Work Text:
The coffee was too hot to drink, and it wasn’t very good coffee.
Radek drank it anyway. He couldn’t let himself fall asleep yet. He had too much work ahead of him.
Classes would be starting in two days – and he had to be ready.
He wasn’t ready, though.
He’d passed his Level C1 English proficiency exam, though that had been a surprise. The listening section had been very difficult. The speech was very quick, and the people were talking about a party of some kind – a subject he had not studied or rehearsed at all. The conversation section, also, had been very difficult, mostly because by the time he began that section, he’d been almost entirely convinced that he’d already failed, which did not help his confidence or his focus.
He had passed, though, even though his scores in the listening and conversation sections had not been as high as he wanted them to be. He had done well on the reading section, and his writing section had been neither particularly easy nor particularly difficult. He had forgotten some of the differences between Czech and English punctuation, and, not surprisingly, he’d forgotten how to spell some of the English words – but what he had written had been understood.
Yet just being understood was not nearly good enough for post-graduate work at Cambridge.
He had to understand the lecturers, no matter how quickly they might speak. He had to understand the questions asked by the other students – not to mention any questions asked by the professors to the students.
To do that, he had to practice his English. It did not help that he’d nearly fallen asleep sitting on the couch, a book in his hand, reading aloud from an English textbook, trying to remember the correct pronunciation of each word.
Hence, the coffee – which was probably a mistake, actually. He should, instead, try to sleep. That would be more helpful in the long term – especially since he’d barely slept at all the last few days, worrying at first about the proficiency exam and then about the results.
“Soon, I will sleep … no. Soon I will go to bed, and I will try to sleep,” Radek promised himself. Aloud. In English.
In the meantime, perhaps he should listen to someone speaking English properly. He should go out, perhaps walk through the park or perhaps buy a cup of coffee or tea in a shop where he could listen to people speak.
He shook his head. He needed to practice English, but he did not feel like practicing conversation. The coffee wasn’t enough for that.
Perhaps the television. He could watch something on that, perhaps.
He knew he wouldn‘t understand everything, even with the coffee. He had been trying, every day, but even with science fiction stories, he did not understand everything. Sometimes, he understood words, but the meaning did not make sense.
“You must practice. Still you have enough time. Classes start in two days. You have – ”
The phone rang.
Radek jumped. He turned to look at the phone.
It rang again.
It could be a call for him.
Of course it is. Why else would someone call your number?
But why would someone call him?
He should accept the call and find out.
The phone continued to ring.
Radek picked it up. “Prosím?”
As soon as he spoke, he realized he’d spoken in the wrong language. He was in Londýn now. In England. He should –
“Ahoj, Radku! Tady já. Evženie.”
The caller was not a stranger, calling to inform him of something important in very fast English he wouldn’t understand.
It was Evženie. And she was speaking to him in Czech – not in English, as she had insisted on speaking with him on each of the last three times they’d seen each other ‘to help him prepare’.
He could speak to his sister. In Czech. That would be –
“Radku? Can you hear me?”
“Yes. Sorry. I … I was not expecting the phone to ring.”
“You’ve never objected to phones before.”
“Yes, well, I have never been in England before. I thought it was someone calling to speak to me in English.”
“But you speak English. Why – ”
“I just was not expecting to speak English now. So, how are you today?” Radek asked, changing the subject. Maybe too abruptly, but Evženie didn’t complain. She told him about his pigeons. She was caring for them while he was away, and all were well. She told him of her plans for the upcoming school year, when she would begin undergraduate studies at Charles University. She told him of hiking with a group of friends, and of their brother Louka’s studies at the vocational school he was attending to earn his certificate as an electrician, and of other news from home.
It was good to hear Czech again. It was so much easier than English!
And then he realized she had stopped talking.
“Radku? What’s wrong?” she asked a moment later.
“What? I did not say anything was wrong.”
“You didn't have to tell me. I noticed. You’ve barely said anything!”
“I was listening!”
“Well, now it’s my turn to listen. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“It is nothing.”
“It is something.”
“No. It is nothing. I am … I am thinking of how difficult classes will be in English.”
“You’ll be fine, Radku. Your English is pretty good already.”
“It is not good enough! There are so many words, and the spelling does not match the pronunciation, and different people pronounce things differently, and I do not have time to learn which pronunciation is correct or how to say it or to learn what is the meaning of the different pronunciations, and even when they are speaking of subjects I know, sometimes I do not understand the words, and – ”
“Yeah. It’s going to be a challenge,” Evženie interrupted. “You knew this when you applied to that university.”
“Yes, well, I didn’t expect to be accepted!”
