I just found a great website about Czech. There are some interesting informations, such as:
Travel
The Czech Republic is one of the most popular touristic destination in Central Europe. Among the highlights are:
- Prague (it’s a maginificent city and a giant tourist trap at the same time - beware of pickpocketers and scams)
- Český Krumlov (a beautiful town in the south that has beautiful small-town architecture. It’s also a tourist trap)
- Karlový Vary (mineral springs and spa used for centuries)
- Plzeò (home of Pilsner Urquell - enough said)
-Kutná Hora (a bit like Èeský Krumlov with its beautiful medieval architecture. It doesn’t seem to have as many tourists as Český Krumlov which keeps the crowding town.) - Brno (an underrated city with a beautiful cathedral, castle and mummies…)
- Olomouc (a mini version of Praha without hordes of tourists. It has a large trinity column on the main square and its town hall has an elaborate set of astronomical instruments and clocks.)
- Castles (Šternberk, Pražský hrad, Karlštejn, Konopištì, Hluboka, etc. If you think France has chateaux, come to the Czech Republic to see some beautiful ‘hrady’
VARIATIONS:
Standard Czech is taught in schools and used for official purposes (“spisovná čeština” ~ written Czech), while Common Czech (“obecná čeština” ~ general Czech) is often used in conversation. The use of Common Czech seems more noticeable in Bohemia (western part of the country) than in Moravia (eastern part of the country). Standard Czech uses the dialect of Prague as its base. There are also dialects of Czech that differ from both Standard and Common Czech…
TIME NEEDED:
According to FSI, it takes approximately 1100 class hours to achieve professional speaking and reading proficiency in Czech.
DIFFICULTY:
For English speakers, the greatest difficulties in my opinion are:
- Verbal aspect
- Verbs of motion
- Syntax
- Nominal and adjectival declension
- Vocabulary
BOOKS:
- Teach Yourself Czech (David Short)
- Colloquial Czech (James Naughton)
- A Practical Czech Course For English Speaking Students (Miloš Sova)
- English-Czech/Czech-English Dictionary (Josef Fronek) (Published by Leda)
- English-Czech/Czech-English Dictionary (Ivan Poldauf et al.)
You can read more information and advice on the website: http://bit.ly/cjLXuT