Winter Happiness

I love winter, you know. I know that I constantly complain about my ass freezing but still it's better than sweating. Aaanyway, I made use of this shitty weather and did what I haven't done in years. When I was sick at home as a child, I would climb to my roof window and build a small snowman like this one:

I fervently hope none of our neighbours saw me doing this.

I don't know whether my fever caused this or it actually happened but this is what I then saw: 

Look at it! It's so sad! Of course I didn't do that, though.

Now excuse me, I have to clean up a lake that has suddenly appeared in the middle of my bedroom.

love & peace

Ciray

You Gotta Love Ballet ♥

I Think I Am Sick Again

Why not get ill when we have our midterm holiday.

This is pretty much how I spend every holiday– except for summer holidays when I don’t get sick… Usually.  Anyway, this doesn’t hurt my psyche so much as our midterm holiday is shorter than a weekend. Yes, it’s one day off school and it’s raining and snowing at the same time. Additionally, I can’t just stay in my bedroom without washing my hair and doing my makeup. No. My friends think that I have nothing to do so whenever they text me I’ll be ready to get to the bus station and go and meet them. Is it so obvious that my life is just a whirl of emptiness and oblivion?

I have things to do! I’m ill for Christ’s sake! Well that’s not a thing to do. Damn, I should do something about my life. At least, I’m glad I hadn’t set any New Year’s resolutions because I would be even more disappointed now.

Well I’ve been thinking about making a new lesson but somehow couldn’t figure out what it should be about. And, so that it’s not such a pointless post I’m adding a poem I wrote yesterday. This is what happens when you have fever and get creative:

No matter how much I strive for rest,

Rest in my head, an end to commotion;

This inner hurdle, unfinishable quest

Nobody sees in my face of no motion.

Calm on the outside, in me just panic,

Trying to sort out my thoughts,

Feeling like a schizophrenic;

Order is what I head towards.

love & peace
Ciray

Studying Abroad? Why not?

      Every time I mention I’d like to study abroad people have plenty of objections and comments on that topic. I picked a few of the main problems and complications and if you will still have any questions after reading this, feel free to use Google. Seriously, I don’t know everything.

You don’t speak the language of the country

      I’m not completely sure whether these people know that you can choose a course led in English. This possibility even exists in the Czech Republic. As a Czech student, I can enrol in a course in English in the Czech Republic (however, they are charged with a fee, I reckon). Not every university or college offers them, though. You will only need the country’s language when doing the shopping, that’s it.
      But if you’re a language geek like me, you can go for a course in Swedish, Dutch, German, Italian, and so on. However, you have to make sure you’ve mastered the language or else you’d get into trouble!

It’s only for smart students

      Living with this attitude, I wouldn’t be able to study any university. It’s utterly wrong. According to me, studying abroad is for the bravest students. Sure, if you apply for a course in a well-known university like Cambridge, Yale, etc., you can expect only the best students to be there. But if you choose a university for mere mortals, it will be tough (because every uni is hard to study at) yet manageable. (This may help you to choose: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014-15/world-ranking)

It costs a lot

      Yes, if you want to study in the US or somewhere where education is not free. Some of you are experiencing a huge shock and, before you pinch yourself – of course, in many countries, education is free. Nevertheless, before you apply, you have to realize it’s for their citizens (they usually pay high taxes), not everybody. This doesn’t mean that it’s going to cost a foreign student an arm and a leg; you will probably have to pay some fees. If you choose to study in the language of the country, you probably won’t be paying any fees whatsoever. (Again, check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_education). People who live in the European Union have it even easier. In some countries of the European Union they don’t have to pay for anything (as we can also travel without visa).

      One day, I’ll write an article on pros and cons of studying abroad. One day…

      I hope I helped at least a bit and encouraged you.

Love & peace
Ciray

Lesson 21– Telling The Time & Date, Ordinal Numbers

Happy new year, everyone!
        I'm really sorry for that I haven't posted anything for almost dva měsíce! (=two months) My new year's resolution isn't to post every week (as many of you probably expected) because it would be too difficult to manage school and the blog + I'm going to make another one on French soon and my personal blog. Yes, the lattermost two are my new year's resolutions so I have this whole year to achieve my goals.
         Anyway, I know that this (along with animals, colours, numbers, body parts, etc. vocabulary) is the most boring thing to learn in a new language. This is why I've waited so long to teach you this (and also the fact that I forgot I should make a lesson on this topic O:-).
Let's get started!

