Today was again busy with a bulk of our afternoon devoted to a crash course in Czech hosted by Charles University. I’m typically fast at picking up or at least (near) proper pronunciation in other languages, but still there are many aspects of Czech that proved to be quite a challenge—I’m looking at you Ř.
We started off with the basics: dobrý den / ahoj, já jsem, and other introductions, and further on into items like food and drink and how to order them. Through a series of short quizzes and quick dialogue exercises, we got to try our rather poor pronunciation out on one another. As a Slavic language, Czech has many tenses / conjugations that mutate the words to fit the context. That aspect of grammar actually snuck into our lives yesterday as we visited Pražský Hrad, or the possessive Prague’s castle, derived from the original Czech name of Praha. There are seven versions of these conjugations that all denote a different contextual meaning, and while common throughout the Slavic languages, the idea was rather foreign to me, even among my broader language experience.
Though hailing from quite different linguistic roots than English, it was interesting to see words in which there was some etymological crossover. Coffee, for example, has the root káva; but in others, such as čtyři (number four), are unrecognizable in lieu of prior knowledge. Čtyři presents a few unique properties of Czech that I find quite interesting. Czech is a completely phonetic language, unlike English, and in large thanks to its use of diacritics. The accent that rests on vowels, such as in Á, represents a stress and extension of the sound. The most interesting in my eye, however, is the háček: the caron or inverted carat over a few consonant sounds such as the Č in háček itself. The marker works a little differently for each letter, but for the consonants C, S, and Z can be described as Ch, Sh, and Zh (voiced Sh) sounds respectively. I don’t quite understand all of the contexts, but there is also the case with Ě where the standard e sound translates to a Ye. This can be seen in words like thanks, děkuju, and more.
The most complex use of the háček is in conjunction with R, making Ř, as previously mentioned. The sound here is precise, unique to the Czech language, and difficult to the point that many Czech children require intensive speech therapy in order to properly pronounce it. I’ve gotten close a few times, but never with enough consistency or nuance to properly string it into an understood sentence. It is often described as the mashing of the R and Ž (Zh) sounds, though I find that description lacking. All Rs, even standard, are trilled in Czech—not to the extent of something like Spanish, mind, but often tapped in a way distinct from our American pronunciation. Ř to me is the blending of R and Ž not adjacent, but overtop of one another, with the Ž slipping out over the tip of the tongue mid trill. Needless to say, producing the sound is extremely difficult, even more so when attempting to chain it into the rest of a word while maintaining any level of intelligibility.
Equipped with new vocabulary and a shaky confidence I attempted to apply some of what we had learned this afternoon at dinner. A decent cohort of us gathered after the close of our activities to try out a traditional Czech restaurant Alex had mentioned was popular with locals. Instead of your typical sit-down experience, we were provided a ticket at the entrance to give to the service staff as we requested food (mostly meats) from various counters in the restaurant. As I approached I started with ‘dám si,’ what we were taught to begin to order, and followed with the likely butchering of the Czech words for beef brisket as listed on the menu. The lady behind the counter looked at me as if I was crazed and began laughing to herself, quickly switching to English in response. I tried again with the potato pancakes, but the situation only worsened.
While confused and deeply embarrassing, I am proud that I at least made the attempt. Though I may not go as far in the near future, I still plan to insert as many děkujus and prosíms as reasonably appropriate, which has seen a little more acceptance from locals. Beyond anything, today taught me just how much is needed to go a long way, even if you make a fool of yourself in the act. It has also reminded me the importance of such items in an interdisciplinary context; no matter your technical or commercial background, acquiring the skills to establish a common ground between differing cultures (international or domestic) is always prevalent. I know now that the small trials I underwent this evening will only ease the many ahead as I look forward to other study abroad and international business opportunities.
Swanson School of Engineering 