About

Hello and welcome to my blog.


I am an interpreter of Mandarin Chinese, Slovak and English and a graduate of International relations and Chinese studies, currently living in Slovakia. I studied about 25 languages in my life and speak 11 of them at a C1-C2 level (you can read more about my language learning history here and here if you like). 

I was born in Czechoslovakia and lived in different parts of the World for the most part in Slovakia, Czech republic, Austria, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, USA, Russia and Taiwan. 

This site originally started out as a place where I was sharing my thoughts about language learning, especially Mandarin Chinese, but slowly expanded and now is covering a wider range of topics.

 To check out my most popular posts, feel free to look here.

Apart from this blog I have a youtube channel dedicated to Chinese characters, where I teach how to write them, explain their structure, history and usage. 

 I also have a personal youtube channel where I talk about all sorts of things, some of them language related, some of them not.

 Additionally I wrote a book about Chinese characters for anyone interested. You can check it out here.

Sometimes I also make very irregular podcast recordings usually about languages, fitness or life thoughts in general which you can find here.

Vladimir




My language profile

Following is the list of languages I speak and my level in them. I listed languages that I have studied intensively for at least 3 months at some point of my life.  

The percentage shows how well I speak/know these languages compared to my native Slovak language which is the referential 100%. It's a very subjective assessment, but I tried to be as objective as possible:) 

These are my maximum levels, that I reached at some point in my life, not my current level in these languages which is mostly lower. 

  1. Slovak 100% (native)
  2. Hungarian 100% (secondary native, but rusty now)
  3. Czech 99% (secondary native)
  4. English 99% 
  5. German 98%
  6. Russian 97%
  7. Italian 96%
  8. Mandarin 94%
  9. Spanish 92%
  10. French 87%
  11. Portuguese 85%
  12. Farsi/Persian 82%
  13. Serbian 75%
  14. Polish 75%
  15. Classical Chinese 60% 
  16. Latin 50%
  17. Modern Greek 40%
  18. Dutch <40%
  19. Afrikaans <30%
  20. Romanian <30%
  21. Japanese <15%
  22. Cantonese <10%
  23. Southern Min/Hokkien/Taiwanese <7%

Languages and language combinations that I have used in work officially as an interpreter:

Slovak - English
Slovak - Mandarin
Slovak - Italian
Slovak - French
Slovak - Russian
Slovak - Hungarian
Slovak - German

Mandarin - English
Mandarin - German
Mandarin - Spanish
Mandarin - Czech

Spanish - German

Slovak - English - Mandarin
Slovak - Hungarian - Mandarin

Russian - Persian (Tajik) - Slovak

Because a lot of people ask, here are some of my fitness records that I managed to achieve at some point in my life:

5k run: 19m27s
10k run: 46m40s
Half-Marathon: 1h47m

Sprint triathlon: 1h 14m 08s

Climbing: 7a+/VIII+/5.12a

Bench press: 125 kg
Squat: 185 kg
Deadlift: n/a because of previous back injuries

Vertical jump: 81 cm

                                              34 comments:

                                              1. AnonymousOctober 6, 2011 at 2:30 AM

                                                Hello
                                                Le a kalappal. Nem semmi, amit tudsz. Csak gratulalhatok hozza.

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                                              2. VladimirOctober 6, 2011 at 4:00 AM

                                                Kosszonom nagyon szepen.

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                                              3. FasulyeDecember 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM

                                                Hi Vladimir!

                                                I made a new rubrik on my own blog called "Popular Language Blogs" where also your blog is listed. So with one click I am here on your blog!

                                                I want to ask you which languages are you currently studying?

                                                I haved studied paralell Turkish and Danish and before my trip to Copenhagen I decided that it would be more efficient for me to concentrate only one target language. So I have chosen for Danish and I will continue this study project for the coming years.

                                                Fasulye

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                                              4. VladimirDecember 1, 2011 at 6:03 PM

                                                Fasulye,

                                                thank you very much for the add.

