Czech Update

Learn multiple Slavic languages at once with NiceTranslator

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:24:17 -0500

Nicetranslator.com uses the Google Translate service to give instant response as you type and you can even choose multiple languages at once including Slovak, Polish, Russian, Slovenian, or Croatian. This could be useful for students of Slavonic languages in general but it also shows bits of sentences as you type them in. For instance, when you're typing in 'I remember', you see the appropriate Czech 'Vzpomínám si' and when you add 'you' to make it 'I remember you', the phrase changes to 'Pamatuju si tě' - again the right word for the context. Pretty impressive! But unfortunately, it's not reliable. Simple phrases like 'How do I get to the train station' are mistranslated (eventhough still intelligible to a Czech). So not perfect but a decent start.

Google Announces Czech<->English dictionary - Best Online Tool Yet for Learners

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:29:56 -0500

Google just released a Czech/English - English/Czech http://www.google.cz/dictionary that is the best online tool I've seen for learners. It offers examples in context, English definitions, and for some common words like bread even pictures (although not pictures of the culturally appropriate pictures - the bread is not what typically Czech bread looks like). For transltion work, I'd still go to http://www.slovnik.cz which offers many more alternatives but not context and explanations (so you basically have to know what the word means already to make it possible to choose the right equivalent).

Google struggling to translate 'friends' into Czech

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:25:08 -0500

According to Zive.cz, Google.cz is asking the Czech internet community how they would like to translate the now ubiquitous word 'friend' into Czech. This is a real problem. There are two basic words for friend in Czech 'přítel/přítelkyně' or 'kamarád/kamarádka' (with different forms for male/female). 'Kamarád' is a general friend (more of a buddy) and in some contexts considered less formal while 'přítel/přítelkyně' would be used in more formal language and would mean 'boy/girl friend' when used of somebody of the opposite sex. But both these words actually mean something closer to what English would refer to as 'close personal friend' - the kind of friend depicted in the sitcom 'Friends' but not the kind of friend you acquire on Facebook in the hundreds. For those friends, Czech reserves the word 'známý/známá'. But that would be very impersonal for most contexts so classifying your real friends as that on a social network would be tantamount to an insult.

There are two possible solutions. 1. Forget about the fake 'friend' and just use the generic 'kontakt'. 2. The whole social web world could take a lesson from Czech and divide friends into two kinds 'personal friends' and 'internet friends'. Facebook already does that with the 'Friend/Fan' distinction but I think many people would appreciate it to be able to have friends with whom they share more info than with others.

V minulém týdnu se v diskusním fóru českého

Google User Group pro uživatele řešil překlad termínu tab (diskutovalo se o možnostech karta, záložka a panel), nyní se Jana Vořechovská, která pracuje v Google

jako jazyková specialistka v Google, všech uživatelů ptá, jak v aplikacích a službách překládat slovo friend. Někde totiž překlad přítel není to pravé, lepší

je třeba známý, ale někdy se může hodit například kamarád.

People speaking Czech on YouTube 1: 10 Survival Phrases

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:01:29 -0400

Sometime ago I started a theme of Czech music on YouTube but never followed up on it. Here's an extension of it: People speaking Czech on YouTube. There are lots of people speaking Czech on YouYube, sometimes the clips are funny, sometimes interesting and informative, and sometimes obscene. The first example is a run down of top 10 phrases from travellinguist.

Note that strictly speaking How are you? is not a particularly useful phrase for a tourist in the Czech Republic since Czechs only use it with people they know and never with someone they just met!!!

Strčprstskrzkrk.com launches

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:42:08 -0400

I've owned the StrčPrstSkrzKrk.com domain for a year but only now did I find a few minutes to make it live. All it contains is a video of me pronouncing the phrase. But with any luck, I will be adding more Czech tongue-twisters there, as time goes on.

Google Translate now does Czech, makes for a useful phrasebook

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:59:24 -0400

Google Translate is mainly a source of merriment when funny mistranslations occur as they do on almost any text. But if it's all you have to get the gist of a page, it is (marginally better than nothing). And now, you can get Google translate for Czech (and many other related languages).

You can you Google Translate in one of three ways.

Type in text and have Google suggest translation
Give it a link and have Google translate a whole webpage (with mouseover showing the original text)
Type in a search term in your own language and receive results in target language with translation

I've done quite a bit of testing and here's my verdict:

It is remarkably good at translating basic phrases as might be needed by a tourist (How much does it cost? Where is the train station? The beer is too expensive.) But there are surprising gaps: 'How much is it?' is translated as 'Kolik je hodin' rather than 'Kolik to stojí?' and the translation isn't always the same in both directions.
The search translation is very good for basic searches people might need. E.g. 'Prague walking tours' or 'best been in brno' gave decent relevant results in Czech with fairly accurate translations of page titles but not perfect
Translations of complete pages show up the most errors - on a news story, you may get the the theme the story is about, e.g. an accused politician but the verdict will be wrong. Sometimes the translation error is hard to comprehend, for instance, on the translation of the front page of Seznam, the 'Erotica' section is translated as 'Education'.
Any complex sentences with conditionals, pronouns and most adjectives result in errors. (This is not surprising.)

How can learners of Czech from tourists to translators use Google Translate?

A tourist entering a simple phrase in English can be about 90% confident of getting the right Czech equivalent which is about the same as with most phrasebooks (where the errors are usually in the choice of query), also typing in something in Czech seen or heard on the street is pretty likely to get a decent result.
A tourist needing to search the web in Czech for the right results will also not be disappointed.
More serious learners of Czech can use it for a quick look up of phrases if no other reference sources are available.
More advanced learners of Czech can use it to correct the errors and learn that way.

Expand your vocabulary with this online gadget!

