I stumbled on this website by accident while doing a web search for the Czech Republic. I really like it because it has a lot of info pertaining to Czech culture AND language. Well, since this is the 'Introductions' forum I guess I will tell something about myself. Believe it or not, currently, I am working in Djibouti, Africa. I work in a federal government job and this is where I've been assigned recently. I will be here a total of six months before I can return to the US. I was also in Nagoya, Japan for six months last year and five months in Presov, Slovakia in 2006. While living in Slovakia, I made many trips to the Czech Republic and fell in love with the place. I think what I liked most about it was the friendliness of the people and the 'old world' feel. Much of Western Europe has become very modernized so it was good to find a place that had not been affected by that yet. Anyway, I look forward to having many discussions with the people on this board. Talk soon.
You're welcome. I think you are first visitor connected from Africa if I'm not mistaken. Djibouti is desert land, isn't? So you have cosy warmth, not fricking cold like we have in Czech republic right now
Oh, man! You can't imagine how hot it is here even in the winter. We're not allowed to post links to personal websites, but I describe what you asked about in my blog. Also, there's quite a famous Esquire magazine article about the country. Anyway, I wish I could stroll down the streets of Prague's old city now and enjoy the cold weather. You are so lucky!
The more usual expression is "We all want what we can't have." Still, I understood what you meant. Actually, I didn't know that English was your second language until you asked me a question about it. Your written English is really good.
Well, it's really flattering. Thank you. I'm Czech, born and raised If only! But in fact I never had a proper English teaching. A few lessons here, a few lessons there. Mostly I learn from movies and tv shows
Another expression is "the grass is always greener on the other side." Anyway, welcome, Sadebugo! I think you'll find this forum helpful.
Hi Sadebugo and welcome again to the forum. a side note: That is amazing - I had better start watching more Czech TV and Movies
Yes, I concur that it is amazing. In the US, we seem to have difficulty picking up foreign languages, but for some people, it seems to be easy. I'm jealous!!
Welcome Sadebugo I hope you enjoy the site. I didn't catch, if you mentioned, your connection to the CR and why you are interested in it. The complete phrase is "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." But you are right, Americans usually stop at "other side".
You are smilling, but watching movies or shows with subtitles in same language as audio is great learning tool.
Well, I visited the Czech Republic a lot while living in Slovakia. At that time, I developed a real affinity for the place. But, and I never mentioned this before, I studied the Czech language for one year of my life in the US while in the military. Unfortunately, that was a long time ago and I have forgotten so much. But, I still remember the first dialogue we learned: A: Dobry den! Jak se mate? B: Mam se dobre. A co vy? A: Mam se dobre. A: Kde je Pan Novak, etc. Ha, ha! Don't laugh. My computer won't add the diacritical marks. I would love to live there again and really polish up my Czech. Slovak was similar but just different enough to give a non-native speaker some problems. Anyway, thanks for posting.
You are like my brother. He studied german about 9 years during elementary and high school, he neither studied english at all. But he can speak much better english, than german. It is all about TV Series, kind of illegal, but good way to learn english.
eso, you're too modest! Your grammar is quite good, as is your vocabulary. If you've learned English mainly from TV shows, I'll bet you learn phrases, rather than words (IMHO, it's the best way to learn a language anyway). I'm surprised that the US government has any interest in Prešov, much less staffs employees there. Welcome to the site! By the way, there are several threads dedicated to setting up a Czech keyboard (in Windows, at least). Some time back, wer (one of our Czech users) summed up a number of the better posts on this topic: help with being able to type czech??.
Thanks for the advice on the Czech script options. Yeah, it does sound strange, but there was a specific need in Presov and I was able to fill that need. I tell you, I had to pinch myself every morning when I woke up to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It was really great living there, taking the strolls downtown, enjoying the scenery, etc.
