge as the sun goes down. Audio
- Ziarno dziewięćdziesięciu dni Polly visits an old mill and learns how a fast-growing old grain became Orkney's bread and its whisky. Audio
- Zgromadzenie na skałach Polly visits a chapel built by prisoners of war from two metal huts and hears how it was made from almost... Audio
- Zbudowane z tego, co mieli Polly finds a huge group of grey seals gathering on Orkney's rocks just before baby seals are born. Audio
- Wioska pod sztormem Polly watches a straw-backed Orkney chair get made, a design that comes from having no trees. Audio
- Krzesło przy ogniu A storm uncovers a stone village older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. Audio
- Poranny statek przybija Polly flies over windy islands with no trees and learns their fields hide thousands of old, buried sites. Audio
- Mgła zamyka się za nią On her last afternoon, Polly flies high over the island before fog rolls in and hides it behind her. Audio
- Wioska podłączona do wulkanu Polly learns that the same volcano heat that cooked lunch also warms a big public pool and heats homes in... Audio
- Kolacja zakopana o świcie Polly watches a cook bury pots of food in the ground, where the volcano's heat cooks dinner with no fire. Audio
- Jeden krater, dwa kolory Polly finds a huge old crater with two lakes, one blue and one green, joined together under a strip of land. Audio
- Ptak, którego dwukrotnie uznano za straconego Polly looks for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird that lives only in one forest and was once thought to... Audio
- Ostatnie dwa ogrody Europy Polly finds one of the only two tea farms left in Europe, started after the island's orange trees died. Audio
- Dziewięć wysp, trzy płyty Polly arrives over São Miguel, the biggest of the nine Azores islands, made of black rock, green fields,... Audio
- W Kornwalii biega wolna walabia A small Australian kangaroo has been hopping around an English market town for days, and nobody knows where... Audio
- Krzycz, bo przegapisz przystanek A shared minibus with no bell and no screen, where the only way off is to say so out loud, early and twice. Audio
- Polly jedzie autobusem Polly's first bus ride: does this bus go downtown, one ticket, how much, where do I get off, next stop,... Audio
- Polly pyta o drogę Polly is lost on the way to the library and asks an owl for directions: excuse me, where is it, is it far,... Audio
- Polly zamawia kawę Polly's first cafe order: good afternoon, a coffee with milk, do you have churros, the check please, how... Audio
- Polly na targu Berta takes Polly to the market. Polly buys fruit for the first time: what is this, two apples, how much, a... Audio
- Polly poznaje kogoś Polly moves to a new street and meets Berta the bear. First greetings: hello, your name, nice to meet you,... Audio
- Władywostok Polly arrives in Vladivostok and flies off over the Pacific Ocean. Audio
- Amur Polly reaches the Amur River and meets a rare crane on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian. Audio
- Jezioro Bajkał Polly spends a day on the train along Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake on Earth. Audio
- Strefy czasowe Polly explores the dining car and learns that the train uses one time zone across all of Russia. Audio
- Przekraczając Ural Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the line between Europe and Asia, on the Trans-Siberian train. Audio
- Brzozowe Lasy Polly watches Russian birch forests from the Trans-Siberian train and learns that forty percent of Russia... Audio
- Dworzec Jarosławski Polly boards the Trans-Siberian train at Moscow and begins her seven-day journey to Vladivostok. Audio
- Pożegnanie z Makaronem Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus and flies out of Naples. Audio
- Redaktor Sama Siebie Polly learns that octopuses can change their own nervous systems by editing RNA in real time. Audio
- Pizza i Długi Obiad Polly has lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria and learns about traditional Neapolitan pizza. Audio
- Skóra, która widzi Polly learns that octopus skin can sense colours even though octopus eyes cannot. Audio
- Ciało, które myśli Polly watches an octopus solve a maze with two arms working independently. Audio
- Słoik Polly watches an octopus open a jar to catch a crab and learns how short an octopus's life is. Audio
- Zatoka Neapolitańska Polly arrives in Naples and meets a giant Pacific octopus at the world's oldest marine biology institute. Audio
- Opuszczając Dolinę Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas and flies west out of Yosemite. Audio
- Droga Mleczna nad Glacier Point Polly watches the Milky Way at Glacier Point and looks through a telescope at the centre of our galaxy. Audio
- Półkopuła Polly flies up Half Dome on warm air with a flock of swifts, sees the summit, then glides back down. Audio
- Sokół Nurkujący Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive, learning what makes the falcon the fastest animal in the world. Audio
- Sekwoja Polly visits a giant sequoia nearly 3,000 years old and learns about its fireproof bark. Audio
- Jazda z Strażnikiem Tomaszem Polly spends the morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning about bear feeding and peregrine falcon nests. Audio
- Nad Doliną Polly flies into Yosemite Valley, watches climbers on El Capitan, and rides the shuttle bus at dusk. Audio
- Zapach cynamonu A new neighbor leaves a small surprise outside her door. Audio
- Dwa Kilogramy Cierpliwości A first trip to the local market with a vendor who refuses to let her leave with the wrong tomatoes. Audio
- Magiczne Połączenie Polly and Václav discover Prague is a vast astronomical instrument with hidden components scattered across... Audio
B1 · Finding your flow
Polly's weekly adventures and real-world stories.
