hey guyz i'll be headin to prague soon so i have some questions: 1) how are the ppl in prague generally? 2) do they show any racial discirimination against african-americans, asians (in fact i'm part indian so....)? 3) are there any strict do's and dont's that i need to know when i get to prague (especially when communicating with ppl or other occasions like that) 4) are they welcoming enough like the americans? (i really need an anwer to this one as i'll be stayin n prague for a looong time...and from i previous experience in germany...i dont know what to expect from the Czech or rather the Europeans in general)... thanks a lot guyz....
Hi there! Generally the same as in the US - both good and bad. I really wouldn't expect any big suprises. The younger crowd mostly speaks English well enough to hold at least a simple conversation. The older tends not to. Employees in commerce are usually nice and helpful; coping with the state bureaucracy might turn out to be a bit problematic on the other hand, but you'll get the hang of it. IMO no. Back during the communist era, we were blocked from most other nations and at the very moment it ended those 18 years ago, all kinds of foreigners - both from the east and west - started flowing into the country. So I guess we took meeting other nationalities as a normal thing from the beginning of our new lives after the 1989. Skin color makes no difference. And Prague is a particularly cosmopolitan city. It's like everywhere in the civilized Europe I'd say: if you're nice to the people, they're nice back, and vice versa. By and large: if you see someone staring at you, you probably have a loose lace or ketchup on your mouth. Manners are relatively American-like around here. Can't think of anything special... Oh yeah, maybe except the gipsys: in my experience, most of them are evil and aggressive (I don't say all of them). Try to stay away from them at all costs for starters. As for your future schoolmates, I think you won't have any trouble finding friends among them. And as soon as you do, you're a happy man. I don't know how's this in your region, but the default attitude to (any) strangers in the Czech Rep. is polite distance, I'd say. Don't expect people to invite you somewhere as soon as they meet you at school, or your new neighbors to give you welcome presents and show you around their places immediately upon seeing a newcomer near their door. This reserved behavior is not a sign of dislike or dismissal, it's just normal. If you actively approach them with a couple warm words, they might turn out to be very helpful and outgoing people. On the other hand, expect some sour faces among authorities (the police in particular) and in offices. That's not an anti-American attitude, that's simply an anti-human attitude. Don't ask me why. You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it here.
hry fei thanks once again for replying....one more question....the girls.....ohhh i've heard so much about the Czech girls, good bt also a lotta bad stuff.... how are the czech girls? do they socialise well with international guyz (now that you know part of my ethnicity).... i've heard quite a few negative things too...i've heard that czech girls like foreigners for one main reason---money!!! if that's true, then i'm acutally shocked bt if its not then i'm sorry, i didnt mean no offence...just heard from a couple of ppl (from UK).......
As regards ethnicity issues, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything of value here. As regards Czech girls in general, however, I do have an observation: local girls are very, very spoiled and coddled (I hope I'm using the right word). In my experience, they behave like spa visitors: I paid you my money, so now here I am and I expect all the comfort, all the care, all the baths you have and I don't want to have to move a finger - don't even think of making me move from one bath to another by myself, you are supposed to carry me. Except, of course, the girls didn't pay any money. So this means you have to be the one to seek a partner, you alone are supposed to push things further in the relationship, you alone are supposed to plan what to do tomorrow, etc. The point: yes, local girls socialize well with intl. guys, but towards about such extent as local guys do. If you want something more serious, only you have to make things happen. Money is another tool of comfort and as such, as I described above, lures local girls. There are generally two forms of attration by the guy's wealth as I see it (I'm not trying to say something new, just to help myself get to the point): 1. I'm a reasonable woman. There are more handsome guys that this one, but the books say a relationship built upon love (let alone looks!) is not meant to last and this guy has money - he could ensure the family's prosperity when the children come. And he's very kind and nice to me anyway, I choose him. 2. I'm lazy, afraid to get in touch with work, yet I just NEED to have the latest fashion magazines from all over the world on the table every week. And I also couldn't bear seeing my friends riding fancier cars than me. I don't care how stupid this guy is, I want his money to make my dreams come true, I choose him. You were probably talking about the latter case. I don't know if there are more girls of this type here than abroad (now that I think about it - maybe yes, slightly), but IMHO there are notably more girls of the former type in the Czech Rep than in the west. You can't call these girls evil or two-faced, maybe such attitude is actually the guarantee of a happy life. But you should be aware of that, I think. IMHO, this way of thinking derives from the old times (not very old actually), when the woman was forced into the role of the housekeeper who tends to the kids and her husband and by-the-way goes to some work, but otherwise relies on her husband. The man was only supposed to earn money and feed the family. You'll probably see this attitude typically in girls who come from the country. Nevertheless, this way of thinking is being quickly washed away by globalization.