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:22:56 -0500

I just got an early look at a great new gadget by the good people at Learnit Lists! It helps you practice 10 new words every day by putting it on your iGoogle page or in one of your social networks.

Fables and Understories: Čapek on the Web

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:46:17 -0500

Andrew Malcovsky, the self-described 'Slavicist on spec' (I wonder if this is a conscious bilingual pun for špek) found a great new way to exploit the medium of the blog. For translating Karel Čapek's famous whimsical short pieces Bajky a podpovídky (as Fables and understories). It's certainly a great services to the student of Czech culture. Thanks Andrew!

A fun, occasionally loose translation of Karel Čapek's Bajky a podpovídky (1946), a posthumous collection of the author's short pieces, mostly drawn from the newspaper Lidové noviny
Fables and Understories [via Language Hat]

Czech inventor of the 'drunk tank' dies aged 91

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:07:26 -0500

Záchytka is a wonderful Czech word that stands for the institution for the collection of drunken (and possibly disorderly) individual wondering city streets occasionally referred to in English as 'drunk tank' or 'sobering-up station'. It was invented by the Czech Czech psychiatrist Jaroslav Skála and opened on 15 May of 1951. The first client was an inebriated Russian naval engineer. By 1981 there were 63 such institutions who had served one million drunks. According to the Czech Wikipedia entry this was replicated around the world. Yet another Czech contribution to the world!

Zemřel vynálezce záchytek Jaroslav Skála - Život v Česku - Domácí - Aktuálně.cz

V roce 1951 inicioval založení záchytné stanice - prvního zařízení svého druhu na světě.

"Záchytek nikdy nebylo moc, ale fungovaly jako intervenční instituce, které zasahovaly v případě, že člověku bylo zle. Měly fungovat ani ne tolik jako stanice záchytné, ale spíš jako stanice ochranné," popsal své idee v posledním rozhovoru, který poskytl časopisu Týden. "Jejich cílem bylo ochránit člověka před poškozením a zjistit, jestli má, nebo nemá problém s alkoholem. Pracovníci na záchytce by měli o problému informovat i jeho okolí a nabídnout, že může přejít do poradny a do ústavní léčby. Je ale fakt, že z pohledu zaměstnanců to moc oblíbená práce není."

Play Czech geography game on Facebook and win PDF of Czech grammar

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:43:31 -0500

Play the Czech geography game on Facebook and you can win a free PDF of the Czech grammar sold on this website. You can also play on this web only but your score will be registered only if you log in to Facebook. While you're there, please join the Friends of Bohemica.com group.

Czech 'uzeniny' in branding battles

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:23:48 -0400

Uzeniny is a great Czech word covering all kinds of saussage-like products and uzenář is the purveyor or producer of such meat products (you will often see 'maso a uzeniny' on Czech butchers' store fronts or supermarket sections). Czech love their uzeniny but now they seem to be under threat from the Slovaks and Poles who have applied to the EU to have certain brands and their recipes protected. Czechs have already lost their beloved rum to Brussels and now they may have to say goodbye even to lovecký salám (hunter salami). Life is hard!

Českým uzenářům hrozí potíže při užívání tradičních názvů - iDNES.cz

Polsko usiluje o ochrannou evropskou známku u populárního točeného salámu, známého jako kabanos, a u mysliveckých klobás. Slováci zase chtějí ochrannou známku pro spišské párky, lovecký salám, inovecký trvanlivý salám a špekáčky.

Free pocket guide to Czech language

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 04:05:49 -0400

Single-serving.com has come up with an easy to print and fold PDF brochure covering most of the basic phrases a tourist coming to the Czech Republic may want. The format makes it easy to carry in your pocket.

Learn Czech web navigation with Aktuálně

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:50:28 -0400

This nascent Czech news service has finally introduced an RSS feed but even more importantly it provides its non-Czech speaking users with a handy little glossary for understanding the Czech navigation on their site. Perhaps the most important: Přidat názor = Add your opinion but there are many more. Click and learn!

Pavel Vondra » Feed yourself and learn Czech with us learn those useful Czech phrases for which you will no doubt be grateful until your very last day :-)

Burčák came early this year

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:02:13 -0400

Burčák the young wine (stum) popular in the Czech lands in the early autumn came earlier this year appearing in early August. Burčák sales in Prague kiosks around September and October is one of the joys of the Czech 'babí léto' and reminds Bohemians to remember how good it is to have Moravians part of the nation.

Vinaři začínají prodávat první burčák - iDNES.cz Burčák, tedy kvasící mošt z vylisovaných hroznů, lze v Česku nabízet pod tímto názvem pouze v případě suroviny sklizené a zpracované na území České republiky. Při použití importovaných hroznů jde o částečně zkvašený hroznový mošt. Dovážet hrozny do EU z třetích zemí pro výrobu vína nebo burčáku je zakázáno úplně. Zákonem povolená doba prodeje burčáku, který je ve vinařských zemích víceméně raritou, je od 1. srpna do 30. listopadu.

Czech is ...

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:37:01 -0400

If you want to know what Czech and other languages are like, read some of the humorous entries on the Essentialist Explanations page. They may not all be accurate but they are mostly funny.

Essentialist Explanations Czech is essentially Slovak as spoken by a German. --John Cowan Conversely, Slovak is essentially Czech as spoken by a Hungarian. --John Cowan

100 Years of Czech Teaching in Nebraska

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:20:47 -0400

Here's a nice bit of news. Apparently people were learning Czech as long ago as 1907.

U.S. University of Nebraska celebrates 100 years of Czech lessons - Czech republic Lincoln, USA - The University of Nebraska in Lincoln will celebrate 100 years of Czech language lessons in the forthcoming school year as Czech has been continuously taught at the university since 1907.

