languages

benjardøgg f - blood (poetic, uncountable)

akcie (f) - stock

alko (n, inf) - short for an alcoholic drink

alkohol (m) - alcohol

alkoholický nápoj (m)/drink (m) - alcoholic drink

bohatství (n) - wealth

deprese (f) - depression

chudoba (f) - poverty

chudý/á/é - poor

jazz (m)

jméno (n) - name

láska (f) - love

nealko (n, inf) - short for a non-alcoholic drink

nealkoholický nápoj/drink - non-alcoholic drink (sometimes, these 2 combine: nealko drink - not very common, but the possibility exists)

párty (f) - party

pašerák (m) - bootlelegger

první/1. světová válka (f) - WW1

přejet /koho, co/ - to run over

e. g. Přejel psa. He ran over a dog.

příjmení (n) - surname

válka (f) - war

večírek (m) - party

voják (m) - soldier

změna (f) jména - name change

studování (n) - studying

čtení (n) - reading

paměť (f) - memory

(za)pamatovat si - to remember

škola (f) - school

zvýrazňovač (m) - highlighter

propiska (f)/prupiska (inf., f.) - pen

tužka (f.) - pencil

test (m.) - test (not only the a/b/c version, any written exam is a test)

písemka (f.) - test (these 2 are synonyms, although the word písemka has seriousness around it and is used for important tests)

zkoušení (n.) - oral exam - meaning an exam in from of the rest of your class

zkouška (f.) - oral exam (in tems of school) - used at a univerzity during the ‘exam period’

zkouškové období (n.) - exam period - only at university

psát - to write - inf. to write a test (Budeme psát? Will we write a test?)

předmět (m.) - subject

stres (m.) - stress

stresovat (inf.) - when you act nervous, talk about how you’re gonna fail an exam etc. You’re stressed and everyone can see.

volno (n.) - free time, leisure, short break from school, e. g. a weekend, a day off

volná hodina (f.) - free period

poznámky (pl., f.) - notes (bullet points)

zápis (m.) - notes (text, sentences, paragraphs, …)

!!!

učit se - to learn (Učím se. I am learning.)

učit - to teach (Učím. I am teaching.)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town…

Vánoce - Christmas

Ježíšek (lit. baby Jesus) - Santa Claus (and yes… we do, in fact, have a baby Jesus instead of Santa)

Štědrý den (lit. generous day) - Christmas Day

Štědrý večer (lit. generous eve) - Christmas Eve

půlnoční mše - Midnight Mass

vánoční stromeček - Christmas tree

jmelí - mistletoe

vánoční cukroví - Christmas sweets

vánoční světýlka - Christmas lights

vánoční koledy - Christmas carlos

vánoční dárky - Christmas presents

sob - reindeer

štědrovečerní večeře - Christmas feast

Šťastné a veselé Vánoce! - Merry Christmas!

             (you can also just say ‘šťastné a veselé’)

translated this vocab list from @languagesandshootingstars

Cases are something a lot of Czech learners have difficulties with. They can be really tricky to start with but taking the time with each one can really help. Here’s a little about cases, and some tips I picked up for learning them. 

Overview

Czech has 7 (SEVEN) cases. This is one more than Latin and three more than German. And unlike German, nouns can appear quite differently from one case to the next. Taking into account the 2 numbers, singular and plural, a noun has up to 14 potential forms. Except, no noun has 14 different forms. In reality, one form normally appears in a couple of different cases.

Cases tell us about the noun’s role in the sentence. The nominative case, for example, tells us that the noun is the subject of the sentence: it is the person or thing doing the action described by the verb. In the sentence: Mark studuje, “Mark” is the subject. Another case, the accusative, tells us the object of a sentence, or the person or thing directly affected by the verb. In the sentence Alena zabila Marka, “Mark” is now the object, as shown by how it now takes the accusative (and genitive) ending -a.

