Mailbox
This week in Mailbox: The Defence Ministry's intention to sell some of the Czech Army’s property; the Czech Republic receives a family of Cuban political exiles; subtitles or dubbing? Listeners quoted: Frank Miata, Jerry Fridrich, Marc Soens.
Hello and welcome to Mailbox, Radio Prague’s Sunday programme dedicated to listeners’ questions and comments.
Our regular listener Frank Miata responded to Monday’s news story on the Ministry of Defence’s intention to sell roughly 64 million crowns worth of the Czech Army’s property over the next year, including automobiles, handguns, armour, parachutes and rocket launchers.
“What an opportunity for any Czech driver to have an armored car of his/her own! Finally, a way to feel safe on the roads. Plus, just in time for Christmas, parents may buy little Pavel a rocket launcher to use in the future demonstrations against austerity measures sure to come.
“It is commendable that the Czech military actually keeps track of its weapons and vehicles. The American military has hundreds of billions of dollars worth of hardware unaccounted for and still manages to sell more weapons to other countries than any other nation. Any spare flamethrowers for weed eradication?”
“The Czech government and the Czechs at large are to be commended for their defence of human rights and for condemning their abuses in Cuba.”
In a postscript to his reception report, Marc Soens from Belgium commented on last Sunday’s Letter from Prague by Ian Willoughby:
“In Belgium we always use the original sound with subtitles on television. Listening to the foreign language while reading the native subtitles is more authentic as you can also hear the original voice of the actor. Dubbing an actor in the language of the broadcasting country can be tricky because if you tune in to a station on a regular basis, you can hear the same dubbing voice representing multiple actors. That can be a little bit confusing. So it’s better to have the original sounds with subtitles to help you understand... Like that you can also learn a foreign language.”
And finally, time for our monthly quiz question:
In October we are looking for the name of a Czech-American jazz guitarist who was born in 1960 in Prague and since the 1980s has been living in the West, performing and also teaching.
You can still send us your answers to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague until midnight tonight, October 31. Next week in Mailbox we will be quoting from your correct answers and we’ll also announce the name of the lucky winner who will be sent a Radio Prague goodie bag. Until then, happy listening.
