When I first married my American husband, he was very keen on learning my native language, Czech. I spent countless nights trying to get him understand the complexity of this beautiful Slavic language, and I have to say: he tried. He even bought Czech CDs that he listened to while he was driving, with a fantasy that by the time we visit my family for Christmas, he will be basically fluent. Let me just forward to the current state of things (8 years later): After months of dedicated learning, audio tapes and my (amazing, clearly) teaching methods, my husband reached his bilingual potential by learning the wonderful amount of 4 words. These 4 words appear to be the highlight of the Czech language, and as far as my husband is concerned, you are able to not only strike a conversation using these 4 words, but actually have a great time (especially thanks to number 2 ). So, if you are an inquisitive person, who is always looking to learn new things or you are planning a trip to Prague anytime soon, here are these 4 magic words that you will need to know:
Clearly, the Czechs are all sailors.
My husband’s favorite word. He bonded quite well with my dad over this one. Beer is like water to the Czechs, so you will definitely need this one!
Yeah, you need to know how to swear in any language. Since there is a chance my blog is read by an innocent soul, I am keeping this one on the mild side. If you are interested in something more juicy, you can always email me at hello@marketafhorton.com. I will tell you everything. I promise.
Clearly, this is the most important word of the bunch. I am not sure exactly why this word made it into my hubby’s brain, but he is always hoping for a rainbow when we are in Czech, so he can amaze others with his impeccable language skills.
Your mini Czech lesson is now complete. Go celebrate your fluency with some “pivo”.
Any words you are interested in learning? I am all ears!
Xx, Marketa
P.S. On another happy note: I have some exciting news, you guys. I am starting a project called “The Whimsical Inbox”, a funny illustrated email series! What exactly is “the whimsical inbox” you ask?
“The whimsical inbox” is a bi-weekly illustrated story series that you can receive in your email. I thought of this idea after going through a ton of really BORING emails one day. You know, banking info, bills, and other “fun” stuff. So I asked: “Wouldn’t it be great to switch off gears and actually receive something fun, cute, adorable, exciting, and whimsical?” And I answered myself: “It would!” And that’s how this idea was born.
Twice a month, I will be sending out a unique illustrated story that is set out to entertain, inspire, make you smile, or make you buy a ton of helium balloons and fly away into fairy tale lands. This story won’t be published on my blog or anywhere else, so if you are interested in sprinkling your month with something whimsical once in a while, add your email address HERE!
So excited for this! Marketa
This was so much fun, Marketa! Now if only I had this before I went to Prague a couple of years ago… 😉
x Kathryn
Through the Thicket
Did you, really? That’s awesome! I hope you had a great time! 🙂