The Blorecast

About The Blorecast

Welcome to The Blorecast – An Englishman in Slovakia, a podcast designed for learners and teachers of English who want to improve their skills while enjoying real stories and conversations. Hosted by James Blore, an experienced English teacher and founder of The School of Blore in Košice, Slovakia, this show mixes practical English learning advice with humour, cultural insights, and engaging interviews. Each episode covers useful topics for everyday communication and English exams (including Maturita and Cambridge), explores the challenges of learning English in Slovakia, and shares tips for building confidence in speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. Along the way, James draws on more than 25 years of teaching experience, life in Slovakia, and his passion for storytelling, board games, and more. Whether you are a student preparing for exams, a teacher looking for classroom inspiration, or simply someone who loves the English language, The Blorecast offers a fresh, entertaining, and educational perspective. 👉 Listen now and join our growing community of learners and teachers at blore.sk

Publisher

James Blore

Category

education · news · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Sept 2025

Latest episode

8 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

33 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Sept 2026

   28 years in Slovakia. Sort of fluent. But can I speak Czech? | Blorecast #33

   After nearly three decades of learning Slovak, you might think that understanding Czech would be easy. Czech and Slovak are famously similar — so why can I still get completely lost in a five-minute Czech phone call? In this episode of the Blorecast, I look at my very strange relationship with the Czech language: from my first exposure to Czech at university and then on Slovak television, through years of increasingly irrational frustration, to finally deciding that perhaps I should perhaps get over myself. I talk about Czech vs Slovak, how mutually intelligible the two languages really are, why exposure matters, and why Slovaks who grew up watching Czech television and cartoons often have a very different experience of Czech from someone like me. Along the way, there are Czech pronunciation nightmares, Czech car vocabulary, the famous ř sound, strč prst skrz krk, Prague’s metro announcements, Petr Novotný’s pepř a sůl, Karel Gott, Tři oříšky pro Popelku, and the Czech words that I increasingly find rather wonderful. So, after 28 years in Slovakia, can I speak Czech? Well… no. But I can sing it. ⸻ Chapters 00:00 Can I speak Czech? 01:40 My Slovak isn’t perfect either 03:03 My first encounters with Czech 04:06 Czech on Slovak television 04:44 The terrifying Czech ř 05:41 The greatest dad joke in the world 06:08 Slovak vs Czech exposure 07:03 My first trip to the Czech Republic 07:28 The tomato soup problem 08:35 Czech on the telephone 09:50 My Czech–Slovak grudge 10:11 The Quora Incident 10:49 The uncanny similarity of Slovakia and Scotland 11:35 Why I finally got over myself 12:20 Learning Czech with Duolingo 13:19 The lovely sounds of Slovak and Czech 13:58 Can I fool a Czech person? 14:43 Outtakes Are Czech and Slovak really mutually intelligible? How much Czech can a Slovak understand? And what about the other way round? Let me know what you think in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, subscribe to the Blorecast so you don’t miss the next one. The previous video featuring me speaking Slovak: https://youtu.be/p_tZ1uKeNvc #Czech #Slovak #CzechLanguage #SlovakLanguage #CzechVsSlovak #LearnCzech #Slovakia #Blorecast ⸻ 📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk 📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/ 📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk 👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk 📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/ ⸻ Picture Attributions Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub ⸻ Music Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   Can I Do a Whole Video in Slovak? 🇸🇰 | Blorecast #32

