Many people would agree that speaking foreign languages provides an exciting opportunity to experience different cultures, it expands one’s horizons, and it is also good for the brain as it trains the memory and enables people to think in concepts that they might not have in their own language.
However, when learning a new language, it is the very first steps that seem to be the hardest to take. All those new unusual concoctions of sounds (such as srč prst skrz krk, a famous Czech tongue twister) might seem to be impossible to memorize by heart because there is nothing to relate to from one’s own experience. As a language teacher, my advice would be to begin with such words that are easy to associate with in your own language because it creates a comfort zone for the learner. Luckily for Hebrew speakers who are trying to learn Czech, there are many words that are similar in these two languages. I will separate these words into two groups, the true friends and false friends.
Words that sound similar in two languages and share at least a part of the meaning are called true friends. They are usually loan words that originated in the same language like Latin, English, Spanish, and Sanskrit etc. Here are just a few of them:
Hebrew / Czech
1. טֶלֶפוֹן / Telefon
2. מַנְגוֹ / Mango
3. סֻכָּר / Cukr
4. סָלָט / Salát
5. יוגורט / Jogurt
6. נקטרינה /Nektarinka
7. בננה / Banán
8. בַּנְק / Banka
9. בֶּנְזִין / Benzín
10. יַכְטָה / Jachta
11. סְטוּדֶנְט / Student
12. מאמי / Mami! (when you call your mom)
However, what some people might find more fun to learn are the so-called false friends. As the name suggests, those are words in different languages that sound similar, but the meaning is different. Perhaps they might be easier to memorize because of the absurdity that comes from such associations. For instance, the Hebrew word “dira (דִּירָה)” and Czech “díra“ have similar sound, but the Czech meaning is “a hole,“ whereas in Hebrew it means “a flat.“ Thus, if you say that you live in a “dira (דִּירָה),“ in Czech it would mean that you live in a hole.
Learning such words is not only an entertaining way to boost one’s vocabulary, but they can also help to explain simple grammar structures.
One example of a false friend an easy word to associate with, “libi” (my heart in Hebrew) which also exists in Czech language, and it means “I like.” In the chart B above is the Hebrew transcription with its meaning. In the right column is the Czech word, its meaning and the pronunciation. You can make the association that something is in your heart (libi), and therefore you like it.
Let’s make Czech sentences. If you point your finger at something and simply say “libi,” it means that you fancy something. To make a full sentence you can add two extra words “libi se mi…….,” and name the object of your fancy. Here are a few suggestions that you can use the word with:
.
Hebrew / Czech
14. מוּזִיקָה / Muzika
15. 1. אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה / Univerzita
16. פראג / Praha
17. 1. פָקוּלְטָה / Fakulta
18. בְּרָכָה/brother
If you say to yourself “my brother is my blessing,” it is a beautiful phrase that is easy to relate to. If you form this connection, you would remember that the word "בְּרָכָה" means "brother" in CZ.
Are you able to translate these sentences with the information given? You will find the answers at the end of this article.
a. Libi se mi muzika,
b. libi se mi univerzita,
c. libi se mi Praha.