Czechmatediary

Every 6 months or so I write a small report on how is my daughter doing with her bilingual skills. She is two and half now which means it is time for me to tell you about her progress:

PS: For part 1 click here, part 2 click here and part 3 click here

I don’t know how else to start than by saying that it’s been going really great. Although I do not use the strange O.P.O.L. (One Parent One Language) method with her, my daughter has no problem understanding and also speaking Czech. She actually says whole sentences like a real human now! I will give you an example: we are in the grocery store and Hanicka points at some lady and says: “Pani ma velke brisko” (Lady has a big belly) or she points at some poor lady with graying hair and exclaims “To je babika!” (That’s grandma!). From practical reasons you can see that it is VERY advantageous she speaks Czech with me in public otherwise we would be in a big trouble. Instead, the big bellied lady and the other woman with graying hair are just pleasantly smiling at me, probably admiring how culturally diverse my family is.

When we are at a playground with other American kids she has no problem switching to English once she realizes that we are socializing with the English-speaking fellows. If I switch into English, she gets the hint really quickly and goes on speaking English as well. My husband marvels on how well she switches to English when he is around. Once in a while she starts talking to him in Czech but in a couple of seconds she switches back. Now, get this: when I tell Hahna in Czech “Jdi rict tatovi, ze je hotova vecere” (Go tell daddy that dinner is ready), she walks up to her dad and says “Daddy, dinner is ready”. She instantly translates it in her head without me telling her anything! I was pretty excited about that one. [continue reading…]

Slovaks were testing their bomb-detection protocols by planting plastic explosives into 9 passengers’ suitcases WITHOUT informing them about it and this is how the story ONLY begins…

CZ: Na Slovensku se tentokrat testovalo, zda-li by 90 gramu trhaviny proslo letistnim bezpecnostnim systemem a podivejte, co z toho bylo za prusvih:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Source: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/01/06/slovak-security-team-plants-plastic-explosive-on-flight-to-dublin/

Tomorrow is the Three Kings day, which is celebrated all over Europe. The Czechs do not celebrate it too much (at least we didn’t when we were kids) but I just found out from my Czech friend – who is married to a Spanish guy – that this holiday is even more prevalent in Spain than Christmas. In fact, the Spanish don’t even celebrate Christmas! Crazy, huh?

Anyhow, this is what Wikipedia says about how is this holiday celebrated in Central Europe:

‘A tradition in most of Central Europe involves writing the initials of the three kings’ names above the main door of the home to confer blessings on the occupants for the New Year. For example, 20 + C + M + B + 08. The initials may also represent “Christus mansionem benedicat” (Christ bless this house). In Catholic parts of Germany and in Austria, this is done by so called Sternsinger (star singers), children, dressed up as the Magi, carrying the star and singing Christmas carols. In exchange for writing the initials, they collect money for charity projects in the third world.’ (Read more about this holiday here).

What probably all of the Czech/Slovak kids know is the Three Kings song (My tri kralove jdeme k vam), which is sang usually together with other Christmas carols during Christmas time. Below is the video as well as the words of the song (translation of the words was done by me so it may not be perfect). Let us reminisce about the times of our childhood!

CZ: Zitra je tu svatek Tri Kralu, tak vam preji to nej, nej, nejlepsi. Je na case si zavzpominat na tu nasi pisnicku o Trech kralich  a tady je k tomu take pekne detske video: [continue reading…]

I meet a bunch of very interesting people through this blog. Just the other day I was contacted by Jan Hanzal who lives in the Czech Republic. Does that name sound familiar? No? How about if I mention the names of some great Czech movies like “Tri veterani“, “Slavnosti snezenek“, or “Prazska petka“??? Do those ring the bell? Well, Jan Hanzal was one of the camera men who shot those movies! Isn’t that cool??

Anyhow, ever since 1991 Jan has been working on his own projects, one of which is also an exciting multimedia historical project called “The Dark Star Quest“. Please read this introduction and make sure that you send it to other people who you think would be interested in it!