Czech expressions that sound real funny if translated literally…

hodit něco/někoho za hlavu 

- literally ‘to throw something/someone behind your head’

- meaning: to forget about something/someone, to stop worrying about something/someone, give up on something/someone

- example: dneska večer hodíme školu za hlavu a užijeme si to! - tonight we’ll forget about school and we’ll have fun!

dát někomu pokoj 

- literally ‘to give someone a room’ 

- meaning: to leave someone alone, to give someone some space

- example: dej mi pokoj, nechci s tebou mluvit - leave me alone, I don’t wanna talk to you

mít něčeho/někoho až po krk 

- literally ‘to have something/someone up to your neck’

- meaning: you are done with something/someone, you are over it, you want it to end

- example: mám tě až po krk, potřebujeme pauzu - I am so done with you, we need a break

mít něčeho/někoho plné zuby

- literally ’to have teeth full of something/someone’

- meaning: again to be over something/someone, to be annoyed by it 

- example: mám toho plný zuby - I am so over it/ I am so done 

vlézt někomu na záda 

- literally ‘to climb on someone’s back’ 

- meaning: used as a less vulgar way to tell someone to fuck off 

- example: vlez mi na záda - go to hell

jít do háje

- literally ’to go into grove’

- meaning: again a less vulgar way to tell someone to fuck off 

- example: tak s tímhle názorem jdi do háje - go to hell with that opinion 

(there are a lot of these in Czech… let me know if you are interested in knowing more ways to send someone to hell in Czech)

nevědět co roupama

- look I don’t think there is a way to explain the word “roupy”… honestly I am not even sure what exactly it means…but if someone has “roupy” it means that they are fidgety and they come up with things they shouldn’t do

- literally ‘not to know what to do because of “roupy”’

- meaning: being fidgety and having the urge to do things you should not (usually it’s used for children, for example if they are very active and wild and are playing around and doing things they aren’t supposed to do)

- example: ty děti zase vymýšlejí nesmysly, už zase nevědí co roupama - the children are coming up with nonsense to do again, they are fidgety again (this translation sucks… sorry)

hřát si na prsou hada 

- literally ‘to warm up a snake on your chest’ 

- meaning: to be friends or take care of someone who has actually a bad intentions and is a bad person, but you don’t know it, they are deceiving you

- example: myslela jsem si, že jsme kamarádky… ukázalo se, že jsem si hřála hada na prsou - I thought we were friends… turns out I was being deceived

na něco/někoho se vykašlat 

- literally ‘to cough on something/someone’ 

- meaning: to give up on something/someone, to abandon some task 

- example: dneska už kašlu na matiku, stejně tomu nerozumím - I am giving up on math for today, I don’t understand it anyway

(all these phrases are used so so much in everyday life! you’ll hear someone say at least one of them couple of times a day)

Language names in Czech have two forms. One follows the pattern adjective + jazyk (language), for example francouzský jazyk, “French language”. Alternatively there is a noun, which normally ends in -ina, francouzština, “French”. 

Note that names of languages do not take a capital letter in Czech unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence, so we write:

Čeština je těžký jazyk. - “Czech is a difficult language.”

But

Zajímám se o češtinu. - “I am interested in Czech.”

To say you speak or know a language, you have to use a special adverb. Fortunately, this is the same as the adjective but with a short y instead of a long ý. 

Umím anglicky - “I know English”

Italian is italský jazyk and italština, without the long á.

This is a series about Dutch and Flemish pronunciation in collaboration with @join-the-dutch-clan. She posts the Dutch ones, I post the Flemish ones :)

(I had to do it via Soundcloud, because the files wouldn’t upload to Tumblr for some reason. But you can find all of the Flemish recordings in the series on my soundcloud!)

Part 1: Vowels & Vowel Combinations (Dutch) Part 1: Vowels & Vowel Combinations (Flemish)

Part 2: Cosonants (Dutch) Part 2: Cosonants (Flemish)

Yet another city vocab post inspired by @polskieserce ‘s Kraków vocabulary list. This time featuring my favorite city in the world 💙 

Město (n): city Hlavní město (n): capital city Hrad (m): castle Palác (m): palace Pražský Hrad (m): Prague Castle Řeka (f): river Výměna (f) studentů: student exchange

Letiště (m): airport Nádraží (n): station, terminal; autobusové nádraží (n): bus station; vlakové nádraží (n): railroad station Stanice (f): station;  stanice metra: metro station Zastávka (f): stop; tramvajová zastávka (f): tram stop Jízdenka (f): ticket Vlak (m): train Metro (n): metro Tramvaj (f): tramway Červený/á/é: red Chodník (m): sidewalk Doprava (f): traffic, transport Třída (f): avenue Ulice (f): street

