Early Reading and Preparations

From the time I studied German in high school, I found that learning new languages came pretty easy to me.  As a result, I studied Russian language along with a BA in Political Science at the University of Washington.  Even with the new Cyrillic alphabet, I found that I picked up the language quickly and easily -- and native Russian speakers have commented, since, (maybe they were just being polite) that my pronunciation was pretty good for an "Amerikanets."  (I'll have to figure out if I can use Cyrillic with Blogger...)

We've taken a few international vacations -- and I've had the opportunity to take a stab at a number of additional languages including:  French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Greek, and the most minimal start at Japanese (really only learning the first of 3 "alphabets":  Hiragana -- which I love as a written art form in-and-of itself!).

Everywhere we travel, I try to at least learn a little of the language.  First, it's fun for me because it's something I inherently enjoy and am good at.  Second, I think it adds to some additional insight and background on the culture you'll be visiting (Trying to minimize expectations, I always say "I just want to learn enough to read an online newspaper -- I mean,... It's not like I plan to be fluent in just 6 months or anything!"  Of course, with the complexities of every language, just being able to read a newspaper implies some advanced level of fluency -- which, of course, I NEVER attain with only 6 months (or even a year) of VERY part-time study!).  Third, I do it also as an attempted  sign of respect to the people we will meet -- whoever they are!  (After all, I'm the visitor in THEIR country!  Why should I inconvenience them because I don't know their language!  Of course, most everyone around the world is much better at bi-/multi-lingualism -- because, no matter where we seem to travel, everyone from the bellhop to the busboy to the hotel manager to the customs official seems to have a much better grasp of English than I will EVER have of their language!)  Fourth, it gives me some peace of mind that I MIGHT be capable of getting a point across in the event of an emergency (of course, knowing how to ask for a taxi, ask the time, or buy 2 pounds of sausage is of little help in any kind of true emergency -- but it just makes me FEEL better).  Finally, in the most common travel interactions (say, at the hotel front desk, entering a restaurant, etc...), I can usually say "hello," "good morning," "good night," and the like with GREAT confidence!  It usually buys you a couple of "good tourist" points vs.those who make no attempt at all...

So,... all of that is to say that I'm starting my travel prep with a dive into the Czech language (will will definitely be visiting Prague), and plan to do some overview reading on general Eastern European history.  I'm starting out with the following:

• "Complete Czech" by David Short in the Teach Yourself British book series (Paperback, 2015).
• Lonely Planet's "Czech Phrasebook & Dictionary" (Paperback, 3rd edition, 2013)
• "The Balkans:  A Short History" by Mark Mazower (e-Book, 2007, Random House)

I'm going to keep my language-learning to myself (to save myself from the shame...), but I plan to record notes and thoughts on my other reading in this blog -- both for my own ready-reference, but also to solicit thoughts, comments, recommendations from readers.  So,...  Here goes...