lisa looks back / 1 / leaving the US I spent two or three years here teaching both kids and adults English. That was in the mid- 90s. I was living in Iowa when I decided to come here. I had just graduated from college and I was wondering what to do with my life. I ran into a girl I knew, Mary, one day at the mall. We got to talking and she told me that she was going to Europe and asked me if I was interested in joining her. I said yes without even thinking about it. I mean, Europe. What an interesting place. I thought I would never leave the United States and now this big chance came up and I wasn't going to miss it. I didn't even care which country I was going to. I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life in America worrying about money and jobs like most people do. I felt I needed to get out of the States for a while so I could take my last break from all the duties and payments. Mary said she had to choose a country to go to and she chose the Czech Republic. At that time I had no idea such a country even existed. I looked it up in the map and there it was, right in the middle of Europe. I decided to read up on its history a little and found out that it had only become a free country a few years earlier. I figured it might be a good place for me to learn about life.
grammar spend time teaching (spend + ing tvar) was living when (minulý průběhový) had graduated (předminulý - passive) a girl I knew (neurčitý člen, vztažné věty) told me she was going... I thought I would never leave (souslednost - passive) be interested in joining her... without thinking about it (předložky + ing) what an... (zvolání)... such a country (x so) which (x what) so that I could (účelové věty) she had to choose (have to, časy, otázky, zápory) might (may, could) a good place for me to learn (infinitiv s předmětem)
questions (1) jak dlouho tady Lisa žila (2) koho tady učila anglicky (3) kde bydlela když se rozhodla sem jet (4) jestli ještě chodila na výšku (5) jestli věděla co bude dělat dál (6) kdo jí řekl o Evropě (7) jestli zná Mary dobře (8) o čem se spolu bavily (9) jestli byly dobré kamarádky (10) co ji donutilo opustit Ameriku (11) jestli věděla do které země jede (12) jestli jí to bylo jedno (13) jak měla strávit zbytek života /be going to (14) kvůli čemu si lidi dělají starosti (15) jestli se na to těšila /look forward to st (16) jestli se všichni bojí o práci (17) jestli si Mary musela vybrat nějakou zemi (18) proč si vybrala Česko (19) jestli Lisa věděla, že nějaká taková země je (20) jak dlouho už je Česko svobodné (21) jestli se tady člověku dobře učí o životě
vocab adults dospělí in the mid-90s v polovině devadesátých let decide rozhodnout se graduate from college vystudovat výšku, úspěšně dokončit wonder přemýšlet (nebýt si jistý) run into sb narazit na někoho (náhodou) the mall nákupní centrum get to talking dát se do řeči come up naskytnout se for a while chvilku worry about st dělat si starosti kvůli so I could abych mohla duties and payments povinnosti a platby look st up vyhledat něco read up on načíst informace o find out zjistit I figured řekla jsem si, napadlo mě keywords TEACH IN 90S, IOWA WHEN DECIDE COLLEGE AND WHAT DO? MARY MALL TALK, EUROPE, INTEREST? NO THINK, EUROPE! THINK NEVER, NOW CHANCE SO..., ANY COUNTRY KNOW THEN MONEY LIKE ALL, OUT FOR BREAK MARY MUST CHOOSE..., EXIST? READ HISTORY, JUST FREE, GOOD FOR LEARN
lisa looks back / 2 / arriving in Czechia Mary was leaving the very next day but she said she might be able to rent a place for both of us and then wait for me to join her. I agreed immediately, I was so excited. I started getting organized and packing my bags right away. It didn't take long to make all the arrangements. A week later, I arrived in this small town called Uherske Hradiste. Mary picked me up at the train station and took me to the apartment she had rented. She already had a job teaching kids at an elementary school and she loved it. She knew how to make the kids love her. They thought she was an angel sent from heaven. Anyway, Mary was much better at teaching than I was. It would have been easy to get a job like that, actually. I could have gone to any school, they were just waiting to hire people like me. No one cared about papers, being a native speaker was good enough for any principal. The problem was, I'm not much of a teacher myself. I have trouble explaining things to people. A teacher needs to know how to explain things. But what else was there for me to do? I figured maybe I should take it easy at first and see if something comes up.