The gender expectation and death

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:09:10 -0400

An interesting headline appeared in today's Mladá Fronta. Zemřel nejstarší člověk světa, 114letá Japonka - iDNES.cz (lit. The world's oldest person [man] died: 114-year old Japanese woman). This is an interesting example of how the strict gender assignment of all nouns can cause problems. In Czech, the word for person (člověk) is masculine, although it does not mean 'man') and what's more, the past tense of died (zemřel) needs to indicate the masculinity. That's why it's surprising to find out that at the end of the line that the oldest person was actually a woman. This often makes translation difficult because sometimes the fact that we don't know the gender can be used with a purpose in the construction of a text.

More Czechs happy with public services

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:08:45 -0400

A new survey suggests that more (if still not most) Czechs find improvements in government-provided services. They are more responsive to people's needs but still frequently slow. This is a frequent topic of conversation and the word "úředník" means so much more than "public servant".

Poll: Two in five Czech firms say authorities have improved - Prague Daily Monitor
Prague, Aug 8 (CTK) - Czech authorities have improved their work in the past five years, according to 41 percent of respondents in a poll of companies that deal with authorities regularly.

Hyponyms and hyperonyms

Melvyn Clarke — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:16:28 -0400

One of the differences I find between Czech and English in the lexical sphere is that of the greater or lesser degree of specificity used in referring to certain objects, i.e. the use of hyponyms and hyperonyms.

Consider, in your typical French thriller, when a robber enters a bank, bystanders shout, "Attention, il a un revolver". Now it would stand out a mile if you translated with the same degree of specificity. Of course, English has a word for revolver, but the more general word "gun" would be more appropriate. In Czech, we would be even less specific and shout "Pozor, má zbráň", or "je ozbrojen".

Likewise, if I need something to write with, in Czech my first reaction would be "máš propísku?". English can certainly give an exact rendering - "ball-point pen" or "biro", but I would suggest that in most cases we would use the more general category of "pen".

Other examples that come to mind are "automat", used for any device from a cash dispenser to a fruit machine, perhaps "prášek" where Anglophones would perhaps often use the brand-name of the medication (maybe this goes for a lot of other consumer goods too), "curtains", where a Czech would differentiate "závěsy" and "záclony", "sign" which covers everything from "známka", "znak" and "znamení" to "stopa" and "odznak", and then there is the classic case of mushrooms and toadstools. Any Czech would take one look at your average indeterminate fungoid growth and tell you exactly what variety of boletus it is.

In her excellent work K teorii i praxi překladu [Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2000], Dagmar Knittlová points out that the most frequently occurring English words sometimes need a more specific Czech word, e.g. made of planks - stlučený z prken:

"Vcelku lze konstatovat, že české protějšky anglických nejfrekventovanějších slovesných skupin jsou sémanticky bohatší, specifičtější."

Similar points which she raises:

"Přídavná jména obsahují někdy navíc v českém protějšku jemnější specifikaci, např. barevný odstín - red, rudý; brown, ořechový; yellow, zažloutlý (rozhodující je kolokace, často je však volba zcela subjektivní). V některých případech je v českém protějšku anglického adjektiva zahrnut výsledek předchozího děje, např. limp, zemdlený; puffy, napuchlý; dirty, zastříkaný."

"Substituce hyperonymem je ve vztahu angličtiny směrem k češtině méně častá. Nejčastěji abstrahuje český protějšek od specifického typu pojmenovaného objektu, není-li specifičnost příslušného druhu v češtině známá, např. chestnut, kaštan; rangeland grass, pastviny."

"Za zvláštní případ specifikace je možno považovat konkretizací. Přidaná je složka, která je nositelem konkrétnosti, např. property - pozemek (specifický druh majetku konkretizovaný jako vlastněná půda), equipment - přístroje."

Post-position adjectives

Melvyn Clarke — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:14:33 -0400

The position of an adjective before or after a noun can occasionally change its entire meaning in English. As you drive into Prague, why do the numerous roadside hoardings offering "free rooms" strike you as not quite right? Because an adjective before a noun can denote a permanent state and after a noun a temporary state. In this case, a "free room" could be a room without charge.

The questions involved are not necessarily involved questions and present shareholders are not forced to be the shareholders present! I have seen the latter mistake in a translation of a company memorandum, changing the entire company voting procedure with a single deftly-placed word.

Poukazy jsou platné pouze na vyznačenou dobu
Vouchers are only valid for the period indicated.

Overuse of Participle Forms

Melvyn Clarke — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:01:41 -0400

English often prefers prepositional phrases to straight participles.

It is being reconstructed - it is under reconstruction
The observed team - the team under observation

The considered design - the design in question
The disputed matter - the matter in dispute

Základem bezpečnosti je sama použitá technologie
The basis for this security is the actual technique in use

Tak můžeme přidat bezdrátový segment do již stávající klasické sítě
In this way we can add a wireless segment to a standard network that is already in existence.

Possessive Pronouns

Melvyn Clarke — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:35:07 -0400

There are many cases where a possessive pronoun needs to be recast in some other form, particularly where it acts as direct object of a verb:

Tento výčet deseti doporučení není jistě vyčerpávající, ale jejich důsledné uplatnění vždy výrazně změnilo průběh a především výsledky pravidelných porad sledovaných manažerských týmů.

This list of ten recommendations is certainly not exhaustive but the course and especially the results of regular meetings in the management teams under observation have always been significantly affected when they have been applied consistently.

Muž, který na ni zautočil, tam byl
Her attacker was there.

Dnes obíhá v různých výškách na 550 satelitů. Pravděpodobnost jejich srážky s meteorem stoupá s jejich množstvím
Up to 550 satellites are currently orbiting at various heights. The likelihood that one of them may collide with a meteor rises in proportion to their number.

designation of the operated track and a description of it,
označení provozované dráhy a její popis,

Přehled a popis různých druhů ocúnů, rostoucích ve Střední Asii, doplněný o stručný klíč k jejich určování a uvedení možností jejich pěstování i u nás.
A summary and description of various crocus species growing in Central Asia with a concise classification key for identifying them and an account of the opportunities for growing them here.

