How to learn Czech. Czech language - Self-teaching textbook for beginners - Izotov A.I.

Over the 2 years of living in the Czech Republic, I have accumulated enormous experience in learning the Czech language using various educational materials. Some textbooks were really useful and helped to speak the language, while others turned out to be completely useless, and studying them did not bring any benefit. In this article, I compiled a review of the Czech language textbooks that I had the opportunity to study with, and gave them my subjective assessment.

When describing textbooks I use levels of knowledge foreign language(A1, A2, B1, B2), which I talked about.

Tutorial New Czech Step by Step

This is the first Czech language textbook that I used during my courses in Albertov. The textbook comes with a workbook and a CD with dialogues. The textbook contains 20 lessons, and the Czech text is duplicated in English, which is difficult for students who do not speak English. Each lesson introduces new vocabulary, but it is absolutely not reinforced in exercises or dialogues. There are few listening tasks, although at the first stage of language learning it is very important to begin to perceive foreign speech by ear. Grammar is explained in fits and starts and reinforced with 1-2 exercises, and then new topic. I didn’t learn the language using this textbook at all, but looked for additional learning materials on the Internet.

The workbook for the textbook makes a more pleasant impression: it contains exercises that help reinforce grammar that is poorly explained in the textbook. Czech language teachers do not recommend the textbook New Czech Step by Step for Russian-speaking students, because it is ineffective.

Cost of the textbook workbook and disk – 899 CZK.

Textbook Česky krok za krokem 2

The textbook Česky krok za krokem 2 is a continuation of New Czech Step by Step, but what’s nice is that it is more convenient to use and useful. The textbook kit includes a short Czech-English-German-Russian dictionary, a Czech Grammar application, and two disks. The textbook contains 20 lessons. This textbook pays much more attention to listening and developing new vocabulary. Numerous reinforcement exercises and game situations will help you remember new words. The grammar is systematized in tables. Special attention is paid to the spoken Czech language (hovorová čeština) as opposed to the literary language (spisovná češtiná), because students need the language not only for studying at a university, but also for everyday communication, in which literary language sometimes it sounds strange.

The workbook for the first 10 lessons of the textbook (author of the workbook: Zdena Malá, year of publication: 2012) contains exercises that help reinforce new topics from the textbook. This textbook and workbook are the most best benefits, which I used to learn Czech. I highly recommend them to all students who have reached level B1.

Cost of the textbook short dictionary and 2 discs – 849 CZK.

The workbook costs 249 CZK.

Textbook Česky, prosím I

The textbook comes with a workbook and a CD with dialogues. There are 10 lessons in the textbook. In each lesson, the student can equally work on his writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills. The main goal The purpose of the textbook is to provide student orientation in basic communicative situations, therefore the Czech grammar discussed in it is quite simple. I really like the textbook for its liveliness: the short dialogues discussed in it are taken from life and can actually be used in Everyday life. All new words are collected in the given texts. The grammar is explained in the form of tablets followed by reinforcement exercises.

The workbook contains exercises for training phonetics, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and listening. I highly recommend this textbook and workbook for anyone starting to learn Czech: they will help you speak the language.

The cost of a textbook, workbook and CD starts from 519 CZK.

Textbook Česky, prosím II

The textbook comes with a workbook and a CD with dialogues. There are 10 lessons in the textbook. This textbook covers more complex Czech grammar and new lexical topics compared to the textbook Česky, prosím I. The textbook is created for more advanced students, so the texts are longer and listening is more difficult. Just as easy to use as its predecessor.

The cost of a textbook, workbook and disk starts from 585 CZK.

Textbook Čeština pro středně a více pokročilé

A CD is included with the textbook. The textbook contains 15 lessons on different topics. This textbook is intended for those students who speak Czech at an advanced level - B1 and above. Its goal is to develop understanding of complex technical texts in Czech. It is assumed that you already have a sufficient amount of grammar, so practically no attention is paid to it. In fact, the textbook is a collection of long and not always interesting texts, stuffed with new words, the need for knowledge of which I personally doubt. After the texts, exercises are given to consolidate new words. I didn't like this textbook because... if you study only from it and without involving additional teaching aids, then it is quite boring and unproductive - there are no materials for consolidation, no grammar, listening consists of reproducing the text, which is already fully given in the textbook. I find this tutorial to be ineffective and cannot recommend it.

