Czech refresher

Discussion in 'General Language' started by strommuu, Feb 26, 2004.

  1. strommuu

    strommuu Member

    At one point in my life, 10-15 years ago, I was fairly proficient in czech. I was a US Army linguist, and did very well compared to most american Czech linguists, especially with spoken czech.

    I was able to converse with anyone from Cr or Slovakia with no problems. My grammar was good (not perfect, but I easily understood all 7 cases, and was able to resolve most meanings through them even when some vocab was unfamiliar). Good enough that Polish was an easy step to learn, too. Written comprehension was even better: I was able to read/translate college texts with only a little more difficulty than english or spanish.

    I am now trying to work through refreshing my (now) horrible czech skills. I started by finding my vocabulary flash cards. I have almost 3000, and have been working my way back through them for almost a month. I take the 1st case of each word, and from memory, go through all cases(when applicable) with plurals.

    WOW! Have I forgotten a lot. Most, actually :p

    I'm now starting to work concurrently on translation exercises. The ones on locallingo.com are pathetically simple to me(sorry if I am being rude, this is just from my viewpoint--I'm sure that they are great for some people :) ), and I have lost all of my original translation exercies, books, and manuals.

    SO, I've been working through websites. The websites are a hinderance because so much of them contain a lot of coloqialisms(which are good, but just about impossible to translate without a native speaker to guide me)-- although the state sponsored ones have been awesome, if rather difficult/almost impossibe :p .



    I am planning on visiting the CR again in 2005, so I have about 15 months.

    Basic plan is to spend the next few months w/simple books, and then step back up to high-school level for 2-3 months, and for the last 6 to focus on college-level literature.

    Of course, I will be working on vocabulary the entire time.

    Next step is to buy some books. I'm now looking for simple books, geared towards teenagers or pre-teens (for simplicity's sake). For sure, ones that I can buy over the internet or by phone.

    Thanks,
    robert, ten blbec :D
     
  2. strommuu

    strommuu Member

    Woops! missing the last sentence:

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks in advance,
    robert, ten blbec :D
     
  3. rsalc1

    rsalc1 Well-Known Member

    My plan to learn Czech is very similar to Strommuu's.
    Any suggestions on which books I should buy to gradually improve my reading skills from high-school to college level?

    Thanks!
    rsalc1
     

Share This Page