From ballroom dancing to the Olympics - questions from listeners across the world

In this week's Mailbox, we have letters from the US, India and Ireland. Mohammad Shamim asks about Czech participation in the Olympics, Jonathan Murphy recalls his recent visit to Radio Prague and Otto Schwartz has a question about dance schools in the Cech Republic. And you will also find this month's Radio Prague quiz question.

If you're a regular listener, you might be wondering what's going on and what's happened to our Mailbox presenter Pavla Horakova. Well, Pavla has been coughing and sneezing for most of this week - and the doctor has now very sensibly sent her home for a few days. So Pavla, get well soon! I'm glad that Pavla was still well enough to record this week's fascinating Letter from Prague - if you missed it yesterday, do have a look on our website.

And while we're on the subject of Letter from Prague, I'd like to start with an email I got a couple of days ago from Jonathan Murphy, our regular listener in Cork, Ireland, who came to visit us earlier in the summer. Jonathan comments on a piece that I wrote, looking at the gradual renovation of the radio building, which is currently under way:

"I listened to your recent Letter from Prague with great interest. In a way it's nice to have visited during your renovation works, next time I drop by I can look forward to seeing the whole building transformed."

Well, Jonathan, that depends very much on how soon you come! Judging by the pace of the renovation, I think you might have to wait at least another couple of years. The basic problem (apart from money, of course) is that we're having to keep the whole building - which houses several hundred people - in full operation while the renovation is going on, which means that the work can only be done bit by bit.

And Jonathan, thanks as well for your reception report.

A few years ago my wife and I joined a ballroom dancing class. The reason was that every self-respecting Czech has at least a basic knowledge of the waltz, the polka and the foxtrot, and you'd be surprised how often these skills come in useful here in Prague! And this is the subject of our next letter from Otto Schwartz from Calabash, North Carolina in the US. He writes:

"My two great nieces, Tabitha (10) and Cassidi (8) have been attending dance school for several years. Unfortunately there are very few boys in their school - only about two per 100 students. Some dance schools even allow boys to take free dance lessons so as to attract more of them. How does this compare with the Czech Republic? Are boys who take dance lessons teased or ridiculed by their peers, as they often are here?"

Well things are a bit different here, because most teenagers - both boys and girls - have dancing lessons organised through their school. They're not usually compulsory, but both boys and girls do tend to join in - although the boys - or rather their parents - do pay less than the girls, just to make sure numbers stay balanced. Most boys don't seem to enjoy it much - but I think in later life - they tend not to regret it. And by the way, the most popular traditional dance here in the Czech Republic is the Polka - despite its very un-Czech name!

Photographer Herbert Slavik and  decathlonist Roman Sebrle with the book Athens 2004,  photo: CTK
Moving across the world now to Mohammad Shamim from Keralam State, India, who writes that he's a regular listener to our programmes, and enjoys them all. He says that he receives us loud and clear on 17 485 kHz. Mr Shamim also as a question:

"How many members were there in the Czech Olympic team 2004?"

Well, this year we had the biggest Czech team in history, with 140 athletes. In the end they won eight medals, including Roman Sebrle's gold in the decathlon -which over the years has become a real Czech speciality. And it's worth adding as well that the Paralympics are also now under way - with 69 sportsmen and women representing the Czech Republic. Czechs have an impressive record in the Paralympics - they came home with 43 medals from Sydney and came 11th worldwide. We'll keep you informed.


And finally, back to our competition:

Our question is: "What is the connection between the word pistol, (as in handgun) and Czech music?"

Although it may sound strange, there is one, and any good dictionary will help you.

Please, send your answers to us by the end of September to the usual address, Radio Prague, English Section, 120 99 Prague, Czech Republic, or much quicker by e-mail at [email protected]. We've had quite a big response to this question so far, but please keep those letters or mails coming in!