Source Business Spotlight 5/2013

Because there wasn’t much for sightseeing, I came up with a different plan. I decided to find a good pub and see some differences between American and Czech pubs.

I found a busy pub near the center. There were lots of tables, each with a green tablecloth, an ashtray, and beer mats. I found a free table and sat down. The waitress seemed angry when she brought me a beer. She dropped a beer mat in front of me, put the beer on it, and marked a slash on a slip of paper which she left on the table. This was very different from an American pub – a typical American waitress is super friendly and smiley.

I watched hockey on television and drank beer. Two men approached and asked if they could sit at my table, which is another difference between U.S. and Czech pubs. In Czech pubs people share tables with strangers, which does not happen in America. The two men spoke to me in broken English. They told me a little about the city, the history, and ice hockey.

During our chat I picked up a useful phrase in Czech, “ještě jedno,” which means “one more.” Every time the waitress came I said “ještě jedno!” until I was rather drunk and then I said “no!”

I was surprised when the waitress brought me more beers even after I said “no.” Later the two men at the table explained that the Czech word “no” is short for “ano,” which actually means “yes.” This misunderstanding led to a drunken evening. However, the two men were very friendly, the local hockey team won the game, and I finally made the waitress smile, so it was also a great evening.

Zdroj LN

The cab driver was named Jan Novotný and he drove like he was a Formula One racer. I was so nervous that only after twenty minutes I remembered to ask him how much the ride would be. When Mr. Novotný spoke Czech, it was the fastest language I had ever heard. When it was clear that I didn’t understand, he only said – „meter broken.“

My cab ride was ninety minutes long. We visited several parts of Prague that all looked suspiciously similar to each other. I asked Mr. Novotný where we were a few times, and each time he said „Praha“ and then held up some fingers to denote a number.Praha 6. Praha 7. Praha 9. Praha 5. At least the different neighborhoods were charming and pretty.

When Mr. Novotný finally dropped me off at my hotel in Prague 4 he said the cab fare was 2500 Koruna. I have to say that I expected this to happen. The reputation of Prague taxi drivers is not the best in the world. I knew he was ripping me off, but I was so tired and hungry that I didn’t argue. I paid and went into the hotel. I asked the receptionist at the hotel where I should go for dinner and he recommended a nice restaurant near Vyšehrad. So I dropped off my bags and went for a walk.

I was so stressed after my trip and so annoyed when Mr. Novotný ripped me off that I wondered if choosing to write a travel blog in Czechia was a huge mistake. I thought that maybe the local culture would be too much of a shock for me. However, when I got to Vyšehrad and saw the view of the Vltava River, the city, and Prague Castle in the distance, I realized it was all worth it.

Zdroj LN

A – ACCORDING TO

Chcete ohledně nějaké věci vyjádřit svůj vlastní názor? Jistě vás napadne použít anglické spojení according to(podle). Je však třeba dát si pozor na to, že v angličtině není možné říct according to me(podle mě). According to se říká pouze, pokud mluvíme o informaci získané z nějakého jiného zdroje. Pro vyjádření vlastního názoru, se používá spojení in my opinionneboin my view.Věta pak tedy bude znít: In my opinion she is not right.

Přeložte:

Podle mě to takto nepůjde. Podle Jany je tahle záležitost vyřešená. Podle něj je to pravda.

Řešení: In my opinion that is not possible. According to Jana this matter was solved. According to him it’s true.

WORD OF THE DAY

American History X

Český název zní Kult hákového kříže, což sice není doslovný překlad originálu, nicméně obsahu filmu do jisté míry odpovídá. Původní titul American History X odkazuje na středoškolský předmět American History, tedy Dějiny Ameriky. Písmeno X v názvu označuje po vzoru algebraických rovnic neznámou veličinu. Tou je v kontextu daného příběhu jeden z potlačovaných aspektů historie Spojených států – etnické napětí, rasové konflikty mezi bílou majoritou a menšinami a tendence k jejich segregaci.

CVIČENÍ

PŘEVEĎTE NA NEPŘÍMÉ OTÁZKY:

I asked him: Where is your hotel? / What is your number? / Is Marta coming too? / Should we come with you? / Can I see your new car? / How much is the trip to Spain? / Which is your suitcase? / Will you be there with her?

Řešení: I asked him… / where his hotel was. / what his number was. / whether Marta was coming too. / whether we should come with him. / whether I could see his new car. / how much the trip to Spain was. / which suitcase was his. / whether he would be there with her.