This problem can sometimes be dealt with by repetition of the subject:

podmínka pro provozovatele dráhy vydat vnitřní předpisy o organizování dráhy, a zajistit jejich dodržování.
a condition for the track operator to issue internal regulations on the organization of the track and to ensure adherence to these regulations

In very formal texts, use of therein, thereon etc might be considered

rekonstrukce dráhy nebo její části
reconstruction of the track or a part thereof.

Touto koncesní listinou se nahrazuje původní výše uvedená koncesní listina včetně jejich změn
This licence deed supersedes the above original licence deed including the amendments contained therein

Hollywood Rains Puns on Czech

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 13:53:09 -0400

Jossip Brad And Angie Take A Rain Czech Ditch Boring Senators In Favor Of Glam Hollywood Film July 12th, 2007 » 2 Comments angelina-jolie-pensivemic.JPG According to Us Weekly, Angelina Jolie hasn’t exactly been living up to her (honorary) title as U.N. Ambassador. Reportedly, the pro-adoption humanitarian recently left the Czech senate hanging, canceling a planned get-together in Prague in order to wrap up shooting her latest film, Wanted.

Isn't all so Jolly? The puns on the word Czech continue. Every Czech living in an English speaking country is sick of them and the entrepreneurial Czech living in Prague puts them on T-Shirt. Czech is like 'check' and 'cheque' and the options are limitless: the Czech is in the mail, Czech it out, Czech in, Czech off, rain Czech, cancelled Czech. I've heard them all. And I have to admit that even after all these years, they are kind of funny. But they are not new and editors should exhibit more self-restraint and good taste to only leave them in the body of the text.

Prague ham to return to Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:12:11 -0500

Pražská šunka se vrací - iDNES.cz Kdo neví, jak chutná tradiční Pražská šunka od kosti, ať si koupí letenku. Ochutnat ji může v italském Terstu, v Berlíně, ve Spojených státech nebo i v Austrálii. V Česku zatím ne.

You can't actually buy the world famous (famous in the ham-circles at least) Prague Ham made in Prague. Before WWII its reputation was such that Hitler, who was otherwise on a mostly vegetarian diet, is reported to have tried it when he visited the city. But its production was interrupted by the communist government who nationalized its production. Now a Prague restaurateur is planning to resume production. Here's more about Czech ham from radio.cz.

From the smokehouse - 03-09-2005 - Radio Prague Then there is ham or gammon - both are called šunka. One type of ham is internationally known as Prague Ham - pražská šunka. It is brine cured, fully cooked and smoked, boneless ham. The other type is šunka od kosti - "ham from the bone", a traditional delicacy which used to be difficult to buy in the communist days.

Is vepřoknedlozélo in danger?

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:23:26 -0500

Pig Progress | News | Page content | Pig breeding down in Czech Republic
Pig breeders are annually winding down activities in the Czech Republic. In the last five years, pig stocks have decreased by 600,000 to 2,840,000, says the Czech Statistical Office (CSU).

...

Pig breeding in the Czech Republic accounts for about a quarter of animal production and approximately 10% of agricultural production in the country.

Pork (vepřové) is the staple meat of traditional Czech cuisine immortalized in the vepřoknedlozélo. Now it appears that home-grown pork is in danger. At least pig-breeding is. But most importantly, it appears that there is a website called PigProgress.net...

The Masopust season: Pork killing and eating time

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:30:39 -0500

MF DNES Praha - Pravé zabijačkové hody, ale hlavně karnevalové masky a spousta zábavy. Tak vypadal čtvrtý ročník Karlínského masopustu, který odstartoval v sobotu v jednu hodinu po poledni.

The time of Masopust, or the pre-lent carnival, (literally, the meat fast, a translation of the carni-val) has come upon us which means a lot of pig slaughtering festivities (zabijačky [lit. killing times]). Of course, the atheist Czechs will go on eating meat all the way through Lent. The Czech Wikipedia lists some of the foods you might take away (výslužka) from a killing time:

Výslužka většinou obsahovala huspeninu [jellied meat], klobásy, jelítka, jitrnice [three types of pork saussages - bratwurst, and black and white pudding], ovar [boiled pork], škvarky [cracklings, greaves - fried pork fat].

Improve your Czech with Windows Vista Ultimate

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 02:55:30 -0500

Windows Vista a lokalizační balíčky | Windows Vista Blog
Pokud si uživatel koupí anglickou kopii Windows Vista Ultimate, může do ní nainstalovat libovolné množství jazykových balíčků - mezi nimi i češtinu, která bude k dispozici pravděpodobně 1. března.

One of the best ways to learn a language is to practice it in an environment where you need it to do something specific. Such as, navigate a piece of software. Well, it appears that you can do that if you get the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista. From March 31 on you will be able to download a Czech language package and install it on your computer. What's more, you can just create one user who will be running with that language so people in your family and/or office won't be forced to learn Czech if they don't want to (although why they wouldn't I don't know).

Nohejbal - A Czech sporting invention

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 04:57:44 -0500

MF DNES Příští sobotu se ve sportovní hale v objektu 1. základní školy ve Staré Boleslavi uskuteční první ročník nohejbalového turnaje trojic o putovní pohár starosty města – Ondřeje Přenosila.

Stará Boleslav a small Czech town north of Prague is instituting a new annual sporting tournament. And the sport they pick is ... nohejbal. This typical Czech sport was invented in the Czech Republic in the 1920s and it is basically voleyball played (noha = foot) over a tennis net with a football being kicked over. What's more it has its own Wikipedia entry. Sometimes it is called football tennis and it even has its own European championship - you can see some footage on YouTube.

