Getting there ... — 2 years ago
It helps to be living in Prague, but it helps even more to get out of Prague! In Prague, everyone (practically) speaks English and wants to practice on me!
Speak Czech at conversational level
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Melbourne
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Pennsylvania
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As with any language, slow and easy... — 3 years ago
Worth doing!
I started teaching myself Czech in 1993, went on my first trip there in 1995, a longer trip in 1996, and then worked there in 1999. So, while I had a good sense of conversational Czech in 1999, despite all the books and tapes and CDs, it was understandably quite rusty even after six years of study. Of course, working there and having a good number of Czech colleagues and friends was what pushed it to the conversational level.
If it’s any help, get a general overview of the grammar but concentrate on the vocab. You won’t recognize all the seven cases for “matka” at once, but knowing what that word means will help you put things in context.
I’d also recommend thinking what sort of conversational Czech you’re thinking of… speaking with family members? With colleagues? With regular folks off the street? Then you’ll have a clearer goal of what vocab to pick up, what forms to use, etc.
Try listening to Web broadcasts from radio stations in Czech Republic, and esp. music stations (i.e. Radio City 93.7 in Prague, which was my favorite station when I was there). You may not understand much, but it’ll become familiar, which will hopefully encourage you.