- Jezioro poniżej poziomu morza Polly finds the largest lake in the Caribbean, saltier than the ocean, lying in a valley lower than the sea. Audio
- Idź pod prąd, a go znajdziesz The blue stone came down the river, not out of the sea. Polly follows it up into the mountains. Audio
- Osiem kilometrów, na których nic nie ma Polly finds an empty protected bay at the far corner of the country, then flies home over the coffee... Audio
- Droga, na której brakuje miejsca Polly arrives in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, where the mountains meet the sea, and finds one... Audio
- Obiad ugotowany przez wulkan On a green island in the Azores, cooks lower a pot into a hot hole in the ground and let the earth slowly... Audio
- Zamek, w którym król prawie nie mieszkał A Bavarian king built a fairy-tale castle on an alpine crag, slept there only a handful of nights, and left... Audio
- Spacer po dnie morza Twice a day the North Sea pulls back for kilometres, and people walk barefoot across the bare seabed before... Audio
- Dlaczego twój telefon wyłącza się na mrozie Your phone shows forty percent battery, then dies in the snow. The battery is not empty. It is cold, and... Audio
- Miasto, które odkopało rzekę For fifty years, Seoul hid a river under an elevated highway. Then the city tore the highway down, and the... Audio
- Dziesięć kilometrów w górze Passenger planes cruise about ten kilometres above the ground. That number is not random: it is where the... Audio
- Starożytni ludzie doskonale radzili sobie w dżungli Scientists once thought ancient humans avoided rainforests. New evidence from West Africa says they thrived... Audio
- Dlaczego miód sprzed trzech tysięcy lat wciąż nadaje się do jedzenia Honey jars from Egyptian tombs three thousand years old are still edible. The chemistry behind a food that... Audio
- Mecz tenisa, który trwał trzy dni The longest tennis match ever played: Isner vs. Mahut, Wimbledon 2010, eleven hours, three days, a final... Audio
- Ośmiornica, która otworzyła zamek An octopus called Inky escaped his aquarium tank at night through a drain pipe, and what it reveals about... Audio
- Wyścig, w którym ser zawsze wygrywa Once a year in England, people chase a wheel of cheese down a dangerously steep hill, and the cheese almost... Audio
- Dwa zupełnie nowe zwierzęta, każde wielkości paznokcia Scientists in Montenegro just described two snail species new to science, found on limestone cliffs in a... Audio
- Dzień, w którym prawdziwy robak zepsuł komputer In nineteen forty-seven, engineers found an actual moth stuck inside a giant computer, taped it into their... Audio
- Krewetka ze słońcem w szczypcach A small ocean shrimp snaps its claw so fast that it creates a flash of heat nearly as hot as the surface of... Audio
- Dom podzielony między dwa kraje In a small town on the Belgian-Dutch border, some houses sit in two countries at once, and the front door... Audio
- Jedna kawiarnia, dwa kraje In one small town, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands runs straight through streets, houses and... Audio
- Twoje wiadomości podróżują pod wodą Almost everything you send across an ocean travels through cables lying on the sea floor, not through... Audio
- Plaża, która świeci na niebiesko w nocy On some warm coasts, the sea lights up electric blue when you touch it. The light comes from billions of... Audio
- Hotel, który porusza się, gdy śpisz On a European night train, you fall asleep in one country and wake up in another, with the Alps outside... Audio
- Wojsko, które przegrało z ptakami In nineteen thirty-two the Australian military was sent against emus eating the wheat crop in Western... Audio
- Szympansy mają akcenty A new study of more than eleven thousand recorded calls found that young chimpanzees in different parts of... Audio
- Internet jest pod wodą Almost all international internet traffic travels along cables lying on the sea floor, which break... Audio
- Zwierzę, które robi sześciany Wombats are the only known animal to produce cube shaped droppings, and the corners are formed by uneven... Audio
- Miasteczko, które mieszka w jednym budynku Almost every resident of Whittier, Alaska lives inside a single fourteen storey building reached through a... Audio
- Dziesięć tysięcy sportowców, jeden wieczór otwarcia The 2026 Asian Games, hosted jointly by Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, bring together roughly ten thousand... Audio
- Bank, który przyjmuje tylko ser An Italian bank keeps a vault holding more than half a million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, accepted as... Audio
- Ta liczba baterii to zgadywanie A phone's battery percentage is not a direct measurement, but an estimate calculated from voltage and... Audio
- Ta plaża jest zrobiona ze śmieci A sparkling beach in Northern California is made entirely of old dumped glass, smoothed into colorful... Audio
- W tym budynku nie ma czwartego piętra In much of East Asia, elevators skip the number four entirely, because it sounds exactly like the word for... Audio
- Ramię, które potrafi smakować Octopus suckers contain special receptors that let an arm taste whatever it touches, even in total darkness. Audio
- Największa wypłata w historii lekkoatletyki A brand new athletics championship this month paid its winners more than the sport has ever offered before. Audio
- Uczenie komputera mowy wielorybów Researchers are using artificial intelligence to search for real structure inside the clicking patterns of... Audio
