Conjugation– ZDRAVIT (to greet)

PRESENT TENSE

Já zdravím                                  My zdravíme

Ty zdravíš                                   Vy zdravíte 

On/a/o zdraví                              Oni/y/a zdraví

FUTURE TENSE

Já budu zdravit                           My budeme zdravit

Ty budeš zdravit                        Vy budete zdravit

On/a/o bude zdravit                    Oni/y/a budou zdravit

PAST TENSE

Já jsem zdravil/a/o                      My jsme zdravili/y/a

Ty jsi zdravil/a/o                         Vy jste zdravili/y/a

On/a/o zdravil/a/o                       Oni zdravili/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                             My zdravme

Ty zdrav                                       Vy zdravte

On/a/o ať zdraví                          Oni ať zdraví

Example sentences:

Zdravit starší lidi je slušnost. (Greeting elder people is civil.)
Zdraví všechny, co se naučila mluvit. (She's been greeting everyone since she learned to speak.)

Ty x ty, Vy x vy – Ginah's inquiry

I'm back; I don't stop bothering you during holiday (which lasts till tomorrow, at least here). 

But the reason why I'm posting this is that I've received an e-mail from one of those who have come upon my blog and I'm pretty happy somebody finally appreciates what I do! ^-^ (Now this sounds pathetic. Nvm.)

Ginah asks whether there is a difference between Ty and ty, Vy and vy, Váš and váš, Vaše and vaše...and so on. 

My answer is: grammatically not, but stylistically yes. 

Since most of you are starters I won't go into detail, so just concisely. 

Use capitals only when writing a letter or a message, they are used when addressing directly and they express honour and respect towards the one who reads it. These forms are used on notices, signs, messages, etc. This rule only regards pronouns "ty" and "vy", their inflected forms (tebe, tě, vás, vámi,...) and possessive pronouns Tvůj and Váš + their inflected forms (tvá, tvými, vaše, vaši,...).

EXAMPLE:

Vážená paní Fialová,

děkuji za Vaši spolupráci při našem projektu Allumez le Feu dans un Coeur. Chtěla bych Vás ještě požádat, zda-li byste byste byla ochotna poskytnout rozhovor našim redaktorům. 

S přáním úspěšného dne

Ciray Magym

Translation (as literal as possible):

Dear mrs. Fialová (a Czech surname, means "purple"),

thanks for your collaboration during our project Allumez le Feu dans un Coeur. I'd also like to ask you, if you would be willing to give our editors an interview. 

Wishing you a successful day (a phrase)

Ciray Magym

PS: If there's anything unclear (in this article or anywhere else), feel free to leave a comment below and I'll explain everything.

Thank you for this inquiry, Ginah! (:

Love & peace 

Ciray

Knihy opravdu nekoušou... Zapomeňme na tu z Harryho Pottera

Většina českých studentů (máme si při psaní slohových útvarů dávat pozor na generalizaci, proto říkám "většina", i když myslím všechny) se z nějakého důvodu bojí číst knihy v angličtině. Pevně věřím, že to není jen proto, že je dnes opravdu těžké najít teenagera, který si libuje ve čtení.

I přes fakt, že já jsem jedna z těch teenagerů (ovšem z jiného důvodu–fantasy, sci-fi, novely, různé smyšlené příběhy, povídky, jsou pro mě ztrátou času a občas si říkám, jak taková sra*ka mohla vyjít), našla jsem si několik knih, které jsou velice čtivé. A o nich Vám tu budu průběžně referovat, pokud dovolíte. Pak zmíním i pár knih pro ty, kdo mají raději fantasy, atd.

Abych to nenatahovala, stejně ta má "intra" nikdo nečte.

Začněme s tou, která se mi velmi líbila.

Přebal knihy, zdroj: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4001794-cut.

