After nearly three decades of learning Slovak, you might think that understanding Czech would be easy. Czech and Slovak are famously similar — so why can I still get completely lost in a five-minute Czech phone call?

In this episode of the Blorecast, I look at my very strange relationship with the Czech language: from my first exposure to Czech at university and then on Slovak television, through years of increasingly irrational frustration, to finally deciding that perhaps I should perhaps get over myself.

I talk about Czech vs Slovak, how mutually intelligible the two languages really are, why exposure matters, and why Slovaks who grew up watching Czech television and cartoons often have a very different experience of Czech from someone like me.

Along the way, there are Czech pronunciation nightmares, Czech car vocabulary, the famous ř sound, strč prst skrz krk, Prague’s metro announcements, Petr Novotný’s pepř a sůl, Karel Gott, Tři oříšky pro Popelku, and the Czech words that I increasingly find rather wonderful.

So, after 28 years in Slovakia, can I speak Czech?

Well… no.

But I can sing it.

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Chapters

00:00 Can I speak Czech?

01:40 My Slovak isn’t perfect either

03:03 My first encounters with Czech

04:06 Czech on Slovak television

04:44 The terrifying Czech ř

05:41 The greatest dad joke in the world

06:08 Slovak vs Czech exposure

07:03 My first trip to the Czech Republic

07:28 The tomato soup problem

08:35 Czech on the telephone

09:50 My Czech–Slovak grudge

10:11 The Quora Incident

10:49 The uncanny similarity of Slovakia and Scotland

11:35 Why I finally got over myself

12:20 Learning Czech with Duolingo

13:19 The lovely sounds of Slovak and Czech

13:58 Can I fool a Czech person?

14:43 Outtakes

Are Czech and Slovak really mutually intelligible? How much Czech can a Slovak understand? And what about the other way round? Let me know what you think in the comments.

If you enjoyed this video, subscribe to the Blorecast so you don’t miss the next one.

The previous video featuring me speaking Slovak: https://youtu.be/p_tZ1uKeNvc

#Czech #Slovak #CzechLanguage #SlovakLanguage #CzechVsSlovak #LearnCzech #Slovakia #Blorecast

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Picture Attributions

Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub

⸻

Music

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

A few weeks ago, I received a challenge from a viewer: speak Slovak for an entire video.

I was sceptical. After all, my Slovak is… not great, not terrible!

But after making a few videos about Slovak food, I started seeing some familiar comments about British cuisine: “British food is terrible”, “Brits don’t know how to cook”, and so on.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone — zabiť dve muchy jednou ranou. I would accept the Slovak language challenge while also answering one of the internet’s favourite myths: is British food really that bad?

In this video, I speak Slovak (well… mostly Slovak!) while talking about:

🇬🇧 traditional British foods that deserve more respect

🇸🇰 what Slovakia does differently with food culture

🥔 Slovak zemiaky v pahrebe vs British baked potatoes

🍽️ why traditional food survives better in some countries

🌭 sausages, gravy, baked beans, and other food debates from the comments

After 28 years living in Slovakia, I’ve learned that you can genuinely love the food of the country where you live while still missing the flavours you grew up with.

A huge thank you to everyone who commented on my previous Slovak food videos — your corrections, suggestions and stories made this episode possible.

Chapters:

00:00 The Slovak challenge

01:10 The Slovak Begins

01:39 Defending traditional British food

02:19 Some things you just have to grow up with

02:44 Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)

03:31 The real problem with British food

04:00 Slovak baked potatoes: zemiaky v pahrebe

05:12 Food traditions and why they matter

06:01 Back to English: corrections from the last food video

08:06 Final thoughts

If you enjoyed this video, let me know:

What food from another country have you fallen in love with?

And please be kind with my Slovak corrections! 😄

Rasty's Deli and Butchery

https://rastys.sk/product-category/breakfast-sausages/

🇸🇰🇬🇧 More food from The Blorecast:

10 Slovaks Foods I Love https://youtu.be/Sp0uE2P1eN0

10 Unwritten Rules of Slovak Food https://youtu.be/r1zkxy8A-Sc

#Slovakia #SlovakLanguage #BritishFood #LivingInSlovakia #LearnSlovak #SlovakCulture

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Picture Attributions

Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub

⸻

Music

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

After nearly 30 years living in Slovakia, I think I've finally figured out the unwritten rulebook behind Slovak food — the stuff no cookbook tells you, but every Slovak grows up just knowing.

