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This week we introduce new voices on Radio Prague and announce the topic of Radio Prague's annual listeners' competition. We quote from an e-mail from Wamae Gichuru from Canada.
"I often listen to your show from Canada on the CBC very early on weekday mornings. I just visited your website for the first time and was wondering why Rosie Johnston is not pictured in your English staff photo? I only ask because she has the nicest accent and I was wondering what she looks like."
Well, Rosie Johnston is not in the photo because she was not yet with Radio Prague at the time when the photo was taken. We have a photo taken of the entire English section twice a year, every time the broadcasting schedule changes. The photo is mainly for our printed broadcasting schedule which we sent to our listeners worldwide.
But it's not only Rosie who has joined Radio Prague since the beginning of the last broadcasting season. You will have noticed other new voices on our airwaves. So I went around the office and asked all of the four young women who've been contributing recently to Radio Prague's programmes to briefly introduce themselves.
Rosie: "Hello, I'm Rosie Johnston, I'm from Scotland and I like working at Radio Prague. I'm currently studying somewhere else and I'm studying Czech, so I'm learning lots at the Radio Prague offices."
Rosie enjoys doing programmes about Czech literature and you may have heard her Czech Books last Sunday on Magdalena Dobromila Rettigova. Another new voice is Nikola Brabenec who has done a number of programmes on the anti-communist opposition movement in Czechoslovakia, as well as stories about the Roma minority in the Czech Republic.
Nikola: "My name is Nikola Brabenec and I'm Czech-Canadian. I was born in Prague and I grew up in Canada. My family's history is quite connected to this country as my father is in an underground band and it's the reason why we emigrated, we were sort of kicked out of this country. So I'm back! I've been here for six months and I'll be here for another month and then I'll head back."
Kate Barrette joined Radio Prague in October and she just completed her M.A. in Russian and East European studies in Canada.
Kate Barrette: "My name is Kate Barrette and I'm from Toronto in Canada. I arrived here in Prague in October, I came to Radio Prague through a Canadian grant and I'll be here until the spring. I really love covering stories to do with art and music and of course, I really love covering hockey as well."
And last but not least, in the last couple of weeks you could hear the voice of Fahima Khail on Radio Prague's airwaves.
Fahima: "I'm Fahima Khail. I come from Afghanistan but we've been living in Germany for 14 years. At the moment I'm studying broadcast journalism in England and now I'm here at Radio Prague doing work placement. I would love to stay at Radio Prague for longer but unfortunately I'll be here only until April."
As we announced earlier, Easter Sunday is the day when we announce Radio Prague's annual competition. Listeners of all Radio Prague's sections can join it and send us their essays in all six Radio Prague's languages.
To enter, just send us a few sentences on the following subject:
"What Czech beer means to me."
The winner will receive a week's stay for two in the Czech Republic, while runners-up will receive other attractive prizes.
The winning answer will be broadcast on Radio Prague.
The winner and a friend will be accommodated in family style in the heart of Prague, at the Hotel Falkensteiner Maria Prag, while your flight will be courtesy of Czech Airlines - your travel partner to the Czech Republic.
Please send your entries to the following address before June 15th:
Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 12099, Prague 2, Czech Republic or you can use our e-mail address [email protected]
That's our annual competition but we also run small, monthly contests in which we ask about famous people of Czech descent. Each month the winner of this competition gets a CD of Czech music.
"This month we'd like to know the name of the man who was President of Brazil in the latter half of the 1950s. A physician by his original profession, when elected President he launched an immense public works programme, including construction of roads, hydroelectric projects and also the new capital city, Brasília. (A clue: the international airport in Brazil's capital bears his name.)"
You have four more days to send your answers to Radio Prague, 12099 Prague, Czech Republic or [email protected]
