Mountain Language

Advantages: Clear and important political message
Disadvantages: Direct, dim, and disturbing

...Mountain Language (1988) By Harold Pinter (1930- ) Mountain Language is a very short one-act play by the English playwright Harold Pinter. The first scene shows a young woman and an elderly woman as they go to visit one of their relatives who was accused of speaking the forbidden mountain language. The older woman was bitten by one of the dogs in the prison, and yet the officer and sergeant torture her and her companion with stupid questions and harass the latter sexually. We see in the second scene that the elderly woman was in the prison to visit her son. The woman tries to talk to her son with the mountain language she is used to, for she doesn't know the capital language, yet the officer starts jabbing her with a stick. Still, she manages to tell her son that his wife and three kids are waiting for him. In the third scene...

sottovoce82 26.12.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mountain Language - Harold Pinter

Beyond Prague: a taste of Czech

Advantages: The other side of Europe: interesting, surprising, varying walks
Disadvantages: Cycle tracks and hotel towels!

...A friend had the idea that “one of those East European countries that used to be hard to visit” would be a good place to go walking. Stumbling across Czech Trails was an accident, the concepts of promotion and competition and business have yet to take hold in the former communist countries ~ something we were to discover throughout the trip. Never have I visited a country with the degree of ignorance that I took into Czech. Events on the homefront had hindered usual levels of research. I knew where the country was; the ‘schoolboy’ bits of its history: Austro-Hungary, the defenestration, the Nazis, the Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution but only in the vaguest terms; none of the language at all, and only the vaguest idea of the specific geography I was heading into. The plan was a day and half in Prague...

hiker 25.06.2004 (26.06.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Czech Trails

Czech Prague Out

Advantages: History, Architecture and Culture
Disadvantages: Lots of walking, steep hills and cobbled streets

...We were planning a weekend break away but the first problem was where. I wanted somewhere with historical interest. David had always been fascinated in the culture of Prague. And so, Prague it was. Knowing we only had limited time in the city, we wanted to ensure that we got as much as possible from the trip as we could. With this in mind, I set about researching the city and its points of interest using the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide to Prague and the many sites available on the Internet particularly (http://www.prague-tourist-information.com/). We booked the flight and holiday for the cost of 300 pounds each. We could have paid less but we had specific requirements in mind for the trip. Czech Airlines ran a direct flight from Manchester which gave an arrival time of 10.30 a.m. thereby giving us almost a full two and a half days...

MAFARRIMOND 30.10.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Prague (Czech Republic)

Czech Holiday of an Englishman

Advantages: Fantastic Scenary & lots of history
Disadvantages: Limited Communications

...Czech, as a result, they found it quite amusing to hear an Englishman attempting their language... (Which was good because they do not speak a great deal of English). I visited one restaurant, Country Saloon, Benovy, Klatovy. This was very authentic decor of something you would imagine from the Wild West. Situated on the main route to the 2nd of the swimming locations, I had noticed it a few times (as we swam daily) so when we actually arrived, I was looking forward to my experience.... The food was very well prepared and the presentation, whilst not overly imaginative, was just right in order that I could tuck straight in and get a good mixture. My only complaint about that restaurant was the flies.... We sat outside and they were plentiful. The facilities on site were very clean and I did not fear for my health. I am aware the cost...

Pugz1 24.07.2006 (25.07.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Czech Trails

Czech Republic, A Time Machine of Adventure

Advantages: Varied Culture, Warm people
Disadvantages: Spoilt by joining the EU

...finally found my reason of travel after leaving prague, I was back in1945. The small towns and villages I travelled through still had signs of wear and tare from the last war, occasionally I would come upon an upturned tank, with inhabitant (Some of these are used as homes) . The people, and their culture were most inviting, I did not dare to speak German to them, and just pressed on with sign language, but before I knew it, I was being wined and dined, and the night flew away. In the morning, instead of waking up in a bath of ice, with my liver removed, I woke up in some family home, with a lady, I would like to call Oma, giving me the foulest tasting tea in the world, but its the thought that counts. A round trip later, and I was in Austria. The Czech republic has built a poor reputation for itself, with Fat Germans using it as...

gt5952 15.10.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of General: Czech Republic