This is part two of my deep dive into Slovak vs British food. Last time I shared 10 Slovak dishes I love (and a couple I still can't get on board with) — and the comments made it very clear there's a whole set of unspoken rules I'd missed. So today: the results of my pastry-and-meat challenge, six more food rules, and one genuinely baffling mystery about Slovakia's relationship with potatoes.

🕒 Video Chapters:

0:00 Intro

0:22 Recap: soup, sweet lunches, and why one carb is never enough

2:03 The great pastry-and-meat challenge — results

4:22 Sweet things stay sweet in Slovakia

5:19 Savoury breakfasts vs British cereal culture

7:04 What makes a "real" sausage

8:10 Green might not be mint

8:29 The great cabbage obsession

8:56 Gravy & custard: the sauces Slovakia never needed

10:27 The biggest mystery in Slovak cuisine

If you're British, Slovak, or just someone who loves comparing food cultures, I think you'll enjoy this one. Let me know in the comments if I got anything wrong — or if you can solve the potato mystery at the end.

🇸🇰🇬🇧 More from The Blorecast:

10 Slovaks Foods I Love https://youtu.be/Sp0uE2P1eN0

#SlovakFood #Slovakia #BritishFood #FoodCulture #ExpatLife #Kosice #Blorecast

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Picture Attributions

Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub

⸻

Music

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

And the inspirational music is this:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Music: Exalted by Aylex https://soundcloud.com/alexproductionsmusic

License: https://freetouse.com/license

Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/fXh

Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What happens to an English man's palate after nearly 28 years of living in Slovakia? You start having aggressive, uncompromising protocols about frankfurters, and you accept double-carbohydrate meals as an objective scientific truth.

In this episode of the Blorecast, I’m taking you on a culinary tour of my life in Slovakia—from the absolute comfort masterpieces found at a traditional koliba, to the 4.5 local "monstrosities" that my British stomach still categorically refuses to accept. We’re covering everything from the legendary bryndzové halušky and garlic-heavy zemiakové placky to the confusing cultural phenomenon of the "sweet lunch" (sladký obed) and the infamous "fish yogurt" known as Treska.

Slovakia sits at an incredible culinary crossroads of Hungarian, Czech, Austrian, and Polish traditions, creating a hearty, peasant-logic diet built for long winters and hard farm work.

🚨 MY CHALLENGE TO THE COMMENTS: Why does Slovak cuisine completely avoid meat wrapped in pastry? No meat pies, no sausage rolls, no pasties! If you know of a true Slovak meat-in-pastry exception that proves me wrong, drop it in the comments below! (And no, pagáče do not count!)

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and tell me your favorite comfort dish!

🕒 Video Chapters:

0:00 - The Ultimate Multi-Carb Approach to Life

0:31 - Where Am I, Exactly? (A Culinary Geography Note)

1:36 - 1. Párky & 2. Fresh Slovak Bread (The Saturday Ritual)

2:43 - 3. Turecká Káva (Honourable Mention: Parenica & Tatárska)

4:58 - 4. Thick Soups & 5. Schnitzels (Plutonium-Dense Comfort Food)

5:17 - 6. Zemiakové Placky, Lokše & Langoš (Say No to Ketchup!)

6:39 - 7. Granadiersky Pochod (Pure Peasant Logic)

7:09 - 8. Hovädzí Vrabec (The Czech Pub Classic)

7:41 - 9. Bryndzové Halušky & Pirohy (& The Sweet Lunch Problem)

8:51 - 10. Medové Rezy (Honourable Mention: Pečené Buchty)

9:32 - The 4.5 Monstrosities That Broke Me: The Sours

10:30 - The Mayonnaise Salads & The Treska Experience

11:23 - Huspenina: The Silver Cloche Tragedy

12:04 - Chicken Diana & Držková Soup

12:41 - The Missing Link: Where is the Meat Pastry?

13:37 - The Logic, the Zabíjačka & How I Became Slightly Slovak

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#SlovakFood #LifeInSlovakia #Slovensko #Blorecast #Halusky #Treska #FoodReview #SlovakCulture

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Attributions

Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub

⸻

Music

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

Why do smart people believe things that aren’t true?