Textbook cost: from 340 CZK.

Where can I download Czech language textbooks?

Where to buy Czech language textbooks?

You can buy Czech language textbooks at major cities Czech Republic(for example, in the Neoluxor chain of stores), as well as in Russia in Moscow in the stores of MDK Arbat, Sokol, Biblio-Globus, Molodaya Gvardiya.

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The first thing your “comrades in misfortune” who are already learning it, and (especially) native speakers of this language, will do is say how difficult it is to learn it. Judge for yourself: Czech has seven cases, many combinations of unpronounceable consonants, irregular shapes plural, words whose meaning is impossible to guess based on knowledge of other languages, the difficult letter ř to pronounce, just a nightmare!

As a generally optimistic person, I try as much as possible to ignore such unhelpful comments from those who are panicked or desperate. None of these “important” messages motivated me to make new progress in my studies, so I decided to look at them from a different perspective.

Just a few hours after I started learning Czech from scratch, I have already found several reasons to say that this is not the most Difficult language. First of all, I was pleased to discover that Czech is phonetic language(the only difference is that it is not at all similar, for example, to French, and is certainly fundamentally different from English: just try to pronounce though, through, plow, dough, cough the first time without mistakes and time to think). Moreover, verb conjugation in Czech is similar to Latin languages. Since then I have learned to think differently about the difficulties and quirks of language, and perhaps you will find this way of dealing with obstacles interesting. I’m not trying to prove that Czech is “easy”, I’m trying to make it clear that by “getting hung up” on the complexities of the language, we slow ourselves down and deprive ourselves of faith in our own abilities. Fear of failure, doubt and doom to failure are the main killers of motivation, therefore Learn to learn Czech easily!

• Study Guidelines Based on Personal Experience

An excellent book that has helped me a lot is Czech: An Essential Grammar (by James Naughton, Routledge Essential Grammars). It was recommended to me once, and now I highly recommend it to you (provided, of course, that you speak English). It provides detailed information about word formation (which I will talk about later in this article), and very clearly explains Czech grammar in a direct, without unnecessary “water” form. There is no need to waste time on children's pictures and inappropriate examples; the manual explains the very essence of the language with full translations all the examples used and extensive selections of useful new vocabulary in each chapter. I needed a guide that presents the Czech language in the form of facts that are easy to understand and analyzed in detail, so this book was the best for me, but in case you want material offered in the form of lessons, then this book is not for you.

As I always mention, I always carry a phrase book in my pocket. At any time, while waiting for something, I take it out and repeat some words from the dictionary at the end, it is small enough to be able to go through all the words for a certain letter of the alphabet in 10 minutes, and at the same time, large enough to fit the most necessary words. Phrasebooks published by Lonely Planet helped me cope with several languages, so the Czech phrasebook was of great use to me.

If you prefer to study in front of the computer, there are a number of sites that can help too! Slovnik.cz has a very detailed dictionary, but sometimes it gives too many translation options for simple words without contextual support, so I personally prefer the good old Wordreference’s Czech dictionary. I also found some excellent blogs, including Czechmatediary, which is written in both Czech and English by native Czechs living in the US.

• Czech vocabulary and its patterns

When you learn French, Spanish, etc., you encounter big amount unfamiliar words. Since Czech refers to Slavic group languages, be prepared to encounter many words similar to those in the Russian language.

Fortunately for us, Czech does not consist of hundreds of thousands of unique words, each of which will have to be memorized separately. In fact, there are a fairly limited number of basic roots, prefixes and suffixes, most of which are attached to each other according to consistent and logical rules that are easy to remember. Let me show you with an example what I mean.