Architektura (f): architecture Kolej (f): dormitory Budova (f): building Dům (m): house Byt (m): apartment Balkón (m): balcony Náměstí (n): square Václavské náměstí (n): Wenceslas Square Most (m): bridge Karlův most (m): Charles Bridge Čtvrť (f): district, quarter Nábřeží (n): quay Brána (f): city gate Věž (f): tower Zeď (f): wall Kopec (m): hill Rozhledna (f): lookout tower Lanová dráha (f): funicular Sad (m): garden Kašna (f): fountain

Restaurace (f): restaurant Hospoda (f): pub Univerzita (f): university Radnice (f): city hall Orloj (m): astronomical clock Kavárna (f): café Trh (m): market Lékárna (f): pharmacy Obchod (m): shop Knihkupectví (n): bookshop Antikvariát (m): second-hand bookshop Otevřený/á/é: open Zavřený/á/é: closed Knihovna (f): library Bankomat (m): ATM Kostel (m): church Katedrála (f): Cathedral

Muzeum (m): museum Galerie (f): gallery Historie (f): history Umění (n): art Výstava (f): exhibition Socha (f): statue, sculpture Pomník (m): monument Památník (m): memorial Pamětní deska (f): commemorative plaque Divadlo (n): theater

Siyavush on his Horse Hitting a Rolling Target (recto) and Persian verses (verso) from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (940-1019 or 1025), late 1400s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Islamic Art

A prince from Iran’s early legendary history, Siyavush was sent by his father, the shah, to train under the great warrior Rustam in the arts of hunting, archery, and horseback riding. In this painting, Siyavush demonstrates his considerable skill by hitting the bulls eye on a rolling target from horseback. The gold sky, pastel ground with grassy tufts, and dense leafy riverbank are distinctive features of Persian painting during this period. Medium: opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Hey, so as I promised here are all the ways to send someone to hell in Czech… there are a lot of them… as you can see… I also included the worst ones in the end… so be aware… strong language ahead…

jít do háje

 - literally ‘to go to the grove’

- talking to 2nd person singular: jdi do háje

jít někam

-  literally ‘to go somewhere’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi někam 

jít se zahrabat

- literally ‘to go bury yourself’ (not necessarily in the sense of ‘bury yourself in a grave to literally die’ but more like ‘to bury yourself for example in the sand’… so nobody has to see you)

- talking to 2nd person singular: jdi se zahrabat

jít k čertu

- literally ‘to go to the devil’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi k čertu

jít se vycpat

- literally ‘to go stuff yourself’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi se vycpat

jít doprčic

- literally ‘to go to Prčice’ (Prčice is a town… I’d say it’s used because the first syllable is the same as if you’d say ‘prdel’… but that’s like way more vulgar… so you know it became a thing I guess)

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi doprčic

- ‘doprčic’ is also used as a stand alone word to curse… like damn

jít do pryč

- literally ‘to go to “gone”’… hard to explain… we also have ‘jít pryč’ as in ‘to go away’… but this is literally to go to the away… 

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi do pryč

jít k šípku

- literally ‘to go to the rose hip’ (in the past the hip rose grew near the gibbet… so…yeah)

- talking to 2nd person singular: jdi k šípku

nakašlat si

- literally ‘to cough to yourself’

- talking to 2nd person singular: nakašlej si

vlézt někomu na záda

- literally ‘to crawl up someone’s back’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: vlez mi na záda

nechat si něco

- literally ‘to keep something’ (you’d say this when someone is telling you something mean)

- talking to 2nd person singular: nech si to (nech si ty kecy - keep that crap to yourself)

.

.

now for the very vulgar expressions…

these would be equivalents of telling someone to fuck off…

jít do prdele

- literally ‘to go into ass’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi do prdele

- also: vlez mi do prdele - crawl into my ass

nasrat si

- literally ‘to shit for yourself’

-  talking to 2nd person singular: naser si

.

.

!!these last two are like… the worst of the worst… please don’t ever use these… they’re so vulgar and honestly really nasty!!

.

jít do píče

- literally ‘go into cunt’ 

-  talking to 2nd person singular: jdi do píče

vylízat si

- literally ‘to lick yourself out’

- usually used together with ‘ass’…

- talking to 2nd person singular: vyliž si prdel - lick your ass out

- talking to 2nd person singular: vyliž mi prdel - lick my ass out

… but you can just say ‘vyliž si’ and ‘vyliž mi’

.

.

so yeah… that’s all guys… there are way more Czech curse/swear words and phrases… but I think this is way too much already…