Vysvědčení dnes - School reports today

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:24:29 -0500

MF DNES Praha - Téměř osmdesát tisíc dětí ze základních škol a více než sedmdesát tisíc středoškoláků si dnes odnese domů pololetní vysvědčení. „V letošním školním roce máme v Praze evidováno 75 566 žáků základních škol, 4047 žáků speciálních tříd a 70 440 studentů středních škol,“ vypočítává vedoucí oddělení školského rejstříku a výkaznictví pražského magistrátu Karel Krupka.

Today is the day of so called "pololetní vysvědčení" - or the end of term ('pololetí') school report. Czech children get two of these in a school year - the second, final, one being the one that matters. A lot of things are tied to this day in the culture and life of all Czechs - stores have promotions, children and parents are stressed - punishments and rewards are meted out, etc.

Czech ministry of education to sponsor students of Czech

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:09:49 -0500

Every year the Czech ministry of education sponsors a certain number of foreigners to study Czech in the Czech Republic for up to a month. See the enclosed document (in Czech) for details on how to apply. Submissions are due by February 18.

More women politicians in Prague (and rest o CR)

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:15:04 -0500

Političek v Praze přibývá - www.lidovky.cz PRAHA 10. ledna 2007 | 14:54 Karlovy Vary, Zlín, Havířov, Chomutov. Tam všude sedí v primátorském křesle ženy. Praha zatím nikdy svou primátorku neměla. Podle stoupajícího počtu žen v zastupitelstvu i podle přání veřejnosti se ale možná hlavní město v nedaleké budoucnosti své ženy v čele dočká.

Four important Czech municipalities (two in Bohemia and two in Moravia) are headed by a woman holding the post of primátor (mayor) or in their case primátorka. And there is a good chance that in the future Prague could join them.

One of the contributing factors are smaller parties which typically have a higher proportion of women candidates. And now that the Greens have gone from a small party to a big(ger) party with governmental chairs, it is possible more women will come to prominence.

Two important linguistic points:

Czech has two words for mayor. Starosta which is the generic word covering the function in general but mostly associated with smaller towns and primátor which is the mayor of a large city. During communism, the most official title was předseda Národního výboru (lit. chairman of the National council - meaning local council).
When a woman has one of these functions -ka is added to the end of the word making it starostka or primátorka. But that is not the same for all similar words. For instance, a chairwoman would be předsedkyně.

Cultural impact of change in Czech TV news schedule

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:32:31 -0500

Change in Czech TV main news time benefits Nova - 10-01-2007 - Radio Prague Many Czechs catch their television news in the early evening, between 7 and 8 o'clock. But which particular news programmes they choose to watch has changed somewhat since the New Year, when Czech Television brought its main evening news forward by 15 minutes. The change also affects hundreds of thousands of Czech children, as a popular animated programme also starts earlier.

It is interesting, if not surprising, how important TV schedules are for the cultural patterns of a nation. For Czech, culturally particularly important time is between 7 and 8 pm which is a transition between children's time and adult time. Children watch their 10-minute evening story - Večerníček, and then adults watch the news (boring for children) and than at 8 pm the main adult (as in not for children, not pornographic) programming starts when children go to bed. So a change of even as little as 15 minutes can have quite an impact on individuals' lives. Particularly when it comes down to the institution of Večerníček (so important it even has its own Wikipedia entry):

Večerníček is a daily animated children's programme which has become a national institution since its first broadcast, way back in 1965. Czech TV are now showing it a quarter of an hour earlier, to allow for the earlier news programme. But the station's spokesman says there have been extremely few complaints.

„Estébák“ forced to return honor

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:00:40 -0500

„Estébák“ musí vrátit medaili, rozhodla Akademie - iDNES.cz
Akademie věd vymazala jméno teologa Františka Jindřicha Holečka ze seznamu osobností, které získaly medaili profesora Jana Patočky.

Even though Charter 77 commands much less respect today than it did 15 years ago, some subjects are still sore. A theologian F. J. Holeček was asked today to return a medal awarded to him 2000 for achievements in theology and the study of Jan Hus. Unfortunately, it appears (the facts are as usual a little fuzzy) that he cooperated with StB (Státní bezpečnost - State police) in the early 1980s. And given that the award bears the name of Jan Patočka (a philosopher, the first signatory of the Charter, and the first victim of the subsequent prosecution) Holeček was asked to return it. This is still a sore subject for many Czechs and although revelations of somebody's communist past are not as common as they were not long ago, they still crop up at least once every few months.

At least, there's a new word in it: estébák: designates a member of StB (plain clothes policeman) but is often used as a derogative term for anybody accused of collaboration with the police under communism.

More than half of Czechs willing to move for work

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:24:33 -0500

Téměř polovina Čechů je ochotna odejít za prací - iDNES.cz
Češi jsou již ochotnější stěhovat se za prací. Z výzkumu, který provedla Hypoteční banka, vyplývá, že téměř každý druhý v tom nevidí velký problém. Lidí, které by výhodná pracovní nabídka přiměla sbalit kufry a odstěhovat se, je dokonce více než těch, kteří si to nedovedou představit.

"Je lepší dvakrát vyhořet než se jednou stěhovat" (It is better to have your house burn down twice than to have to move once.) goes a Czech saying. But with the changes in economy and particularly for people in higher income brackets moving for work is not as much of a problem as it used to be. Still, 40% of Czech maintain that they would not be willing to move if they got a better job offer.

More Czech beer in the US

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:49:08 -0500

KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - Business - Anheuser-Busch, Czech brewer strike deal
Anheuser-Busch Cos. announced a deal Monday to distribute a beer brewed by Budejovicky Budvar. Both companies stand to benefit from the deal. But they also say it won't end their century-old legal fight over the Budweiser trademark.

