Complete Czech Beginner to Intermediate Course: Learn to read, write, speak and understand a new language (Teach Yourself)

I spent some time with this book before coming to Prague, and still am using it 2 months in.This book covers the vast majority of the Czech grammar (basic language through past and future tense, constructing adjectives, the case system, etc) in a small space. So, the learning curve through this book is quite steep.The quality of the audio is good, but the speaker is very fast and the subject matter is usually pretty complex. Once you get it, there is quite a lot of humor in the audio, but this took me many repeat listenings.The app that it requires you to install on your phone for the audio lets you dial down the speed of the language, so you can manually go slower to hear the sounds better.This book also has exercises which help cement some of the lessons in.But that said, I am still working on it because I need more listening material at a more basic conversational level. The courses are based on breaking down the quite complex subjects into lessons, but I found some other resources here that stay at a more basic level, longer, to help reinforce those concepts before launching into lessons with 30 or so new words in a short conversation.I think this course would be perfect with a supplement that included more basic audio lessons, with a workbook that contained a lot more practice. The practice in the book was good, but I supplemented it myself with a book I could only find in Czech Republic, which contains a lot of repetition to teach every grammar and vocabulary point. You really need it for the variety and repetition.I will also say that this particular book explains the grammar much, much better than the other books I have found, as the book I found here for practice throws in new case endings with ZERO explanation and I've had to come back to this David Short book to figure out what happened, as it's explained here.I've been able to have some short and basic conversations, and can usually do basic things without resorting to English except in specialty stores. Good luck and work on pronouncing your ř's!

Great text, very helpful to start out. I also appreciate the recordings as it helps with intonation and pronunciations. As much as you can read this, it does so much more when you can find someone who knows the language to be able to talk to and get feedback.

While I have access to the online help, I regret that the CD that was discussed in the book's description wasn't included. Also, I found many of the beginning words very difficult to repeat. Slower speaking at the online sight would be helpful to start with. (This being said, I admit I have always had trouble with learning languages.)

This is a very good beginners Czech book. Highly recommended.

The book is fine but the fact that the vocabulary doesn’t have audio is terrible.

Great book for beginners

With options to learn Czech being relatively limited, this was my first choice for a quick introduction. Be aware, though, that the learning curve is steep as you jump into the first couple of lessons of this book -- be patient with yourself, take notes, and don't try to go too fast. I've learned a number of languages both formally in school (German in high school, Russian in college), and French, Spanish, Italian, modern Greek and Turkish on my own since (for travel). In this book, after a brief introduction to the Czech alphabet and sounds, the teaching method moves directly to relatively fast-moving dialogues written in the book and spoken on the accompanying CD. The introduction and first chapter were manageable -- but the first dialogue of chapter 2 is extremely challenging and may be difficult for many independent learners. With time- and space limitations of a single 300-page book and CD, I suppose they have to jump in fast and ramp up quickly. However, particularly in the first couple of chapters, I would have liked to see more basic vocabulary (with repetition), (similar to the Learn In Your Car, or online software approaches) and grammar before jumping in to fast-moving dialogues based on idiomatic expressions.

I bought this book as a gift. This book hands down seems to be the BEST Czech book option out there! I spent lots of time, trying to find the perfect, simple and user-friendly book. This one seemed the best to me (I also checked Barnes & Noble's)!! I would definitely buy it again after listing through it in person!The book seems to have all that it needs. As a native Czech, I think they do an excellent job putting almost everything into 1 book, and especially when it comes to accompanying this book with the CD/online audio. Why? Because I believe that it is crucial to get a good grasp on the important pronunciation of some hard letters in our alphabet. I wish the book was a bit more user friendly (more colors inside of the book, more easily divided material and sections) but all in all, I would recommend it to anyone, who is serious about learning our beautiful, challenging but fun language!!! Na zdraví!

I have had an earlier edition of this book in the old-fashioned Teach Yourself format. I always liked David Short's approach. He acts as a kindly guide through what is a complex journey into the maze of Czech grammar and usage. He evidently has a great love of the language and its quirks. The 'Complete' format is much superior even though the content is little changed. There is some amplification of the explanations and cultural background and these together with the increased size and much better paper quality make for a much improved learning experience.Those who complain that he goes fast - which he does - just need to take it easy. This is never going to be an comfortable ride; his explanations are perfectly clear. I learnt Russian decades ago at school and used to think that was pretty complicated, but it seems child's play now. At least Czech stress is consistent unlike Russian.I am still confused in the dialogues by Mr Smith (or are they two Smiths?) and two lady Smiths - Hilary - who lives in Edinburgh - and Alice. One Mr Smith seems to live in London and have a carpet factory and the other seems to be a geologist from New York - or is it the other way around? None of it matters in the learning though. I think maybe my brain has just been addled by my studies of the language. After all I have difficulty separating - in Czech - a hedgehog, a badger, a dachshund and the Christchild...I am loving the journey and I am glad to have David Short as a guide. Maybe he would like to write some stories similar to the 'Baumgartner and Momsen' series for learners of German. There is difficulty finding suitable reading material for A2-lower B2 achievers.Thank you David.

I suppose this is a 'complete' first course, but I'm afraid the learning curve it presents to complete beginners such as myself is far, far too steep. After a month of struggling with it spending some time on most days, I am still only on Chapter 2, and I believe it is the book's fault, not mine. The book piles on far too much information far too quickly, and I am finding it a real struggle to assimilate all of it. I don't know if my strategy is wrong - maybe I should be ploughing ahead even though I don't understand all that I've read so far - but I'm pretty sure if I did that I would be floundering even more. I have had no such trouble with French and German in the past, although I must say that they are more closely related to English than is Czech - and that is another reason the book needs to go more slowly for English speakers. If I were Russian, I'm sure this book would be easy: the languages are as similar as English and French are to each other.The audio programme that you have to buy separately, and not so cheaply, is also not so good. The actors consistently sound like they don't really mean what they're saying, which is offputting in itself, but on top of that, they speak far too quickly. Of course, there is an argument that native Czechs will speak quickly so I should get used to it, but I don't think that in Chapters 1 and 2 of a beginners' book the speakers should be slurring the words together, ignoring full stops, and going so fast I can't even keep up with reading and understanding the dialogue. In the early days of learning, I would hope to be able to listen to the dialogues, pick out all the individual words and hear the correct pronunciation, and have time to recall the meaning. When I am fluent, no doubt this will all be easy, but in the beginning I have to do all this consciously and it requires time.I will persevere with this book for now, but I am also looking around for one that presents a gentler, yet still 'complete', introduction to the language.

This is a good course from someone who clearly has a love for the Czech language and people. You are drip fed the grammar which whilst it was a little infuriating for those of us familiar with Slavic languages, is essential for those learning a foreign language for the first time. Stock phrases are presented to skip over grammar not introduced yet. The choice of vocabulary is a strange one, the word vicarage is given in the first few chapters! But situations are built and vocab and grammar revisited and underlined. The author also gives a good insight to the culture and history of the Czech language and people. Certainly the explanations of Czech compared to other languages gives insight and you can lean on your knowledge of other tongues. To great effect. You can be assured of getting basic tourist Czech in the first half a dozen chapters and a good grounding at the end of the course. A wise buy

An excellent introduction to all aspects of the Czech experience of life is gained through this book. Pronunciation andintonation are available on CDs from David Short and his colleagues at Complete Czech Audio Support.

Good learning tool