What does this mean???
 

What does this mean? "....there is minimum 5 day only for UNESCO town as Prague you are not first who are coming from your country and US with these ideas." I received this E-mail from a tour guide in Prauge? Is there a minimum stay in this country?

That makes no sense. I was only there for only 2 days and heard nothing like that. Maybe that particular guide has a 5 day minimum.

I agree, it sounds like this is some tour guide marketing a tour and that company has a minimum purchase requirement.... or something. Did you know this person and email them before, or is it just spam? It sounds like a reference to something you asked them or wanted to do (re the ideas).

The UNESCO town is probably a reference to Cesky Krumlov. Can't help with the rest though. Sounds like something that may have been run through one of those on-line translators such as Babblefish.

I think if you break it down it sounds like there is a minimum 5 (people for the tour), for a UNESCO town in Prague. This tour guide feels he/she can create minimum requirement because other people have been interested????

I think I would avoid a tour guide whose e-mails were incomprehensible!

Well done, beatchick.

I'm with Anonymous. If you can't understand their simple email message, how much can you possibly get out of their tour?

My guess at intrepretation was that he was simply saying "to see Prague with all its sights, you need to spend 5 days minimum."

My shot at translation:
"You need a minimum of 5 days to see a UNESCO town, such as Prague. Other people from the US have done so."

some good guesses, I would think beatchick may be on to it -- it probably is referring to five people needed for the tour and they have others who are interested in it.

There are many UNESCO sites in the Czech Republic, and the center of Prague is one of them, so I imagine that's what that is referring to (not necessarily Cesky Krumlov some other UNESCO town). The Old Town center of Prague is a UNESCO site. It probably is referring to a tour of main sights in central Prague. However, it could be some tour of other UNESCO towns in the Czech Republic from Prague.

I suspect if this is a response to an email from alohalandia, that original email would make it clear.

This is somehow like an experience I heard about from a German friend, who spent 7 years earning 2 degrees and teaching in the USA.

He sent a subordinate in a company car to fetch an American visitor from the train station.

The German did not speak polished English and the American spoke Ja und Nein.

As the car was leaving the train station parking area, a policeman stopped them. He said to the German driver, Ihr Beifahrer ist nicht abgeschnallt.

The German told the American, "He says you need to be fixed."

My friend is still laughing.

I second the motions of Anonymous and Patrick. Find another tour guide.

Non-English speaking countries sometimes go out of their
way to communicate with their English-speaking tourists:


Cocktail lounge, Norway:

LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN
IN THE BAR.

At a Budapest zoo:
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU
HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE
GUARD ON DUTY.

Doctor's office, Rome:
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner, Japan:
COOLES AND HEATES: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF
WARM AIR IN YOUR ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.

In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE
OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.

On the grounds of a Nairobi private school:
NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION.

In Aamchi Mumbai restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.

The best!!! In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE
CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian
Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY
WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS,
ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT
THURSDAY.

Hotel, Zurich:
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING
GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM,
IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR
THIS PURPOSE.

Advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:
TEETH EXTRACTED BY THE LATEST METHODISTS.

A laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND
THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:
TAKE ONE OF OUR HORSE-DRIVEN CITY TOURS -
WE GUARANTEE NO MISCARRIAGES.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:
GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:

WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

The best!!!! In a Japanese cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS
FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

OOPS/. A German speaker will catch my error. The intended word was anschnallen. The b and n are too close together on my keyboard for a fumble fingered typist.

Those other translations are a scream.
I need to send those to my quad lingual friend.

Those are thigh slappers, FainaAgain. Thanks.

faina does it again :)

This is turning out to be a pretty funny thread!

Thanks Ira & Christina, I was just taking a stab at it. I didn't think it was necessarily bad English, just bad punctuation. Perhaps inflection in the voice (with appropriate pauses, stops and starts) during the tour will be clearer than the written word.

I'm interested in seeing further interpretations. :)

Funny, Faina, funny!!

In any case, I'd probably just opt for Leslie Strauss' guide recommendation since she seemed so happy with her. But then again, maybe that IS the guide she used!! ;)

where is Leslie Strauss's guide?

If you avoid all businesses with awkwardly worded English translations you will find it difficult to eat, find a hotel, etc, etc in Prague.

Of course you should always be very cautious about what tour operator you choose but a snap reaction to stay away from a business just because of one awkwardly worded sentence or whole email for that matter means a wrong attitude toward travel and the world in general.

This email is not difficult. Obviously they are talking about Prague as the "UNESCO town" and either suggesting five days (not people as it clearly says "5 day") to spend there or have a five day minimum for particular tours. The answer is probably easily learned from the context of the email or here's an idea...write back and ask them if you are interested in their tour.

