Hi to all, I recently purchased the Eurotalk Interactive Learn Czech CD-ROM program. I found it to be very good, but only in the regards of teaching Czech vocabulary. It lacked any information on constructing sentences; what each word means, the various different forms of words and the order of words in a sentence etc. etc. My question is, can anyone tell me a good Czech language beginner program (Book & CD/cassette preferrably) that teaches what I previously mentioned rather than focusing solely on Czech vocabulary? Price is irrelevant at this stage. Look forward to your suggestions! Thanks, ~Jason
Though I am not sure if they have a CD/Cassette with the book, Czech, Step by Step by Lida Hola is by far the best there is. They just came out with a second addition. Here is the Amazon link I also recommend the workbook. Another good book for grammar is Communicative Czech. This is the one used at Charles University for teaching Czech. This one wasn't on amazon though... Good Luck! Hilary
I found the book "401 Czech Verbs" to be very helpful. it is written by Bruce Davies. Thius is an excellent book for learning the diffrent cases and how to properly construct sentances...
TTC Please could you tell me where you obtained your copy of "401 Czech Verbs"? I am really struggling with constructing sentences, and the use of the different cases. Thanks for your time. Liane.
Try their website and and under "distributions and contacts" there is a contact e-mail address. They accept credit cards and delivery charges are reasonable. My copy arrived in a couple of days. Regards Phil
Thanks Phillip. I managed to get in touch with them, and have ordered a copy. Have you found it useful? I have friends in Czech republic, who I want to visit in November. I'm really struggling to make any progress with my grammar. I'm not finding translation from Czech too bad, and pronunciation is improving, but I want to be able to hold a basic conversation. I'm hoping to learn more once I'm there, but kt's difficult when you have no-one to practice with. What made you take up learning Czech? What books/courses/ sites have you found helpful? Look forward to hearing from you. Na shledanou, Liane.
Ahoj Liane Why am I learning Czech? Why do people climb mountains? I have been to ČR four times, the first in 1995. My friend speaks Czech and taught me a few words and phrases. I just got interested I suppose. For some reason I have taken an interest in Czech Grammar. My main problem is listening to Czech. As for books, I have a few. The first book I bought was "Colloquial Czech" by James Naughton. I also have "Czech Step by Step" by Lída holá. Both books are excellent, but with Step by Step it would be helpful if you had some help from a tutor or Czech speaker. You will also need a dictionary with this book, as she encourages you to learn how to use a Czech dictionary. The dictionary I use is "Anglicko-Český Česko-Anglický" by Josef Fronek. I think this is also an excellent book. It is written for both Czech and English speakers. As for "401 Czech Verbs", I find this very useful as a reference. I use it mainly for learning perfective/imperfective verb pairs. It also has a grammar section which explains Czech Grammar quite well, but is not complete. Web sites: Well locallingo was where I first started to learn. I would advise anyone just starting to learn Czech to visit this site. Bohemica is also useful, but not complete. I also have addresses for a few online dictionaries. If you want them, just let me know. Měj se Phil
Just remembered! There was a discussion on text books a while ago. Hopefully you'll find this thread useful. Phil