Cough

What language is spoken in the Czech Republic? What is the language in the Czech Republic

When planning a tourist trip to, they think about the question of what language they speak in. In the republic, after the collapse of Czechoslovakia, the official language is only Czech and the majority of the population knows and understands only it.

Do they speak in the Czech Republic? English? It is a mistake to believe that if Czech Republic is now part of the European Union, then all people here should know English. Even those people who studied English at school cannot speak it and will not understand anything you tell them. Only people who deal with English-speaking foreigners on a daily basis, such as hotel and currency exchange workers in Prague, can speak English reasonably well, but only on a highly specialized topic.

The Russian language is not developed in the Czech Republic and is not currently taught at school. The older generation who still remember the occupation of Czechoslovakia Soviet troops and who were required to study Russian in schools, can remember individual words and, for example, numerals, but there can be no talk of a full-fledged dialogue. Again, if a person is engaged in the tourism sector and his main clients are Russian-speaking tourists, then such a person is simply obliged to know the Russian language.

What language is spoken in the Czech Republic in Prague? Unlike Czechs living on the border with Germany and Austria, Prague residents do not speak any other language other than Czech, and can only fully understand Slovaks, since before it was one country. People living in the border area with Austria and Germany understand a little German, and some who work or have worked in Germany and Austria even speak German very well.

Since both Czech and Russian are Slavic languages, you will pick up individual words and phrases. Very often, misunderstandings and sometimes even conflicts arise between Russians and Czechs due to the language barrier, since the same words in Czech and Russian can have opposite or completely different meanings. Quite a decent word Czech language, may seem like an insult to a Russian person, so without knowledge of the Czech language it is better not to start a dialogue with the local population.

When you arrive in the Czech Republic on a tour package, you will be assigned a Russian-speaking guide who will help you if you misunderstand certain things. Having gathered in the Czech Republic for long term, you will do the right thing if you learn at least the basics of the Czech language, as this will 100% be useful to you. If you received long-term visa, then you can find Czech language courses for foreigners on the spot and take them for several months. If you start learning the language from scratch, then in six months you will already be able to speak, read and write Czech quite well.

Before traveling to another country, each of us is interested in the language of the host country and local customs, so as not to complicate our lives and not become the subject of ridicule of the local aborigines. In this country official language Czech.

What is the language in the Czech Republic - features

A Russian-speaking tourist, from the first hours of his stay on Czech soil, without even noticing it, will begin to understand some of the conversations of the local population. It will be easier and more interesting for those visitors who speak or understand the Belarusian and Ukrainian languages.

What is the language in the Czech Republic? - No more difficult than Russian - in 3-4 days you will be able to exchange a few words with the local indigenous people, and you will feel how the respect for you from the people around you will increase.

All Slavic languages originate from Old Slavonic language. However, in the Czech Republic, they began to use the Latin alphabet to denote words similar to Russian, applying it to the pre-existing language, using apostrophes and acute accents. The stress in words falls on the first syllable. Before your trip, you should practice pronunciation of the most common and used expressions. More complete dictionary tourists, you can find and download from the Internet.

Historical background

During their history, the Czechs experienced the oppression of foreign invaders, and this was reflected in the formation modern language. What language is in the Czech Republic - if the Czech Republic was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for almost three centuries, the state was ruled by representatives of the German Habsburg dynasty. This has influenced the fact that tourists with knowledge of German are understood more than English-speaking guests.

Reason to laugh

Be attentive to what you hear and don’t always be happy that everything is supposedly clear to you without an interpreter. Some Czech words are very similar to Russian ones, but have a different meaning. Like the language in the Czech Republic, so is the humor of the locals. Czech jokes are very similar to our Slavic - Russian ones. Czechs love jokes about family discord, about people who like to drink and make noise, and about adultery will tell you some stories.

Linguists claim that based on the frequency of use of certain words, one can create an image of the people or locality where such words are most often used. Among the most popular words among the Czechs are the words pan, life, man, work, business, country, people, head and day. We can conclude that the Czech language is very interesting, and the people are hardworking.

Do you need to know them?

Having arrived here, you need to say something, but how? Is it difficult to learn at least a minimum of Czech phrases? By the way, Czech is one of the richest Slavic languages in the world. For comparison, the Russian language today has about 130 thousand words, and the Czech language has more than 250 thousand. Phrases in Czech are intuitively understandable to us Slavs, although many words have a certain insidiousness. For example, Russian word“beautiful” sounds like “terrible” in Czech, the word “fresh” sounds like “stale” and the like.

But not only those who left their homeland will have to pore over a Czech textbook. Today learning this language has become easy fashion trend from the Russians. For those who know another Slavic language, it will be even easier to understand the Czechs and learn a few phrases in Czech.

Many people go to the Czech Republic to get an education. This is one of the few countries in Europe where you can study at free of charge, and the quality of the knowledge gained will be at top level on a global scale. Therefore, future students are required to know basic phrases like no one else.

