Czech Update

Czech Language Institute makes dictionary available online

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:08:30 -0500

Czech Language Institute, the guardian of Czech language usage guidelines, made available a wonderful online resource on http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz. It's targeted at Czechs, thus the interface and many of the grammatical explanations are in Czech but even beginner learners can take advantage of the search. Just type in any word in any form, click [Hledej] and get a full listing of its other forms as in the picture below.

Slovník českého jazyka je na webu - www.lidovky.cz Na internetu lze od včerejška najít nový internetový slovník češtiny, který dokáže zastoupit dosud používané „papírové“ jazykové příručky.

Learn multiple Slavic languages at once with NiceTranslator

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:24:17 -0500

Nicetranslator.com uses the Google Translate service to give instant response as you type and you can even choose multiple languages at once including Slovak, Polish, Russian, Slovenian, or Croatian. This could be useful for students of Slavonic languages in general but it also shows bits of sentences as you type them in. For instance, when you're typing in 'I remember', you see the appropriate Czech 'Vzpomínám si' and when you add 'you' to make it 'I remember you', the phrase changes to 'Pamatuju si tě' - again the right word for the context. Pretty impressive! But unfortunately, it's not reliable. Simple phrases like 'How do I get to the train station' are mistranslated (eventhough still intelligible to a Czech). So not perfect but a decent start.

Google Announces Czech<->English dictionary - Best Online Tool Yet for Learners

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:29:56 -0500

Google just released a Czech/English - English/Czech http://www.google.cz/dictionary that is the best online tool I've seen for learners. It offers examples in context, English definitions, and for some common words like bread even pictures (although not pictures of the culturally appropriate pictures - the bread is not what typically Czech bread looks like). For transltion work, I'd still go to http://www.slovnik.cz which offers many more alternatives but not context and explanations (so you basically have to know what the word means already to make it possible to choose the right equivalent).

Google struggling to translate 'friends' into Czech

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:25:08 -0500

According to Zive.cz, Google.cz is asking the Czech internet community how they would like to translate the now ubiquitous word 'friend' into Czech. This is a real problem. There are two basic words for friend in Czech 'přítel/přítelkyně' or 'kamarád/kamarádka' (with different forms for male/female). 'Kamarád' is a general friend (more of a buddy) and in some contexts considered less formal while 'přítel/přítelkyně' would be used in more formal language and would mean 'boy/girl friend' when used of somebody of the opposite sex. But both these words actually mean something closer to what English would refer to as 'close personal friend' - the kind of friend depicted in the sitcom 'Friends' but not the kind of friend you acquire on Facebook in the hundreds. For those friends, Czech reserves the word 'známý/známá'. But that would be very impersonal for most contexts so classifying your real friends as that on a social network would be tantamount to an insult.

There are two possible solutions. 1. Forget about the fake 'friend' and just use the generic 'kontakt'. 2. The whole social web world could take a lesson from Czech and divide friends into two kinds 'personal friends' and 'internet friends'. Facebook already does that with the 'Friend/Fan' distinction but I think many people would appreciate it to be able to have friends with whom they share more info than with others.

V minulém týdnu se v diskusním fóru českého

Google User Group pro uživatele řešil překlad termínu tab (diskutovalo se o možnostech karta, záložka a panel), nyní se Jana Vořechovská, která pracuje v Google

jako jazyková specialistka v Google, všech uživatelů ptá, jak v aplikacích a službách překládat slovo friend. Někde totiž překlad přítel není to pravé, lepší

je třeba známý, ale někdy se může hodit například kamarád.

Google Translate now does Czech, makes for a useful phrasebook

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:59:24 -0400

Google Translate is mainly a source of merriment when funny mistranslations occur as they do on almost any text. But if it's all you have to get the gist of a page, it is (marginally better than nothing). And now, you can get Google translate for Czech (and many other related languages).

You can you Google Translate in one of three ways.