‘ The preparations for multimedia project “The Dark Star Quest” begun in May 2008, following the steps of the historical messengers sent out by Czech king Jiri of Podebrady in 1465. Roughly forty quest members, lead by Sir Lev of Rozmital and of Blatna, had the task to visit and gain the approval of the European Christian monarchs and rulers to begin the creation of the European Community. The proposed concept of this remarkable and futuristic idea can be considered as the image model of our current European Union.

On November 25, 1465 the Quest began its journey from part of Prague and from part of Blatna castle, across Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Austria to return to Czech the spring of 1467. [continue reading…]

January 2010 events are here! Check it out….

CZ: Mrknete se na to, co ceskeho/slovenskeho se kolem nas tento mesic deje….

1. Baltimore, MD

What: BALTIMORE SYMPHONY CONCERT OF CZECH MUSIC WITH CZECH CONDUCTOR

When: Jan. 22

2. Cicero, IL

What: The Story of Cleveland Czechoslovak Legionnaires

When: Jan. 24

3.  Caldwell, TX

What: Tribute to Czech veterans

When: Jan. 30

4. York, NE

What: Muzicky Muzicky Music Program (History of Czech music)

When: Jan. 10 [continue reading…]

Here we are – living in the sci-fiction  year of 2010. It will take me another year to get used to writing 2010 instead of 2009 and when I am just about re-trained the year will change again…(sigh). The good thing is that I finished the Top Post list for 2009 so many of you can catch up on some of the best-of articles if you like.

By the way, what is your New Year’s resolution? Mine is running and playing the piano again.

CZ: Tak uz je to tady, zijeme ted v kosmickem roce 2010. Opet mi bude trvat asi tak rok, nez si zvyknu psat 2010 misto 2009 ale mezitim  se ten rok zase zmeni  na 2011 takze nemam sanci…ach jo. Dobra zprava je, ze jsem dokoncila list nejctenejsich clanku za minuly rok, tak jestli mate chut, muzete to moje pisalkovani dohnat :0)

A jake jste si vubec dali novorocni predsevzeti? Ja chci zacit zase behat a hrat na piano :0)

Czech News

And the most popular Czech name is..

Are plastic bags a symbol of Czech consumer society?

Guess what….Obama is Czech!

Czech and Slovak Recipes

Palacinky: Food of gods

Czech breakfast special: Leco

An easy Czech bread recipe
[continue reading…]

Do you ever wonder where does Milos Forman live nowadays? He cleverly covered both extremes – a rural farm in Connecticut and an spacey apartment in Manhattan. You can read more about his adventurous living conditions right here (click here).

CZ: Premyslite nekdy o tom, kde vlastne Milos Forman dnes zije? Zajistil si chytre oba extremni typy ubytovani – farmu v Connecticutu a prostorny apartman v New Yorkskem Manhattanu. Vice si o Formanovych zivotnich podminkach muzete precist zde (klepnete zde).

The Vietnamese minority living in the Czech Republic elected today its own beauty queen – or Miss Vietnam CR. Five finalists will travel to Germany next month to compete for the title of Miss Vietnam European Union 2009. “This competition is a great addition for the Vietnamese community since it is showed to the general public in a different light, which in turn will help with the assimilation process…..Vietnamese girls are not only humble, respectful, beautiful and polite but their main goal in life is to get the highest education possible. This kind of attitude may enhance the Czech society.”, says Marcel Winter, the president of the Czech-Vietnamese association. [continue reading…]

It is a Czech tradition to watch specific fairy tales on TV during Christmas and the New Year holidays. When I was a little girl, our country was rulled by communists so we were ‘prescribed’ to watch the Russian fairytale  “Mrazik” (see the YouTube video bellow). It was pretty much on all the time and all of the kids knew the movie monologues by heart. Do you keep this tradition even though you live abroad now?

CZ: Tak co, divate se o Vanocnich prazdninach na ceske pohadky nebo jste tuto tradici v zahranici uz vzdali? Doufam, ze ne! Volte a pak si pripomente pohadku Mrazika v nasledujicim YouTube videu:

[continue reading…]