Why do cold drinks get blamed for sore throats? Why do people trust vitamin supplements, miracle cures, or conspiracy theories? And why does Slovakia consistently rank among the most conspiracy-prone countries in Europe?

In this episode, I explore the cognitive shortcuts that all humans use to make sense of the world—and why the same mental “operating system” can produce very different results in different historical and cultural environments.

From old wives’ tales and folk medicine to institutional distrust, education, fatalism, David Icke, Soňa Peková and Peter Kotlár, this is an attempt to understand not why Slovaks are irrational, but why human beings are.

📌 Chapters

00:00 Quiz: Common Beliefs

00:41 The answers

02:12 Received wisdom

02:24 The Three Frozen Men (Traja zmrznutí muži)

03:34 Cold drinks and sore throats

04:24 The meningitis scare

05:11 Phenylephrine, supplements and smart consumers

06:19 Our cognitive operating system

07:16 The lure of simple stories

07:55 The Slovak Localisation

08:45 Old Magic

10:37 Who Do You Trust?

12:39 Come Flies, East Me

15:03 David Icke and Soňa Peková

17:13 Glass Houses: Britain, conspiracy thinking and Nigel Farage

19:20 Outro

Sources and further reading:

• GLOBSEC 2020

https://www.globsec.org/what-we-do/publications/voices-central-and-eastern-europe-perceptions-democracy-governance-10-eu

https://www.globsec.org/what-we-do/publications/perception-democracy-and-conspiracies-slovakia

• European Social Survey (ESS)

https://ess.sikt.no/en/datafile/f37d014a-6958-42d4-b03b-17c29e481d3d?tab=1&elems=ef74b26c-f25a-4922-ba98-01764aca7c1d

• YouGov

https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/33746-global-where-believe-conspiracy-theories-true

• Cochrane Review

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4/full?highlightAbstract=vitamin%7Cc

• Research on phenylephrine efficacy https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10730950/

• David Icke interview on Wogan (1991): https://youtu.be/ZS1dVBedfo0?si=_wC38wWKC8nBeQJJ

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and join the discussion in the comments.

#Slovakia #ConspiracyTheories #CriticalThinking #Psychology #Misinformation #DavidIcke #SoňaPeková #PeterKotlár #Blorecast

This is the final part of a three-part arc. Here are the first two:

Part I — Put Some Socks On! https://youtu.be/LiEDKykC0bQ?si=yhUG4wznHU2OunyZ

Part II — The Lekáreň https://youtu.be/-IgtLxdFrJk

⸻

🔔 Subscribe for more

The Blorecast is a podcast from The School of Blore in Košice, Slovakia. It’s about life, culture, language, and exams – all served up with a dose of humour and storytelling. Whether you’re learning English, preparing for Cambridge exams, or just curious about life in Slovakia, you’ll find something here.

⸻

The Blorecast is also available as a podcast

🎧 Listen: https://feeds.captivate.fm/blorecast/

https://open.spotify.com/show/0kHQShCL2BG10TD20ILDNb

https://podcasts.apple.com/sk/podcast/the-blorecast/id1837288694

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Attributions

Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

The first funky breakbeat drum loop is by Alexander, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://www.orangefreesounds.com/vintage-drum-and-organ-beat-87-bpm/

And the new ones are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

A couple of years ago, a Slovak specialist wrote me a prescription. I took it to the lekáreň, paid €22, and only googled it afterwards. What I found made me — a trained chemist — genuinely furious with myself.

This is Episode 28 of The Blorecast, and it's about Slovakia's pharmacy culture: why there are twice as many pharmacies per person here as in the UK, what's actually on those shelves, and why the Slovak medical system treats magnesium, salt caves, magnetic therapy and homeopathy with roughly the same institutional confidence.

I'm not here to mock Slovakia. The system has treated me well for over 27 years. But there's a specific and fascinating reason why the line between conventional and alternative medicine is drawn differently here than in Britain — and it has everything to do with history.

