Moje ucitelka, Sylva, recommended in Czech class that we read children’s comic books to learn practice pronunciation and learn basic sentence structure. Ctyrlístek (CH-terzh-leestek) is a famous comic that is now in its 40th year. All my students know it, and most grew up reading them. The comic has funny characters — a pig, a cat/human, a bunnie, and a doggie girl (one student said “she’s a bit of a bitch”). They get into all sorts of hijinks.

There are also short strips of cats, two guys drinking in a bar, and one with a dog w/glass, a chicken dressed in a suit, a fox, and what looks like an alligator. Anyway, the strips are fun, and get me speaking Czech, which is a tough language but one I’m determined to learn at least a bit of.

I read to myself on the metro, when the train is in motion, so that I can hear my words but no one else can. I get a few strange looks, but fcuk ‘em if they can’t take a joke.