Get a friend!

They're saying it all the time. And they're absolutely right - the best way how to master a new language is to have a native speaker as a friend. But when I say friend, I really mean a friend. Because only then you will really communicate on daily basis and sooner or later you will probably cover every thinkable topic in the Universe. Yes, you can chat with native speakers from time to time but what you really need is a total immersion and that is possible only when some friendly feelings are involved.
There is the trick - in a friendly chat, native speakers use whatever expression come to their mind, just as you when you're chatting with your BFF you've known since your first grades. Often it will be slang and the more experienced you will get, the less help and explanations you will need from your friends when they use some word/phrase you don't know. What more - it is no shame to ask your friend - "What does this mean?" - "What do you mean by that?", but I would probably not be as courageous with some casual acquaintance. It is also great to meet both in person and on chat, as when chatting, you can look up the phrases by yourselves and even add it to your personal word list. Also, you will probably better remember the word or phrase because it is placed in a very specific, personal context and it carries a message only for you.
When looking up new words and phrases, I find the web site Urban Dictionary very useful. They also have a great FB page where they post new words and phrases daily - and most of them are pretty amusing! With these, you can easily astonish your native speaker friends ;-). It is also important to remember that we are all just humans and even native speakers can have something wrong. Bear in mind from that background your friend is and apply the new knowledge wisely and approrpiatelly. There is nothing easier than ask - "Is this considered polite?" or "Can I use this when speaking to my teacher/boss?" This info is often not involved in the dictionaries and you never know what faux-pas you may cause by wrong expression.
Well, is sounds quite amazing, doesn't it? I am not saying that with a native speaker as a friend you can throw your textbooks aways and that you can spend the money put aside for language courses on hot-tub full of champagne, but having English/American/Canadian/Australian/New Zealandian/whatever friend can be an invaluable addition to your language learning. And where can you meet native speakers? Well, this we will discuss later on.
So long, folks! :-)

Splendid Similes 7

As Irish as Paddy's Pig

Seems like I've grown rather fond of piggy similes. Happy St. Paddy's Day to you all! How are you celebrating? Are you feeling as Irish as Paddy's pig? If you're not, then it probably doesn't matter, because Paddy is said to have come from Northern England anyway - but perhaps he got the pig after he'd come to Ireland :) As for myself, I have spent my St. Paddy's Day studying for Practical English, hurrah! But even if you haven't had any whiskey, any Guinness, any green clothes - you can still save the day with Irish Hair! :)

Splendid Similes 6

As Happy as a Pig in Shit

Yeah, you got me. I'm neither a pig in shit, nor happy (though I am quite fine, thank you). It's just that I really think that the English might have made a better simile than this one. Just look at it! I know, it accurately expresses the wicked, fuzzy, happy feeling you have when your enemy slips on a banana peel. But in spite of this, I find it very un-English-like. The English don't swear! And if they do, it's brilliant, well thought and often containing long awesome unforgettable similes. Or they say "whoops-a-daisy" instead (as our beloved Wimbledon teacher taught us).

In this case I must say that the Czech version of this simile is much nicer - both nicer to hear and nicer to pigs :) it says "as happy as a pig in rye". Now, isn't that better? Though it's true that the czech word for rye - "žito" - sounds roughly similar to "shit" (as Kouzelník Žito a.k.a. Shito the Magician has already proved - Czech reference, sorry). So, may your weekends be as happy as a pig in whatever you prefer :)

Splendid Similes 5

As Cunning as a Fox That Used to Be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but Has Moved On and Is Now Working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning

I love Blackadder so much! Gosh I hope I made the capitalisation right... Actually, in order to write this article I've seen the Blackadder Back & Forth in English for the first time - I'm glad that both Blackadder (the original series) and this one have such great Czech dubbing. Blackadder is swarming with great, hilarious and incredibly long similes, and these three are taken from the Back & Forth movie.

