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No one said the langauge was dead nor extinct...where does that come from...it is however, one of many langauges in the world that they purport may become extinct in the coming generations..
The top 11 oral languages (i.e., those with the most native speakers), are: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Arabic (all varieties), Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Japanese, French, and German.

None of those are rumored (for who the heck nows what is going to happen in 75 years) to be obsolete...

an intensive and sustained professional development program which is specially designed for teachers who are responsible for attainment of the New Jersey Content Standards for World Languages in grades K-12."

Where did this come from, whats with the NJ thing? Remember how this conversation started? Over the fact that only 10 mil in the entire world speak czech! This was met with anger? Sorry, its a fact, and if you are giving good adise to your child, student, etc. about career moves with regards to studying another langauge, no one would argue that czech isnt a wise move, less you plan to live ther indefinelty, (remember my comment about retirees, and the young with a few years to waste)

I like to think that I'll still be around in 75 years. Dream on, even if you are one now, that too is a pipe dream...


all native Czech speakers will be dead in that time. Was never said, written nor insinuated...when a langauge becomes obsolete, there are still many that speak it, it just means it is not being updated nor taught per say.

Ebonics is not recognized as an official langauge, fact. While it may follow what u consider to be some form of syntacs, it is not recognized by any higher educational institution...

No more time today at work, actual have some work to do now :}

 

You have said this:

To me, "extinct" does not mean "obsolete", it means "gone". The thing I and Wicker do not agree with is that "Czech language will be gone in 75 years". Otherwise, I am in complete agreement with you. Yes, Czech is minor language, yes, it is likely that it will disappear in the future (not near future, I hope), and yes, if you look for a career-suitable language, Czech is not the best choice in global view.

The WLI thing came from your statement that:

So we are naturally curious, what that WLI is, and if its research is relevant.

 

Rebekha, the advise is since you are going to live here long term, study hard! I have 4 or 5 British friends here that after 7 years cannot conjugate the verb "to thank"...be a good representative of your home nation by repecting theirs and learning the langauge

In closing, I will leave you all with a joke that was posted on seznam.cz

There was a long line in Moscow for meat. In the line stood a Czech, and American and a Russian.

A reporter asked the American, "Sir, can you tell me your opinion of this line for meat"? The American answered, "whats a line"?

Then reporter asked the same question to the Russian, he said"whats meat"?

Then the same to the Czech who said "whats an opinion"!!!!

 

Main Entry: 1ex·tinct
Pronunciation: ik-'sti[ng](k)t, 'ek-"
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin exstinctus, past participle of exstinguere
1 a : no longer burning b : no longer active <an extinct volcano>
2 : no longer existing <an extinct animal>
3 a : gone out of use : SUPERSEDED b : having no qualified claimant <an extinct title

Note the no longer active....gone out of use...

I asked a HR rep at NYU here a question, and pointed out that she mispelled the word organisation. SHe replied with a defintion from oxfords dic.

I replied that NYU is an American U. and I dont break out a slovakian dic when here, nor a Porteguese one when in Spain:}

 

Seems like this suits both of us - note "no longer existing" and "having no qualified claimant".

But this leads nowhere, you must know for yourself what did you mean with "extinct".
If you meant that Czech language will be gone, dead, nonexisting in 75 years, then I disagree. If you meant that it will be rarely used by that time, I say maybe but personally do not think so. If you meant that it will be gone, dead, nonexisting sometime in the future, I say it is likely.

Over.

 

Agreed, can we take the gloves off now? :}}}}

What did u think about the joke?

 

Does anyone know the qualifications to become a Police Officer in Czech Republic (preferably Brno) assuming I have a Czech citizenship, I speak the language and I have a drivers licence. Please if you know could you let me know because I'm having a very hard time finding anything usefull on the internet!
Thanks!

 

http://www.mvcr.cz/2003/policie/brozura_policie.html (assuming you know the language :wink: ).

Czech citizen, older than 18, at least high school education, no intentional crime commited, good health (exact requirements depend on the position), pass psychological tests, pass physical tests (running, swimming and some gymnastics).
After you are accepted, there is some preparational course.

This was the country police. The city police in Brno has similar requirements, plus you must already have the shooting license, as you start working immediatelly after being accepted.

http://www.mpbrno.cz/nabor.php

 

Halef,

Thank you VERY VERY much for the information and the two sites. They are so helpful and interesting!

 

KJP's words come as a bit of a suprise to me, an American who taught English in Prague for 5 years. After starting at a language school, I got a Zivnostenky List (Trading Licence) in Foreign Language Instruction, and had several companies as clients. I'll agree with KJP, or was it Karel who said this, that English teaching is certainly no career move; and as I had no desire to open up a larger teaching operation, I decided it was time to return to the US and resume high school teaching.
I certainly never had the sense that I, as an American, was not wanted in Prague. I did speak Czech, and unlike most Czechs I always had cordial relations with the employees at the Zivnostensky Urad. I have no idea how broken my Czech might have seemed to them, but the fact that I could deal with them in Czech probably charmed them.
Obviously I will agree with KJP that ugly Americans who imagine that they will be celebrities due to nationality will be sorely disappointed. But my experience was that an American who wanted to get a job as an English teacher, even without a TEFL certificate, could still find language schools that would hire them (Berlitz for example). Now that Cesko has joined the EU, perhaps all that has changed and only english teachers from EU member states can get work there. But I certainly doubt it.
I had a wonderful time there, and it is interesting to see who decides to make Prague a permanent home. I know of no teacher who decided to settle down in Prague (for a time, I thought I would be the first). One former teacher friend, now there 7 years, got involved in bringing the fast food Subways to the country. So far, so good, but as profits are split several ways, he still teaches to add to his income. As far as the Czech language goes in his life, he still deals mainly in English, and has only been studying the language as he is a resident.

 

I found this entire thread very interesting, and I have to say a few things...

thanks, Wicker for pointing out that AAVE is in fact a recognized dialect of English because it does follow certain phonological, syntactic and lexical rules different from SAE (Standard American English), a few examples for entertainment purposes:
1) phonological: stopping of interdental fricatives "gold teeth" is "gold teef"
2)syntax: habitual "be" as in "she be runnin'" or copula deletion "I happy"
3)lexical: SAE borrows many AAVE terms that are integrated into our lexicon - "cool" "diva" (1960's) or "dope" "chill" (1990's)

some of these few characteristics are shared with other dialects, such as CE (Chicano English) while others are group exclusive - the research evidence is showing that in fact AAVE characteristics are increasing in number within the dialect as well as users of AAVE - it could be said that lingusitic features are being used to define social/cultural identities (how cool is that?!) Also, AAVE is being recognized among educational institutions - see The Oakland School Resolution and Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary students v. Ann Arbor School District for further interest

I can see that some people think that AAVE is just "bad English" but in fact it is not - it has systematic rules - (I could go on and on here) - I honestly don't see how AAVE is influencing SAE to the point where RP English would be preferred to SAE - I think it has to do more with social preconceptions than with the actual linguistic features

Sorry if I sound like a nag here, but I am a little passionate about language, being a linguist-in-training and all, but the principle of error correction had me put this in..I have seen the term "ebonics" in a couple other threads, and I finally had to say something!

Another topic in this thread was the issue of learning the Czech language - I am taking Czech language classes at my university and will hopefully have my son learn Czech if we ever live in the CR - we need to preserve these "dying" languages - the world has lost too many already!