   A few weeks ago, I received a challenge from a viewer: speak Slovak for an entire video. I was sceptical. After all, my Slovak is… not great, not terrible! But after making a few videos about Slovak food, I started seeing some familiar comments about British cuisine: “British food is terrible”, “Brits don’t know how to cook”, and so on. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone — zabiť dve muchy jednou ranou. I would accept the Slovak language challenge while also answering one of the internet’s favourite myths: is British food really that bad? In this video, I speak Slovak (well… mostly Slovak!) while talking about: 🇬🇧 traditional British foods that deserve more respect 🇸🇰 what Slovakia does differently with food culture 🥔 Slovak zemiaky v pahrebe vs British baked potatoes 🍽️ why traditional food survives better in some countries 🌭 sausages, gravy, baked beans, and other food debates from the comments After 28 years living in Slovakia, I’ve learned that you can genuinely love the food of the country where you live while still missing the flavours you grew up with. A huge thank you to everyone who commented on my previous Slovak food videos — your corrections, suggestions and stories made this episode possible. Chapters: 00:00 The Slovak challenge 01:10 The Slovak Begins 01:39 Defending traditional British food 02:19 Some things you just have to grow up with 02:44 Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) 03:31 The real problem with British food 04:00 Slovak baked potatoes: zemiaky v pahrebe 05:12 Food traditions and why they matter 06:01 Back to English: corrections from the last food video 08:06 Final thoughts If you enjoyed this video, let me know: What food from another country have you fallen in love with? And please be kind with my Slovak corrections! 😄 Rasty's Deli and Butchery https://rastys.sk/product-category/breakfast-sausages/ 🇸🇰🇬🇧 More food from The Blorecast: 10 Slovaks Foods I Love https://youtu.be/Sp0uE2P1eN0 10 Unwritten Rules of Slovak Food https://youtu.be/r1zkxy8A-Sc #Slovakia #SlovakLanguage #BritishFood #LivingInSlovakia #LearnSlovak #SlovakCulture ⸻ 📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk 📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/ 📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk 👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk 📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/ ⸻ Picture Attributions Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub ⸻ Music Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat

3. 

   6 Sept 2026

   10 Unwritten Rules of Slovak Food (After 30 Years, I've Finally Cracked Them) | Blorecast #31

   After nearly 30 years living in Slovakia, I think I've finally figured out the unwritten rulebook behind Slovak food — the stuff no cookbook tells you, but every Slovak grows up just knowing. This is part two of my deep dive into Slovak vs British food. Last time I shared 10 Slovak dishes I love (and a couple I still can't get on board with) — and the comments made it very clear there's a whole set of unspoken rules I'd missed. So today: the results of my pastry-and-meat challenge, six more food rules, and one genuinely baffling mystery about Slovakia's relationship with potatoes. 🕒 Video Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:22 Recap: soup, sweet lunches, and why one carb is never enough 2:03 The great pastry-and-meat challenge — results 4:22 Sweet things stay sweet in Slovakia 5:19 Savoury breakfasts vs British cereal culture 7:04 What makes a "real" sausage 8:10 Green might not be mint 8:29 The great cabbage obsession 8:56 Gravy & custard: the sauces Slovakia never needed 10:27 The biggest mystery in Slovak cuisine If you're British, Slovak, or just someone who loves comparing food cultures, I think you'll enjoy this one. Let me know in the comments if I got anything wrong — or if you can solve the potato mystery at the end. 🇸🇰🇬🇧 More from The Blorecast: 10 Slovaks Foods I Love https://youtu.be/Sp0uE2P1eN0 #SlovakFood #Slovakia #BritishFood #FoodCulture #ExpatLife #Kosice #Blorecast ⸻ 📺 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@bloresk 📌 Find out more at: https://blore.sk/ 📧 Contact: podcast@blore.sk 👍 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blore.sk 📸 Or instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blore.sk/ ⸻ Picture Attributions Most of the photos I use are from Wikipedia or they are my own. As the number of characters in these descriptions is limited, I've decided to start keeping a full list here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR6mYAXFBibF92HMHRMsuJkiHPqas5Fm-KBQA-_7pnn4mFYc3-rXmZdaS3dNlvhnQPh5Jh-bh9sijT7/pub ⸻ Music Our theme tune is Ode to Joy – Heavy Edition, written specially for us by the most excellent dafteaux: https://youtu.be/rU6nLowrtmE And the new funky beats are from here: https://samplefocus.com/samples/acoustic-rolling-drum-loop-cool-beat And the inspirational music is this: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Music: Exalted by Aylex https://soundcloud.com/alexproductionsmusic License: https://freetouse.com/license Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/fXh Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Spotify

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