But after the initial surprise of realizing that Karlovy Vary seemed more ‘Russian’ than ‘Czech’, I started to understand why so many people visit the city. A river runs through the center of the city and there are beautiful little streets and little cafes and restaurants all around. I walked along the river on one side of the city and checked out a large building called the Mill Colonnade, which contains several hot springs and actually looks a little like ‘The Parthenon’ in Greece. I passed an enormous theatre and some grassy parks. Finally I arrived at a hotel with a hot spring inside its foyer; it was spraying steaming water high into the air and there were clumps of calcium deposits everywhere from the mineral-rich water.

After I got tired of watching the hot spring, I found a small shop and bought some weirdcrackers called ‘oplatky’ – the woman at the shop called them waffles, but they looked more like flat cookies. Anyhow, they were tasty so I bought several boxes to take back to America with and share with my friends. Next I visited the Jan Becher museum and learned about how Becherovka alcohol is made. When the tour was over, I drank three shots of Becherovka and actually became quite drunk. After the drinks I was exhaustedso walked to my hotel to lie down and rest. But when my head touched the pillow on the bed, I fell asleep quickly and I dreamed of waffle cookies and Becherovka all night.

C – Chief

V češtině používáme pro označení člověka v nadřazené pracovní pozici často slovo šéf.Angličtina má výraz, který zní podobně: chief. Ten se však jako ekvivalent českého šéfa rozhodně použít nedá. Jediná možnost, kdy chief označuje vedoucího pracovníka, je ve spojení s předložkou of, pokud se jedná o vedoucího nějaké instituce: chief of police. České šéf se do angličtiny obvykle překládá jako boss. I don’t like her boss. – Nemám rád jejího šéfa.

Přeložte:

Můj šéf je neschopný! Stal se policejním prezidentem. Šéf tu dneska není, odjel.

Řešení: My boss’s incompetent! He became the Chief of Police. The boss isn’t here today, he left.

WORD OF THE DAY

Breaking Bad

Název slavného seriálu byl do češtiny přeložen poměrně nešťastně: Perníkový táta. Původní Breaking Bad totiž přímo neodkazuje ke světu drog. Sloveso break kromě základního významu zlomit, rozbít vyjadřuje (ve specifických případech) rovněž změnu stavu. Break bad konkrétně znamená vzbouřit se, zbláznit se, chovat se nebezpečně. V seriálu pak odkazuje k ději první epizody, ve které se poklidný život hlavního hrdiny, středoškolského učitele, zhroutí, následkem čehož se vydá na dráhu zločinu.

CVIČENÍ

Doplňte vhodný člen (a/an, the, nulový člen):

___ president of ___ Czech Republic is Miloš Zeman. / I was excited to taste ___ Becherovka. / Once ___ day he posted his new blog on the internet. / ___ river Teplá runs through the city. / ___ Prague is located in ___ heart of Europe.

Řešení:The president of the Czech Republic is Miloš Zeman. / I was excited to taste Becherovka. / Once a day he posted his new blog on the internet. / The river Teplá runs through the city. / Prague is located in the heart of Europe.

 

In the pub that night I chatted with a guy named Martin. He told me he was hiking to Sněžka the next day, which is the highest peak in Czechia. Sněžka is not too tall (only 5,256 feet), if you compare it to some of the mountains in the U .S., but Martin said it was not an easy hike. He invited me to go with him and I accepted his offer. I needed a little adventure to spice up my life.

We set off in the morning. The sky was blue and the air was cool. Sněžka is about 8 miles away from my lodge and along the way I practiced hiking in the Czech style. This means that we often stopped for snacks and beer.

At first I didn’t like the „Czech style“ of hiking. When I was younger, I would go hiking in America and we would finish the difficult hike first and then enjoy a rest and a snack afterwards. The hike was difficult, so I wanted to get it over with, but Martin wanted to stop often. And I didn’t want to be rude, so I stopped with him.

We stopped for a beer and klobása (grilled sausage) at Bouda u Bílého Labe, which is a lodge at the bottom of avalley on the Labe (Elbe) River. About ninety minutes later we stopped again at Luční Bouda where we had a beer and soup in a big dining hall. From Luční Bouda we could see Sněžka in the distance and Martin called it „můj starý nepřítel“, which means „my old enemy“.

Walking up Sněžka I understood why he called it that. When we got to the top 30 minutes later, I was drenched in sweat, exhausted, and had to catch my breath. I noticed a small, interesting building in the middle. It was a post of fice!

I felt very bad for local people who walk up „můj starý nepřítel“ just to mail a letter.