Type in text and have Google suggest translation
Give it a link and have Google translate a whole webpage (with mouseover showing the original text)
Type in a search term in your own language and receive results in target language with translation

I've done quite a bit of testing and here's my verdict:

It is remarkably good at translating basic phrases as might be needed by a tourist (How much does it cost? Where is the train station? The beer is too expensive.) But there are surprising gaps: 'How much is it?' is translated as 'Kolik je hodin' rather than 'Kolik to stojí?' and the translation isn't always the same in both directions.
The search translation is very good for basic searches people might need. E.g. 'Prague walking tours' or 'best been in brno' gave decent relevant results in Czech with fairly accurate translations of page titles but not perfect
Translations of complete pages show up the most errors - on a news story, you may get the the theme the story is about, e.g. an accused politician but the verdict will be wrong. Sometimes the translation error is hard to comprehend, for instance, on the translation of the front page of Seznam, the 'Erotica' section is translated as 'Education'.
Any complex sentences with conditionals, pronouns and most adjectives result in errors. (This is not surprising.)

How can learners of Czech from tourists to translators use Google Translate?

A tourist entering a simple phrase in English can be about 90% confident of getting the right Czech equivalent which is about the same as with most phrasebooks (where the errors are usually in the choice of query), also typing in something in Czech seen or heard on the street is pretty likely to get a decent result.
A tourist needing to search the web in Czech for the right results will also not be disappointed.
More serious learners of Czech can use it for a quick look up of phrases if no other reference sources are available.
More advanced learners of Czech can use it to correct the errors and learn that way.

Expand your vocabulary with this online gadget!

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:22:56 -0500

I just got an early look at a great new gadget by the good people at Learnit Lists! It helps you practice 10 new words every day by putting it on your iGoogle page or in one of your social networks.

Translating Prime Minister's profanity

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:28:22 -0500

Now, the prime minister Topolánek is getting sued for saying this: "Češi obvykle ale vidí všechno negativně a když k něčemu dojde, podělají se". And the English translation that made it into the English edition of Aktuálně.cz was "the Czechs usually see everything in negative light and when something happens, they get shit scared". Well, they got it wrong. "podělat se" is better translated as "to mess one's pants". The Czech news wire service ČTK got closer: "Czechs usually see everything negative and when it comes to the crunch, they fill their pants."

Of course, the proper translation for 'shit scared' is 'posraný strachy'. But the more important lesson to be learned is that Czech profanity related to the scatological and sexual is generally much stronger than the equivalent profanity in English. So one needs to be careful when reading into it.

And, of course, the prime minister's remarks were simplistic and silly but hardly criminal. So, who cares. The linguistics is where all the fun's at.

Czech inventor of the 'drunk tank' dies aged 91

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:07:26 -0500

Záchytka is a wonderful Czech word that stands for the institution for the collection of drunken (and possibly disorderly) individual wondering city streets occasionally referred to in English as 'drunk tank' or 'sobering-up station'. It was invented by the Czech Czech psychiatrist Jaroslav Skála and opened on 15 May of 1951. The first client was an inebriated Russian naval engineer. By 1981 there were 63 such institutions who had served one million drunks. According to the Czech Wikipedia entry this was replicated around the world. Yet another Czech contribution to the world!

Zemřel vynálezce záchytek Jaroslav Skála - Život v Česku - Domácí - Aktuálně.cz

V roce 1951 inicioval založení záchytné stanice - prvního zařízení svého druhu na světě.

"Záchytek nikdy nebylo moc, ale fungovaly jako intervenční instituce, které zasahovaly v případě, že člověku bylo zle. Měly fungovat ani ne tolik jako stanice záchytné, ale spíš jako stanice ochranné," popsal své idee v posledním rozhovoru, který poskytl časopisu Týden. "Jejich cílem bylo ochránit člověka před poškozením a zjistit, jestli má, nebo nemá problém s alkoholem. Pracovníci na záchytce by měli o problému informovat i jeho okolí a nabídnout, že může přejít do poradny a do ústavní léčby. Je ale fakt, že z pohledu zaměstnanců to moc oblíbená práce není."

Příkopy - Prague street in Top 20 most expensive in the world

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:20:39 -0500

The Prague street that joins into the bottom of Wenceslas square came 20th in the world ranking of the most expensive streets in the world (down from 18th a year ago). Rents there reach 2000 EUR per square meter a year. Paradoxically, the Czech name translates literally as "on the ditches".

