Czech out the Geography of Soccer and Language

Friday, June 18, 2010: Prague, Czech Republic

This summer has been a particularly exciting time to be in Europe, especially with the 2010 World Cup. One thing I have seen is that Europeans love their football-- a lot. Since I used to play the sport, and because we have been surrounded by it everywhere we've gone, I've become a lot more interested in experiencing the power of football. So it was no surprise that my friends and I stopped when we saw a huge stage, several games (including a mechanical soccer ball), and a giant screen showing the games of the World Cup in the middle of the Old Town Square in Prague.

After walking around the city all day, we decided to sit down among the crazy, avid, and slightly intoxicated football fans on the cobblestone ground and enjoy watching several games of football in the warm sun. It was surreal sitting in the middle of an ancient city surrounded by buildings as old as 1000 years and modern businesses like Starbucks watching the world's most popular sport. As we watched the USA versus Slovenia game, we were overwhelmed by American fans singing national songs and loudly cheering Slovenians, as well as a cluster of other cultures.

Sitting amongst a wide range of people from all over Europe allowed us to experience our lesson in geography last week about the politics of football firsthand. As we discussed, football reveals insights into international conflict, global economics, and politics. The sport is essentially a reflection of the effects of globalization on society. Like Foer says in his book, How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, football "gives life to tribal identities in a world where a European Union and globalization are happily shredding such ancient sentiments" like nationalism. People can therefore use football as a way to form a shared identity and a sense of belonging, establishing nationalism. By surrounding myself by a diverse group of people cheering for "their team," I was able to see how the sport allows people to express their pride and loyalty to their country as well as understand how football has infiltrated everyday life all over the world. For more on football and World Cup coverage, visit http://www.fifa.com/, and to learn more about World Cup coverage in Prague, see prague.tv/events/info/world-cup-2010.

As I watched the games on the huge screen, I realized that I had no idea what the commentators were saying-- it was all in Czech. Even though I could not understand a word of what was being said, I still understood the universal language of football. I tried listening to the Czech language to learn a little about it since we have been discussing languages in class as well. After some research, I learned that the Czech language is Slavonic and spoken by about 12 million people (http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/czech/index.html). Czech is just one of the many diverse languages spoken throughout Baltic and Easten Europe, and many people of Czech Republic also know other languages. Almost everyeone I encountered in Prague knew English, and I learned that many speak some German because of the country's proximity to Germany and Austria. Additionally, those who grew up during the communist era were forced to learn Russian. Nowadays, many Czechs refuse to speak the language because of its ties to the times of Soviet oppression. Czech is linguistically related to its neighboring country's language, Slovak. However, since Czechoslovakia broke apart on January 1, 1993, the languages are becoming more discernible. It's crazy to think that the language we were listening to while watching football has so much history and meaning behind it.
Listening to the chants, songs, and screams of the people in Old Town Square never got old. It was all so exciting, and I found myself being drawn into the games more and more, as well as the wide range of people watching them. There were lots of people dressed in denim, tons of hilariously drunk dancing hobos, and football fans from all over the place. It was a completely random compilation of people, but it was amazing to be a part of the group watching the World Cup in the middle of Prague. I was only expecting to enjoy some football amongst this group of people, but I ended up learning a lot more.

For more on Prague, its history, and people, visit: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact2003/geos/ez.html
or http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/eu_members/czechrepublic/index_en.htm