Let's take 4 prefixes: v, vy, od And za(all except vy, are also prepositions) and add them to the root morpheme chod which comes from the verb chodit, go. The pretext itself v, like the prefix, means "in", so when you come across something that literally means "to go into", "to enter", you get vchod - entrance. Vý/vy means exactly the opposite, so východ - exit. Od, essentially means "from", so odchod - departure, departure, departure, departure.

You will quickly realize with relief that a huge number of Czech words are formed using a small number of prefixes added to the root, and many of them have completely logical meanings. Therefore, learning new words sometimes becomes the study of not new words at all, but ones that are already quite understandable.

Although some examples require a little imagination, they still do not lose their logic if you have developed this same imagination. Let's take the prefix za in combination with chod: za can mean “behind/behind”, that is, for example, going behind the scenes, going out of sight. So, imagine: if you apologize and want to disappear from view for a while, in other words, go away, you go... to the toilet! Although all the signs in Czech say toaleta, in everyday conversation this word sounds strange, since most people, when referring to the toilet, say záchod! Yes, I know I'm going a little overboard! But you have to agree that I’m not just pulling a logical connection by the ears, this is a really interesting and memorable image! This is one of the effective and simple mnemonics that allowed me to learn thousands of Czech words with almost no effort.

In fact, the prefix + root combination is at the heart of language and actually gives you words exponentially. So, if you understand the meaning associated with the basic prefixes do, na, nad(e), ne, o(b), od(e), pa, po, popo, pod, pro, pře, před, při, roz, s(e), spolu, u, v( e), vy, vz, z, za, you can combine at least half of them with, say, ten basics. Thus, by learning just 10 new words, you get 10x10=100 words thanks to all the possible combinations!

When you add knowledge of suffixes to roots or prefix + root combinations, it is incredibly helpful in understanding a huge number of words without the headaches of trying to remember each word individually. For example, the suffix ař, meaning a person associated with the meaning of the root, and the word lek - medicine combined give lekař- doctor. "Film" in Czech will sound the same as in English, but filmař means the person making the film, ryba- it's a fish, but rybář- this is already a fisherman, and so on. A vast number of words can be broken down into logical components, so learning prefixes and suffixes provides a wealth of insight into language.

• Czech grammar is not so scary at all

When I was told that every word has 7 cases with different options for singular and plural, I was concerned that I would have to learn 14 “words” for each individual word. But this is not the case. All we have to do is change the ending of the word (in most cases we just need to change one vowel to another, and all other changes follow stable rules, such as "h" changing to "z"). It takes a little getting used to and remembering when you need to change “o” to “a”, and which case to use in which construction. But if you do enough exercises, communicate directly with Czechs, and make mistakes in declension from time to time, they will correct you, and - believe me - you will remember it. You can definitely get used to this!

In fact, after a while it will become very natural! This may be annoying at first, but try to look at it from the language side. I'm so used to using Czech cases that now it even annoys me when people use Czech words Praha in English instead of English Prague without its declension! You can't tell in Prague(in Prague) or to Prague(to Prague); it's obvious that it will be in Praze And to Prahy!

You can object to me that it is not easy to “fit” all this in your head, but let’s compare it with other languages: Czech did not manage to surprise me with its difficulty regarding many nuances, the inflection of nouns in particular. Irish, for example, has a genitive and a vocative, and when we change a word, we change both its ending and its beginning. In Czech, only the ending changes, but the rules are quite stable.

In French, you simply cannot use a noun without adding an article, which also requires knowledge of the gender of the word. In Czech there is neither a definite nor indefinite article. Moreover, Czech has a grammatical gender, but the gender of a word is easy to determine: almost always a noun ending in a consonant will be male, ending “a” inherent feminine, and “o” is a neuter ending.

There are exceptions, but they are fairly obvious and understandable. There are three genders, but remembering which gender of a noun is quite easy, especially compared to languages ​​like French, and, as I recall, German, which is much more difficult generic endings, association rules appearing much more disordered.