Nejdražší je Pátá Avenue, Příkopy jsou dvacáté - iDNES.cz
Nejdražší pronájmy jsou v New Yorku, konkrétně na Páté Avenue. Mezi prestižní, a tedy patřičně drahé, světové adresy, ale patří i pražská ulice Na Příkopě. Ta uzavírá v sestavě nejdražších zón druhou desítku. Loni byla 18. Ze středoevropského regionu je Praha v první dvacítce jediná

Czech 'uzeniny' in branding battles

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:23:48 -0400

Uzeniny is a great Czech word covering all kinds of saussage-like products and uzenář is the purveyor or producer of such meat products (you will often see 'maso a uzeniny' on Czech butchers' store fronts or supermarket sections). Czech love their uzeniny but now they seem to be under threat from the Slovaks and Poles who have applied to the EU to have certain brands and their recipes protected. Czechs have already lost their beloved rum to Brussels and now they may have to say goodbye even to lovecký salám (hunter salami). Life is hard!

Českým uzenářům hrozí potíže při užívání tradičních názvů - iDNES.cz

Polsko usiluje o ochrannou evropskou známku u populárního točeného salámu, známého jako kabanos, a u mysliveckých klobás. Slováci zase chtějí ochrannou známku pro spišské párky, lovecký salám, inovecký trvanlivý salám a špekáčky.

Free pocket guide to Czech language

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 04:05:49 -0400

Single-serving.com has come up with an easy to print and fold PDF brochure covering most of the basic phrases a tourist coming to the Czech Republic may want. The format makes it easy to carry in your pocket.

Learn Czech web navigation with Aktuálně

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:50:28 -0400

This nascent Czech news service has finally introduced an RSS feed but even more importantly it provides its non-Czech speaking users with a handy little glossary for understanding the Czech navigation on their site. Perhaps the most important: Přidat názor = Add your opinion but there are many more. Click and learn!

Pavel Vondra » Feed yourself and learn Czech with us learn those useful Czech phrases for which you will no doubt be grateful until your very last day :-)

Burčák came early this year

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:02:13 -0400

Burčák the young wine (stum) popular in the Czech lands in the early autumn came earlier this year appearing in early August. Burčák sales in Prague kiosks around September and October is one of the joys of the Czech 'babí léto' and reminds Bohemians to remember how good it is to have Moravians part of the nation.

Vinaři začínají prodávat první burčák - iDNES.cz Burčák, tedy kvasící mošt z vylisovaných hroznů, lze v Česku nabízet pod tímto názvem pouze v případě suroviny sklizené a zpracované na území České republiky. Při použití importovaných hroznů jde o částečně zkvašený hroznový mošt. Dovážet hrozny do EU z třetích zemí pro výrobu vína nebo burčáku je zakázáno úplně. Zákonem povolená doba prodeje burčáku, který je ve vinařských zemích víceméně raritou, je od 1. srpna do 30. listopadu.

The simple pleasures of non-Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:29:00 -0400

A visit to Třeboň, a small picturesque town (malebné městečko) in Southern Bohemia elicited justified outbursts of lyricism from a Seattle columnists. And he's right. The individual personality of small Czech towns is something to be experienced through a leisurely journey rather than a hectic 'been there, done that' trip. Prague is beautiful, truly the most beautiful city in the world but so is Disneyland. You want authentic pastels, go to a place like Třeboň.

Travel | Simple pleasures — and great beer — in the Czech Republic | Seattle Times Newspaper
In small Czech towns, the buildings' facades are humble but fun. Three centuries ago, each was given an individual personality, with more variety designed into them than even the famous gables of Amsterdam. And today, after a grime-filled 20th century, they sport new paint jobs: A mellow rainbow of simple solid pastels. And behind each facade is a family or a shop or a bar like the one I visited tonight.

More Czechs happy with public services

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:08:45 -0400

A new survey suggests that more (if still not most) Czechs find improvements in government-provided services. They are more responsive to people's needs but still frequently slow. This is a frequent topic of conversation and the word "úředník" means so much more than "public servant".

Poll: Two in five Czech firms say authorities have improved - Prague Daily Monitor
Prague, Aug 8 (CTK) - Czech authorities have improved their work in the past five years, according to 41 percent of respondents in a poll of companies that deal with authorities regularly.