                                                I've been a little busy these days but I was planning on creating a similar section here on my blog as well.

                                                I am currently only studying Persian/Farsi... and I'm currently taking a one week rest:)

                                                Vladimir

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                                                Replies
                                                1. IvanaMarch 1, 2012 at 9:36 AM

                                                  Ahoj,

                                                  super stranka, odporucil mi ju moj kamarat, ktory je tvoj fanusik.
                                                  Len tak dalej! Ja studujem cinstinu v BA a tlmocim dost casto, tak bloguj, bloguj, mozeme vymienat poznatky :)

                                                  Ivana

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                                                2. VladimirMarch 1, 2012 at 7:05 PM

                                                  Ahoj Ivana,

                                                  dakujem za pekny komentar.

                                                  Snazim sa robit co mozem, ale velmi sa tej stranke nestiham venovat:(

                                                  Ako dlho studujes cinstinu?

                                                  Vlado

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                                                3. ivanaApril 1, 2012 at 3:18 AM

                                                  Caves, no studujem 3 roky, minuly som bola v Cine a aj ten buduci budem. Ak mas fb alebo cosi budem rada ak si ma pridas.
                                                  iva

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                                              5. AnonymousMarch 22, 2012 at 11:27 PM

                                                Привет Владимир! Я слышала твой подкаст! Прикольно! Ты - молодец!! Сейчас я изучаю русский язык. Раньше я изучила испанский, китайский, и тайский, но к сожалению, много я забыла! Но я надеюсь, я мечтаю, что когда-нибудь я тоже могу говорить на несколькым языком! Опять, молодец!

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                                                1. VladimirMarch 23, 2012 at 1:48 AM

                                                  Привет джей-ти,

                                                  спасибо за комментарий.

                                                  Ваш русский, по крайней мере, в письменной форме, очень хорош. Я к сожалению, что русского касается, тоже забыл много, потому что не занимаюсь ним столько, сколько было бы надо.

                                                  Всего доброго.

                                                  Желаю удачи

                                                  Владимир

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                                              6. YasminaSeptember 25, 2012 at 10:05 AM

                                                Ahoj,Vladimír!Písala som na ten e-mail ale nič. Tak že tak. Som z Ukrajiny,rusky je môj materský jazyk teraz budú začínať výučbu na univerzite na Slovensku. Ak chceš,môžem pomoc tí s ruským,a ty mne pomôžeš zo slovenským. Если тебе еще это интересно,конечно. Тогда давай как-нибудь свяжемся,потому как твой мел не работает.

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                                              7. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2013 at 4:47 PM

                                                Ahoj!

                                                Len teraz som si všimla, že máš blog! :) Želám Ti veĺa úspechov v TW! ;) Sok sikert Taiwanon, remélem minden rendben! ;)

                                                Cisa z How to learn any language

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                                              8. VladimirFebruary 24, 2013 at 6:38 PM

                                                Ahoj Cisa:)

                                                Dakujem pekne. Davno sme sa nepoculi. Aj tebe vsetko dobre. En is remelem nalad minden rendben van. Hivjal fel mar vegre valamikor a skypon :)

                                                tartsd magad

                                                Vlado

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                                              9. pacofJuly 10, 2013 at 9:03 PM

                                                Hello Vladimir!

                                                My God! I am so impressed. I was first inspired by Benny the Irish Polyglot (www.fluentin3months.com) to learn languages but now you are my new polyglot hero!

                                                My name is Paco. I am 20 years old, from Canada. I speak French, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. I am currently learning German, Russian and Japanese.

                                                At what age did you start learning languages? I wish you could post more about your biography. I cannot seem to find much about your life story . . . and it seems so interesting!

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                                              10. VladimirJuly 10, 2013 at 10:00 PM

                                                Hello dear Paco,

                                                thank you for the nice words:)and congratulations on your language achievements.

