4. Language Issues

Can you believe I have already been in Europe for 2 weeks! It seems crazy, but I feel like I have been here a lot longer. The language barrier is much bigger than I originally thought. I didn't really prepare myself well enough. I didn't think about how there would be no signs in English or how the Czech language is not in any way similar to the English language. We have started our Czech language classes and as of right now we are just trying to get down basic phrases and learning the alphabet. Most of their alphabet is consonants, for example, zmizlina, which translates to ice cream, is full of them. And even though we have some of the same letters, they aren't pronounced the same, like the letter "c". Here they pronounce it like "ts". And depending on the marking above it, it can be pronounced differently. It's an interesting language to listen to.

Our first day of the language class was overwhelming and very difficult. But we have a great teacher who is patient and helpful. Hopefully when I come home, I can be able to understand and speak some Czech well. When we go to pubs, cafes, and restaurants our server usually starts speaking Czech right away, which we don't understand. So our response is, "Englisky?", or just "Hi". Some Czech natives have really good English and others can't speak a word of it or understand it. It's really hard to order food because sometimes the menu isn't translated, so it's kind of a guessing game, and you just hope for the best! But I usually just go for pizza:), which is the same for both languages. And you can bet we learned what beer and wine were the first day we were here, pivo and vino. Everything here is a learning experience with trial and error. For me it's definitely more error than anything! 

I'm excited to see what else Olomouc has to offer, so far it's been fun:) 

Until next time!