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SoundCzechTo have something up your sleeve
Hello and welcome to another edition of Sound Czech, a programme in which
you can learn new Czech idioms with the help of song lyrics. Today’s song
is a duet by the Czech evergreens Karel Gott and Lucie Bílá from their
1997 hit album Duets. The phrase to listen out for is “co za lubem
máš”.
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SoundCzechAll five together
Hello and welcome to this edition of SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s very own
language programme where you can learn some interesting phrases, and enjoy
some interesting music. Today, we’ll hear the song “5 policajtů”,
or
Five Policemen by the band Jablkoň. The song was featured on their 1999
album Bláznivá. The phrase to listen for is “mít všech pět
pohromadě”. More
Current Affairs-Ová reaction? Commentator reprimanded for not using feminine suffix
Britney Spearsová, Angela Merkelová, Venus Williamsová – this is how
some of the world’s most famous women are referred to in Czech. The
–ová suffix is widely used in Czech to denote it’s a woman you’re
talking about. Czech women who wanted to ditch the -ová and use the
masculine form of a surname were only allowed to do so as recently as 2004,
and this is still very much the exception to the rule. A row erupted over
whether the –ová form was outdated last week when a TV sports
commentator refused to use it. In light of the uproar, I spoke to one of
the –ova’s biggest defenders, linguist Jiří Kraus. He claims it is an
important part of the Czech national identity:
More
SoundCzechTo have a bug in your bonnet
Hello and welcome to another edition of SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s Czech
language programme in which you can learn popular Czech expressions through
song lyrics. Today’s song, called Snad jsem to zavinil já (It was
probably my fault), is by the rock band Olympic and the phrase to look out
for is brouka v hlavě máš (or brouk v hlavě).
More
SoundCzechAs blind as a cartridge
Hello and welcome to another edition of SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s Czech
language programme in which you can learn a new Czech idiom or two through
song. Today we’ll be listening to Czech household favourite Lucie Bílá
sing rock’n’roll, in the form of a tune called ‘Amor Magor’ (more
or less ‘Idiot Love’). The phrase to listen out for comes near the end
and goes by in a flash – so listen hard. It is ‘je asi slepý jako
patrona’
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SoundCzechWandering shoes
Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech Radio Prague’s Czech language
course in which you can learn new phrases with the help of song lyrics.
Today’s song is by Waldemar Matuška and is called Boty toulavý.
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SoundCzechThe Toothy One
Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech – Radio Prague’s Czech
language course in which you can learn new phrases or expressions through
song lyrics. Today’s song is called Zubatá by the famous underground
rock band Pražský výběr – a group headed in the 1980s by singer and
musician Michael Kocáb, now the country’s minister for human rights and
ethnic minorities. Zubatá is a Czech slang expression for none other than
the Grim Reaper, only in Czech Death is a woman.
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SoundCzechLike a knife slicing through butter
Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech – RPs Czech language course in
which you can learn new phrases with the help of song lyrics. Today’s
song is called Joshua - a spiritual sung by the group Sprituál Kvintet and
the phrase to listen out for is jako když máslem projde nůž.
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SoundCzechFrost under your nails
Hello and welcome to another edition of SoundCzech – Radio Prague’s
Czech language series in which you can learn idioms through song lyrics.
For the past few weeks, the Czech Republic has been in the grip of freezing
weather with temperatures only recently rising above zero. I guess it’s
high time to check out a few idioms connected with the wintertime. We’ll
be listening to a song with a very fitting title indeed – Zima, or
winter:
More
Current AffairsSpell Czech: new online grammar launched to correct frequent language mistakes
Despairing students often say that Czech is a particularly difficult
language to learn, and even Czechs themselves have problems with it. Last
year, the Ústav pro jazyk český received over 9000 emails from Czechs
unsure about their spelling and grammar. Now, the organisation has launched
the first online Czech handbook to help users sort their s’s from their
z’s. I met the head of the Ústav pro jazyk český, Karel Oliva, to ask
him whether it was exasperation which drove him to publish a grammar
online:
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