                                                I learned English as my first foreign language at about the age of eight. I wrote an article a long time ago that I updated a little recently about my language history, in case you're still interested. You can check it out if you like:

                                                http://www.foreverastudent.com/2010/12/my-language-history.html

                                                wish you the best in your studies

                                                Vladimir

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                                              11. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2014 at 12:55 AM

                                                Hi Vladimir,
                                                I was wondering if you'd be interested in a tool for learning Mandarin, Cantonese, or Farsi. I'm helping develop an app that open-sources language learning. I'd love to have you check it out at our Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1632637185/lango-an-interactive-language-learning-app

                                                If you like it we'd love to have your help in getting the word out. Thanks and happy language learning this new year!
                                                Andy Larkin

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                                              12. VladimirJanuary 6, 2014 at 5:46 AM

                                                Hello Andy,

                                                I've sent you a PM on google+.

                                                All the best,

                                                Vladimir

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                                              13. AnonymousJune 24, 2014 at 3:55 PM

                                                Oi Vladimir.

                                                Meu nome é Aucelio. Sou brasileiro. Tenho muito interesse nas línguas eslavas , principalmente o eslovaco, porque acho o eslovaco uma língua linda. Entretanto , há tão pouco material disponível para aprendermos eslovaco que isto às vezes me desanima um pouco. Que tal se você fizesse podcasts e vídeos com texto em eslovaco ? Eu poderia fazer o mesmo em português. Poderiamos fazer algo semelhante ao italianoautomatico. Que tal , acho que seria um sucesso!
                                                Ps : pode me responder em inglês se preferir também...
                                                Um abraço Aucelio

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                                              14. VladimirJune 24, 2014 at 6:03 PM

                                                Hello dear Aucelio,

                                                thank you for your comment and thank you for letting me respond in English:)

                                                I am not very familiar with Slovak language materials, but there is a forum member at the how-to-learn-any-language forum called Chung who is more than well informed. He speaks very good Slovak too. If you need to look for resources, you might like to take a look at his posts.

                                                The idea of a podcast or youtube channel sounds good, but unfortunately I have no time for a project like that :( I barely keep up with my own small youtube channel. If I remember correctly, there are already some podcasts like that, but maybe I might be wrong.

                                                Best of luck with your Slovak studies:)

                                                Vladimir

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                                              15. AnonymousOctober 16, 2014 at 1:34 PM

                                                Ahoj Vlado.
                                                Chcem ta pozdravit a popriat ti vsetko dobre, si bohovsky! :), ohromilo ma co vies, comu sa venujes no proste parada co som sa o tebe cirou nahodou dozvedela vdaka tvojmu blogu :) nadchol si ma aby som sa opat pustila do ucenia sa jazykov.Drzim ti palce a este raz k tebe leti pozdrav z Kosic
                                                Žofia Dučáková
                                                ps:(mozno si ma aj pamatas z Trebišovskej ;), mozno nie, nevadi)

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                                              16. VladimirOctober 16, 2014 at 1:56 PM

                                                Ahoj Zofia:)

                                                dakujem velmi pekne.

                                                Nepamatam si podla mena, ked mam pravdu povedat, ale ja si mena velmi dobre nepamatam.

                                                Drzim palce v uceni:) Nech sa ti dari.

                                                Vlado

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                                              17. AnonymousApril 7, 2015 at 2:14 PM

                                                Hi Vladimir, I`m a 27 aged polyglott from Germany with a slovak-turkish descent and I`m absolutely sharing your passion concerning foreign languages. I`m very excited to see you soon at the polyglott gathering in Berlin and using the languages which we have in common. Greetz from Munich, Niko

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                                              18. VladimirApril 7, 2015 at 9:39 PM

                                                Hello Niko, nice to meet you and looking forward to meet you in Berlin too.

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                                              19. UnknownMay 27, 2015 at 2:39 AM

                                                This comment has been removed by the author.