1. It tastes as if someone with a bad chest cold has taken two spoonfuls of Benylin to loosen the phlegm and then coughed all over an avocado (Chutná to jako kdyby chcípák s nachcípanými průduškami spolkl dvě lžíce Bromhexinu, a pak vykašlal navrch celé avokádo)

- I'm so proud that I still remember it by heart :)

2. (Baldrick, you really are) as thick as clotted cream that’s been left out by some clot until the clots are so clotted up we couldn’t unclot them with an electric declotter (ty jsi vážně namouduši tuplovaně tupej tupec, tupější než votupená kudla, kterou ztupil tupec jako ty, takže už ji nenabrousí ani elektrický detupilátor)

- I really love how they translated it :)

3. As cunning as a fox what used to be professor of cunning at oxford university but has moved on and he’s now working for the UN at the high commission of international cunning planning  (Je tak fikanej jako filuta co bejval profesorem filutologie na Oxfordu ale dotáh' to vejš? Až na vysoký úřad komisaře OSN pro mezinárodní fikané plánování? ... jo, to je)

- Hmmm. That's cunning. 

So, what's your favourite Blackadder line/ simile? :) 

Incredible Idioms 4

Seeing is Understanding

Well, here's the thing. I am so unbelievably sorry that I missed my last week's idiomatic session and that I am late this week! I cannot express how deeply sorry I am. But you know, two essays had to be written and handed in and then I had to settle my financial dealings and that took quite a long time and most of my energy and mental capacity. And on Sunday evening, our foreign guest arrived and I have beeng trying my best to make his stay pleasant. He's still here, but because I have done almost all my other duties, I finally have time AND the energy to contribute to my idiom series. See? It's not that I am lazy! :D

But I should probably get to the point, right? So, as you can see, for the English language, seeing is understanding. Maybe in your language it works like this as well. For example, in French, you also have this idiomatic tendency and when you understand something, you can say: Je vois. Which surprisingly means .... I see! This relationship between seeing and understanding is a broad one. Understanding is also connected with clearness (of sight) and many other visual stimuli. 

I cannot understand my flatmates explanations, they are as clear as mud.

Seeing my friend drunk was a real eye-opener - he's such a boor!

When you see the presentation of our new project, you'll get the picture.

I want to clear up the misunderstanding we had earlier.

People who are in love are simply blinkered with their feelings and cannot see the imperfections of their partners.

From my point of view it is a problem and we should deal with it!

Thinking that the nation can be healed from the wrongs of the past in one generation is a very short-sighted view.

Source: Joe Wright - Idiom Organiser

Picture: http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/13/132154/2246014-I_see_what_you_did_there_super.jpg

Alan Brinkley – The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People

As a first year English language & literature student I had quite high expectations about my American history course, including the text book. Why? I knew absolutely nothing about American history. And so I decided that I would take this seriously and do my readings.

When I discovered that the book was a 900 page monster, I was not exactly happy. But as I started reading, I was actually surprised. Getting through the first chapter was a horror, but with each finished chapter the reading got easier. And even though the book seemed really complicated and demanding a lot of focus, these factors gradually disappeared and in the end I found the book even enjoyable.

The book is divided into chapters, each with its own subchapters. Along the sides of the text important names and keywords are given, which is very helpful for orientation. Each chapter has a summarizing conclusion and a list of sources/additional readings at the end. The book also has some appendices, unfortunately I only had the individual chapters. It’s very nice that the book doesn’t give you only “its” point of view on history but includes articles about how the perspective changed over time.

To sum it up – yes. I would recommend it. For those who have never heard anything about the American history and also for the ones who have but want to learn something more (also it's a very good one for increasing reading speed :). You probably won’t like all the chapters (I hated all the ones describing wars and the ones about Wild West – booooooring), but you can always skip the ones you don’t enjoy, right? Given that it’s not a compulsory reading, which was my case, well...

Splendid Similes 4

As Tired as a Three Toed Sloth (After) Running a Marathon

I did not make this one up, would you believe it? I was looking for a "as tired as..." simile and this one does the job perfectly. I love how insanely complicated it is, you know, stressing your tiredness by making an effort to say an extraordinarily long simile that would match your state. It doesn't make sense in a way, but I think that that's what I love about it. It reminds me of those really long Blackadder similes (I must do one of those next time!)

And why am I as tired as a three-toed sloth after running a marathon? Truth is, I don't know. I guess it's just one of those days. Everyone I've met and spoke to today was also tired and had a headache and everything was as dull as dishwater. In addition, I'm also mad about the Czech post which was supposed to deliver a nice Lush package to me so instead of writing "as tired as a.... you know" post it could have been "as snug as a bug in a rug", which is also very neat. Well, maybe next time :)