Maybe they take for granted that people know that an EU country such as the Czech Republic could never have a minimum stay requirement for visitors!

I have worked in Prague for about 6 months and just about every communication from our Czech customer looked like this...it's just part of interacting with people in the world and if you approach it with the right attitude there is no problem.

What is funny here is all the nonsense attempts that don't even realise they are talking about a 5 day stay in Prague.

Personally, I think they are talking about Stonehenge which is a UNESCO site and 5 particular stones that are best viewed with 5 people from the US with similar ideas to you regarding the city of Prague.

Hi Cz has a long list of UNESCO
Sites listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List:

1992 Historic Centre of Prague Telè - Town Square
1992 Historic Centre of Èeský Krumlov
1992 Historic Centre of Telè
1994 Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora
1995 Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of Saint Barbara and the Cathedral of our Lady at Sedlec
1996 Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
1998 Hola?ovice Historical Village Reservation
1998 Gardens and Castle at Kromìøí?
1999 Litomy?l Castle
2000 Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc
2001 Tugendhat Villa in Brno
2003 The Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Tøebíè
could it mean that it would tak 5 days to get around them all?
Sounds like spam to me..one for the trash
Muck

I certainly wouldn't avoid a business such as a restaurant, hotel, store, etc. based on weak English. But I wouldn't hire a TOUR GUIDE whom I couldn't understand.

This reminds me of some of the tour guides in places like Pompeii and many sites in Turkey, where they stand around and try to get you to hire them as your personal tour guide. Often I couldn't understand a word they were saying. I avoided them but wasn't quite sure how to politely say, "how can you guide me when I can't understand you?"

But Patrick, how else will you find your way to their father-in-law's carpet store for an extra-special deal?

Funny you mention that Anonymous. Actually I found the carpet hawkers to speak flawless English and they were easily understood. I'm thinking more of the ones like in Cappodocia at the underground cities, etc. Maybe they couldn't get jobs as carpet hawkers because their English wasn't good enough, so they decided to be tour guides instead?

I tried searching for the name of Leslie's tour guide in Prague here but couldn't locate. I'll aske her & post back.

it's always best to have an american (preferably one from your part of the country) show you around europe. You will always know that you will be able to understand every word with no extra effort and without having to deal with any pesky accents or stupid people who can't speak english "perfectly" like they do in america.

walkinaround, I'm going to assume your message was meant to be funny, because I refuse to believe you are a total idiot.

No one is complaining about accents here or wanting an American to guide them. And no one is saying that Europeans should be expected to speak English -- but a person hiring himself out as a tour guide to Americans should speak at least comprehensible English, don't you agree? Only a complete fool would hire a tour guide if he couldn't understand a single word the person was saying. And if you don't agree with that statement then I'll go back to my opening sentence and determine that you are indeed the second and not the first after all.

In the past you have made many intelligent postings. What has come over you to post such nonsensical ones?

I had thought/hoped that walkinaround's post was meant to be extremely tongue-in-cheek/ironic.

In any case, Leslie's guide was Czech and she was very happy with her guide's performance.

UH -OH, now I fear I've been unclear. Yes, of course I thought too it was probably meant to be very tongue-in-cheeck but as a sort of slam saying that those of us talking about the problem with the language felt the way she is describing. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt thinking just maybe she wasn't so silly she believed that's really what we thought, but that she was just trying to make a funny joke about the whole thing without making an insult to those who have already posted about the language barriers.

Yes, I see that now, Patrick, since I read her previous post. And she was taking a slam at ME and all I was doing was trying to help. Pardon moi, walkin', for attempting to offer some assistance. I suppose we should ALL bow to the master seeing you've lived in Praha lo these MANY months (where IS that rolling of the eyes emoticon). Too bad you can't back up your assessments with some real feedback instead of focusing your negative energy to this thread.

And you mention approaching this with the right attitude. I thought I had. Too bad your posts come across with a poor one.

"What is funny here is all the nonsense attempts that don't even realise they are talking about a 5 day stay in Prague."
No, it wasn't that obvious to me but at least I was making an honest effort to understand. I was approaching it as a word puzzle. It reminded me very much of what medieval English must have been like without punctuation. And then again, I might use Jack Kerouac's "The Subterraneans" as an example of a work in English that doesn't use punctuation and is a little difficult to understand (at first) but working through it you get a flow of the language and you understand eventually what's being said.

Or you might just wish to read one of my previous comments:
"I didn't think it was necessarily bad English, just bad punctuation. Perhaps inflection in the voice (with appropriate pauses, stops and starts) during the tour will be clearer than the written word."
It is my contention that hearing someone speak is different than seeing the written word. So although I was attempting to be neutral I was actually trying to lend credence to the writer of the e-mail.