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| czechadam | Wednesday 24th of November 2004 11:51:49 AM |
| How to Speak - PRONUNCIATION: GENERAL Converting any spoken form to writing is problematic. From history, we learn that the current modern form of English has an incomplete alphabet for its own sounds let alone considering representing the sounds of other languages (The italic alphabet was introduced through Ireland when Latin and Christianity entered into England replacing Runes and Heathenry). The guides are in American English, but keep in mind that several of the Czech vowels and consonants have no approximate equivalents in American English. The best approach would be to borrow from the library or buy a Czech book with accompanying tapes. If you are fortunate enough to know a Czech native speaker or an advanced non-native Czech speaker, ask for help with pronunciation. [b][u]Now that you have the guide, why not try some Czech Phrases.[/u][/b] Click to try some Czech Phrases. *set the right flag to Czech* The lesson templates are being revised to reflect the PhraseBase concept and streamline with audio in Phrases. We will make the new lessons available as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. --Anya | |
| ernesth | Thursday 16th of December 2004 02:30:35 PM |
| - What about the rest of the lessons? :) | |
| CzechAdam | Friday 17th of December 2004 06:58:22 PM |
| The rest of the lessons - Do not worry, they will come after I translate phrases in Phrases:-). [quote][i]Originally posted by ernesth[/i] What about the rest of the lessons? :)[/quote] | |
| Arteum | Friday 31st of December 2004 12:23:53 PM |
| - Hi, CzechAdam, I know Ukrainian and Russian and I started learning Czech half a year ago. I am currently reading "Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války" and sometimes I have questions concerning the text. Will you be able to answer these questions? Should I start a new topic? Actually, I have a couple of general questions right now ... How to say in Czech: "Having returned to his room ..."? In "Švejk" it is "Vrátiv se do své komory ... " So I thought it was a common type of expression, but when I asked one Czech guy, Josef, in Atlanta about this, he said that this is an "old school" and people no longer speak like that. What he proposed was "Když on vrátil se do své komory ... ". The problem with this "guy" was that he was a builder and did not have any education, so I don't really trust him :-( I also have a similar question about: "Lying down on a bunk ..." which is "Ukládaje se na kavalec ...". This conctruction was also rejected as archaic by Josef. What do you think? Arteum | |
| CzechAdam | Thursday 06th of January 2005 08:16:40 PM |
| - Hi Arteum, It is indeed a really good idea to start a new topic for this. I am able to answer the questions from/about the book, it is one of my favourites. In Czech you can say Having returned to his room as "Když se vrátil do svého pokoje...". The expression "Vrátiv se ..." is really old fashioned The expression "Ukládaje se na kavalec ..." is old fashioned as well:). Adam | |
| Armaan | Thursday 06th of January 2005 08:18:09 PM |
| - Expression "vrátiv se" is really archaic. In current czech you should use "když se vrátil". Expression "ukládat se na kavalec" is more formal, not so archaic, you wouldn´t use it in speech, but in written text is it OK. | |
| Arteum | Thursday 13th of January 2005 02:17:55 AM |
| Thanks - Thanks, guys, that really helped. Although I still cannot understand that you can say such types of expression very easily in Ukrainian and Russian, but in Czech they sound archaic. | |
| Neil | Tuesday 22nd of March 2005 12:56:52 AM |
| Pisnicky - In his song "jdou po mne jdou" Jaromir Nohavica sings "Pak jednou v lete rek jsem se bat!" What does "bat" mean I can't find it anywhere. | |
| mandark | Tuesday 29th of March 2005 12:40:32 AM |
| - [quote][i]Originally posted by Neil[/i] In his song "jdou po mne jdou" Jaromir Nohavica sings "Pak jednou v lete rek jsem se bat!" What does "bat" mean I can't find it anywhere.[/quote] 'Bat se' means 'to be afraid' (the word order changes a lot ;) ) | |
| Neil | Friday 29th of April 2005 08:47:07 PM |
| - So what does the line as a whole mean then? | |
| mandark | Thursday 16th of June 2005 09:34:57 AM |
| - [quote][i]Originally posted by Neil[/i] So what does the line as a whole mean then?[/quote] I wasn't familiar with this particular song, so I had to look the lyrics up ([url]http://www.supermusic.sk/skupina.php?action=piesne&idskupiny=108[/url]) and I found the line saying this: 'pak jednou v létě řek' jsem si: ať' which means 'Then once in summer I told myself: so what Is this clear? We often say 'Tak ať' meaning 'So what', '[B]Let[/B]'s happen whatever's supposed to happen, I'm aware of the consequences'. 'Ať' means 'let' and can stand alone, like this. The form ending with 'ť' is rather old, as in 'nechť' (means the same as 'ať'), which is an obsolete word, only used in poetry these days. 'Ať' is also used in sentences like 'Řekni mu ať si vezme boty' - Tell him to wear shoes. | |
| Neil | Thursday 16th of June 2005 02:20:08 PM |
| - That would certainly make a lot more sense than "bat", which is, incidentally, what my Jaromir Nohavice song book says. Dekuji za pomoc! | |