Small-town Czech (& Poland)

Advantages: Cheap, friendly, and still very 'foreign'
Disadvantages: You need to be able to communicate without English

...PLEASE NOTE: Part of this review previously appeared under Czech Trails. Space there did not permit the full op & this section has been extracted and completed. For those who have not read that opinion, it covers the walking aspects of the holiday. Here we look at the towns and villages we encountered. PRAGUE: Prague is too big a concept for this review. Just know that everything you’ve heard is probably true. We loved it. LIBEREC: Day One proper of the Czech Trails trip is the transfer out of Prague to Harrachov. This is where small companies and (very) small groups come into their own, because options become available which are more difficult to accommodate on tight schedules and with large numbers of preferences. We were offered a diversion to Liberec. This was at (modest) extra cost, but did include lunch. As we...

hiker 26.06.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of General: Czech Republic

Is Speech and Language Therapy for you?

Advantages: *
Disadvantages: *

...As many of you know, I am at university studying to become a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT). I decided that this is what I wanted to do a couple of years ago and so far, overall, I'm enjoying the course. What is Speech and Language Therapy? When I tell people I am at university, they immediately ask what I am studying. When I say 'Speech and Language Therapy' some people say 'so you can help me to talk', this really annoys me as there are so many more dimensions to this career. It also disappoints me that so many people are ill-informed, so I'd like to think this review might help some people that don't know exactly what s a SLT is. Also I hope to provide information on to people who think they might have interest in enrolling on a course.. However, there are also lots of people who appreciate the type of course I am...

bluejules 10.03.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Becoming a Speech and Language Therapy Student

The Czech equivalent of Eastbourne

Advantages: Very quiet, lovely architecture in the old town centre, the spring water is good for you
Disadvantages: Very little else to do except visit the spa, and it's definitely an acquired taste!

...That says it all really - this is one of the quietest and most sedate towns I have visited! I went to Marianske Lazne (also known sometimes by its German name, Marienbad) on the way back from a trip to Karlovy Vary, as these two towns are both famed for the revitalising powers of their famous hot springs. It is situated in western Bohemia, just 50 kilometres from the German border and about 30km to the south of Karlovy Vary. It is not on any main roads, so the journey will be quite slow and bumpy if you are travelling by car, and if you are really lucky you'll have a cement mixer block the entire road for 20 minutes while some workmen throw rocks into the river. Strange but true. The approaches to the town from the main road are not particularly welcoming, a feature that appears to be common to many towns in the Czech Republic...

JVL 20.07.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Marianske Lazne (Czech Republic)

Try a new Language!

Advantages: fun, something new and different,
Disadvantages: can be expensive

...+ What is Sign Language? + Sign Language is the language for the deaf and is also preferred by the Hard of Hearing community as well. The language is non-verbal and uses the hands and facial expressions to communicate with others. The language has developed over hundreds of years as well as creating new signs for new things in the world. Also the language keeps up with the new technology as our world develops over the years There are 5,000,000 - 10,000,000 who are deaf or Hard of Hearing in the UK. Around 50,000 use British Sign Language (B.S.L) in the UK. Many of the deaf community prefer using BSL as there first language. Many people will need to encounter a deaf person at least once in their life so communication needs to be at its best for both sides of the conversations to be understood. This is why more people need to know...

emi_angel 28.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Sign Language Courses

Viva Czech Republic

Advantages: Cheap prices, wonderful people, not many English!
Disadvantages: Difficult language to grasp.

...Prague is becoming more commercialised and expensive - and they're right. Those fiendish prices on beer have jumped up at least 50%, to around 40p a pint. Your wallet soon feels the pinch when you return home and find yourself paying two quid again. Prague is a mixture of the old, modern, absurd, magnificent, astonishing, and just plain ugly. Everything within spraying distance is graffitied. For a capital city, it is quite small, and anything you should want to see is within comfortable walking distance. If not, the trams and Metro allow access to most areas, once you've deciphered the signs and maps. Czech is not an easy language for beginners to get on with. Via internet we booked Apartment B-35, on a street named Belehradska. Initially we were worried, peering out of the tram windows and seeing the quality of housing...

Plissken 06.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of General: Czech Republic