A survey comparison of Slovenia and Czechia

Ahoj, fellow cadets! I hope you are enjoying a covid-free summer. I am finally back in Prague for a month and some change.

While brainstorming a topic, I kept remembering questions and comments that I have gotten from some people in Slovenia over the last year. When I told people that I was born and raised for the most part in the US, I would get greeted with, ” Oh, that must be SO different than Slovenia.” ” How are you handling the culture shock?”. It is as if I just got off the plane yesterday. I would have to tell them all about living in the Czech Republic or now officially known as Czechia, for 6 years. They ask how that was. Similarly, A lot of my Czech or Czech-based friends would ask me questions about Slovenia.

These two countries are quite a bit alike, and you can make an excellent case that they are the countries that are most like each other in some unique ways. I’m going to give some key similarities and key differences between the two. I hope if you are Czech or Slovene, you will still be my friend after reading this.

Both countries are in the running to be considered the snobbiest Slavic country

Czechs will tell you they are much more like their German and Austrian neighbors than their Polish and Slovak neighbors. Despite being one country with Slovakia for most of the 20th century, many Czechs, particularly Prague, feel more attached to Germany or Austria. Slovenes are just like this when it comes to Austria. They kind of snub their Croatian and Serbian counterparts. They were the first to declare sovereignty from Yugoslavia.

While Slovene is a different language than Serbo-Croatian, they are not vastly different, but Slovenes will go out of the way to boast about it. They will compliment my broken Slovene but trash talk a Bosnian immigrant whose Slovene is far better than mine. This gives the few Brits or Germans who manage to learn some Slovene a huge ego because someone tells them they are better than most Bosnians at Slovene which we all know is false. They were the first country in CEE to fulfill their requirements for EU membership. They had to wait on everyone else for the EU’s Eastern expansion. So probably for the title of the snobbiest Slavic nation, Slovenia wins.

Both have this small country mentality for better or worse

I can write a book about it. It is also true for a couple of other countries in CEE. Neither country has been an imperial power; they don’t have the history of systematic racism that countries like the United States, France, UK, or even the Netherlands has. The amount of exploitation done from either country is also minuscule. They didn’t destroy many countries worldwide within the last 100 years, like Russia or the US. They have both been occupied by numerous forces throughout their respective histories: Austrians, Italians, Germans, Russians, to name a few.

However, both use this argument as a way to excuse their casual racism and politically incorrect jokes. They also overlook the unfair policies towards the Romani communities that have been in place forever. The educational system and basically every other institution is set against them. Most of them say, ‘ Oh, but they don’t want to integrate into society. All of this is their own choosing.” Yeah, not quite. But I’ll spare that topic for today.

I grew up in the deep south, where it was ( still is) a hotbed during the civil rights movement. There are still many problems with racism today, as you can see with some of the events that have taken place in the last 5 years, well, really 300 years. I was still floored when I moved to the Czech Republic in 2012 and heard various colleagues and students comment on the Romani. ” I wish Hitler finished the gypsies.” I heard a couple of them even drop the N-bomb; a couple of them justified that it doesn’t mean the same thing when they say it. Also, trying to explain white privilege to them was a nightmare. However, the casual racism seems to be going out with the boomer generations of these countries.

Both countries have also fallen into the right-wing populism trap. Slovenia’s prime minister has basically replaced Trump in being the biggest asshole on Twitter. Not only did he congratulate Trump before the election was close to being called, but he also retweeted all these conspiracies about voter fraud. He also threw a little tantrum at a Dutch MEP just months before Slovenia took control of the EU presidency. The Czech Republic deals with a right-wing president and prime minister. Their president has made hundreds of outrageous statements over the years and has shown up drunk at some important events.

Both countries push for their own sovereignty, which is understandable in some ways. They claim to fight against the outside influence of the EU, Germany, and the United States. Preserving culture and language might be important, but trying to undermine European Union agreements they made during accession is foolish; this is especially true when both of these countries are given tons of money from the European Union and benefit far more than by not being in it, I can point out that while both Slovenes and Czechs prefer their national products, yet they have a knack for complaining when they go to other countries about why they don’t have this or that back home. When some big international chain opens, there is a line out the door and sometimes around several blocks.

Alright, that is enough for the worst. Let’s look at more of the better. Czechs are very reliable people when you do befriend them. They don’t do this Anglophone thing of pretending to be your friend, but really not giving a damn about you. Several of my best friends are Czech. They are all educated and do amazing work for their communities. They are the type of people you can call in a serious jam, and they would be there to help. Slovenes also seem to be pretty helpful when they see those directly in need as well. Slovenes are a little more friendly on the surface than Czechs. But they seem more difficult to befriend than Czechs. Most of the Slovenes open to talking to me have some immigrant background.

Both countries are also incredibly peaceful. Most people really don’t mind when you are going about your business. Aside from some pesky neighbors or landlords, you can pretty much go along and do whatever you want as long as you are not creating a disturbance. I could go wherever I wanted at night with no problems. Aside from a few sleazy Romeos on the night tram, I have been rather unscathed. I have had people chase me down in Prague and Ljubljana because I dropped something and never had to worry about a gun nut.

I find the quality of life in both countries to be rather fantastic. These countries fall short of their Western European counterparts in the rankings, such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands. But as someone who has either lived or spent a substantial amount of time in those countries, I have to say a lot of things are going better for these two in some ways.