• The right attitude when studying is the key to success

There are no difficulties in Czech that you cannot overcome. Consonant clusters cause quite a lot of difficulties, but in Czech some consonants can behave like vowels. When you are focused and dedicated enough to the language, these “strange sounds” will very soon turn into words. Children learn this language all the time, so there are no excuses for a smart adult like you!

Of course, this post can be countered with a whole list of reasons why Czech is difficult, but why bother yourself with doubts once again? Besides these useful tips When studying, it is very important to work with and constantly access new sources of information.

Literary Czech can seem expressive, imaginative and difficult to learn at the same time. But if your goal is precisely, then there is nothing that would prevent you from achieving it. I challenge you to find more evidence for yourself that it is simple than to tell me I'm wrong. Give this language a chance and prove to yourself that you can actually speak Czech quite easily and quickly.

Děkuju (Thank you) Czech, it was a real pleasure to teach you!

In learning any foreign language, not only theory is important, but also “correct” language practice. Moreover, we are talking not only about speaking practice in the classroom, but about connecting all areas of our lives to the process of “language absorption.”

Prague Education Center shares tips on how to effectively learn Czech not only in class.

Watching TV series and films in Czech is an excellent method of learning the language. Czech “voice acting” with Russian subtitles will be the most rational start. We recommend starting with films and series that you have already watched in your native language.

Don't be upset that at first it may be difficult to understand the actors' speech, and you will have to look more at the subtitles. Soon the process will begin to “work” and you will receive a whole host of additional colloquial phrases, slang and correct pronunciation.

Where to see: Youtube, “films in Czech” VK groups, cinemas.

2. Change the language of the OS and mobile applications

How many hours a day do you use your computer or smartphone? By changing the language of your operating systems and applications, you can easily learn new words, especially technical terms. The number of words may seem insignificant, but you will not even notice how you will remember many new and quite complex concepts. We don’t put it off until later, we do it right now:

iOS: Settings - General - Language and region - iPhone/iPad language - Čeština
Android: Settings - Language and input - Language - Čeština

3. Communicate more with native Czech speakers

Meet people, communicate, be open! Make new Czech friends: in real life or online.

Prague, like other student cities, has great potential for dating and networking. Attend as many useful events as possible: exhibitions, galleries, forums and your “friend book” will be steadily replenished with new interesting people.

Correspondence in messengers is great way learn spoken Czech and improve your grammar.

Rule No. 1: don’t be shy and don’t worry about possible mistakes, very soon your grammar will be perfect!

4. Sign up for group classes at a sports club

Sport is not only good for the body and spirit. This is great language practice! Try to sign up as soon as possible for a sports club that offers group classes and lectures. Believe me, sport really unites and helps you find new friends among the “locals”. From ballroom dancing to powerlifting, from chess to crossfit - in the Czech Republic you will find a huge offer of sports clubs and sections.

5. Read books in Czech

Very effective way, because unlike boring educational texts, you are involved in the plot of the work, simultaneously expanding your lexicon. We recommend starting with children's books in Czech: the difficulty level of such texts is moderate, and you can progress from book to book without much difficulty.

6. Radio, podcasts and audiobooks

While going about your usual activities, you can continue to study, be it a morning run, a walk around the city, or a regular evening at home. Radio, podcasts and audiobooks in Czech are perfect for these purposes. The logic of this method is similar to books - you are involved in the process and can choose the complexity and topic of the material. And even though it may be difficult to perceive information by ear at first, as you progress you will begin to better understand the intricacies of Czech speech.

Tune in to the “right wave”. Top Czech radio stations: Spin radio (hip-hop), Europa 2 (international pop), KissFM (pop).

7. Learn on the go

Make the most of the time you spend in queues and on transport. Even a small portion of a podcast you listen to or a portion of a book you read will undoubtedly have an impact on your knowledge. Also, be sure to download educational language games and applications; daily exercises will soon bear fruit.