grammar be able to (be allowed to) wait for me to join her (wait + infinitiv + pokud nutné for-předmět... ne wait for my coming) started getting... have trouble explaining... have a job teaching (ing tvar) a week later (x in a week) arrive in (get to, come to) at the train station (předložka at) be good at teaching (předložka + ing tvar) could have gone, would have hired (modální slovesa v minulých časech) being a native speaker was... (české vedl. věty typu to, že - ing tvar) a teacher needs to know (české je třeba, je nutné )
vocab the very next day hned další den she might be able možná bude schopen rent pronajmout immediately ihned, okamžitě right away ihned, bez prodlení pick sb up vyzvednout někoho hire najmout, vzít they don't care about papers nějaké papíry je nezajímají native speaker rodilý mluvčí principal - ředitel I figured napadlo mě take it easy nikam se nehnat, být v klidu come up naskytnout se keywords MARY LEAVE, MAYBE PLACE FOR BOTH, WAIT JOIN, YES! EXCITE, ORGANIZE, BAGS, SHORT ARRANGE, AFTER WEEK IN UH STATION, TO APARTMENT, MARY ALREADY TEACH, CHILDREN LOVE, THINK ANGEL MARY BETTER, EASY JOB, ANY SCHOOL, JUST WAIT, PAPERS? NATIVE ENOUGH BUT NOT TEACHER, PROBLEM EXPLAIN, TEACHER MUST BUT WHAT DO? NOTHING? SOMETHING COME
questions (1) jestli Mary odjížděla brzo (2) jestli slíbila že najde bydlení pro obě (3) jestli bude schopná sehnat nějaký byt (4) na koho pak bude čekat (5) z čeho byla Lisa tak nadšená /be excited about st (6) kolik tašek si musela nabalit /pack bags (7) jak dlouho trvalo se připravit /get ready (8) kdy přijela do UH (9) kdo ji vyzvednul na nádraží /pick sb up (10) koho Mary učila (11) jestli ji ty děcka měly rády (12) kdo podle nich byla /think (13) která z nich je lepší učitelka (14) jestli by pro Lisu bylo těžké sehnat práci (15) co mohla udělat (16) jestli na ni někdo čekal (17) jestli chtěla, aby ji někdo najal (18) jestli někoho zajímaly nějaké papíry (19) jestli někdo chtěl aby jej učila (20) jestli Lisa umí vysvětlovat /be good at st (21) jestli učitel musí umět vysvětlovat (22) jestli bylo něco jiného co mohla dělat (23) proč se rozhodla neučit
lisa meets michael to talk to his students Michael: Hi Lisa. It's great to see you again. Glad you could make it. Lisa: Good to see you, too. And thanks for inviting me. I'm really looking forward to helping you out. I'm a little late though, aren't I? I hope you haven't been waiting too long. Michael: No, don't worry about that. There's a group of people coming in a little while. They're going to be asking you questions and I would like you to answer them. Is that ok with you? Can you do that? Lisa: Sure, that's why I'm here. These people are your students, right? Michael: Yeah. You see, I talk about you a lot in our classes and they've been wondering what sort of person you are. I promised to ask you to tell them a little bit about yourself. Oh, here they are. Hello everyone. I'd like you to meet Lisa, a very good friend of mine. She's going to talk about herself for a while and then you'll have a chance to ask her questions. Lisa... Lisa: I guess you want me to talk about my time here back in the 90s. Well, as you know, I spent two or three years here...