The companies both claim exclusive rights to use the Budweiser name, and their trademark dispute has tied up courts throughout Europe.

But even as the lawyers battle it out, the two brewers will share common ground in pushing Budvar's Czechvar Premium Czech Lager to nationwide distribution in the United States.

Czechvar is a funny name since var means 'brew' so, Czechbrew would be better but still...

With the right motivation Czech is a piece of koláč

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:11:18 -0500

Czech isn’t as impossible to learn as it seems It’s true that Czech isn’t the easiest language, but it isn’t as difficult or as complicated as most people think. Moreover, if you can manage even a little Czech, it can help you in work, social situations or simply going through the daily routine of shopping. ... It’s not only asylum seekers who are interested in studying Czech, there are students from all social levels. It isn’t possible to generalize about the age of students, because there is a very wide range. The reasons for learning Czech are varied, the most common are: work reasons, as employer or employee; preparation for study at Czech colleges or universities; and family reasons such as returning children of Czech emigrants or a Czech partner.

Finally an article that has the right headline. I've been saying this for years: Czech is not a difficult language, it's just difficult to learn it. And the biggest reason it seems difficult to learn is that people don't have the right motivation. That's the most important bit this article mentions, not textbooks, not approaches - reasons for learning. While most learners are Western expats with lucrative jobs who come to share their expertise or Ukrainian construction workers whose language needs are limited, it might appear that very few people can learn Czech. Once we start seeing Bulgarian and Romanian nurses learning Czech to be able to do their job, the situation will become quite different.

Czech negative self-images - "čecháčkovství"

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:50:59 -0500

Schwarzenberg a Klausovo čecháčkovství - www.lidovky.cz
Samozřejmě, že by byl schopen, kdyby chtěl. Avšak o smyslu Klausova výroku vypovídá jeho pokračování: „Každý člověk (...) se na to díval s pootevřenou pusou. Myslím, že to je všeobecný názor v této zemi, žádné specifikum Václava Klause.“ Kdo je ten „každý člověk“, který vyjadřuje „všeobecný názor v této zemi“? To je přece známý činitel českých dějin, pro kterého literární historik Václav Černý vymyslel název „Čecháček“: Ten, kdo se umí vždy včas přikrčit a včas kopnout do holeně a včas podat přihlášku do správné strany; kdo poměřuje své „my“, „my, kdo jsme Češi“, svojí „žabí perspektivou“ - do které se mu nevejde nikdo, kdo ji jakýmkoliv směrem překračuje: ani šlechtici, ani Němci, ani Židé, ani Cikáni, ani kněží, ani homosexuálové, ani disidenti. „Čecháček“ je rub české národní povahy, nad kterým zoufají národní buditelé - ale kterého umějí geniálně využívat demagogové.

President Klaus' rejection of the new government because the nominee, count Schwarzenberg, is Austrian by origin (and an aristocrat to boot) already served us as an illustration of Czech nationalism but some reactions to it show another side of Czech culture, namely a negative self-image. Now, no matter how powerful or powerless, all cultures have both positive and negative self-images. The Czech negative self-image can be described by two terms: "malý český člověk" (the little Czech) or "Čecháček" (Czechie). Ladislav Holý described this phenomenon partially in his book The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation: National Identity and the Post-Communist Social Transformation.
Many definitions were presented of čecháček in this recent debate, usually referring to smallness, parochialism and cowardice but pretty much anything negative Czechs say about themselves comes under this word. It also comes with an generic noun čecháčkovství (Czechieness) which describes the quality of being a čecháček.

Koledy: The sounds of Christmas

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:37:02 -0500

Tradice koled pochází ze středověku - www.lidovky.cz
V dnešní době jsou koledy synonymem pro vánoční písně. Ve středověku tomu tak nebylo.

Koledy (Carols) are as indispensable for a Czech Christmas as carp and Christmas trees. In fact, they have a long history, going all the way to +šth century. Originally, they were associated with small gifts from householders to roving singers (trick-or-treat - Czech verb: koledovat) and were not limited just to Christmas. Now, they can be heard in homes around the country, they come on radio and appear in shopping malls and elevators. Here are several links to Czech carols online (link1, link 2, link 3).

Changing Czech tastebuds find fresh fish (plus some meat stats)

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:31:38 -0500

Češi přišli na chuť čerstvým rybám na úkor mražených - iDNES.cz
V České republice podle obchodníků v posledních letech roste obliba čerstvých chlazených ryb, které z nákupních košíků postupně vytlačují ryby mrazené. Češi jsou sice v EU stále značně podprůměrní jedlíci ryb, při výběru ale čím dál častěji sahají i po exotických druzích ryb a mořských živočichů.

Czechs are far below the EU average when it comes to eating fish, other than the Christmas carp but a recent report shows that for the fish they eat, they are more and more reaching for fresh chilled fish rather than frozen fillets.

Here are some of the fish Czechs used to like before the end of communism:

kapr - carp, traditional Christmas meal, not eaten much otherwise
filé - deep-fried fish - fish fingers
makrela - smoked mackerel
zavináč - rollop - pickled fish (no a word for the @ sign)
sardinky - needs no elaboration
pstruh - trout - fancy meal in restaurants or a common prey of Czech fishermen

Spotřeba ryb je ale v ČR nízká. Každý obyvatel Česka sní v přepočtu zhruba 5,5 kilogramu ryb za rok, zatímco průměr v Evropské unii představuje přibližně 11 kilogramů.

Czechs eat roughly 5.5 kilos of fish per person per year while the EU average is 11. Interestingly, giving the landlocked status of the country, most of the fish eaten is salt-water fish. Most fish is eaten around Christmas and Easter. One of the new fish is salmon.
By comparison, Czechs eat 80 kilos of meat per person per year - more than half of that pork. Chicken has been on the rise since 1989 and is now eaten above the EU average - 25kg pppy.