Except

Čeští mluvčí mívají často problém s překládáním slova kromě neboli anglického except.Pokud kromě v dané větě znamená také navíc nebo vedle, překládáme ho jako besides: Besides zebras, we saw also tigers and flamingos. – Kromě (vedle) zeber jsme viděli i tygry a plameňáky. Když je kromě použito ve smyslu s výjimkou nebo až na, pak ho přeložíme jako except: Except zebras, we didn’t see anything. – Až na zebry jsme nic neviděli.

Přeložte:

Kromě Petra nikdo nepřišel. / Kromě čaje máme i horkou čokoládu. / Nebyl tam nikdo kromě mě.

Řešení: Except Peter nobody came. / Besides tea, we have also hot chocolate. / There was nobody except me.

• WORD OF THE DAY

  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

  Název filmu, který je do češtiny přeložen doslova– Věčný svit neposkvrněné mysli –, cituje z díla britského básníka Alexandra Popea. Titul je na filmové poměry neobvykle dlouhý, zní zvláštně starosvětsky, a především divákovi nenapovídá nic o ději. Význam titulu lze interpretovat jako „věčná blaženost pramenící z neznalosti“, a tento výklad koresponduje i s dějem filmu, jehož hlavní hrdinové se rozhodnou nechat si vymazat ošklivé vzpomínky.

  DAILY GRAMMAR

  Would pro minulé opakované děje

  Modální sloveso would má v angličtině mnoho významů a použití. Jedním z nich je vyjádření opakovaných dějů v dávné minulosti – v jednom z předchozích dílů jsme se zabývali použitím vazby used to pro vyjádření stejného významu. Skutečně platí, že oba výrazy jsou většinou vzájemně zaměnitelné. Vazba swouldse podobně používá k vyjádření toho, že jsme byli zvyklí v minulosti něco dělat pravidelně nebo opakovaně, ale v současnosti to již neděláme.

  Formálně se toto použití would neliší od použití jiných modálních sloves. Vkládáme ho tedy mezi podmět a holý infinitiv slovesa, negujeme ho záporkou not a při otázce ho předsouváme před podmět věty. Vazbu si ukažme na příkladu: We would go out almost every night. – Takřka každý večer jsme chodívali ven.

  Existují ale případy, kdy vazby s would a used to zaměnitelné nejsou. Sloveso wouldnení možné použít, pokud mluvíme o stavech (tedy nikoliv o činnostech) a také když chceme vyjádřit, že je nějaká činnost pro někoho charakteristická, ale o význam opakovatelnosti v podstatě tolik nejde. V těchto případech je nutné použít used to: A treeused to stand outside our school. – Před naší školou stával strom. / He used to smoke. – Býval kuřák.

• 

I had learned a lot about Czech villages by visiting them and also by watching Czech movies on television. Life seems calmer and slower in a Czech village and there are often some unique or unusual people living in them. Every time I visited a Czech village, Ilooked for the unusual person.

When I came across a huge lake near the village I was so excited. According to the map, it was called Dlouhé stráně. I had seen a lot of men fishing in Prague who made it look like fun. Most of them were dressed from head to foot in military clothing, even the fishermen on Náplavkain Prague. They drank beer in cans and ate rolls with ham and a soft cheese called Lučina.

Before I left Prague, I had bought afishing pole and other fishing equipment, and arranged to get a fishing license. Today, since I had some time to kill before I could check in to my hotel, I bought some beer, ham, cream cheese, and rolls.

I sat by the lake for a couple of hours and fished, drank beer and ate my snack. But I was really disappointed because I had been fishing for two hours without catching anything.

I’d been sitting there for three hours when a policeman came to talk to me. He told me that the lake had no fish in it because it was a hydropower plant. He didn’t arrest me, but laughed at me a lot.

He drove me back to my hotel and told me there was a better river nearby where I could fish. However, I was so embarrassed that I just wanted to hide in my hotel room.

On the bright side, at least I was the unusual character in the village that day.

DAILY GRAMMAR

Předminulý čas průběhový

Anglické gramatické časy jsou pro všechny studenty těžký oříšek, protože ne každý z nich má svůj přímý ekvivalent v češtině. K těm unikátním se řadí i čas předminulý průběhový (Past Perfect Continuous), který se tvoří následovně: pomocné slovesohave v minulém čase: HAD+ been + –ingu plnovýznamového slovesa (např. had been working).

Předminulý čas se řadí k tzv. minulým časům vyprávěcím, a jak už naznačuje sám název, používá se především k popisu nějakého vyprávění. Předminulý čas průběhovývyjadřuje děj, který probíhal před jiným minulým dějem nebo před nějakým konkrétním okamžikem v minulosti a trval nějakou dobu. Doba trvání takového děje je obvykle vyjádřena příslovečným určením času, typicky s použitím předložky for nebo since. Např. Ihad been sitting there for three hourswhen a policeman came to talk to me. – Seděl jsem tam už tři hodiny, když přišel policista a dal se se mnou do řeči.

