Why Czech?

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johnklepac
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Why Czech?

Postby johnklepac » 2012-12-22, 4:57

I'd expect Czech to be kind of a "filler" language - it isn't all that unique, so most people probably wouldn't think to learn Czech without a larger interest in Slavic culture. Nevertheless, it does seem to carry some popularity on UL. Why did you start? (almost typed "starý" there, hehe)

My mom's Czech, but I didn't grow up knowing any more than a couple of words in the language. Guess I decided I ought to learn more - plus I'm from Chicago, so I didn't want to learn Polish because of the pressure that I felt was imminent from my friends to read signs and speak to people in Polish.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Tobias » 2012-12-26, 14:52

Hi John,

Czech republic is the neighbouring country of where I come from. So it was easy for me to go there.
Sometimes I went to a rural area. Only two people could speak german and one more english. Other people tried to teach me in Czech. So that is why I started to learn Czech. But I have not been there for 13 years.
Please correct my mistakes - auch in Deutsch.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Aleco » 2013-01-25, 17:31

I like Slavic languages, but never ventured out to actually study them. I also never knew anyone who spoke any Slavic language, so I never got interested "enough." But I figured I'd try now finally, and the Czech Republic is a country I really want to visit. I really like it's orthography and the sound of it as well. :yep: Grammatical cases always fascinated me too! :mrgreen:
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הענט

Re: Why Czech?

Postby הענט » 2013-01-27, 22:42

I have a Swedish friend and she also knows someone from Norway (Natalie if I recall correctly) who studies Czech in Brno or Prague :)

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Aleco » 2013-01-28, 0:24

Wow that's not too common I bet! You can do a Czech bachelor's at my university, though, so it might be a part of her degree. They only offer new classes every three years, and that of course had to be right now when I am in Japan :roll:
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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Yasna » 2013-01-28, 2:46

One day in the distant future I'll venture into Czech so I can read Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí.
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby johnklepac » 2013-01-29, 23:36

Aleco wrote:Wow that's not too common I bet! You can do a Czech bachelor's at my university, though, so it might be a part of her degree. They only offer new classes every three years, and that of course had to be right now when I am in Japan :roll:

Wow. In the U.S., most colleges don't even offer Czech at any level.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Aleco » 2013-01-30, 14:02

I think they planned on offering it one last time this year, but a lot of my friends who are still back home chose to take it to save it. You can also do an Irish bachelor at my school :yep:
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Re: Why Czech?

Postby hefei1994 » 2017-03-10, 3:04

I surfed in the French MOOC --FUN and found a course of Czech (the name is "Kit de contact en langue tchèque"), so I registered the course because I want to try different languages. Now I am in the third week, it is an amazing experience for me and it is the first time that I really experience grammatical case.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Yasna » 2017-03-10, 8:37

Yasna wrote:One day in the distant future I'll venture into Czech so I can read Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí.

No you won't.
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby supikoira » 2017-03-13, 10:38

Yasna wrote:
Yasna wrote:One day in the distant future I'll venture into Czech so I can read Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí.

No you won't.


What do you mean? That you ae not still enough good in Czech for this book? Ii is really hard reading book.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby supikoira » 2017-03-13, 10:39

hefei1994 wrote:I surfed in the French MOOC --FUN and found a course of Czech (the name is "Kit de contact en langue tchèque"), so I registered the course because I want to try different languages. Now I am in the third week, it is an amazing experience for me and it is the first time that I really experience grammatical case.


Good reason. :) Similary I tried Duolingo for some months for learning Swedish only because there were not Finnish. :D

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby matondo » 2018-10-21, 8:10

I am learning Czech now because I feel so bad about staying in Prague for more than a year and not knowing the language.

Ciarán12

Re: Why Czech?

Postby Ciarán12 » 2018-11-04, 0:34

matondo wrote:I am learning Czech now because I feel so bad about staying in Prague for more than a year and not knowing the language.


I'm seriously considering moving to Prague next year, hence I'm eyeing up Czech. Out of interest, is it easy to live there without being able to speak Czech?

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby voron » 2018-11-06, 12:44

Ciarán12 wrote:I'm seriously considering moving to Prague next year, hence I'm eyeing up Czech. Out of interest, is it easy to live there
without being able to speak Czech?

My cousin (a Latvian citizen) has been living and working in Prague for 5 years. For the first couple of years, he didn't know Czech at all, besides picking up some basic everyday phrases. Then he started learning it actively but his level is still around B1, and it seems like he is not very motivated to learn it. He mostly uses English both in daily life and at work.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Luís » 2018-11-06, 13:18

A former coworker of mine has been living and working in Prague for over 2 years now and he doesn't speak a word of Czech.
Quot linguas calles, tot homines vales

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Null-A » 2018-11-18, 12:23

I spent one semester working in a language school in Ostrava (Moravia-Silesia) in 2016 and I learned the basics (numbers, greetings, basic grammar, maybe up to 800-1000 common vocabulary items).There's still a part of me which feels like studying more Czech, even though I have no real "use" for it anymore. It's just that it appeals a lot to my ears (but so does Polish) because it has so many fricatives and affricates. It feels warm and friendly.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby supikoira » 2018-11-21, 12:04

Non-Czech speakers could have problem in small towns or villages. In Prague or other big cities English is enough for everyday life.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby Antea » 2019-08-03, 4:57

I am starting to learn it. I am going to pick a language book and try to finish all the lessons. I would like to be able to read it and also understand it when spoken. I would go smoothly though, without any pressure or time limit. I am already able to understand the general meaning of a conversation, because it has some words similar to Russian.

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Re: Why Czech?

Postby supikoira » 2019-08-06, 7:19

Antea wrote:I am starting to learn it. I am going to pick a language book and try to finish all the lessons. I would like to be able to read it and also understand it when spoken. I would go smoothly though, without any pressure or time limit. I am already able to understand the general meaning of a conversation, because it has some words similar to Russian.


Wish you good luck in your studying.


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