Also surprising is the fact that the Czech Republic produces 19.000 tons of fish a year and exports about half of it. But more fish is imported than exported.

Svátky: The holiday season

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 05:03:13 -0500

MF DNES To, že jsou Vánoce již za dveřmi, lze poznat z nabídky a výzdoby obchodních domů a od čtvrtka je bude připomínat i výzdoba v ulicích Prahy 8.

The holiday season is upon us, around the corner, or behind the door (za dveřmi). More and more Christmas trees are showing up in the streets of Czech cities and soon they will be joined by tubs with carp. But first, we will have to celebrate St Nicholas on Mikuláš day (5. of December). Last year I put together a Christmas vocabulary, and here are the key words for the season again:

Mikuláš, čert, anděl, nadílka
Vánoce, stromeček, štědrý večer, dárky, koledy, kapr, cukroví
Nový rok

Also, this might be a good time to introduce two new categories: holidays and seasons. I went back and added old posts to them, as well.

Czech Republic - Home of the Free Antivirus

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:04:19 -0500

I never really thought about it until recently when I needed to replace my antivirus software (getting rid of the bloatware that is McAffee and Symantec's Norton) but three of the major players on the global antivirus scene come from the Czech Republic. And two of them offer free versions (meaning that the freeware antivirus all comes from Central Europe - the only other contender is Antivir from Germany). They are:

Well, the last of these is not strictly speaking (or even speaking in any other way) Czech. In fact, it is Slovak but the company was started while the Czechs and Slovaks still shared a country called Czechoslovakia. It has an even more interesting Czech connection though. NOD stands for a Slovak pun on a famous Czech TV show Nemocnice na kraji města (Hospital on the edge of town) which translated into Slovak reads Nemocnica na okraji mesta. The software is called: Nemocnica na okraji diska meaning Hospital on the edge of the disk.

Czech is a luxury language but NOT difficult

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 15:06:51 -0500

CZECH IS EASY - when you find a patient teacher.
"Czech is the Rolls Royce of the Slavonic Languages" (Terje B. Englund)

I discovered this today on a Czech teacher's website and it made me wonder what the motivation for such a statement might be. The full quote goes like this:

Czech is the Rolls Royce of the Slavonic languages, and a star player in the Indo-European linguistic league. Czech is so rich, precise and, unfortunately, also complicated that a foreigner trying to learn the language may be driven to suicide. Either because he or she never manages to learn it, or because of the utter depression that follows when the foreigner realizes how primitive his or her own mother tongue is. (Full text on Expats.cz)

Although, I completely disagree with the assertion that Czech is a difficult language, the full article is worth reading because it provides an interesting overview of the highlights of Czech's history.

Let me conclude with a counterquote of my own:

Czech is not a difficult language. It is just difficult to learn it.

28. říjen - October 28 - Day of many memories

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:41:50 -0400

28. říjen - Wikipedie, otevřená encyklopedie
# Státní svátek: Den vzniku samostatného československého státu
# Socialistický kalendář:

* Vyhlášení samostatnosti Čechů a Slováků (1918)
* Den znárodnění (1945) – významný den Československé socialistické republiky
* Schválení zákona o československé federaci (1968)

As this short extract from Czech Wikipedia shows, the 28th of October has played a significant role in recent Czech history. These days it is a státní svátek - meaning a day off work (unless it falls on a weekend) - in memory of the 1918 founding of Czechoslovakia (dissolved in 1939 and then again in 1993) and gaining independence of the crumbling Austrian Hungarian Empire (perceived partly as German).

During the 'communist' regime the day was also celebrated as a (re)union of Czechs and Slovaks (after 1000 years of separation since the Great Moravian Empire). And the date was chosen for other significant events:

First in 1945 to nationalize (znárodnit) big industries and then in 1968 to enact Czechoslovakia as a federal state.

Another survey of individual professions' prestige

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 07:01:22 -0400

Medical profession most prestigious in Czech Republic - Prague Daily Monitor
Doctor's [lékaři] gained an average of 89.5 points, followed by scientists [vědci] with 80.7 points and university teachers [univerzitní učitelé] with 78.5 percent.
...
The professions of elementary school teachers [učitelky na základních školách], programmers [programátoři], designers [designéři], judges [soudci], private farmers [drobní zemědělci], managers [manažeři], mayors [starostové], professional sportsmen [profesionální sportovci], accountants [účetní] and journalists [novináři] figure in the first half of the standings.

The other half starts with ministers [ministři], followed by electric appliances repairers [elektrikáři], joiners [instalatéři], small shop owners [majitelé drobných obchodů], machinists [opraváři aut], bank clerks [bankovní úředníci], policemen [policisté], career soldiers [vojáci z povolání], shop assistants [prodavačky], secretaries [sekretářky], priests [kněží / faráři], deputies [poslanci] and charwomen [uklízečky].

Again, as with all surveys, it's hard to say what exactly that means but it certainly gives us an opportunity to practice Czech - I added the Czech words in square brackets - they are all in the plural - see if you can make them singular.

'živnostník' shoulders Czech economy

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:57:54 -0400

Czech economy depends on self-employed, small firms - Prague Daily Monitor
Brussels, Oct 16 (CTK) - No other EU economy is more heavily affected by the self-employed and small companies than the Czech Republic, according to data from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.

There is a nice Czech word for the self-employed/home business: živnostník i.e. someone who runs a živnost which in means small business but evokes a subsistence connotation - since it is derived from the Czech word for life život.

There is also a cultural connotation that may be significant. The word živnostník has a certain old-world charm, reminding us of the 'First Republic' (první republika) and old films (shown on TV as 'filmy pro pamětníky'). Of course, the charm is spoiled somewhat by the earthy phrase: 'udělat něco na živnosťák' which means to do something under the authority of the 'živnostenský list' which every small business needs to obtain through a relatively painless registration process (I had two at one point).