Předminulý čas průběhový se běžně nepoužívá se slovesy, která vyjadřují stav nebo názor, např. know. U těch se používá předminulý čas prostý (Ihad known him for 15 years when I married him – Znala jsem ho už 15 let, když jsem se za něj provdala.). Do češtiny jej překládáme minulým časem.

WORD OF THE DAY

Gone with the Wind

Film z roku 1939, pyšnící se osmi Oscary, mnozí kritici považují za nejlepší americký film všech dob. V době vzniku byl také vůbec nejdelším zvukovým filmem. Až do roku 1966 byl i filmem komerčně nejúspěšnějším a po zohlednění inflace jím zůstává dodnes.Vivien Leighová, která hraje hlavní hrdinku Scarlett O’Harovou, prošla konkurzem, do kterého se přihlásilo neuvěřitelných 1400 hereček! Titul filmu se do češtiny překládá jako Jih proti severu, přesnější překlad by ale zněl „odváto větrem“.

Gifted

V češtině často říkáme, že má někdo pro / na něco talent. V angličtině se tento význam dá přeložit slovy gifted nebo talented – nadaný, talentovaný. Důležité je ale vědět, že na rozdíl od češtiny se tyto dva výrazy používají jako přídavná jména a pojí se pouze s předložkou in. Nemůžeme tedy říct: He’s very gifted for photography – předložka for je v tomto případě chybná. Správně tato věta zní: He’s verygifted in photography nebo He’s a very gifted photographer.

Přeložte:

Nemá velký talent na vyjednávání s lidmi. / Petr je velmi nadaný na jazyky.

Řešení: She’s not very gifted / talented in dealing with people. / Peter is really gifted / talented in languages.

CVIČENÍ

Doplňte do vět správné tvary sloves:

I _______ (wait) for at least five hours before my friend arrived. / She _______ (work) at the company for ten years when she finally got promoted. / They _______ (fly) for 2 hours when the turbulences started.

Řešení: I had been waiting for at least five hours before my friend finally arrived. / She had been working at the company for ten years when she finally got promoted. / They had been flying for 2 hours when the turbulences started.

For this reason, I decided to do things only a proper Olomoučák (a person from Olomouc) would do. And that means eating Olomouc ‚tvarůžky‘ (Olomouc’s infamous cheese). After preparing for my gastronomical journey by having a few ‚slivovice‘ (a plum brandy) and a couple of beers, I went to a restaurant in the very center of Olomouc.

I ordered the ‚Olomoucké tvarůžky‘ and the waiter was really shocked. He asked me if I knew about the Olomouc cheese and I told him that I did. He took my order and I had another glass of beer.

Olomouc tvarůžky is called „stinky cheese“ for obvious reasons. The cheese has a very strong flavor and gives off a distinct and extremely pungentodor. In other words: It stinks! It’s aged under big piles of old meat, which probably helps it become so smelly.

Olomouc tvarůžky is not just infamous, but also famous. The cheese was first mentioned in the 15th century when Emperor Rudolf II ate it. The cheese was almost forbidden by the European Union, but the Czech government negotiated for it to be allowed. It also has a very strong flavor and I wondered if the Olomouc stinky cheese was responsible for the origin of our English idiom – to cut the cheese, which means to fart.

When my dinner arrived, it was covered by a lid and was served with the delicious Czech brown bread. It also came with mints and an offer of a toothbrush. I held my nose and ate. The cheese was tasty even though it was so smelly that the people at the table near me had to move to another table.

I ate it, but it smelled so bad that I joked that I was eating the exact same cheese that was served to Rudolf II in the 15th century.

Zdroj LN

Hardly X hard

Rozdíl mezi slovy hard a hardly je často problematický. Výraz hardly se mylně překládá jako těžký. Důvodem může být fakt, že některá příslovce v angličtině jsou tvořena příponou -ly. Jenže slovo hardly znamená sotva nebo těžko: There was hardly anyone at work. – V práci bylo sotva pár lidí. Naopak slovo hard může označovat buď přídavné jméno těžký, tvrdý (I had a really hard day. – Měl/a jsem vážně těžký den.), nebo příslovce tvrdě (I always work hard. – Vždy tvrdě pracuji.)

Přeložte:
Těžko to mohl být on. / Sotvakdy mluví pravdu. / Ten nápis byl těžko čitelný.

Řešení: It could hardly be him. / She hardly ever speaks the truth. / The sign was hard to read / hardlyreadable.