“Everyone else expected you to be accepted. You’ll be fine. Besides, no one will expect you to understand everything when you first begin. You can always ask, if you don’t understand something.”
“No! During a lecture, I cannot ask such questions! The expectation is for students already to understand English! And I cannot! And I have only two days to learn, and – ”
“Radku. Stop.”
“Sorry.”
“That’s what teachers and professors are for. It’s their job. Teaching – and that includes answering questions.”
“I … yes. That’s true. But it is their job to teach mathematics, and physics, and astronomy, not to explain meanings of English words!”
“So write down any words you don’t know. Phonetically, if you don’t know the English spelling. You can look them up after class.”
“...yes. Perhaps.”
“You passed your proficiency test, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t tell you this. I only took it – ”
“If you hadn't passed it, you’d be preparing to take more English classes, not panicking over taking other classes in English.”
“I am not – ”
“Radku. You passed the test. That means your English is already good enough, and it will – ”
“My score was not as good as it should be, and there is so much I cannot understand! Even if I am watching something on the television, there is much I do not understand – sometimes, even when I understand most of the words.”
“That’s to be expected. Not everything makes sense if you think of the literal meaning. If someone says ‘you will never step into the same river’, after all, they are not speaking of a literal river. The meaning is different – essentially, nothing stays the same; things change.”
Radek nodded. “You are speaking of idioms. Metaphors.”
“Exactly. No one will expect … well. I don’t know that. No one should expect you to understand every idiom or metaphor.”
Radek sighed. “It is not only metaphors and idioms. Sometimes, they are speaking of simple scientific or engineering concepts. These, I should understand.”
Evženie didn’t answer immediately. She was probably trying to think of how to politely tell Radek that he was correct; he should understand. He should have spent much more time studying English when he was young. He should –
“Radku? Have you been watching science fiction films? Or television series?”
“... Yes. Why?”
“Because sometimes, nobody understands. Sometimes the ‘simple scientific or engineering concepts’ are … invented, for the story. Like … warp drive or transporters, in Star Trek. They call it in English ‘technobabble’. It’s made up, just like the characters.”
Radek sighed. “Perhaps you are correct.”
“I know I’m correct. So next time you watch a TV show and you don’t understand what exactly they’re doing to keep their warp drive from blowing up, don’t worry, all right?”
“Don’t worry? Evženie, I … in two days, classes will start, and – ”
“Radku. Stop.”
“What?”
“Stop yelling. Hey, how much coffee have you had today?”
“How much … coffee?”
“Yes.”
Radek considered.
He didn’t remember. “I have no idea,” he said.
“Promise me something, okay?”
“Promise you what?”
“Promise me you won’t drink any more coffee today, and you’ll get some sleep tonight.”
“I promise I will try.”
“You don’t have to try to not drink coffee. Just don’t drink coffee.”
Radek laughed. “All right. I promise I will not drink more coffee tonight, and I promise to try to sleep.”
“Thank you. And one more thing: tomorrow, take a break. Go for a good long walk. Find a city park and watch the pigeons. Do something you enjoy. And then tomorrow night, watch something on television and see how much of the technobabble you understand. I’m guessing you’ll understand a lot more than you think you will.”
“Evženie, classes start in two days. I don‘t have time – ”
“Yes. You do. Trust me, Radku. Take the day off. You’re still going to hear people speaking English. You’ll probably talk to a few of them in English. But you don’t need to spend every hour of the next two days drinking coffee and studying.”
She was probably right, actually. “I will try,” Radek promised.
“That’s all I’m asking. And one more thing – ”
“You already said one more thing!” Radek protested.
“True. Now I’m saying something else. Call me tomorrow.”
Radek sighed. “I’m fine.”
“Good! Call me anyway. That way I can remind you that you will be fine. Classes will be difficult at first, but you enjoy challenges! Your classes are going to be interesting, and you’re going to enjoy them, after you get used to the English. This is what you’ve wanted to study for years now! By the time you graduate, you’ll be the one speaking in English-language technobabble.”
She was right. He did enjoy challenges – and he was going to study physics, and mathematics, and astrophysics, at Cambridge. He would study under professors like Hawking and Penrose and others whose names he did not yet know. Of course, he would not understand everything – but he would understand something, even on the first day of classes.
“Radku?”
“Yes. You’re right, Evženie. You’re right. I … well. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Take care, Radku. Get some sleep, okay? I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Tomorrow. Good night.” Radek hung up the phone. He rinsed out his coffee cup, prepared himself for bed, and picked up one of his astrophysics textbooks. He could read for a while, and then sleep. And when classes started in two days, he would be ready.