Jak podnadpis na přebalu napovídá, je to pravdivý příběh o malé zneužité holčičce, jež se zoufale chce stát součástí rodiny. Příběh Vám jen pokusím nastínit, abyste věděli, proč si ji přečíst. Cathy si často bere do péče (většinou jen dočasně) děti odebrané rodičům, přičemž se hlavně pokouší o vlastní dítě. Jednou jí zavolá sociální pracovnice a žádá ji, aby narychlo poskytla přístřeší holčičce jménem Dawn. V té době už je těhotná, nicméně Dawn s nimi zůstane. Zdá se být spořádanou mladou dívenkou, ale její chování se později podobá spíše na dospívající rodiči zanedbávané dítě. Cathy si zprvu myslí, že je to kvůli tomu, jaká je její biologická matka, ale Dawn má mnohem závažnější problém. Po objevení jejího tajemství se rozhodne s ní vyhledat psychiatra, ale ani to Dawn nepomáhá... 

Opravdu jsem se snažila popis okleštit co nejvíce, protože Vás nechci připravit o překvapující zvraty v tomto příběhu.

Teď k náročnosti– knihu bych doporučila úrovni A2/B1. B1 jen kvůli použití tzv. narrative tenses, které zahrnují: past simple, past continuous, past perfect a past perfect continuous. Jejich ovládnutí je podmínkou pro četbu této knihy, ale není to vůbec náročné, stačí znát stavbu věty v každém čase a mít představu o jejich použití. Je to napsané opravdu srozumitelnou angličtinou, už jen z důvodu, že Cathy Glass není spisovatelka, tudíž nemá nutkání být "příliš kreativní". Slovní zásoba je zvládnutelná, nemusíte znát každé slovo, stačí pochopit kontext. 

Jinak, pokud Vás kniha zaujme, Cathy Glass má spoustu dalších knih i o jiných dětech, momentálně čtu "I Miss Mummy". Pak je zde pár dalších autorů píšících na stejné téma, proto můžete narazit na podobnou obálku knihy s jiným jménem. 

To je prozatím vše, dámy a pánové, mějte se hezky a přeji Vám krásné Velikonoce... (:

Love

Ciray

TOEFL or IELTS? TOEFL, IELTS, TOEFL, IELTS, TOEFL, IELTS, TOILETS,… Wait. What?!?

      Oh, yes. Toilets seem to be the easiest choice for me; nevertheless they will definitely not get me into a good university abroad. (But anything can happen.)

      For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, TOEFL & IELTS – both are standardised English testing systems for foreign students who are going to study (or people who want to work) in an English-speaking country (or at a university that provides courses led in the English language). For those who still have no clue, there is a big, red button with a cross inside it in the upper-right corner. For those who have no idea what it’s good for and why I’ve just mentioned it, do the world a favour and cut off your internet connection.

     I personally would prefer a certificate which would last a lifetime not just two years. But the advantage is that it is impossible to fail these tests, unless you are an ultimate idiot. So, which one is better?

     Let’s work out the differences, this will help me to decide. Wow, I’ve just found out that you need to score 7 bands in each field at IELTS to apply for 189 or 190 visa in Australia. The maximum is 7-8 bands (depending on the field [reading, listening, writing, and speaking]). But that doesn’t matter it’s the General training not the Academic version.

      Anyway, I’ve read about the scoring systems, which are quite different, but they are actually not what bothers me. The speaking part is the biggest difference, though.  When taking IELTS, you talk to an examiner directly. However, at TOEFL you speak into a microphone and the audio is sent to an examiner. Even though this might be the deciding factor, both ways still have their pros and cons.

      So, I decided to ask those who have taken at least one of these tests. Fortunately, I didn’t have to address anyone directly since this is a pretty common topic among international students. Nevertheless, what I’ve found out is that TOEFL concentrates on colloquial English and, especially, the American English. On the other hand, IELTS is aimed on exactitude, proper grammar (British spelling!) and, thus, it’s more difficult for most students. Moreover, at IELTS you may hear more than just a British or an Australian accent, they suppose you can deal with the Scottish or Irish one.

      Preparation is the longest part of taking the test and takes much effort. What about its efficiency? Of course, the tests vary every year but TOEFL is always A, B, C, D,… (at least the reading part), however, IELTS asks you questions, wants you to put appropriate headlines above the paragraphs, etc. I’m not saying that there’s no way of being “prepared” for IELTS but it’s much harder than the predictable TOEFL.

      As regards the reading part– I’ve mentioned some facts above. Most people agreed on that TOEFL is harder for those who struggle to understand the context and the text as a complex. IELTS basically asks you to rewrite what’s in the article.

       To me, the speaking part is always the hardest so let me be a little selfish and let me try to balance the advantages and disadvantages of speaking to the microphone/ face to face. As I read, the examiner doesn’t necessarily need to be passive when you’re being examined. They can help you by explaining the question if you don’t understand it or correcting you and, thus, improving your performance. And the examiner might help me to avoid the thing I always do, not depending whether it’s in Czech or in English, an official school essay or just an article, which is burbling off topic. I cannot prevent myself from doing it when talking into a microphone. Nonetheless, I won’t be so nervous when speaking while nobody’s in the room.

      As you can see, choosing the test you’d like to take is highly individual. Therefore I’m asking you not to only read this article but search the web to get some more information. Official TOEFL and IELTS websites are worth visiting, too. 

love & peace

Ciray

Conjugation– SPÁT (to sleep)

PRESENT TENSE

Já spím                                     My spíme

Ty spíš                                     Vy spíte 

On/a/o spí                                 Oni/y/a spí

FUTURE TENSE

Já budu spát                             My budeme spát

Ty budeš spát                           Vy budete spát

On/a/o bude spát                       Oni/y/a budou spát

PAST TENSE

Já jsem spal/a/o                        My jsme spali/y/a

Ty jsi spal/a/o                           Vy jste spali/y/a

On/a/o spal/a/o                          Oni spali/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                         My spěme

Ty spi                                       Vy spěte

On/a/o ať spí                            Oni ať spí

Example sentences: 

Dělá mi problém spát ve dne. (I struggle to sleep during the daytime.)
Ona spí ve druhém patře. (She sleeps on the second floor.)
Od té doby, co jsem si koupila novou postel, mě bolí záda. (My back has ached since I bought a new bed.)

Conjugation– HRÁT SI (to play)

NOTE: Used without subject or with a subject using a preposition (e. g. s, bez). Example: -"Co děláš?" -"Hraji si."/ "Hraji si se psem." "Hrát si" means to play with a toy or play a game with someone. However, play a game is "hrát hru" (accusative case) in Czech. Without the reflexive pronoun "se", i. e. only "hrát" it means to play a musical instrument, or a song, etc.

PRESENT TENSE

Já si hraji                            My si hrajeme

Ty si hraješ                         Vy si hrajete 

On/a/o si hraje                     Oni/y/a si hrají

FUTURE TENSE

Já si budu hrát                      My si budeme hrát

Ty si budeš hrát                    Vy si budete hrát

On/a/o si bude hrát               Oni/y/a si budou hrát

PAST TENSE

Já jsem si hrál/a/o                     My jsme si hráli/y/a

Ty jsi si hrál/a/o                     Vy jste si hráli/y/a

On/a/o si hrál/a/o                   Oni si hráli/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                       My si hrajme

Ty si hraj                               Vy si hrajte

On/a/o ať si hraje                  Oni ať si hrají

Example sentences:
Ať si hraje s jinou hračkou. (Let him/her play with another toy.)
Hrál jsem si s naším psem. (I played with our dog.)
Budeš si hrát s námi? (Will you play with us?)
Tiše si hrála. (She played quietly.)

Lesson 8 – Simple sentences, ZSD

Dear students,

     this is the moment you've been waiting for. We'll learn... HOW TO COMPOSE A SENTENCE. YIPPEE!
     OK, it's probably not such an achievement but let's be modest and, eventually, you might be surprised.

     So, Czech and English sentence structures do not fatally differ, at least not in their gists. We start with subject followed by a verb and then we place an object into the sentence. Here ends the simple part.

Let me itroduce you the structure of a Czech sentence:

BOOM! Don't worry, I know there's too much information in that picture. I'll explain it all. But, at first, I'm going to answer the question you've been asking from the very beginning of this article, which is: What is ZSD?