- Powolne bicie serca drzew Laser scans at night revealed that trees pulse gently every few hours, possibly pumping water through their... Audio
- Kwiaty o trzeciej nad ranem At three in the morning, Bangkok's biggest flower market is more awake than midday, and it never really... Audio
- Ten ptak śpi w locie Frigatebirds stay in the air for days over open ocean, and researchers put recorders on their heads to find... Audio
- Obiad, który je cały kraj In the Dominican Republic the main meal lands at midday, it is almost always the same three things, and the... Audio
- Twoja mapa myliłaby się już w porze obiadu Satellite clocks tick faster than clocks on the ground, and if nobody corrected for it your phone would... Audio
- Świecisz. Nikt tego nie widzi. Human skin gives off a faint light all day long, and a Japanese team photographed it in a sealed dark room. Audio
- Ten błękit istnieje tylko w jednym miejscu A stony beach in the Dominican southwest, one pebble that is blue all the way through, and the single... Audio
- Tysiąc dziewięćset sześćdziesiąt Polly studies a photograph of Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, the first humans to reach the bottom of the... Audio
- Jazda z leśniczym Tomasem Polly spends a morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning how he tracks bear feeding in wildflower meadows... Audio
- Niedzielna Paella An adult granddaughter visits home and finds her grandfather hasn't forgotten anything yet. Audio
- Pociąg do Granady An overheard phone call on the train turns a long trip into a kind of company. Audio
- Zła Księgarnia A simple coffee order leads to a strange conversation about a bookshop that doesn't exist anymore. Audio
- Pokój 304 z Widokiem A late check-in turns into a small gift when the hotel runs out of rooms on the lower floors. Audio
- Alchemiczne Połączenie Polly and Václav discover Prague is a vast astronomical instrument with hidden components scattered across... Audio
C1 · Stretch yourself
Rich, natural texts about places, history and ideas.
- Dwa gatunki, których nikt nie nazwał, znalezione na ścianie skalnej Scientists in Montenegro have described two snail species new to science, found on limestone cliffs in a... Audio
- Krewetka ze słońcem w kleszczu A small ocean shrimp snaps its claw so violently that it produces a flash of heat nearly as hot as the... Audio
- Wojna, którą Australia przegrała z emu In nineteen thirty-two the Australian military was deployed against emus devastating the wheat crop in... Audio
- Okazuje się, że szympansy mają akcenty A new study of more than eleven thousand recorded calls finds that young chimpanzees in different parts of... Audio
- Bank, który udziela pożyczek pod zastaw sera An Italian bank stores and ages more than half a million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, accepted as... Audio
- Dlaczego twoja mapa myliłaby się już przed obiadem Satellites tick at a different rate than clocks on the ground, and without a deliberate correction your... Audio
- Blask, którego twoja skóra nigdy nie przestaje wydzielać Human skin gives off a faint light around the clock, invisible to the eye, as a Japanese team confirmed by... Audio
- Co naprawdę niesie twoje słowa przez ocean Almost everything sent between continents travels not through satellites but through cables lying on the... Audio
- Hotel, który przekracza granice, gdy śpisz On a European night train, a traveller falls asleep in one country and wakes in another, with the Alps... Audio
- Rzeka, którą Seul ukrywał przez pół wieku Seoul spent decades entombing a river beneath a highway, then reversed course and dug it back into the... Audio
- Czego wciąż wymaga niedziela An adult granddaughter returns home for Sunday paella and discovers that her octogenarian grandfather's... Audio
- Miasteczko, które mieści się w jednym budynku Almost the entire population of Whittier, Alaska lives inside a single fourteen storey building, reached... Audio
- Zamek, który jego król ledwie zdążył zobaczyć Bavaria's King Ludwig the Second poured a fortune into a fairy tale castle he would inhabit for barely a... Audio
- Twój telefon nie jest martwy. Jest tylko zimny. A phone that shows forty percent battery and then dies the moment you step into the cold has not run out of... Audio
- Miód, który przetrwał imperia Honey sealed inside Egyptian tombs thousands of years ago remains perfectly edible today, and the reason... Audio
- Ośmiornica, która wymknęła się z zamknięcia An octopus named Inky vanished from a New Zealand aquarium overnight, and the ingenious route he took to... Audio
- Wieloryb, który przepłynął piętnaście tysięcy kilometrów Polly learns about two humpback whales who swam 14,000+ km from Australia to Brazil, breaking the world... Audio
- Wspinaczka po Najsuchszym Miejscu Polly arrives at ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama, the driest place on Earth, where four enormous... Audio
- Pożegnanie z Pastą Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus, who presses one arm against the glass exactly opposite where... Audio
- Redaktor Samego Siebie Polly learns that octopuses edit their own RNA in real time, tuning their nervous systems to their... Audio
- Pizza i długi lunch Polly takes the long lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria, learning the protected rules behind... Audio
- Nurkujący Sokół Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive after seeing one launch from El Capitan, learning about the... Audio