vocab glad you could make it to jsem rád žes přišla look forward to st těšit se na něco though ovšem, ale in a little while za chviličku they wonder zajímá je, chtěli by vědět I guess asi, nejspíš, předpokládám že in the 90s v devadesátých letech keywords NICE SEE, GOOD CAN COME ME TOO, THANK INVITE, LOOK FORWARD HELP, LATE? HOPE NO WAIT NO WORRY, GROUP COME SOON, QUESTIONS, YOU ANSWER, OK? YES, REASON HERE, STUDENTS? TALK MUCH SO WHAT PERSON YOU? PROMISE ASK TALK... HELLO, MEET, TALK NOW, THEN ASK WANT TALK ABOUT 90S, KNOW 2 YEARS HERE grammar thanks for inviting (předložka + ing tvar) looking forward to helping (to + ing tvar) I'm late, aren't I? (questiont tags, passive) you haven't been waiting (čas ppp) they're going to be asking (čas budoucí průběhový) I would like you to asnwer them... you want me to talk (want / would like + předmět) they wonder (wonder: zajímalo by je, chtěli by vědět) promised to ask you (infinitiv... hope, offer, agree)
lisa looks back / 3 / hanging out So I spent the next few days just walking around town and I spent most of the nights drinking beer at this club called Mir. I wasn't used to drinking so much beer so the mornings were usually hell. I had horrible headaches and I often didn't get out of bed until noon. Anyway, one night a guy at Mir gave me a phone number. There's a guy I know who speaks good English and might be able to help you, he said. I called the next day and met the guy the same evening. His name was Michael and he translated into English for a living. We really hit it off and became good friends. He didn't have a job for me but it didn't really matter. Having someone to talk to besides Mary was enough. We would get together almost every day and he would tell me about how different Czechia is from the States. You need to know these things to fit in. Unless you know how to act around people, you make a fool of yourself. The town was wondefully laid-back and people seemed so relaxed. There was no rush, everyone seemed to take their time doing things. Once I began to feel more comfortable around Czech people, I went to a couple schools to apply for a teaching job. Pretty soon I was teaching at various schools in and around UH and meeting new people. I also decided to learn to speak Czech. Czech is such a difficult language to learn but I was able to make myself understood within a few weeks.
vocab not be used to drinking nebýt zvyklá pít headache bolení hlavy hit it off padnout si do noty/oka, okamžitě se skamarádit it didn't matter na tom nezáleželo besides kromě (vedle) fit in zapadnout (do kolektivu) unless leda by, pokud ne act chovat se make a fool of oneself dělat ze sebe blbce laid-back pohodový, klidný rush spěch take one's time nespěchat, dávat si načas feel comfortable cítit se dobře, cítit se v pohodě apply for a job požádat o práci pretty soon co nevidět, brzy make oneself understood dorozumět se, domluvit se within a few weeks během pár týdnů keywords NEXT TOWN & MIR, NOT USED DRINK, MORNINGS, HEAD, OUT OF BED PHONE NUMBER, GUY KNOW SPEAK ENGLISH, MAYBE HELP? CALL & MEET MICHAEL, TRANSLATE, FRIENDS, NO JOB BUT OK, HAVE FOR TALK MEET OFTEN, TELL DIFFERENCE, MUST KNOW FOR FIT, KNOW ACT OR FOOL TOWN OK, NOT RUSH, ALL RELAX, FEEL OK SO JOB, SOON TEACH, LEARN CZECH, HARD BUT UNDERSTOOD
grammar not be used to drinking (to + ing tvar... look forward to) I didn't get out until... (české až někdy ) a guy I know who speaks (vedlejší věty, výborný příklad dvou typů... neurčitý člen) he didn't have (zápory a otázky s have) having someone was ( to že pomocí ing tvaru) we would talk (would pro opakované děje ve vzdálené minulosti) about how (spojení předložek a tázacích zájmen) you need to know (zástupné you... české třeba, nutné ) everyone seemed to (everyone x all... seem s infinitivem) once I began (x as soon as) Czech is hard to learn (hard a easy s infinitivem)
