So You Want to Learn Czech?

Are you a foreigner, living in Czech Republic and trying to live your best life?

Or just a language nerd looking for a challenge?

Well, let's be frank about how much work it takes to learn the Czech language.

In this article we will try not to mazat ti med kolem huby - smear honey around your mouth, as the Czechs say. We will not lie to you, or sweet-talk you about how easy-peasy and fast it will be to speak Czech like a native.

For people whose mother tongue is from the Slavic group it will be much easier to learn Czech fast. If you speak Russian, you can certainly learn it in three months in an intensive course.

If you speak a Germanic or Latinate language, it can take years. You are going to have to start completely from scratch, as just about everything is new and different in Czech.

Learning a language takes time and effort. You have to iron those new pathways into your brain. If you want it to go faster, you have to spend more hours practicing, there's no way around it.

However don't be discouraged! Everything worthwhile takes time…or a smart approach.

We would like to share our experience of learning this fascinating language from both perspectives: a Slavic native speaker and an English native speaker.

Read on for our tips about how to save time when learning Czech, and how to do it right the first time!

Practice what you learn in this article for free:

Step 1: Why Are You Doing This?

As we've already mentioned, learning Czech takes long-term dedication.

So why do you want to spend all this time doing it?

What are you going to tell yourself six months in, when Czechs still talk too fast, and no matter how much Netflix you watch, you still only catch every fifth word?

It's important to define success for yourself, so you'll be motivated when times are tough, and so you can give yourself a pat on the back when you succeed!

Just like New Year's resolutions, it's important to make reasonable goals, or you will get discouraged and give up when you don't meet your own expectations. You know yourself! You don't have to torture yourself, just chill and be proud when you reach your goals.

And you can always make your study program more intense later.

Kate (native English speaker): My goal was always to speak Czech with at least B2 level. Breaking that goal into smaller parts came naturally: throughout my learning, there was always some big problem I was constantly facing - not knowing enough words, not using cases and confusing the locals, not understanding figures of speech. Every few months I spent some time defining my biggest challenge at that moment, and then I could focus my work on that problem until it was solved.

So what do you want to get out of all this work? Do you want to be able to ask for help in the store? Speak to your wife's parents without a translator? Read Kafka in the original language?

You don't necessarily have to learn all of the Czech language, and if you focus on your goals you are more likely to reach them!

Step 2: Never Stop Learning

The next most important thing to do when learning Czech is not to give your brain a break! Every single day, you need to be working on your Czech knowledge.

If you want to reach a B2 level of Czech knowledge, you need to keep it up for at least three months (Slavic speaker) or two years (English speaker).

Of course these numbers will vary a bit, depending on how old you are and how much time you're dedicating to the language. If you replace your job with an intensive course you can more quickly get it out of the way.

But there is no magic pill that will make you a native speaker in two weeks. How do you expect to learn hundreds of thousands of words, local slang, cultural references, and grammar patterns in two weeks?

Websites that tell you such a thing is possible are just wasting your time. And if you're serious about learning Czech, you need to be aware of what it's going to take.

The good news: You don't have to torture yourself to learn Czech!

Learning using boring books, classes, and CDs is a thing of the past. You have sooo many resources to help you:

What people usually underestimate is the power of everyday. You have plenty of time on your commute, before you go to sleep, during coffee break at work...just sprinkling in 10 minutes here and there can add up fast!

Tomo (native Slavic speaker): Whenever I start learning a new language it is so overwhelming and it feels like there are no good sources for practice. There are! It just takes a little time and effort to find them.

Kate: When I was first learning Czech, I practiced case declinations on the bus every day to work. I would look up the table for a case, then imagine random phrases in this case (on the red car, behind the big building) and check my guesses with Google translate. It was only 30 minutes a day, but it really made a difference after a few months!

So just remember, steady work for a long time will make you a Czexpert :) You don't have to do it all today: just a little bit all the time will go a long way!

Step 3: Throw Out Your Embarrassment!

If you've never learned a language outside of school before, it can be quite intimidating to use another language in real life.

But if you don't start now, you never will!

The most important thing to do when learning Czech is to actually use Czech. And when it comes to speaking, that means diving in and going for it.

Feeling awkward is a waste of your time and energy while learning something. Remember your first time driving, cooking or talking to your crush? It was always terrible.

But people that are nice and understanding DO exist and they WILL help you out on your journey. For the rest of the judgemental and insignificant humans, they are potato people and you are a brave traveller in strange seas! (And if you meet these grumpy peasants at the Czech Post, don't take it personally, they are nasty to other Czechs, too :D).

Tomo: When I first started learning Czech, I was saying "5 člověk" instead of "5 lidí", "I have a short miracle" instead of "I'm shortsighted" (Mám krátký zázrak instead of zrak)...and you know what, it just sounds cute! And of course there were mistakes that were not so cute, like confusing words “šustit” and “šoustat” (if you know you know...) but I lived through it!

Kate: I made sooo many mistakes! Probably the worst was calling the checkout lady by "ty" instead of "Vy", I thought she would murder me! And unfortunately you cannot use "dělat" everywhere because you don't know another word...Czechs can make anything into an innuendo. *sigh*

You won't ever be a perfect speaker by never speaking! You will certainly make all kinds of mistakes, but you will be a stronger person because of it :)

No matter what level you are, you should be trying to speak Czech with native speakers.