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                                              20. VladimirMay 27, 2015 at 3:56 AM

                                                Ciao Alberto,

                                                Grazie mille per i complimenti:)

                                                Scusami per la brevissima risposta, ma sono in treno. Mi piacerebbe molto parlare regolarmente in Italiano, grazie per l'offerta. Se puoi, manda mi una email per favore. Grazie.

                                                Saluti cordiali,

                                                Vladimir

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                                              21. UnknownJune 19, 2016 at 12:38 AM

                                                Hi Vladimir.
                                                Ich finde dein Deutsch echt gut and du hast eine tolle Aussprache Respekt ich hoffe du kannst mir helfen ich möchte nämlich französisch lernen doch die Grammatik fällt mir sehr schwer was soll ich tun?

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                                                Replies
                                                1. VladimirJune 19, 2016 at 9:33 AM

                                                  Hi Candy. Grammatik ist etwas, was auch mir ziemlich schwer fällt, unabhängig davon, um welche Sprache es sich handelt. An deiner Stelle würde ich viel lesen. Vielleicht ist es ein Klischee, aber Lesen hilft wirklich und kann beim Sprachenlernen einen großen Unterschied machen. Besonders bei der Französischen Sprache, wo es in der Grammatik so viele Ausnahmen gibt. Hoffentlich hilft es wenigstens ein bisschen:) Liebe Grüße.

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                                              22. UnknownJuly 4, 2016 at 1:34 PM

                                                You are so inspiring! :)

                                                Best regards!

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                                                Replies
                                                1. VladimirJuly 4, 2016 at 10:44 PM

                                                  Thank you very much:)

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                                                2. Bruno BaziqJuly 30, 2016 at 12:30 AM

                                                  Ti si super polyglot! Ja sam Bruno iz Jugoslavije i pricam; Srpsko-Hrvatski, Engleski, Njemacki, Svedski i sada ucim Arapski i Ruski.
                                                  Nadam se da cemo se sresti na nekom Polyglot kongresu da pricamo Srpsko-Hrvatski :)

                                                  Ako zelis da naucis Svedski jezik ja sam tu preko Skype :)
                                                  Cao

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                                                3. VladimirJuly 30, 2016 at 4:15 AM

                                                  Hvala lepo Bruno :)

                                                  Ne ucim Svedski trenutno, ali hvala u svakom slucaju.

                                                  Pozdrav iz Taivana.

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                                              23. UnknownOctober 17, 2017 at 6:47 PM

                                                Just thought I'd point out that there's a mistake in it "parts of the World for the mostly in" shouldn't have the word 'for the', a comma .after 'World' will do. Considering your English ability I'm sure it was just an oversight so I thought I'd let you know.

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                                                Replies
                                                1. VladimirOctober 17, 2017 at 10:10 PM

                                                  Aaa, thank you. That's just a typo. It was a different sentence originally, I rewrote it and forgot to check..

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                                              24. UnknownJanuary 19, 2019 at 5:00 PM

                                                Hi Vlad!

                                                I am trying to find a series of podcasts you recorded maybe over a year ago, it was you and a friend talking in chinese about various topics (fitness, different cities etc), could you point me to where these are? :)

                                                Many thanks, hope you are well!
                                                Rom

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                                                Replies
                                                1. VladimirJanuary 19, 2019 at 10:54 PM

                                                  Hi Rom,

                                                  I'm super glad that you enjoyed the podcast:)

                                                  I did two podcasts actually, in one I talked in Chinese with my friend about cities, culture etc. and in the other one I talked alone about fitness and languages. Since you mentioned all these topics, I'm not sure which one you are looking for so I'll link both just in case:

                                                  Chinese:
                                                  https://soundcloud.com/user-978468812

                                                  English:
                                                  https://soundcloud.com/vladimir-skultety

                                                  All the best,

                                                  Vlad

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