Enter another world with this magical novel of nomadic life as the time of the shaman ends

Michaela Strachan

The latest figures from the 2011 census reveal Polish has overtaken Punjabi as England's second language. 546,000 citizens now cite Polish as their native tongue, a rise which can be attributed to the influx of Polish immigrants following the expansion of the EU in 2004. (If this seems a small number, it should be noted many second generation immigrants speak Polish, Punjabi or another language as a second language after English.)

As well as an interesting insight into modern Britain, it seems a perfect opportunity to brush up on our Polish. So here are some phrases you might like to try out during your next trip to the local Polski Sklep...

UPDATE: We thought we could get away with using Google Translate. We were wrong. Lots of very kind (and clever) Polish-speaking readers of Independent Voices wrote in to provide us with superior translations which have now been included below. Dziękuję!

A mob of wild monkeys went on a rampage in a village in eastern Indonesia, entering houses and attacking residents.

In recent years, the ancient county has been associated with fake tan and melodrama. In fact, argues Jonathan Meades, it’s one of the most extraordinary parts of Britain

The bike was quite old, Jean said, but in its day it was top quality, and it was still in good working order. My curiosity was piqued. I was all ready to go and hire a bike for our fortnight's stay in northern Corsica, but Jean – the gruff but genial owner of the apartment we were renting – was having none of it.

Given his patience and mastery of inner peace, the Dalai Lama has some of the attributes required to be an excellent test cricketer. 

Tom Hunt is a self-proclaimed  eco-chef who started his career working at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage.  He then went on to co-found Forgotten Feast, which works to revive British heritage recipes and reduce food waste. He works closely with the food charities FareShare, FoodCycle and StreetSmart. He has a restaurant, Poco, in Bristol and will be spending 2013 writing a cookbook.

Fears that the fifth and final one-day international between England and India would not go ahead on Sunday were put to bed as the teams awoke in Dharamsala in perfect cricketing weather.

Reports of the death of Dharamsala's one-day dream are greatly exaggerated. The final game of the series between India and England, taking place this Sunday, has been variously frozen off, snowed off, postponed, cancelled and relocated.

Ron Gilbert takes us on an adventure of puzzlement, sarcasm and spelunking in Double Fine's latest release.

A group of six mountaineers fell 500 feet, a day after six hillwalkers were airlifted to safety off the Cairngorms

The Algerian hostage crisis will remain the Government's “top priority” until every British national at the BP gas plant is accounted for, Foreign Secretary William Hague vowed today.