8. Download the PEC QUIZ app

The application makes it possible to learn the Czech language in a fun way, offering different levels difficulties. In addition to the obvious benefits of constantly repeating the material covered, the leaders of the in-game rating are awarded monthly prizes for excellent knowledge. Learn new words every day and compete with your friends. The application is available for Android and iOS.

Belonging to the Slavic group of languages, Czech has many similarities with Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian, so it is much easier for residents of the CIS to learn it than, for example, for a German or Englishman. This language is not without grace and melody, and the streets of Prague captivate with mysterious legends, which will certainly become clearer as you learn the language.

Czech lessons with Advent EuroConsult

The channel's materials will help you learn the Czech language at an elementary level, starting with the very basics - the alphabet, pronouns and conjugations. The video explains grammar, rules for writing sentences, and much more in a concise and understandable manner. 10 lessons are allocated to conquer the entry level. Knowledge of a foreign language is not required - training is in Russian.

Czech language with Czrepetitor

During lessons, vocabulary and grammar are explained through presentations - taught First level. At the same time, explanatory comments are in Czech, but the presentations are so simple and understandable that you can safely start the lessons without those who know the language. Course participants will be able to expand their vocabulary and learn to form simple sentences, and will also put correct pronunciation. The channel was created for those who study closely and are simply interested in Czech.

Czech with Elena Shipilova

The listener will find more than 30 video lessons on the channel that will help immerse themselves in the world of the Czech language. Grammar, vocabulary and much more. Charming Elena will tell you about the nuances and subtleties of using this or that word in a sentence.
It’s interesting that the channel’s teacher, in addition to Czech, teaches other languages. By delving into the channel's archive, you can learn how to learn languages ​​correctly, overcome problems in learning a language, be able to get the correct pronunciation and much more. The lessons are well suited for those who are learning the language from scratch and are conducted in Russian.

Simple Czech

Listening to foreign speech is known to be one of the main problems of a Russian-speaking user. The lessons posted on the channel are designed to correct this misunderstanding - a pleasant audio reading of Czech is so well, simply and clearly organized that you want to start learning Czech without any particular goal. First, the student listens to the Russian version of a fragment of the book, then listens to its translation into Czech.

Czech with Go Study group s.r.o.

Here they will teach you how to introduce yourself, introduce you to the Czech alphabet, teach you how to answer the question “what time is it” and ask “how much does it cost”, introduce you to public transport and help you solve other everyday issues that require you to explain yourself in Czech.

Czech with Kurz Češtiny

The channel contains many lessons for learning Czech. Educational information is provided primarily through high-quality presentations.
The lessons are taught by a native Czech speaker, but explanations are given in Russian with a pleasant Czech accent. Kurtz will talk about the features of learning Czech, introduce you to grammar, warn about the main mistakes that people make when learning this particular language, and introduce you not only to the language, but also to Prague. On the channel you can find frivolous ones, but interesting videos like “What you shouldn’t shout in Russian in the Czech Republic.”

Czech with LINGVOPORTAL

Study the Czech language using a textbook with detailed explanations in Czech. The speaker's voice is pleasant, the pace of teaching is calm. The textbook comprehensively covers the material: grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, history of the language and much more are studied. In addition, the authors of the channel offer to complete a full training course posted on the official website. The material is qualitatively commented by the reader.

Czech language with Gennadij Jakimov

The author of the channel, being a professional linguist and translator, will tell you how easy it is to start speaking Czech and introduce you to the country itself and its customs and cultural values. Here you can expand your vocabulary and speed up the process of learning the language, and get the correct pronunciation. The lessons are designed for beginners and advanced users of the language, training is conducted in Russian. All educational information provided primarily in clear and simple presentations.

In the Czech Republic there are programs for English language, however for free training the applicant will have to enroll in a program that is taught in Czech. To confirm knowledge, there is also a special exam, which, like IELTS or TOEFL, is recognized in other countries. If you are planning to take Czech for admission, we suggest reading what this exam is like, whether it is easy to learn the language and what resources may be useful for mastering it.

