This is a handy phrase that's used in so many ways in Slovak that we could never cover them all. Nech sa páči! [nyeH sah PAH-chee] ** It literally means, "may it please you," but it translates in many ways.  For example... Someone might say nech sa páči when they open a door for you, meaning, "Come... Continue Reading →

With this summer's activities we haven't taken time for the weekly word.  Moving to a new home, family visits, and preparations for this week's mission team have made for a busy summer break!  But maybe it's about time we started up again... At first, we thought we'd use the Slovak word for "team," since we... Continue Reading →

Today's word is heard often around our house these days... it's the Slovak word for "box:" krabica [KRAH-beet-sah] Each day we're making quick trips across town to deliver boxes to our new house.  Fortunately it's only about a 15-minute drive, and we will have time to make the move gradually.  We plan to begin living... Continue Reading →

One word we haven't covered so far, that might be helpful if you come our way, is how to say the word for "English" in Slovak.  But we can't just tell you this word without telling you a little bit about how to use it... so we'll learn a little bit of grammar, too! English... Continue Reading →

Today's word is the Slovak word for SNOW: sneh (snow) Pronounced [snyeh] with the soft "n" as in "onion" and with a hard "h" at the end. Slovaks love their snow, which is a good thing - the country's latitude, its distance inland, and its elevation usually combine to produce snowy weather from November to... Continue Reading →

English Slovak January január [YAH-noo-ahr] Reminder:  In Slovak you don't have to capitalize the first letter of month and day names! We feel blessed in our language learning that even though there are not many words shared between Slovak and English, that at least the month names are very similar.  In nearby countries (including Czech... Continue Reading →

It's time to resume our Word for Monday posts with some very appropriate words for this week... English Slovak New Year nový rok [NOH-vee rohk] New Year's Day in Slovak is called "nový rok."  But the day we typically call New Year's Eve has a different name in Slovakia and many European countries. English Slovak... Continue Reading →

English Slovak December december [DEH-tsem-bear] Reminder:  In Slovak you don't have to capitalize the first letter of month and day names! And remember that the Slovak word for Christmas is... Vianoce (pronounced [VYAH-no-tseh]) The origin of the word is unclear, though it probably was borrowed from the German word for Christmas, Weinachten.  In case you missed... Continue Reading →