If you're really shy, you can hire a teacher or find a conversation partner (both online or in person). But practicing with strangers at the supermarket, coworkers at work, or your neighbors can really take you far!

Step 4: Don't Fixate on Grammar

In the beginning of our language journeys we always start with learning as many words as possible.

A lot of people get caught in the "perfection trap" and cannot actually use the language, for fear of making a mistake.

But "perfection" is a goal that not even native speakers achieve very often (and if they have, they are probably pretty annoying about it!)

Languages exist to help people communicate. If you're here, you probably want to improve your life in the Czech Republic by making communication easier. And if you're a beginner, the best way to communicate is very simply.

Of course, in your native language you can do flips and twists around a topic all day long. But if you demand from yourself such talent as a beginner in Czech, you can easily get discouraged when the learning isn't coming fast enough.

Instead of "the meal was absolutely excellent and it would please me greatly to come again", it's much better to say something like "food, excellent, great, thank you, very happy". Yes it is terrible, but if someone has invited you for dinner they are going to be thrilled that you tried at all, and they will definitely understand the compliment.

If you wait until your sentences are perfect you might never start to speak. This will delay your learning journey much more than saying something that sounds a bit ungraceful.

Step 5: Face That Pronunciation Challenge

It's unfortunately true: Some people have more trouble copying sounds than others. If you're one of these people, pronunciation can be your biggest barrier to having successful conversations with locals.

If native speakers are often confused, or switching to English with you, they're not being mean. They genuinely can't understand what you're trying to say.

The melody of the Czech language is really different from English, for example. If you are familiar with "tonal languages” such as Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese you know what we mean.

If you live in the Czech Republic, you will get used to hearing people talk to each other. Even though you don't understand them, you'll hear that Czech melody every day, and maybe even begin to expect someone's voice to go up or down, because that's how the song always goes.

As you learn the words, you'll notice that certain topics or moods have their own melody...complaining, arguing, joy, making plans, all of these have a rhythm and a song which you can learn to copy.

It may sound silly, but copying the Czech melody will go a long way to helping people understand you! They just won't have to work as hard to get where you're coming from.

A lot of communication involves expectations from the people communicating. In your language, you are used to hearing certain phrases at certain times and not others, or you can predict that a question is coming by the way the other person's voice goes up and down. If you can help Czechs predict what you are going to say, your conversations will be much smoother.

No, Czech is not as complicated as Thai or Chinese. But trust us when we say: You'd better learn your short and long (krátké a dlouhé) sounds in Czech.

For you, Slavic language speakers, they can make or break your accent! If you put stress on the correct syllable and prolong vowels when needed, you can sound exactly like a native. Break this rule, and no number of perfectly-pronouced ř's will save you.

For everyone else: krátké a dlouhé is the difference between having a conversation, or getting that deer-in-the-headlights look before the other person switches to English. If you don't bother with short-and-long, the rhythm will be all wrong!

And if you're simply terrible at pronunciation, you can subscribe to our website and practice speaking with our AI tool.

Or, you can record yourself saying something, and try to compare it with a native speaker. (if you're REALLY tone-deaf, find someone who has an excellent accent, and ask them to give you tips)

Step 6: Include Czech in Your Life

Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, here are some silly ideas how to integrate Czech into your life:

Enroll in a class FULLY in Czech

It can be sports, music, dance, improv, theatre, standup, sewing...literally anything you enjoy! Make them speak only Czech to you. If you understand nothing, just be a moth on the wall, looking at the process and trying to "money see monkey do". If you have to, pretend you speak only Yoruba or Latvian, so that everyone will speak Czech to you. It is the most fun and easy way.

Volunteer somewhere

Again: animal shelter, community garden, cleanup of the park, whatever you like to do. In this way you can get a lot of one-on-one conversation practice with friendly locals.

Get a part-time job

This can be RISKY, so it's more for advanced learners. It's better to work somewhere chill, not jump into Lidl or a fast food restaurant. You can choose something you like...for example, if you like plants and want to know the names of the species in Czech, you can work at a flower shop or local garden supply store. Just be aware that people may be grumpy if this isn't just a hobby job for them, and customers may not be patient with you.

Join a church

If it's your gig, people are usually in a friendly mood at church and will be happy to talk with you.

Talk to neighbors

This one doesn't necessarily take any effort from you! It's usually a short interaction and people love to gossip. Plus, it will teach you a lot about what behavior is acceptable to locals - how much conversation time is normal, when you're expected to say goodbye, how loudly to talk, what topics are okay. You can bitch about the landlord with the old woman downstairs, or maybe your upstairs neighbor saw a lost kitten at your garden door (yes, this happened to us!)

Become a restaurant regular

Go to the same café every day, and make your favorite barista write you a random “word of the day” on your cup. Remember what we said about Czechs making anything dirty? Trust us, you will remember those words!

And, last but not least...

Subscribe to our website! You can check your progress every day, compete on the leaderboards, and work on your speaking with AI. You'll quickly see how your hard work is paying off!

In Conclusion

You don't have to be miserable to learn Czech, but you do have to be dedicated and do a little bit of work every day for a long time.

If you want to learn Czech fast, there are lots of ways to speed up your progress. Good luck and happy learning!

Lessons Other
Students Read:

Lessons Other
Students Read: