Brand-newbie here: Hello everyone. Anyone found a czech language book that they found especially helpful to begin with? A specific tiltle would be great. Kind of a broad question, however in my Spanish studies I found a book that got me mainstreamed quickly, with a very good grasp of the language. Thank you for input Calvario[/img]
Czech language boks on LocalLingo. Probably the New Czech Step by Step by Lida Hola is the best (from what I heard)
I like working with the "New Czech Step by Step, but it is designed for working with a tutor, and if you have no Czech at all you might find it difficult as the instructions are all given in Czech, and grammar points are not fully explained in the text. I do recommend it though, once you have the basics - or a Czech speaker on hand to explain what you are supposed to do! The book I worked from (am still working from) to get the basics and which explains things well is "Colloquial Czech" by James Naughton. Hope this helps. Good luck. Laylah.
Thank you for your input, much appreciated. I'll try Barnes & Noble book store. When I began studying Spanish years ago i remember looking at books on Czech also. Thank you, Calvario
Amazon has good prices. I like Step by Step as well. It's a good one. They have tapes or CD's as well. 401 Czech verbs is a good one to get as well.
Is 401 Czech verbs still available in the US then? it's proving very difficult to track a copy down here in the UK, and the proposed new print run hasn't materialised yet!
Ive got 401 cz verbs, but I had to buy it directly in Praha. Its pretty hard to find in other countries. Apart this, Im using A Modern Cz Grammar (Columbia University Slavic Studies), which isnt VERY modern (lol) but its really a great book. I think Ive seen a pretty new grammar on Amazon (2006) but I didnt give it a try since mine is a very good book
http://www.401czechverbs.com/ has the places where you can buy it. I ordered mine through the mail. It came a week after I ordered it.
For anyone in the UK looking for 401 Czech Verbs, I got a copy last week from a shop in London. It is an excellent book and I have found it really useful (but I got depressed when when I realised how many mistakes I have been making!). I hope I am not breaking any message board rules by posting the shop details: LCL International Booksellers Limited (www.lclib.com). Service was great and delivery was next day.
Right now I'm using 'Communicative Czech Elementary Czech' by Ivana Rešková and Magdalena Pinterová. I bought it here in Plzeň and as a beginner I find it quite useful.
Thanks for the info on 401 Czech Verbs, McCracken. I have just placed my order with the London store and I'm also pleased to have a new resource for language books that I didn't have before. Cheers! Laylah
I'm using Colloquial Czech and I think it's really good especially if you can get the CD as well and listen to the dialogues (I bought the book by itself and then borrowed the cd from the local library.. I'm a poor student! )
This might be helpful to some of you if you visit the Czech Republic or have access to Czech bookshops. I was lucky enough to be near Brno and Olomouc for a kids hockey tournament between Christmas and New Year and got some excellent books from some of the bookshops there. I got the Step by Step by Lida Hola which I am finding very helpful. Garamond do some books which I guess are intended for Czechs learning English but are very useful the other way around. These are bilingual novels (mainly classics) that have one page in English and the facing page in Czech. These have been great to read as well as being excellent learning aids. I finished off my shopping spree with some Asterix books. I remembered using these at school for language learning and they are as funny in Czech as in the other languages. I have to admit that it does help that I can remember the stories well anyway but their main purpose is to encourage me to read Czech. Combined with the grammar explanations in Step by Step, I have found all of this very enlightening. I am also pleased to say that I got by quite well with people understanding my spoken Czech whilst out there. Understanding what was spoken back to me was OK once I had managed to explain that my meaning of "speak slowly please" was far slower than anyone first understood me to mean!!.
I agree. I have a Czech friend in London who teaches Czech to diplomats and she recommended Step by Step because Lida Hola, who wrote the course, is a practitioner rather than someone who just wrote a language book. I contacted Lida Hola via her website and although she couldn't take me on herself because she is writing another book, she recommended Miroslav Kasparek at Czech Language Training (www.czlt.cz) I have been studying with him for a month now and have made great progress.