Where will they come in handy?

Everyone who deals with translations will need the Czech language - guides, diplomats, translators working both in the country and abroad.

For tourists, learning a few phrases in Czech will not be difficult. Both the service staff in the hotel and the waiter in the restaurant will be pleased to hear the phrase in native language. And if, God forbid, you get lost in the city, general phrases will help you understand how to get to the right address, because the language will take you to Kyiv. But the Czech language is not at all difficult, and learning it is not only easy, but also fun, especially in a friendly company!

For those going on vacation to the Czech capital, it will be very useful to read our detailed manual, available at the link, which details how to properly organize your trip to Prague so that it is interesting, safe and does not go beyond your budget. In the few minutes it takes to read this article, you will learn how to save a significant amount of money without straining yourself at all.

Will Czechs understand Russian?

The Czech Republic is one of the most popular destinations for Russians, and most Czechs living in tourist areas will understand us perfectly. And in other cities there should be no problems... Opening borders after the collapse Soviet Union contributed to the influx of emigrants to the Czech Republic, and many Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians went to live in this country. So Russians will be understood in a restaurant, in a store, and on the street. The main thing when communicating is not to forget that goodwill and a smile on your face are a disarming tool for starting absolutely any communication.

At the end of last year, the rector of Moscow State University, Viktor Sadovnichy, said that the status of Russian as a language of world communication is under threat. The number of its carriers will be halved. According to scientists, in 10 years more people in the world will speak Hindi, Arabic and French than Russian. In the near future, the number of people who speak Russian will approach the levels of the early 20th century.

It's no secret that the reason for this was the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the early 1990s, the former Soviet republics have taken up the task of updating their national languages, and in Central Europe, compulsory study of the Russian language in schools was abolished in 1989. Interesting fact, but even before that time half of the population in the Czech Republic was Russian. Nowadays, according to the Czech Statistical Bureau, only 19% of the inhabitants. Moreover, half of this number is passive.

Boris Ionov, director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Prague, continues:

“It must be said that on a historical scale, not so long ago - 15 years ago - the Czech Republic was the leader in the number of people who know and speak Russian. More than 50% of the population not only understood, but also spoke it. Until now, the Czech Republic has the most people who understand Russian. They don't speak, but they understand. In the 90s, for obvious reasons, there was a rejection of everything Russian and Soviet, including the study of the Russian language.”

Nowadays, Ondzej Soukup, who speaks excellent Russian, an analyst at the Czech Association for International Affairs, retorts that indicators of Russian language proficiency since Soviet times did not correspond to reality:

“Yes, all Czechs were required to learn Russian. But to be honest, I wouldn’t say that half of the people before 1990 were able to speak Russian. IN best case scenario, one quarter. And even then under great doubt, because there was nowhere to apply this knowledge. The fact that they were forced to master this language played a role, and this is not in the best possible way affected his prestige and desire to teach him. You can meet people today who say: damn it, I was taught, but I remember absolutely nothing.”

Despite different opinions, until 1990, Russian was spoken in the Czech Republic more people than today. Of course, even with not very scrupulous study of the language at school, some phrases and words remain in a person’s memory for years of life. Today, when Czechs find out that I speak Russian, each of them will remember a couple of phrases, and some are even able to answer a question asked in Russian. But only a few speak fluently. I asked Boris Ionov what exactly has changed in the Czech Republic in the field of studying the Russian language after the Velvet Revolution?

“Before the Velvet Revolution, the economic and social transformation, in all schools in the Czech Republic the Russian language was studied in mandatory. As a foreign language it was the first language. There is such a concept: the first is foreign, the second, etc. Today, the Russian language is classified as a second foreign language, which includes Russian and Polish. The first compulsory languages are English and German.”

Vladimir Svaton, a professor at the Institute of Slavic and East European Sciences at Charles University, believes that the decline in interest in the Russian language after the 90s was facilitated by its artificial planting:

“People are interested in Russian culture. How interested are they in the Russian language? I don't think they know him very well. Common language Russian is not a language of communication at present. The ABC, of course, already poses a difficulty.”

Despite the fact that Russian is not a language of world communication, the Czechs, after 18 years, have ceased to have a negative attitude towards it. Nowadays, Russian is studied by those who need this language to work or implement business projects in the post-Soviet space.

“Now the situation is changing in positive side. There are real and practical reasons for this. I emphasize this so that no one accuses me of pan-Slavist enthusiasm. No, not at all. It is based on absolutely pragmatic goals and objectives. Russia today is the largest developing market. And more and more residents of the Czech Republic understand that their vital economic interests can be connected specifically with Russia. And if so, then it is quite obvious that the study of the Russian language comes to the fore - as the basis of any type of cultural and economic interaction,” says Boris Ionov, director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Prague.

Except purely practical application, the Russian language is also interesting to highly educated people. For intellectuals interested in Russian traditions and culture. To get to know them, they learn Russian.