Days of the Week (Dny v týdnu)

pondělí (Monday) - v pondělí
úterý (Tuesday) - v úterý
středa (Wednesday) - ve středu
čtvrtek (Thursday) - ve čtvrtek
pátek (Friday) - v pátek
sobota (Saturday) - v sobotu
neděle (Sunday) - v neděli

         There's nothing to explain about days of the week. Yet there's one thing you have to memorize: The first letters of the days of the week in Czech are not capitalized!

Months of the Year (Měsíce v roce)

leden (January) - v lednu

únor (February) - v únoru

březen (March) - v březnu

duben (April) - v dubnu

květen (May) - v lednu

červen (June) - v červnu

červenec (July) - v červenci

srpen (August) - v srpnu

září (September) - v září

říjen (October) - v říjnu

listopad (November) - v listopadu

prosinec (December) - v prosinci

         Again, do not capitalize the first letters! The months are masculine except for one– září which is neuter.

Seasons of the Year (Roční období [v roce])

jaro (spring) - na jaře

léto (summer) - v létě

podzim (fall/ autumn) - na podzim

zima (winter) - v zimě

       Like in English, no capitalizing, please! 

Parts of the Day (Části dne)

ráno (morning)

poledne (noon) (v poledne [=at noon])

odpoledne (afternoon)

večer (evening)

noc (night) (v noci [=at night])

půlnoc (midnight) (o půlnoci [=at midnight])

       Ráno, odpoledne, večer are the basic words you definitely need to know. They are adverbs, therefore you don't need any prepositions to use them. For the rest, I added the prepositions right into the list. 

Telling the Time (Určování času)

        Kolik je hodin? Well, this sentence makes no sense at all, yet it's perfectly correct and it's the only way to say 'What's the time?' Sometimes Czechs shorten it to 'Kolik je?' (do not mistake for 'Kolik ti je' [=How old are you])
        Let's learn how to answer this question. (Yes, showing the screen of your cell phone is easier but stillllll...) 

        The answer is similar to the English one: 'Je...' (=It's...). 

        Now you can choose: 

Půl (half) +second case of an ordinal number 

Usage: Půl páté (=a half of fifth) 4:30 

Čtvrt (quarter) +na +fourth case of a number

Usage: Čtvrt na dvě (=a quarter on two) 1:15

Třičtvrtě (three quarters) +na +fourth case of a number

Usage: Třičtvrtě na osm (three quarters on eight) 7:45

       You can only use these using numbers 1-12 even though you mean in the afternoon. 


       Remember, there's still the option of saying: 14:25 ('čtrnáct dvacet pět') or 'dvě hodiny a dvacet pět minut'.

Telling the Date (Určování data)

        'Jaké je [dnes] datum?' (=What's the date [today]?) 

        'Kolikátého je?' (=What number (of the day) is it?) This one makes much less sense than the previous one but they both are used equally often. Advanced learners may know that the word 'kolikátého' indicates an ordinal number. Yes, we'll be answering this question with an ordinal number. Example: 'Šestnáctého března.' (=16th March). Also note that the number and the month are in the second case. As regards the number, you basically just take the neuter form, e. g. 'šesté', and add '-ho'.

Ordinal Numbers (Řadové číslovky)

první

druhý/á/é

třetí

čtvrtý/á/é

pátý/á/é

šestý/á/é

sedmý/á/é

osmý/á/é

devátý/á/é

desátý/á/é

jedenáctý/á/é

dvanáctý/á/é

třináctý/á/é

čtrnáctý/á/é

patnáctý/á/é

šestnáctý/á/é

sedmnáctý/á/é

osmnáctý/á/é

devatenáctý/á/é

dvacátý/á/é

dvacátý/á/é první

dvacátý/á/é druhý/á/é

dvacátý/á/é třetí

***

třicátý/á/é

čtyřicátý/á/é

padesátý/á/é

Prepositions (Předložky)

        Prepositions ar really simple. In English, you have at for hours, on for days, in for months, centuries, years and seasons of the year. In Czech, you can pretty much get on with only one preposition. It's the magic word 'v' (or ve) (=in). This preposition connects with the third case, therefore the word it precedes will be in the third case. However, 'jaro' and 'podzim' are used with the preposition 'na' only (+ sixth case). Another exceptions are festivals when you have to use 'na' + fourth case (na Vánoce, na Velikonoce, na Nový rok, na Dušičky...).
        Remember that you can't say 'v 2000'; you have to add 'roce' (the third case form of 'rok'). V roce dva tisíce šest (=in 2006).

         And, finally, a phrase that means anything from just one minute to years: 'za chvíli' (=in a moment).

love & peace
Ciray