ZSD

Základní stavební dvojice consists of two words– the subject and the verb (subject-verb agreement). Why is it so important? When little children learn to write sentences, they write what they hear and mostly it's correct. However, "y" and "i" are read the same way in Czech and it's hard for them to find out which one they should use, especially in verbs, because they have no "permanent" form. Let me explain– the noun "myš" even if inflected (myši, myší) is always written with "y" after the letter "m" and the suffixes for each case never differs neither. Now, the verb zpívat (= to sing; conjugated here) is written with "í" after "p" but when conjugated– in past tense and plural– there are three different endings: -ali, -aly, -ala.

Which one should you use?

The suffix -ali is used when the subject is in plural and it's masculine. And, similarly to French, it can be masculine and feminine (when it's multiple subject or when you refer to feminine and masculine subjects as "they" "=oni").

We use -aly when the subject is plural and feminine.

And -ala if it's plural and neuter.

The subject has to correspond with the verb no matter what. These are the deciding aspects: number (plural or singular), person (first, second, or third), tense (present, past, or future), mood (indicative, imperative, optative, interrogatory, or, conditional), gender (masculine, feminine, or, neuter), and aspect (perfective and imperfective).

I'm not going to bother you with all of these. You only need to learn to distiguish the number, person, tense, and gender.

This is a lot of information so let me simplify and clarify. This is our model sentence:

Pes si hraje s malou kostí.

The subject is "pes" which is a masculine and singular noun. The verb is "si hraje"; now look into the conjugation table of the verb hrát si and find the appropriate form– si hraje. Found it? If so, you already know that the person is third (on/ona/ono) and because the verb in this person doesn't change depending on the gender of the subject, you don't have to worry about the gender (even though it's obvious); and the tense is present. Together, subject and verb, create ZSD.
As to the rest of the sentence, I don't want to scare the hell out of you but the adjective malou is also inflected because in Czech we inflect them along with the noun they precede/follow. Fortunately, there are only two paradigms for adjectives:  mladý and jarní. The adjective malý (mentioned above in the model sentence, inflected) is inflected according to the paradigm mladý. I'll dedicate another lesson to the nouns of this sentence. 

love & peace
Ciray

Conjugation– ZPÍVAT (to sing)

PRESENT TENSE

Já zpívám                               My zpíváme

Ty zpíváš                               Vy zpíváte

On/a/o zpívá                           Oni/y/a zpívají

FUTURE TENSE

Já budu zpívat                         My budeme zpívat

Ty budeš zpívat                       Vy budete zpívat

On/a/o bude zpívat                   Oni/y/a budou zpívat

PAST TENSE

Já jsem zpíval/a/o                       My jsme zpívali/y/a

Ty jsi zpíval/a/o                         Vy jste zpívali/y/a

On/a/o zpíval/a/o                       Oni zpívali/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                           My zpívejme

Ty zpívej                                    Vy zpívejte

On/a/o ať zpívá                          Oni ať zpívají

Example sentences:
Ráda zpívá. (She likes singing.)
Zpívej nahlas. (Sing aloud.)
Zpíval jsem ve sboru. (I sang in a choir.)

Conjugation– JET (to go [using a vehicle])

PRESENT TENSE

Já jedu                                 My jedeme

Ty jedeš                               Vy jedete

On/a/o jede                          Oni/y/a jedou

FUTURE TENSE

Já pojedu                                My pojedeme

Ty pojedeš                              Vy pojedete

On/a/o pojede                         Oni/y/a pojedou

PAST TENSE

Já jsem jel/a/o                           My jsme jeli/y/a

Ty jsi jel/a/o                              Vy jste jeli/y/a

On/a/o jel/a/o                            Oni jeli/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                          My jeďme

Ty jeď                                       Vy jeďte

On/a/o ať jede                          Oni ať jedou

Example sentences:
Jeďme na dovolenou. (Let's go on holiday.)
Jeli jsme na koních. (We rode horses.)
Pojedete s námi? (Will you go with us?)
Jedeš moc rychle. (You're driving too fast.)