“It is necessary to realize that globalization is triumphing all over the world and the language of this global culture is English, or rather the Anglo-American language. But I have no skepticism about the future of other cultural languages. Against this dominance of the neutral Anglo-American dialect - this is not real English, not the real language of writers - it is the language of general primitive communication. There is a lot of opposition to this. Let's say countries Latin America They very expressively insist on their cultural independence. And they even resurrect the traditions of pre-Columbian cultures. When I was able to visit Cusca in Peru, all the streets in the city center were renamed according to the old Indian model. So that the European could not remember the name of the street on which he lived. The French share the same opinion. The same thing, I think, will happen one day to the Russian, to German language. If the cultural level in society increases, then these cultural layers will be interested in different languages in their authentic likeness. Russian language is the language of writers, culture, poets. I think that it will be revived within the framework of new world cultural trends of the 21st century.”

Therefore, remembering some of school curriculum one of the European languages, getting directions if you get lost in the narrow streets of Prague is not a problem. Almost all restaurants and pubs have a menu in English or at least one waiter who speaks good English, the same is true with shops, a little worse with. And, fortunately for tourists from Russia, most of the older generation of native Prague residents understand and speak Russian quite well, thanks to our common socialist past. In general, you can go to Prague without knowing the Czech language - in any situation there will be an opportunity to explain yourself and understand your interlocutor.

However, when going on vacation, it is always better to know a few of the most necessary expressions and words in the language of the country you are going to. The easiest way, perhaps, is to buy a small phrasebook, or select the phrases you think you need on the Internet before leaving. If you didn’t remember this in time, or simply didn’t have enough time, here is a small selection of simple phrases and words that may be useful to you during your holidays in beautiful Prague.

Words and expressions that will definitely be useful to you (stressed vowels are in bold):

	In Czech	Approximate pronunciation
Yes	Ano	A But
No	Ne	N uh
Hello / Good afternoon	Good day	D O brie d uh n
Good evening	Good evening	D O brie in uh black
Goodbye	Na shledanou	On SHL uh Danow
Men/Women	Muži/Ženy	M at zhi/f e us
Please	Prosím	Pr O Sim
Sorry	Promiňte	Prom And nte
Thank you very much	Mockrat děkuji	Motskr A t Dec at yee
I don't speak Czech	Nemluvím česky	Neml at vim h e ski
Do you speak Russian/English?	Mluvíte rusky / anglicky?	Mluv And te r at ski / english And tski
Closed / Open	Zavřeno / Otevřeno	Zavrzhen O/ Otevren O
No entry allowed	Vchod zakázan	In O d zak A zan
Exit / Entrance	Východ / Vchod	IN And stroke / In O d
Coffee shop	Kavarna	Kav A rna
Bon appetit!	Dobrou chuť	Good O y x at t
Beer house	Pivnice	Pivn And tse
One glass	Jedno beer	Y e bottom p And in

Phrases that may be useful when shopping:

Phrases that will help you navigate the city:

	In Czech	Approximate pronunciation
Where is...?	Kde je…?	CD uh e...
Is it far?	Je to daleko?	E then d A easy
Where is the nearest stop?	Kde je nejbližší zastávka?	Kde e n e near the station A vka
Where can I buy a ticket?	Kde si můžu koupit jízdenku?	Kde si m at bug O upit yizd uh nku
Right / Left	Doprava / Doleva	D O rights / D O leva
Front/Rear	Vepředu/Vzadu	IN uh forward / back at
On the corner	Na rohu	N A horn
Directly	Rovne	R O outside

Phrases we hope you won't need:

The Czech language, along with Russian, Finnish and Thai, is considered one of the most complex languages in the world. Czech, like Russian, belongs to Slavic languages, however, despite this, for Russian ears the Czech language is quite unusual in the presence large quantity consonant sounds, and some Czech words have no vowels at all: for example, finger - prst, neck - krk, and wolf - vlk. Also, many Czech words and their meanings may seem funny or confusing to you:

Funny Czech words		Words that can confuse

Let's a dlo	Airplane	Č e rstvý	Fresh
Let's uška	Stewardess	Zelen i na	Vegetables
Sed a dlo	Seat, armchair	Ok u rka	Cucumber
šlap a dlo	Catamaran	O voice	Fruits
Vrt u lnik	Helicopter	Č e rstvý rotr a viny	Fresh products
Zmrzl i na	Ice cream	Smet a na	Cream
Obsazen o	Busy	Poz o r	Attention
Koco u r	Cat	H e rna	Slot machine hall
Pon ožka	Sock	Pit o mec	Blockhead, fool
Kalh o ty	Trousers, trousers	Mr á z	Freezing
H o lič	Hairdresser	Rod i na	Family
Slun í čko	Sun	Slev a	Discount
Voň a vka	Perfume	Vedr o	Heat
Rv ačka	Fight	Podvodn í k	Scammer
Čerp a dlo	Pump	Ú žasny	Amazing
Straš i dlo	Ghost	K a ki	Persimmon