Huh, I am sorry if you heard this. I think I should also say a bit on this topic. First of all, girls that are after money and not the guy, happen to live in every country, not just in Czech republic. Of course, in Prague you will find a lot of silly blondes, who will go head over heel because you are foreigner, jump around you and let you waste your money on them. It is only up to you, if you like such type of girls. But I can assure you, there´s plenty of Czech girls in CR (and Prague is just a main town full of spoiled people, not general picture of the country) that won´t care if you are foreigner or not, whether you have money or not, but more if you are fun to be with etc. As a Czech woman, who married foreigner, I can say, that I was not attracted by money (cause he did not have any :lol: ) and even now we are definatelly not rich, more on the opposite. It was not simply important, there were other things that mattered. And I know quite a few other Czech girls, who married foreigners, not a single one did it for money.. But then, I am not making friends with silly hens from Prague
hey karkulka....thanks a lot for replying....and i'm glad that i'm finally speaking to a czech woman...as i can get first hand experience as to the culture there....do czech women accept the asian community (i'm a portuguese indian you see)...? i'm really glad that you said not all girls are like that....unfortunately i'll be livin in prague (which as you say is adundant of them) as i'm attendin a coll there....bt one thng that striked me when i went thrgh a site on czech culture was that czech ppl in general value intelligence, and intellectual thinking? is this actually true become its seems to be rudimentary in today's scenario as everyone cares for physical appearance!!! thanks once again karkulka...
I am not really sure whether Prague is "really abundant" of such people. I do not think there are more of them than in the rest of the country, Prague is not so spoiled as it may seem... Maybe what made you think that is another part of our bad reputation - for a foreigner from the West, nearly anything in our country seems to be quite cheap. Even the prostitutes... And our country is well known destination for "sex tourism" especially from Great Britain and Netherlands... we are often said to be a country with cheap beer and cheap girls... and Prague as a main destination for tourists is full of these... services. I do not think that ordinary Czech girl is so attracted by money. Of course she does not mind if her partner is rich. It depends on the milieu where you will. If you adopt normal decent life as a student of our faculty and you do not flaunt that your material conditions are much better than that of the locals, you will not encounter any such girls lusting for your money (especially on our glorious Faculty of arts and philosophy where only humble seekers of knowledge, such as me :twisted: , have the honour to study without any prospects of material estates :roll: ).
wait a min....eleshar...your from Charles too...i mean a different faculty bt nevertheless from Charles....that's cul man...so do tell me some tips as to how to talk to the girls? i mean i'm sure they're quite different from those in the US? and are many of them keen on long-time relationships n stuff like that?
I read that you would to study medicine but I suppose that your courses of Czech will be assured by our faculty (our name is Faculty of arts and philosophy, or Philosophical faculty in short... but in reality, we should be called rather "Philological faculty" because the number of students of philology exceeds 50 % I think), but I am not sure, maybe not. Concerning girls, I do not think I am the best one to give any advice :lol: I have never been very succesful Casanova, moreover I began to study French and I am the single guy on this discipline... the rest is composed of two dozen girls :shock: so I am a little bit surcharged by feminity which I do not consider any longer as something I have to behave to in any special way. Simply - be natural and do not push too much. Long-time relationship depends on the subject you choose. Some do prefer that, some do not... Some say that they prefer that but in reality they do not (and do not even realize it - similar to the bold statements that what is important to them is the intelect, not the physical appearance; in reality the physical appearance is mostly the most important aspect). In any case, do not mention to any of them that the sole purpose of your relationship is your amelioration in the Czech language, they would not appreciate it very much :twisted:
I think, as already somebody said above, your origin does not matter. Do you experience any difficulty for it in US, that you keep bringing it up all the time? You should not be discriminated in any way in CZ, you are simply foreigner and foreigners come in all shapes and colours :lol: Surely if some girl likes you, she will like you as you are. But, is your purpose in CR only focused on hunting girls, or you are actually also going to study sometimes :wink: Well, physical appearance of course matters. :wink: But on the other side, if a good looking guy is boring as hell, speaks only about himself and football, then every normal girl will opt for some other guy, maybe not so great looking, but definatelly more interesting. Intelectual thinking in a guy? :lol: Hard to find, but I´d say, that every sign of intelligence counts! :lol: I hope some people won´t call me feminist now.. :lol:
i huess that the best advice i've got so far -- be natural and simple....btw are you from america? or are you from Czech itself? coz if your the latter part, then i must say that your engilsh is quite good... that's one problem i've heard quite a lot...many complain that when they speak in czech with the locals, most of them reply back in english...is this because they dont like foreigners speaking their language? (as they probably would murder the language with their pronounciation) or are they instead tryin to speak english just as we'r tryin to speak czech (as a foreigner ie.)?
No, it is not because we do not like foreigners speaking our language but simply the communication in English is much much much easier. As you said, our English level is not bad. Of course we make mistakes and things...but... well, I do not want to sound as a xenophobe or anything but you muset put up with the fact, that you will probably never speak as good Czech as we speak English... With the Americans and the British the problem is particular, because they tend to infer their pronunciation habitudes into our language. They are used to pronouncing "u" as [ju:], "a" as [e] etc., to reduce unaccentuated vowels to schwa and many other things. The pronunciation is so distorted that one sometimes does not understand them at all. Another thing is the efficiency of such a communication. We live in hasty times and if someone stops us and asks us for way to somewhere, we gladly comply. But we do not have so much time to wait until he expresses himself, we have our own business, so if it is faster to comunicate such an information in English than to wait until the foreigner constructs a sentence (and then deduce what he really means...). Of course that matters only in common talk with unknown people. They surely appreciate that you tried to learn their language (appreciate in their minds, do not expect any praise how good or kind you are) but still mind their own business. On the other hand with your friends who probably will know that you learn Czech, you can expect much greater patience and even some explication.
hello karkulka...well i've never been discriminated as such in America but when i went to Europe (for 5 yrs), i was discriminated not for my origin (portuguese indian) but because i was an american indian...i mean my friends also agree with me when i say that americans are belittled in many countries and are termed as the most ignorant, self-centred ppl on earth....which is not true (As you and i know).... and regarding my curious questions regarding girls? well its not just that...i've posted several other threads in other categories and also a medical forum, tryin to gather up all the info. i can regarding the med school, the subjects, and the language...in fact i'm actually reviewing some of the subjects now so that i can get a headstart....bt its plain curiousity...because this is the first time i'm actually staying in a central european country...so the curiousity i guess is justified? just to pass time off?
well thanks eleshar, for giving me the right picture...its nice to know that the czechs appreciate (implicitly) foreigners trying to learn their language....that itself motivates me....bt thats only me....coz i've been to other european countries where i tried to speak in their lang. and they just weren't welcoming at all...(in fact they made it a point to be rude when ever i spoke their language...god knows for what joy!!)
Over the world, one can find two extremities: Chinese pattern Chinese are aware of the difficulties their language causes to the foreign learners and are proud of it. They think that their language is so difficult that no one but the Chinese themselves clever enough to be able to learn it (because of the phonological tonality, not very usual morphosyntaxis and of course expressions unusual in other languages), so they do not persist that anyone has to speak Chinese. French pattern ...is the exact opposite of the Chinese one. The French actually persist that if you are in France, you have to speak French. In fact, you have to speak French quite well in order to be considered a human being... (I experienced it even in Paris, which is very cosmopolite other wise; one famous British linguist with whom I have the honor of speaking even told us that while he was in France in a hotel trying to book a room with his not-so outstanding French switched to English but was immediately told "Nous sommes en France, pourquoi ne pas parler francais?" by the hotel staff...) The Czech people are much closer to the Chinese pattern. On the other hand, the Americans and the British seem to me to be much closer to the French pattern (or at least their border officers as the linguistic tests were sometimes necessary when one wanted to visit USA or UK).
well sova, you guessed it right it was France as well as belgium and also Germany (only Frankurt)....
ahh yes eleshar, your analysis is quite right...i dont think americans are so strict with the langauge barrier but i know that in UK, it matters a lot to speak a decent level of english....i've heard that the toughest languages in Europe are Hungarian and Finnish (they figure in the 1st two places), followed by polish, then the czech language (4th toughest), follwed by slovak, serbian and so on.... so i guess i still have something to hope for as long as i'm not learning hungarian or finnish or even latvian for that matter....as these languages have got a completely different structure which is not similar to any other group of languages (finno-urgic)
When I was in Prague (years ago) almost everyone I tried to talk to would reply to me in Czech until it was painfully obvious that I had gone through my entire vocabulary, then they switched to English without batting an eye. It seemed like they didn't mind playing along with the foreigner trying to make a linguistic effort. They were never angry or patronizing about switching to English either, not like in other cities I might mention...cities like Vienna...those Wieners are one bitter bunch of SOBs. Czechs (and other Austrians) are much more patient.