📖 Full source list and references: https://blore.sk/en/blorecast-28-master-sources-evidence-compendium/

Part I — Slovaks vs The Cold: https://youtu.be/LiEDKykC0bQ?si=yhUG4wznHU2OunyZ

Part III — [LINK when live]

🕐 CHAPTERS

00:00 The €22 Prescription

[01:31] The Lekáreň — Slovakia's Favourite Shop

[03:43] Not All Evidence Is Equal

[04:26] The Spectrum: Magnesium

[05:55] Salt and Salt Caves

[07:47] Magnetic Therapy

[09:21] Kosmodisk

[10:27] Honey vs Calcium Syrup

[11:41] Homeopathy

[12:57] Why the System Works This Way

[14:44] The Irony

#Slovakia #SlovakCulture #BritishInSlovakia #ExpatLife #Košice #Lekáreň #AlternativeMedicine #Homeopathy #SlovakMedicine #BritishExpat #LearnSlovak #CentralEurope

⸻

🔔 Subscribe for more

The Blorecast is a podcast from The School of Blore in Košice, Slovakia. It’s about life, culture, language, and exams – all served up with a dose of humour and storytelling. Whether you’re learning English, preparing for Cambridge exams, or just curious about life in Slovakia, you’ll find something here.

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Attributions

Rod of Asclepius (thumbnail): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esclapius_stick_1.svg

Maps: Mapy.com (Kosice and Aberdeen)

Halotherapy: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halotherapy_Spain_.jpg

Hospital Magnets: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neuro-ms.png

Kosmodisk online: https://www.lekarnicka.sk/rehabilitacne-pomocky/masazne-pristroje/Kosmodisk-Classic

Homeopathy bottles: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Homeopathy#/media/File:Homeopathic332.JPG

Homeopathy sugar pills: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homeopathy_globules.jpg

Crystal Healing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Dee%27s_crystal,_used_for_clairvoyance_%26_healing,_17th_C_Wellcome_M0019989.jpgAromatherapy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aromatas.JPG

Holland & Barrett: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holland_%26_Barrett.jpg

Covid vaccine: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pfizer-BioNTech_COVID-19_vaccine_%282020%29_E.jpg

Boiron Revenue: https://www.reuters.com/markets/companies/BOIR.PA/financials/income-annual

The original studies referenced in the video can be found here: https://blore.sk/en/blorecast-28-master-sources-evidence-compendium/

Other photos are James's own (all rights reserved).

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

The first funky breakbeat drum loop is by Alexander, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://www.orangefreesounds.com/vintage-drum-and-organ-beat-87-bpm/

And the new ones are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

Why do Slovaks choose warm Coke? Why will a draught kill you but a frozen lake won't? Why does my wife prescribe socks as the solution to frequent urination?

After 27 years in Slovakia, I've developed a theory: Slovaks don't have random superstitions about cold — they have a framework. Cold is an active agent of harm. It is trying to get in. And that framework turns out to be more interesting, more historically rooted, and occasionally more scientifically defensible than it first appears.

This is Part 1 of a three-part arc. Next time: the lekáreň.

🧦 Wear some bloody socks!

Chapters:

0:00 Chladená alebo nechladená?

0:44 Pranostiky: Slovakia's calendar of cold

2:27 The prievan: the silent killer

6:39 The thermostat, the aircon, and the sauna paradox

9:52 Socks, hats, and the months with an R

12:51 Cold drinks and sore throats

14:05 What's really going on?

15:17 Outro

⸻

🔔 Subscribe for more

The Blorecast is a podcast from The School of Blore in Košice, Slovakia. It’s about life, culture, language, and exams – all served up with a dose of humour and storytelling. Whether you’re learning English, preparing for Cambridge exams, or just curious about life in Slovakia, you’ll find something here.

⸻

📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk

📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/

📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk

👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk

📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/

⸻

Attributions

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_blank_map_with_Kosovo.png

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panel%C3%A1ky.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bc105_thermostat_front_view.png

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauna_2.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zamrznut%C3%A1_vodn%C3%A1_n%C3%A1dr%C5%BE_Sigord,_Koko%C5%A1ovce_25_Slovakia_12.jpg

https://libreshot.com/legs-in-cold-water/ by https://martinvorel.com/

Microwave Ping: https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/household-microwave-ding-104123/

Scream: https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-cartoon-scream-1-6835/

Other photos are James's own (all rights reserved).

Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE

The first funky breakbeat drum loop is by Alexander, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://www.orangefreesounds.com/vintage-drum-and-organ-beat-87-bpm/

And the new ones are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat