Messages home

Whether it is for personal or professional reasons, you will probably have to communicate with Poland at some stage while you are working in Britain.  Because of this, you might find the following information useful.

Sending letters:

One of the advantages of the British postal system is that you can buy stamps all over the place.  Newsagents, garages and vending machines sell them so you don't have to find a post office to get them, although you will need to go there for other postal matters.

Is there a post office near here?

How much is a stamp for Poland?

Could I have a book of ten international stamps, please.

Do you sell envelopes as well?

What is the weight limit for international letters?

Phoning home:

The public phone system in Britain is not very good.  If only it were the same quality as the post!  Telephone kiosks are often vandalised or just don't work properly.  To make matters worse, a few years ago the old phone card with a chip (like the Polish one) disappeared.  Instead phone cards have a code which you have to scratch off and enter through the keypad before you dial your number.  The biggest problem of these is that there are some phone numbers you cannot dial with these cards.  What sort of numbers?  Well, information services for a start – the sort of thing you would need to access on your first day in a new town before you even have a place to stay.  Still, you could use a coin phone.  Just find one that works, and a large number of coins from…somewhere.

Alternatively, ask politely at work and they might let you use theirs.

Could I use your phone?

What do I have to dial for outside calls?

Do you get an itemised bill?

An itemised bill contains the numbers of every call made, and how much each call costs.  Businesses that have their bills itemised are more likely to let their employees use the phone for personal use, as they know how much to ask you to pay for it.

Do any of the payphones take credit cards?

Could I have a phone card please?

Is it possible to have some change for the phone?

Speaking to the operator:

Dial 100 and you will get through to the operator.  He or she is there for help when there are problems making a call.  You also call the operator to report problems with public telephones.

I'm having difficulty getting through to a number in Poland.

There's a lot of noise on the line every time.

There's something wrong with this public phone.

The coins just fall out when I put them in.

The sound keeps cutting out.

I can hear the other person but they can't hear me.

The reject-coin slot is blocked.

Here's a tip: Before you use a coin-operated phone, put your finger into the reject-coin slot and feel around for a moment.  If someone has put something inside to block it, use another phone.  People block them so that they can come back later and unblock it to collect the money that is stuck inside it.  Don't forget to report it to the operator first though.

Receiving calls:

If you are allowed to use a phone at work for people to contact you on, these are phrases you might need to use.  More often, you might hear other people use them when they are speaking to you, especially if you have to answer the phone at work.

Have there been any messages for me?

I'm expecting a call from someone back home.

If they call, tell them I'll be back in a couple of hours.

Could you give them this message if they ring?

A few others:

There are other methods of communicating with people back home, but one that the UK does not have is the telegram.  There are plenty of places in London where you can get online, and you should be able to find them in most large towns and cities as well.

May I send a fax from here?

I'm looking for an internet café.

Are there any internet phones at this station?