Difficulties in learning

Czech cannot be considered an easy language. But it is much easier for Russian-speaking people to understand Czech than, for example, English-speaking people, due to the similarities in vocabulary and grammar. For the same reason, it will be easier to learn and speak Czech. However, at the same time, the similarity of languages ​​causes problems when studying, because when communicating in Czech, a student may, out of habit, use constructions that are used in his native language. Such difficulties arise not only when learning related languages, but in the case of them the habit is especially difficult to overcome. Among the common mistakes are words that are consonant with Russian but have a different meaning, verbs that in the Czech Republic are used with one case and preposition, and in Russia with another, and pronunciation.

Is it possible to learn Czech quickly? In general, yes. Of course, the duration of training depends on the individual, but due to the similarity of languages, this process will go much faster for a person who speaks a language from the Slavic group. It will also be an additional bonus to know German language, since Czech has many borrowings from it.

Exams

To study for free in the Czech Republic, you need to provide proof of your language proficiency at the proper level. Typically, Czech universities require knowledge at level B2, less often they accept level B1. To do this, you must pass the State Certified Exam (CCE), but some educational establishments They independently check your level of language skills.

Exams are held in 15 other countries besides the Czech Republic, including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The procedure for passing Czech differs from the well-known IELTS and TOEFL, where the student first writes an exam, and then finds out his score and level of language proficiency. To take the CCE, you must enroll in the exam at a specific level in which you speak the language. To obtain a certificate, you must score at least 60% overall and for individual parts.

The exam consists of reading, listening, vocabulary and grammar test, essay and oral part, which are taken on the same day. Level B2 includes all of these parts and is approximately 4 hours long. The cost of participation in CCE at this level in the Czech Republic is CZK 3,800.

Resources

For successful completion exam needed good preparation to every part of it. To make it easier for you to study Czech, and to make the process of learning it more interesting, we have prepared a selection of resources where you can both understand the basic rules and apply the knowledge that you already have in practice.

Preparation materials

For CCE classes, there is a Language and Language Institute created by the Institute. vocational training a selection of books and educational materials in English and Czech, which are often used by students and teachers. The authors of the list warn that using only the listed sources may not be enough to obtain a certificate. You need to listen to the radio, communicate with native speakers, watch television and read newspapers, books, and magazines in Czech.

Websites in Russian and English

• The Lingusto.com website has a section dedicated to the Czech language that will be useful for beginners. Here you can learn the alphabet and take lessons on various topics. The site will also help you become familiar with the basic rules of the Czech language.
• Localingo.com is an English website where you will find tests, listening tests, exercises, books and theory materials. The good structure of the site makes it accessible for use. If you know English, then understanding it is not worth the effort.
• On Abradio.cz you will find different radio stations. The site itself is in Czech, but you can use its English version.
• On Forvo.com you can hear how individual words and phrases sound in Czech. Expressions that are often used and will be useful in everyday life are also collected and divided by topic.

Websites in Czech

• The site Pravopisne.cz, as the name may suggest, will mainly help you with learning spelling. Here you can find sound dictations, spelling tests, sentence construction rules, analysis common mistakes and problems in language learning.
• Rozhlas.cz is an excellent radio station website that is suitable for listening. The radio station is dedicated to the life of foreigners in the Czech Republic and contains audio recordings on the website different topics.
• On the website of the Prague City Library you will find free e-books in Czech and other reading materials. The site is available in Russian and English, but the e-book options offered differ depending on the selected language on the site. In both cases you will find books in Czech, but the range will be different.
• Prirucka.ujc.cas.cz is a reference book where you can find out the meaning of words and learn in detail about the morphology, spelling and grammar of Czech. It will be useful for those who are already good level knows the language and wants to know its structure better.

Websites for communicating with native speakers

• On Conversationexchange.com, once you register, you can find someone to talk to in your target language. here you can communicate via Skype or writing. If it is possible to find a person who lives in your city, then meet in person.
• If you don't want to chat yet free form with other people or it seems that your knowledge is not enough, you can take a few lessons from a native speaker. For example, on the site