Language Tips!

What? You don't speak Slovakian? Not a single word? Not a single syllable? Scandalous. What were you doing all those years? You should have been swotting away in the break between P.E and Geography, not playing kiss chase with Mary Muggins. Slack - devilishly slack. OK, OK, we admit, unless you're of Slovakian descent, or you've married a Slovak, it's unlikely that you know your caj (tea) from your kava (coffee). Although those two are amongst the easier ones slackers. But still, there's no harm in learning a few phrases now - probably not even 007 knew how to order a drink in Slovakian, so now's your chance to outdo the master.

So you've just walked all the way from the Tatra mountains and you're desperate to utter that magic word to the bartender. But no! He doesn't speak English, and you've lost the strength to point! Never fear - below you'll find some handy utterances to note down before you set off: Pivo - Beer
Voda - Water
Toaletny - Toilets
Farmacija - Chemist
Klobasa - Sausage
Cesen - Garlic
Upir - Vampire

There are 43 letters in the Slovak alphabet, most of them recognizable to Europeans. However, as in Poland, a few more have been added on - standard Latin letters with diacritical signs. Pronunciation is not wildly removed from other Slavic languages. And if you have a smattering of Russian, Czech or Polish, you're not going to be lost in Slovakia. Recently, the odd English word has entered the fray, as in 'vikend'.

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