Hello!! I´m moving to Prague in two weeks and i´m a bit worry coz i don´t know speak czech. I´ll will take class there but i´d like to know if i can walk around the city only speaking english. I´ll live in Prague 10 in a residence but i have to go at university in prague 1 all days.I think Prague 10 is far from Prague 1, but i don´t know really.How can i go to the city center from my residence? Thanks
Too late to worry now I would say that you should have received some information about your stay there from the school you will be studying in. Language in country is Czech, but some people learned English - not most of the people of course. It is foreign language there. Not knowing where exactly is your residence located, you can still be assured that Prague has very good city transportation and Prague 10 is just a few Metro stops from location you will be going to. It would ease your mind if you do some more surfing and get some more info on your near future. Use key words you are interested in i.e.Prague city transportation - Prague map - etc. Good luck.
I know expats who have lived here for years and have a Czech vocabulary of about 100-150 words. I don't know how they do it, but they get by. So, I wouldn't worry about it. That said, don't expect English to be widely spoken outside the Center.
I've never had a problem getting around speaking mostly English. Although I can understand spoken Czech (not word for word, but I get the general idea) so that probably helps too.
if I were you, I would buy a Czech phrase book and learn a few words. Make some local friends and ask for their help with the rest of the pronunciation of the words in Czech. Armed with the Czech phrase book, you can point to the words in Czech when you are stuck with words. This would get you going for a start. Then, enrol in a school to learn the language. It's more to get by your everyday life. I have been to Prague for biz and the people there speaks English even the old lady behind the counter at the train station in Chodov. She is quite friendly. Start by greeting the locals Dobry den and the rest either in English/ point to the words in your phrase book & they might pronounce it for you and you learn the pronunciation as well. Cheers... Jo.
Funny link, Halef - thanks for a morning laugh. About the topic - you can get by in Prague with minimal Czech but, your stay will be much more rewarding if you learn as much as you can. Czech is a difficult language to master but you can get the basics down pretty quickly. Give it a try - people may laugh, smirk, or roll their eyes at your pronunciation but, they will appreciate you effort. Knowing just a bit does have its downfalls, however. Eating lunch one day, I recognized the words on the menu for beef, sauce, and rice but didn't recognize the most important word - liver. Boy, was I surprised (I detest liver). :shock:
Hey I just had liver soup for dinner. :lol: Anyhow, about not speaking Czech, like everyone else has said, it is a good idea, but another thing. People all over the world already think that most English speaking people are rude (as far as I know) and for us to go to someone else´s country and expect them to know our language isn´t very nice. (I learned this from experience). So just out of politeness or whatever I would learn at least enough to get by...althought I did order a water once in Prague in Czech and as I was walking away the guy yelled after me "Have a great day, come back again!" so... Oh...and the metro police guys...I betcha betcha betcha they speak English, but I have NEVER gotten one to speak it, and trust me, when they stop you for a ticket you cant´t play innocent foreigner with them...hehe... That´ll be 500kč please!
