Slovak - The Language That Overwhelms Me

Image by Marek Bennett

"Ako sa máš?"

I love to hear my dad speak in his native language. He has several friends with whom he communicates via Skype, and so I sometimes get to hear them speak. 

It is really a neat language, that Slovak, but as an adult, it quite overwhelms me with just the slight inclination to learn the language. Those Slavic languages are difficult, although probably not as difficult as learning an entire new alphabet like some languages.

Interestingly enough, about 5 million people speak Slovak in Slovakia and abroad...hopefully I will make 5 million and 1 someday as it is on my bucket list to learn the language.

But where to start? I have done a beginner search on the best places to learn the language but I need to dig into the research a little bit more.

If anybody has suggestions on the best method for learning a new language, let me know!

Until the next time, Dovidenia.

My Favorite Slovak Folk Song

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One of my favorite songs that my dad used to sing to us was "Prsi Prsi" which is about the rain. Several mornings ago when I woke up to the rain, my thoughts went to this song. My dad and I still whistle the song together in a little duet, like he used to do on the violin when he was younger.

Prší, prší, len sa leje, nezatváraj milá dvere.
Milá má, duša má, nezatváraj pred nama.
Keď som išiel od Aničky, štrngali mi podkovičky,
štrngali, brngali, sivé očká plakali.

Raining, raining, it is raining heavily, my beloved don’t close the door.
My beloved, my soul, don’t close it in front of us.
When I went from Ann, horseshoe was making sounds,
it was making sounds and gray eyes wept.

Sivé očká, čo plačete, veď mi moje nebudete,
Budete iného, šuhajíčka švárneho.

Gray eyes why do you weep, you will not be mine;
You will belong to someone else, to a smug boy.

Slovak is such a beautiful language, I regret not learning it when I was younger. It's on the bucket list, for sure. Hopefully I can get to that soon. In the meantime, I will just sing like I know the words.