Czechmatediary

According to the WEF (World Economy Forum) and the technological company Cisco the internet is used by only 34.7% of Czechs. This puts them on the 35th place in the world as far as the internet usage is concerned. How did the other countries do? It turns out that the Czechs are not as computer savvy as their other European neighbors: [continue reading…]

If you like to hike in the Czech woods, watch out because the bears and the wolfs are back! They happen to be “illegal aliens”, crossing the Slovakian-Czech borders in the Beskydy Mountains. You can read more about these dangerous outlaws right here.

CZ: Chodite radi na tury v ceskych horach? Jestlize ano, davejte si pozor, protoze medvedi a vlci jsou zpatky! Pry “nelegalne emigruji” ze Slovenska, a to na Beskydskych hranicich. Vice se o techto nebezpecnych zlocincich doctete zde.

As I said before I am a Czech married to an American husband therefore our child is growing up in a bilingual home. So far these are my Top 10 recommendations that help me to keep talking in Czech with my 1-year old daughter:

1. talk to him/her in Czech whenever you can; it sounds like a no-brainer but when you keep switching from English to Czech it is sometimes easier to stay in the English “groove”.
2. When your spouse is around and you speak English so that he/she can understand what is going on, repeat some sentences in Czech to your child. I say “some” as I have tried to translate all of them at times and I felt like a parrot that had lost it.
3. Listen to the Czech music and fairy tales on tape (or rather CDs….or IPod or what ever it is nowadays..)
4. Keep the Czech riddles going! Some easy ones that I do over and over are: [continue reading…]

I found an article about the evolution of Czech gardens, a process that started to unwind in the Czech Republic along with its new democracy in 1989. I was extremely surprised at those new looks! It’s not just a big, long lawn with couple of prune trees in the corner and a tool shed in the other one. No, we are talking about swimming pools, little bridges over man-made creeks, rose gardens….you name it! Czechs are also starting to hire someone else to do the work for them. To find out more about this topic click right here.

CZ: Ceske zahrady se dosti zmnenily od te doby, co v Cechach zavladla demokracie. Uz to neni jenom posekany travnik se svestkou v jedom rohu a kulnou na naradi v druhem rohu. Prave naopak! Bazeny, roztomile mustky pres umele ricky, tisice roztodivnych kvetin…..opravdove pohadkove zahradky. Vice o tomto tematu si prectete zde.

Franz Kafka has become one of the most influential writers of all times. Most people know that he was born in Prague to a German speaking Jewish family and most people know of his quite unsettling disturbing stories such as the Metamorphosis, The Castle or The Trial. Not very many people know, however, that most of his novels were finished by someone else – his close friend, a fellow writer Max Brod. Dying Kafka actually ordered Brod to BURN all of his writings after he dies but Brod decided to disobey ( a good thing that he did!), finished and publish most of his works later. But that’s not all! [continue reading…]

What Czech movies do Americans love? My blogging buddy Sue, who is an American married to a Czech guy, wrote a list of her “Top 8” (click here ) in her blog. I agree with most of her choices except when it comes to “Little Otik” – that’s a little too much for me. Which movie on the list is your favorite?

CZ: Jake ceske filmy si zamilovali Americane? Ma blogova kamardka Sue (Americanka vdana za Cecha) sepsala list svych nejoblibenejsich “Czech-made” filmu, tak tady to je (kliknete zde). Souhlasim s vesinou, krome Maleho Otika, to je na me opravdu trosku moc….Ktery film je podle vas ta nejvetsi bomba?

Almost 40% of Czechs own a dog, which is more people than in Germany, France or Great Britain. Moreover, 20% of those “outsiders” without a dog are actually thinking about getting one in the future! What “secret” is hidden behind these high statistical figures? Why do Czechs love dogs so much? Besides the the obvious universal reasons such as their unconditional love and devotion, Vladimira Ticha, the spokesman for the Czech dog breeder’s union adds some more specific facts: [continue reading…]

There is a new interesting Czech book out there called “The Czech scientists in exile” and Radio Praha just recently published a shortened version of couple of those people’s biographies. For the sake of space I shortened their already shortened version even more but it is still a VERY interesting reading…

Josef Michl (Boulder, CO)

Why do people call him the “renaissance chemist”? Because Josef excels not only in theory but also in hands-on research work. He is currently also the most cited Czech-born researcher out there, having been cited about 15,000 times in various research articles. Another reason why they call him that nickname is that he teaches in 6 different languages but can get by speaking Japanese as well. [continue reading…]

About a month ago The National Czech & Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has disappeared under water. How are they doing now? Are they struggling to survive or ready for business again?? Find out right here.

CZ: V cervnu tohoto roku zmizelo Ceske a Slovenske Museum v Cedar Rapids (Iowa) pod vodou. Jak se mu vede dnes? Bojuje tato budova o preziti nebo je jiz opet vesele otevreno pro navstevniky? Odpovedi si prectete zde.