Hot off the press! Scotland’s first Polish/English online magazine goes bilingual

If you are interested in Polish news and culture, then you may already have heard of Scotsbarszc – Scotland’s online magazine for all things Polish. Launched in December 2009, it has built an impressive online following from Polish people living in Scotland and beyond; and English-speakers who are interested in keeping up-to-date with Polish news and culture.

Up until 13 September 2010, it was only available as a monolingual English online resource, but due to its popularity, it is now available both bilingually and in print format. All Media Scotland reported on the magazine’s popular rise that prompted its additional Polish language content and its launch into print media.

What is great about the new look is that both online and printed versions are bilingual with the English text and the corresponding Polish translation appearing in adjacent columns on the same page. Not only easy to read, it is also a welcome publication for those learning Polish or English as the texts can be easily compared. For translators themselves, such comparative texts will also be a great terminology resource.

The online paper was originally created to facilitate the social inclusion of Polish people moving to Scotland and ‘to introduce Scottish culture to the Poles and Polish culture to the Scots’ said Gerry Cassidy, editor, in an interview with All Media Scotland. He stated that up to 100,000 Polish people are thought to live in Scotland and as the English-only version of the magazine proved so popular, he wanted to reach an even wider readership by making the periodical both bilingual and printed. Available from ‘outlets across Scotland such as Polish shops, public libraries, tourist information offices and Prestwick Airport’ (All Media Scotland) from 13 September 2010, it certainly looks set to be a huge hit.