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For most of us westerners the Czech language will be a completely new experience with few if any words proving familiar to begin with…
Although English is spoken in Prague in ever increasing numbers, to not even make an effort to learn a few words of Czech is an affront to the people that live here in my mind. It takes little effort to learn a few simple phrases such as ‘please’, ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ and your experience in Prague will be greatly enriched by doing so as the locals will be very pleased (or amused) by your polite efforts.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of ignorant tourists out there that actually expect everyone in a foreign country to speak English!
Some basics:
Please/You're welcome: Prosim (PROH-seem)
Thank you: Dekuji Vahm (Dyeh-koo-yih vahm)
Hello: Dobry den (DO-bree-den)
Goodbye: Nashledanou (NAH-sleh-dah-noh-oo)
Yes: Ano (AH-no)
No: Ne (neh)
And now for an essential phrase you cannot do without in Prague:
Dam si jedno pivo prosim: Can I have a beer please!
For more, ‘czech’ out Local Lingo ;-) Leave a Comment
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everyone says "Prosim," all...the....time. they pick up their cell phones and say, "prosim?" they give you your change back and say, "prosim!"
so what does prosim mean? according to my guidebook, it means please. but it seems like they use it for hello and thank you and all sorts of other stuff. i don't really know for sure, but it's a really big word - big like aloha or coca cola or something.
if you'd like to say it too, it sounds like pro-seem. roll the 'r'. Leave a Comment
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I found that not very many people in Prague speak a lot of English, so learning some Czech will probably be useful. Locals generally respond very well if you at least recognise the effort they have made for you, even if you only know a word or two of Czech. Here are some useful phrases:
Hello - Dobrý den
Yes - Ano
No - Ne
Please - Prosím
Thank you - Děkuji
We found that most Czechs are more than happy to give an impromptu lesson in Czech - one taxi driver even listed off several phrases when we asked him, and then made us repeat them all in turn so that he could correct our pronounciation :) That was the best taxi journey I've ever been on.
Don't be too daunted if Czech looks too confusing - many Czechs speak German as a second language so if you did German at school, now is the perfect opportunity to go up into the attic and dust off all your old exercise books! Leave a Comment
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In generall czech people are very weak in foreign languages. So if you ask someone for help you may see frowning face. This does not mean any signs of hostility but simply a person does not understand and does not want to communicate. Due to communist era a lot of especially older people do speak only a little bit of russian. It is much more better with young generation who can speak at least basic of english or german. In Prague it should not be problem to order in english or german in restaurants especially in the centre. In the countryside it might be more problem to speak with a stuff but menus are usually in two languages. The more west the more german language, of course, due to boarders with Germany. I would reccommend to learn few word which warm up the people faces, they will be happy to hear you trying to pronounce czech words. There is an english - czech dictionary web site.
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Czech is not an easy language to learn, but making the effort to learn to say Hello, Please and Thank you, really is worth the trouble. Locals will be pleasantly surprised and you might get a smile or a new friend just for trying...
Hello = Dobry den
Please = Prosím
Thank you = De Kuji Vám Leave a Comment
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Just as in any country, local people really appreciate when you make an effort to speak their language. Even if it is just the word "hello" or "thank you", so learn a few basic words. They will really value your attempt to learn Czech, and as they are generally very friendly people, will easily help you and share a lot of things with you.
Even if English is the international language, Czech is still theirs so don't expect to have menus in English, or for them to understand everything you say.
It might seem like a very obvious tip to some of you, but trust me, I have witnessed many times tourists complaining and saying "How can they not have a menu in English!!!!" Leave a Comment
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Language can be a bit of a barrier, but you might do well speaking a little German. Czech is very difficult and I found that even with a book of 'useful' phrases, they weren't very useful the way I was pronouncing them!!
Some of the younger people will speak English, but don't count on it.
Here are the very basics:
Yes: Ano (AH-no)
No: ne (neh)
Please/You're welcome: Prosim (PROH-seem)
Thank you: Dekuji (Dyeh-koo-yih)
Hello: Dobry den (DO-bree-den)
Goodbye: Nashledanou (NAH-sleh-dah-noh-oo) Leave a Comment
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So, I bought a Praha lanyard, a KGB (We're Still Watching You!) t-shirt, and a Praha bottle opener at the souvenir shop beside the bridge tower. The young lady at the cashier said to me, "Prosim." I asked her what it meant. She said it means thank you or hello. I said to her, "I thought thank you was "Dekuji." She said, "Yes." So now I'm confused... I asked her one more question, "What does Bes Do Perdele mean?" She was sipping on some water at that time and I had her blowing water/chunks through her nostrils. Hahaha! She couldn't tell me what it meant. Everyone in that souvenir shop was laughing so hard!
I told my Czech co-worker my story when I got back and he said that it's even harder for women to translate it to men. So remember, always learn a few useful verses (for comedic effect) when visiting other countries.
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Czech language is very hard (sometimes even natives don't speak well) so you'll need dictionaries. But some 'usefull' phrases, which you can find in that books, are mostly wrong and they don't exactly mean what they are suppose to. So many young people speak English and German (mostly teenagers and businessmen), a lot of people speak Russian, but don't try to talk to them by using that language. Many people don't like Russians so much because of some historical events so when you'll talk to them in Russian they'll simply walk away or tell you that they don't understand. The best way how to get some informations is to go to one of the many INFO kiosks in downtown or just go to some restaurant and ask the waiter - most of them speak English. Leave a Comment
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In my opinion, Slavic languages are very difficult to learn, especially if one has not learned the pure Russian form. Just a few words you should learn before going there (not everyone in the world speaks English, you know):
Ano=Yes
Ne=No
Ahoj=Hello
Dobre rano=Good morning
Dobre den=Good day
Ahoj=Goodbye
Pardon=Excuse me/Pardon me
Lituju=sorry
Prosim=Please
Dekuju=Thank you Leave a Comment
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