questions (1) jestli někam chodívala často (there is) (2) jestli si na to pivo musela zvyknout (3) jaké byly rána (4) kdo jí dal to číslo (5) s kým jí řekli, že se má setkat (6) jak jí ten kluk měl jako pomoct (7) čím se Michael živil /do st for a living (8) jestli pro Lisu měl nějakou práci (9) jestli na tom záleželo (10) jestli Lisa byla ráda že na někoho takového narazila /come across sb (11) jestli se potkávali tak často jak Lisa doufala (12) čím se Česko liší od Spojených Států (13) jestli Lisa po Michaelovi chtěla aby jí to vysvětlil (14) proč přišlo Lise tak těžké zapadnout do prostředí /find, fit in (15) jestli lidi pořád někam spěchali /be in a hurry (16) jak dlouho čekala než začala hledat práci (17) jak se cítila kdykoli byla poblíž Čechů (18) jestli se musela naučit česky (19) co jí umožnilo se bavit s Čechy (20) jak dlouho jí trvalo než se ten jazyk naučila používat
lisa looks back / 4 / leaving UH, coming back The next two years went by very quickly. You know what they say, Time flies when you're having fun. And I was having a lot of fun hanging out with my new friends. Not everyone I met was nice but most of the people I got to know turned out to be very helpful and they were all anxious to communicate with a native speaker. Every weekend I went to visit someone's house to have a big lunch and meet their parents. The parents usually spoke no English so we would end up smiling at each other but I didn't mind. And neither did they, I think. Mary and I got along fine, too, although we are two very different people. My mom called almost every day. She was worried about me and kept trying to talk me into coming back. I just couldn't explain to her how good I felt among these people so sometimes we ended up yelling at each other or crying into the phone. Two years is a long time, though, and one day I realized that I missed Iowa and my friends there. I said goodbye to my friends and left but I knew that I would come back soon. And I did. One day three years later I got on a plane in Chicago, excited to be going back to a place I think of as a home away from home.
vocab they say říká se hang out chodit někam se bavit get to know sb blíž se s někým seznámit, někoho líp poznat they turned out to be ukázalo se, že jsou... be anxious to do st hrozně chtít něco dělat I didn't mind mně to nevadilo get along vycházet spolu (dobře) although i když, přestože be worried about mít strach o she kept trying pořád se snažila, nepřestávala se snažit talk sb into doing st ukecat někoho aby něco udělal among mezi (více lidmi) yell at sb ječet/křičet na někoho realize uvědomit si think of st as st brát něco jako..., považovat za home away from home druhý domov keywords TWO YEARS FAST WHEN FUN, WITH FRIENDS FUN, NOT ALL NICE BUT... HELPFUL WANT TALK, WEEKENDS & PARENTS, END SMILE BUT OK, WITH MARY NOT SAME BUT FINE MOM CALL, WORRY, ALWAYS SAY BACK, NO EXPLAIN GOOD SO END YELL OR CRY THEN MISS IOWA..., BYE BUT KNOW BACK, YES, CHICAGO EXCITE BACK HOME
grammar you're having fun (použití have v průběhových tvarech) have fun hanging out (ing tvary na místě českých vedlejších vět) most of the people (x most people, the most people, most of people) visit someone's house (nečekaný přivlastňovací způsob... someone else's, steal a guy's gun) end up smiling (end up: ing tvar + překlad dopadlo to tak, že..., přehozený podmět) neither did they (také ne... so did they) although we were different (+ even though... we were other but we got along) she kept trying (keep namísto not stop nebo continue, české pořád se snažila... she still tried) talk me into coming (předložka + ing tvar) explain to her (nutné to... describe to me, nejlépe předmět vynechat) and I did (pomocná slovesa namísto českého ano/ne... zde a taky že ano ) I was excited to go / to be going (průběhový základní tvar... be excited jako české těšit se )
questions (1) kdy čas letí (2) jestli byli všichni lidé které potkala milí (3) proč si s ní chtěli všichni vykládat (4) jestli ji zvali do hodně rodin (5) čí rodiče tam potkávala (6) jestli byli schopni spolu mluvit (7) jestli jim vadilo že nemluvili /bother (8) jak spolu vycházely s Mary /get along (9) čeho se bála Lisina matka (10) co chtěla aby Lisa udělala (11) jestli byla Lisa schopná jí vysvětlit jak se cítí (12) kdo ječel na koho /yell (13) jestli si Lisa uvědomila jak moc jí chybí Iowa (14) jestli se rozhodla odjet i když se měla skvěle (15) jestli si myslela, že se vrátí (16) jestli se těšila na to až se vrátí /look forward to