Radio Prague International - Topic «Czech language course»

Danny Bate, a former member of Radio Prague and linguist, has just published his first book, titled Why Q Needs U. In it, he dives into the history of the English alphabet and invites readers to see language as a collaborative project shaped by its speakers from day to day. The self-taught Czech speaker, writer, and perennial Czechophile, also shares practical advice for learning the language, including how to master the notoriously difficult ‘ř’ sound.

The University of Vienna is marking a remarkable milestone this year: 250 years since Czech was first taught there. In fact, Czech was introduced as a field of study in Vienna 18 years earlier than at any Czech University.

On May 27th, the ‘Day of Czech’ ( Den češtiny ) is serving up a multi-genre programme of linguistic events, designed to inform Czech speakers about their language and help them to look at it with new eyes. Aimed in the morning at school groups, and later on the general public, the Day of Czech is being held in Prague’s Kampus Hybernská, where Danny Bate met with one of the team behind the event, Dr. Ondřej Dufek.

Teachers at a Prague primary school are changing how the Czech language is taught to foreign children, and have produced new textbooks that implement their method.

The Czech Academy of Sciences’ Institute of the Czech Language is recruiting young language enthusiasts to document dialects and the endangered speech of older generations.

Czech children and teenagers are crafting their own language, filled with slang and new expressions, often borrowed from English. The internet speeds up the creation of new words and phrases, which can be confusing for people who aren't active online. In particular, it can be difficult for their parents and grandparents to understand.

As every year, dozens of students from all over the world arrived in Czechia to take part in this year’s edition of the annual Summer Czech Course for Expats organised by Charles University's Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies. For the past few years, the course has been held in the charming spa town of Poděbrady in Central Bohemia. We caught up with some of them to find out about their motivation to study Czech.

The promoters of hantec, a unique Czech language variety, spoken by the lower classes of Brno during the 19th and early 20th centuries, would like get it inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List. They are hoping that this might prevent the famous sociolect from completely dying out.

British linguist Danny Bate divides his time between Prague and Edinburgh, where he is completing a PhD. Given his academic background, the 26-year-old has many fascinating things to say on the Czech language, which he himself is studying. But I also asked Bate – who, incidentally, helps shape Czechia’s “maturita” school-leaving exam – about his experience of living in the country to date.

“A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” This is the maxim often cited to explain the sometimes arbitrary distinctions between languages and dialects. So what about the case of Czech and Slovak, which are generally considered to be mutually intelligible? Were they always considered to be separate languages, even when Czechoslovakia was one country? And has anything changed linguistically since the nations went their separate ways politically?

On moving to the Czech Republic, many foreigners are surprised to find famous women such as Hillary Clinton and Meryl Streep referred to in the Czech media as ‘Hillary Clintonová’ and ‘Meryl Streepová’. Now one Czech news outlet has sparked debate on the matter, after dropping this practice for foreign women’s surnames.

Proponents of “Czechia” got a boost this month, when Olympic officials in Prague asked the International Olympic Committee to register it in its database of country names. But will the short name ever replace the official “the Czech Republic” in common speech? I discussed the matter with leading Czech linguist Karel Oliva.

If you live in the Czech Republic, you’ll have been enjoying two extra days off from work due to a pair of consecutive public holidays this week. 5th July, Saints Cyril and Methodius day, and 6th July, Jan Hus day, both have a connection to the way Czech is written – but what is it? And is Czech really easier to learn to read and write than other languages? Our reporter and amateur linguistics enthusiast, Anna Fodor, spoke to well-known Czech linguist Karel Oliva, to find out.

After years of heated debates, Czech women may finally be able to make their own decision about the form of their surname. On Tuesday the Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to the law on birth registers, names and surnames, allowing them to drop the ending –ová and use the masculine form instead.

With a strong economy and cities that few can rival in their beauty, the Czech Republic has become an increasingly popular country for foreigners from across the world. This has naturally led to a demand in Czech language courses. One of those who are leading the pack in online Czech teaching is YouTuber Vít Benešovský.

Should Czech women be able to choose whether or not to use the ending -ová in their surname? A debate over the question has flared up again after the cabinet approved a draft law on birth registers, which denies women the possibility to do so. The Pirate Party calls it discriminatory and wants to reverse the decision in the Lower House.

Today marks the midway point for students at the 62nd Summer School of Slavonic Studies in Prague, a month-long program for academics and enthusiasts of Slavic language and culture. I spoke with program coordinators to learn more about the school and its international student body.

The city of Brno is one of a number of venues where summer schools of Czech take place every year and bring together students from across the world. Now in its fiftieth year, the Masaryk University Summer School of Slavonic Studies offers its students much more than just language lessons.

Vojtěch Merunka, an associate professor who teaches at the Czech University of Life Sciences and also the Czech Technical University in Prague is one of a team of creators behind Interslavic – a language designed to make communication possible for anyone with Slav roots. Speak Czech but not any Russian? Bulgarian but no Polish? Interslavic, he says, is the alternative; at a conference in June, he and fellow team members put the language to the test.

Charles University academic Ivana Bozděchová has taught Czech and Czech Studies in several corners of the world, including in the United States and in the South Korean capital Seoul. When we spoke, the conversation took in everything from the particular difficulties Czech tends to throw up for English speakers to Czechia to the use of -ová surname endings. But I first asked Ms. Bozděchová about her experiences of teaching at the University of Nebraska in 1990, right after the fall of communism.