Conjugation– JÍT (to go [on foot])

PRESENT TENSE

Já jdu                                  My jdeme

Ty jdeš                                Vy jdete

On/a/o jde                           Oni/y/a jdou

FUTURE TENSE

Já půjdu                                  My půjdeme

Ty půjdeš                                Vy půjdete

On/a/o půjde                           Oni/y/a půjdou

PAST TENSE

Já jsem šel/ šla/ šlo                    My jsme šli/y/a

Ty jsi šel/ šla/ šlo                       Vy jste šli/y/a

On/a/o šel/ šla/ šlo                      Oni šli/y/a

IMPERATIVE

Já ---                                             My jděme

Ty jdi                                            Vy jděte

On/a/o ať jde                                Oni ať jdou

Example sentences:

Jděte touto ulicí. (Follow this street.)
Zítra půjdu nakupovat. (I'll go shopping tomorrow.)
Jdu domů. (I'm going home.)
Šel okolo, ale neviděl nás. (He went past us but didn't see us.)

Emotional maturity... is that even possible?

Since I want you to understand what I mean by writing this (and I’m sure you want it, too) you’ll have to forgive me a short preface that I’m about to write.

I’m currently reading a book called “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales” by Oliver Sacks (in Czech, of course). Actually, I started in the morning and finished the first part while I was on my way to (and from) an anthropology and anatomy museum. No, I wasn’t driving while reading. It was a school trip. Anyway, the Introduction to the first part called “Losses” has inspired me to think about the importance of each of our hemispheres and the way their disorders manifest Dr. Sacks quoted and referred to earlier works of Dr. A. R. Luria saying that disorders of the left hemisphere are more “visible” than those of the right hemisphere. Later, I talked to one of my classmates. I’m not sure what to think about her, she is ∞-dimensional, so I’d rather not mention my description of her. So as we talked (she talked, actually), we (she) came to a conclusion that two of our classmates who were just in front of us wouldn’t be a nice couple; “like ever”, as she said. The reason was simple, she seems childish to her and he’s very smart and mature for a boy of his age. I somehow put these two facts together and got an idea of writing on this topic.

 

So recognizing whether a person is dumb is pretty easy. People speak and when they speak, they are listened to and some of them just shouldn’t be. They could literally make your IQ decrease rapidly. But how do you find out whether the boy (this usually happens to boys) you are talking to is emotionally mature or just smart? (By saying “just smart” I’m not trying offend anyone who’s… just smart.)

 

There’s nothing bad about not being emotionally mature. You can enjoy your childhood, you don’t have to rush for having a relationship, and you can use it as an excuse. But what I’m trying to say is that it’s safe as long as you have your hormones under control. I’ve met dozens of 13 or 14 y-o children who have already had sex. Yet, they still giggle when someone says the word “sex” aloud. They feel like virginity is a sickness or a handicap. These are the cases of silly and young kids who are immature.

 

Now I’d like to talk about children who have their emotions and desires under control because they are clever. There’s some space for inquiry, e. g. is the control limited? Yes, it is. But it differs since every man is an individual. (Anyway, I’m not going to sift through all of the ideas that came to my mind.) These people are probably aware of that they shouldn’t behave the way the group mentioned above does. Maybe because of religion or parents. Thinking about your behaviour and limiting it indicates an evolved prefrontal cortex (as far as I know) but you never know how much evolved it is and whether it can influence the rest of the brain. Sending everyone to have an X-ray of their brain isn’t the best solution. So this group might seem to be the best. No, it’s not. Why? Emotional maturity isn’t a sign of brightness. I can give you an example of what happened to me when I was 15. There was a boy, a very smart boy, who had loved me since we were in the 8^th grade. He had never told me, though. Nevertheless, he said it to everyone except me. Later, when the whole class knew, kids started mocking me. Some girls even told me that I was a b*tch for making him suffer like this. Of course, I didn’t know anything. And he knew it all and still did nothing. Then finally of friend of mine told me. I thought I would kill that guy but let it go. So this is an example of immaturity.

 

To sum up, there’s no way of telling whether they are mature or immature. You only find out when you date them, or, when somebody finally tells you.