Slovenia wins for the most impressive nature

Czechia has undoubtedly beautiful forests and some cute mountains. I have all kinds of great memories of paddling the Vltava river. Czech nature is great.

However, Slovenia has some of the most impressive nature in all of Europe for its tiny size. It is out of this world. You can go from crisp mountain lakes, rolling hills in the east, alpine peaks, glorious rocky coastlines, and so much in between. Everyone tells me that my pictures of Slovenia look like it is straight out of a fairy tale.

Czechia wins for the best cities

Prague is a world-class city. That is indisputable. Ljubljana is cute. Don’t get me wrong. However, the amount of things to do in Prague dwarfs Ljubljana. Yes, I know Prague has a city of over 1 million while Ljubljana has 300,000. However, other Czech cities like Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, and even Pilsen seem to thrive more.

My judgment is a little skewed, admittedly because I was going through the lockdown. However, I had visited before and was around Slovenia when lockdown ended. There are some charming things in Slovene cities like the wine bars and countless cafes. But the number of things to do does not even compare. There is something for everyone in Prague. Prague definitely is a more expat-friendly city than Ljubljana for sure. There are more international jobs and a more diverse crowd than the ones who come to Slovenia.

Czechs are less socially conservative.

Czechs have this sense of dark humor that I love. It is not for everyone. A lot of their jokes will make people cringe. Their literature is among the best globally; they don’t hesitate to touch on any taboo topic. They are more likely to use colorful language than Slovenes. In fact, there are no real curse words in the Slovene language. Almost all of their foul language is taken from Serbo-Croatian. The topic of sex is much more widely discussed. You can speak frankly with a medical professional about your sex life. Czechs seem a little more open about sex. Slovenes seem to pair up with the first person they kissed from high school or the first person from university they hooked up with.

LGBTQ+ has a greater presence in Czechia, although the president recently made some offputting comments about the LGBTQ+ community. Polls have shown that more Czechs are more for gay marriage than Slovenes. Slovenes seem to have the narrative where they don’t mind LGBTQ+ but don’t want to be around it. Although I know I’ve been in a Prague bubble a lot, it still seems this way, even from my Czech friends outside of the capital. The country is about to legalize gay marriage. They also have the biggest pride in Central Europe.

While Slovenes seem to be a little more behind in this, they are more liberal than their Croatian, Slovak, and Polish counterparts but have not quite gotten to the point of the Czechs.

Slovenes are on average more talented with languages

Despite living in Prague for six years and never becoming fluent in Czech, I can still say that Slovenes beat the Czechs in foreign languages. Slovenes are probably in the same league like the Dutch and the Swedes, actually probably even higher since most Slovenes learn languages from several different language families.

The average Slovene can speak at least 2 out of these three languages: English, German, and Italian. You can add Serbo-Croatian to the list, but that’s almost like Czechs claiming Slovak. Quite a few others go on to learn French, Russian or Spanish. A minority in the East speaks Hungarian.

While you can limp around in some central areas of Prague in English and make friends with Czech people that are good at English, once you leave the center of Prague, it becomes less possible to use other languages. Luckily I have a basic grasp of Czech and used to have a better one, so getting around was alright, but I did suffer a bit when getting to know people on a more than superficial level without having a friend to help. I don’t know how some of these people who lived for 10+ years in Prague still can’t order a beer manage if they want to leave Prague for another Czech city.

Both countries are proud of their national language. I would actually say Slovenes are even more so despite being more linguistically talented on average. I’ve had more Czech people tell me not to bother, while Slovenes insisting I integrate right away. Both countries have recently made the language component for permanent residency and citizenship harder. I’m on the fence with that. Knowing the language is respectful and useful to living in a country, but I find these measures just a way to stroke the ultra-right.

Czechs show more international empathy on average

Both countries were not exactly the best during the height of the refugee crisis. They pretty much made it clear refugees were not welcome. Again, I’m not speaking for all Slovene and Czech people. Yes, I also know many people in the US treat asylum seekers like dirt too. This aside, I will say that Czechs do a bit better when showing overall international empathy.

There was a bigger response to the recent situations in Poland and Belarus from Czechia. Czechs also famously sent a huge delegation to Taiwan. While politically, they do not have formal ties to Taiwan, they seem to be pretty vocal about their support to Taiwan. Czechs have also expressed support for other causes around the world more loudly than Slovenes. Czechs also have a lot of agreements for Central Asians and others to come study there. Slovenia has some things in place for some former Yugoslavia countries but on a smaller scale. They also just raised the amount of money 3rd country students must have to apply for their student visas. So this is going to hurt a lot of their students from the former Yugoslavia countries.

Both are great places to be

Really, you should visit both of them! Both countries have a lot to offer and will leave you satisfied. 8.5 of my last 10 years in Europe have been in this part of the world. Neither country is really better or worse than the other. You should check them both out. It’s not a contest. These are just some perspectives from some random 30-year-old woman who has spent time in these countries.

Hey! You are missing something about Slovenia /Czechia! Would you mind telling me about it? I’m happy to learn more. I am not gatekeeping this topic.

It is the CZECH REPUBLIC, not Czechia. Stop it! I will touch on this later on why I am ok with the new English translation. Call it whatever you want for now. I don’t care.

Do you make critical comments about your own country as much as you do with these? LOL, First time?

Thanks for reading! Stayed tuned to read about ” Great places to hang out in Prague in the summer” and ” What is it? The Czech Republic vs. Czechia” next week!