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I grew up just a short distance north of Spillville, Iowa. Even in those days, the town was very Czech. In Dvorak's time, it was as Czech as San Francisco's Ch

I grew up just a short distance north of Spillville, Iowa. Even in those days, the town was very Czech. In Dvorak's time, it was as Czech as San Francisco's China Town was Chinese. In Dvorak's day, the brewer delivered a bucket of beer to your front door every morning, as was custom in the old country. (Somebody start that business in Sunnyvale :) Spillville and Protivin were so Czech even when I was in school that I had bilingual classmates, because their grandparents spoke mostly Czech, still. And I can tell you this.... when you are a substitute teacher for a 2nd-grade class where one third of the kids have vowel-challenged names, oh the misery. Before you are half-way done taking attendance you will have suffered so much derisive laughter for the mispronounced names that you will have lost control of the classroom for the rest of the day. Anyway, Dvorak felt very much at home in Spillville. During his day, Czech was the language of main street and the neighborhood.

ardy42 6y ago
> Spillville and Protivin were so Czech even when I was in school that I had bilingual classmates, because their grandparents spoke mostly Czech, still. My grandparents were from southeastern Iowa, and I understand that their town was mainly German-speaking. It was pretty established, too: they grew up speaking it as third-generation Americans. It stopped with their generation though, their town was harassed quite a bit during WWI, and that pushed people to assimilate. It really interesting how much linguistic diversity America had that's only gone extinct within living memory.
shas3 6y ago
I have heard similar stories from other ethnic Czechs (they have obviously intermarried in the generations since) from Iowa. As mid-western cultures go, some people from Norwegian communities in North Dakota still speak archaic Norwegian. To a lesser extent (probably more melting-pot effect?), Swedes in Minnesota and Germans in Wisconsin.
tomcam 6y ago
That was captivating. Thank you.
TomMarius 6y ago
Ahoj from the Czech Republic. :-)

ardy42 6y ago

> Spillville and Protivin were so Czech even when I was in school that I had bilingual classmates, because their grandparents spoke mostly Czech, still. My grandparents were from southeastern Iowa, and I understand that their town was mainly German-speaking. It was pretty established, too: they grew up speaking it as third-generation Americans. It stopped with their generation though, their town was harassed quite a bit during WWI, and that pushed people to assimilate. It really interesting how much linguistic diversity America had that's only gone extinct within living memory.

shas3 6y ago

I have heard similar stories from other ethnic Czechs (they have obviously intermarried in the generations since) from Iowa. As mid-western cultures go, some people from Norwegian communities in North Dakota still speak archaic Norwegian. To a lesser extent (probably more melting-pot effect?), Swedes in Minnesota and Germans in Wisconsin.

tomcam 6y ago

That was captivating. Thank you.

TomMarius 6y ago

Ahoj from the Czech Republic. :-)