CVIČENÍ

Doplňte správný tvar slovesa:

The Lord of the Rings ________ (direct) by Peter Jackson. / These flowers must ________ (water) every day. / This article ________ (already publish)./Amanda ________ (not invite) to the Christmas party last year. / Hundreds of cars ________ (produce) every day.

Řešení: The Lord of the Rings was directed by Peter Jackson. / These flowers must be watered every day. / This article has already been published. / Amanda wasn’t invited to the Christmas party last year. / Hundreds of cars are produced every day.

I spent the whole afternoon walking around the lovely medieval part of the city. There were some beautiful sites like a Gothic church, Znojmo Castle, and aneat underground catacomb system. Once again I was really amazed by how many historical places you could see all over Czechia. I walked through those for a few hours and then decided to find a local restaurant. Even though I couldn’t have ‘burčák’, I still wanted to try something that Znojmo was famous for, but I couldn’t think of what that was.

I stopped to sit down and take a break from walking, when I noticed a small menu in the window of a restaurant. There were many things that seemed both interesting and tasty but my attention was grabbed by something called ‘znojemský guláš’ (a special type of goulash – I will explain it later). Did that mean ‘guláš’ from Znojmo?

Well, I knew I had to try that. I went inside and asked the waiter about ‘znojemský guláš’. He said that it’s different from other ‘guláš’ because it has pickles and peppers in it. He went on to tell me that Znojmo was famous for its pickled delicacies, so I decided that having ‘znojemský guláš’ was a perfect dish to enjoy in Znojmo.

I had tried lots of pickled foods while in Czechia, since the Czechs really seem to like pickled things. I really enjoyed ‘hermelín’, which is pickled cheese, and ‘utopenec’, which is pickled sausage. However, ‘znojemský guláš’ became one of my favourite Czech meals. It was so good and spicy that I couldn’t stop eating it.

Zdroj LN

Plzeň is just another reminder that Czechia has been at the center of so much history. I was able to find the ‘Thank You, America’ plaque, which shows Plzeň’s appreciation for liberating them from the Nazis at the end of World War II. However, World War II is just a part of Plzeň’s history and this is evident in the náměstí Republiky, which is full of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. There was also a Plague column, marking the end of the Great Plague, a huge synagogue, and a 13th century cathedral.

After walking around for a few hours, it was time for a few famous ‘Pilsners’ (beer made in Plzeň / Pilsen) to relax. Pilsner is very famous in the U.S. and has been available there for a long time. But in Czechia, I found that it has a completely different taste. In Plzeň, it was the freshest, most delicious, crispest beer I had ever had. I had been looking forward to trying it since I arrived in Czechia.

Along with the beers I had some traditional beer food, or as the Czechs say ‘chuťovky k pivu’(goodies that go with beer). I had a long sausage (‘klobása’) with mustard, horseradish, and the tasty Czech bread.

This beer was so delicious and the food so good, it made me wonderif that was why the American Army liberated Plzeň rather than Prague. Maybe they had heard about the beer in Plzeň and decided that some awesome beer was the best way to celebrate the end of the war. That’s what I would do if it were up to me.

Zdroj LN

I checked into my hotel and immediately went walking around the city. Mikulov, like many Czech towns, has a history deeply rooted in Jewish culture. Mikulov is extra special, because Rabbi Loew officiated here for twenty years. He was the Jewish scholar and rabbi who, according to a legend, created the famous Golem of Prague to protect the Jewish community.

So, I simply had to explore this part of history of Mikulov. I really enjoyed exploring the Jewish Quarter and its beautiful Cemetery. I also saw the synagogues and the mitzvah (which means ‚commandments‘ in Hebrew).

By the afternoon the heat had gotten to me and I was ready to find a place to sit down and do what I had been told to do in Mikulov: drink wine. However, I am not a big fan of wine, so I was a little worried.

Still, I was determined to try it. I went to a ‚vinárna‘ (a special kind of a bar where they serve mainly wine) near the old town square and asked the waiter for some white wine. I told him I was hot from a phrase I memorized from my dictionary:

„Je mi teplo!“

He laughed.

„You could try a ‚bílý střik‘.“

„What’s that?“ I asked.

He told me it was soda water and white wine mixed together, and that it was good to drink in hot weather. I’ve never heard of anything like that but it sounded good, so I said yes. He came back with a drink in a tall glass that was bubbly and clear. I drank a few sips and instantly felt better, it was so refreshing! I asked him again what it was called and he said it was a „bílý střik“.

Oh yes. That terrible Czech letter řagain. Well, I am sure that I will never be able to pronounce the letter ř orsay the word střik, but it was just what the doctor ordered.

]]>