Nuselák to Bohnice: Third time very unlucky

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:08:32 -0400

Tři sebevrahy záchranáři přemluvili, čtvrtý skočil - iDNES.cz Po skoku z Nuselského mostu zemřel večer v Praze 21letý mladík. Záchranáři dnes na mostě nezasahovali poprvé. Během dne rozmluvili sebevraždu třem mužům, kteří chtěli skokem o hlubiny ukončit svůj život.

This very sad story has some interesting language. Three times in one day did the emergency services have to drive out to "Nuselák" or "Nusle bridge" famous as the Prague suicide spot (so famous, in fact, that there is a bar called "U skokana" (The Jumper) in one of the streets below it. They were able to talk the first two out of taking their life and took them to "Bohnice" a psychiatric hospital near Prague. The last person, unfortunately, did jump and kill himself. The phrase that could be related to this is: "Mě snad odvezou do Bohnic" meaning "I am going to go crazy" (lit. they're probably going to take me away to Bohnice).

Foreign languages spoken in the Czech Republic

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:12:23 -0400

One Country, One Language - Worldpress.org Following the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, Russian was abolished in Czechoslovakia as the first foreign language, marking a turning point in foreign language teaching. Learning a foreign language is compulsory in today's Czech schools and students learn two or three languages in secondary school.

German is the second foreign language although students can also choose French, Spanish, or Italian. In areas near the German border, however, German is even taught as a first foreign language.

Since Czech is hardly spoken outside the Czech Republic, a large amount of prestige is attached to the main foreign languages. The training a foreign language teacher receives is therefore continually being improved. In the last few years, the C.L.I.L. method of teaching various subjects in a foreign language has gained in popularity. Every third secondary school in the Czech Republic already teaches its students in a foreign language.

This is a part of a larger article on foreign languages in the EU. It is fairly accurate with perhaps too much emphasis being put on teacher training. There's a good chance that both foreign language teaching and learning have improved because the Czechs' motivation has increased and students can now see real uses for all these foreign languages. It is a little known fact, that very few Czechs actually speak even passble Russian (despite 8 years worth of tuition) - this was due mostly to the fact that it was difficult to use Russian.

Czechs, bets and lotteries

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 03:23:18 -0400

Each Czech spends almost CZK 10,000 on betting yearly - Prague Daily Monitor Each Czech will spend almost CZK 10,000 on legal lottery and betting this year, up from CZK 9,000 in 2005 and CZK 6,000 in 2000. Besides, the popularity of betting on the Internet is growing, although this activity is still illegal in the Czech Republic.
...

Some 37 percent of Czechs take part in lotteries or betting, and more than half of them place a bet at least once a week.

Four
percent of Czechs do the illegal odds-betting on the web and another 12
percent are contemplating this option, said the International Business
and Research Services agency.

This is a very surprising number when it comes to betting offices. I've noticed more and more betting offices around Prague and fruit machines in pubs but never realized that so much money was spent per persion. However, lottery has always been popular in the Czech Republic (even in socialist Czechoslovakia). The words Sazka (from sázet = to bet) and the derrived Sportka will be instantly recognizable to any Czech as nation-wide lotteries. However, betting metaphors are not very common in Czech. While you can say o co se vsadíš? = You wanna bet? There is very little awareness of odds and no phrases like odds on favorite, or what are the odds can be found (although they probably have some equivalents).

Babí léto - Indian Summer

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:24:17 -0400

Well, we've said nashledanou to okurková sezóna (the summer slow news season) and are about to welcome another time of year: babí léto (Indian Summer). I don't really know why it's called that but it seems to be reminiscent of bába (hag) but hag's summer sounds a little strange. Unfortunately, I don't have any etymological dictionaries to hand. This is what Czech wikipedia has to say about it:

Babí léto bývá charakterizováno obdobím suchého, málo větrného,
slunného a přes den velmi teplého počasí. Noci ale bývají již poměrně
chladné a poměrně často se k ránu vytvářejí radiační mlhy, které se s
postupujícím podzimem udržují po větší část dne.

If you're in the CR, you can visit the folk-blues festival http://www.babileto.cz.

Czechs like to eat what's not good for them

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 06:51:11 -0400

Co Čechům chutná, to je vlastně i ničí - iDNES.cz

Na čem si Češi nejvíce pochutnají? Jednoznačně na mase, salámech a
uzenině. Za své nejoblíbenější jídlo tyto potraviny označilo 52 procent
dotázaných v novém průzkumu agentury Focus. ... "Mnoho lidí používá jako doplněk k pečivu zásadně uzeninu. Na otázku, co si dají ráno k snídani k housce, většina odpovídá, že samozřejmě salám," popisuje obezitolog Petr Sucharda, který lidem s nadváhou pomáhá změnit jídelníček. Učí je, že oblíbené salámy mohou nahradit mléčnými výrobky nebo právě zavrhovanou zeleninou.Salámy a uzeninu preferují spíše muži – 70 procent z nich je označilo za své oblíbené jídlo. Ženy mají raději mléčné výrobky a ovoce. Dvakrát více mužů než žen má rádo pizzu, hranolky a hamburgry. Ženy naopak tíhnou k vegetariánské stravě.

Lot's of overweight Czechs out there according to this Mladá Fronta DNES article. Particularly men see meat (salami) as the only possible thing to put on there bread. Some interesting words here:

pochutnat si (na něčem) = to enjoy food
salám
uzeniny = processed meat products (lit. smoked things) - may or may not include salami; but does include the following:

párky
buřty
uzený
slanina
tlačenka

mléčné výrobky = dairy (minus eggs)

jídelníček = diet (what is eaten - not a food regiment which is dieta)