CZECHS DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU! (Your Czech pronunciation sucks-here's how to fix it)

[@loltadynicneni913]

Just a little note - I'm from eastern Bohemia so it might not apply to the whole country but almost nobody says "Ahoj, mámo!" unless they mean it as a joke or they hate their mom. It's usually "Ahoj, mami."

[@malyvo0]

I come from czech Silesia and I live in eastern Moravia and it's the same throughout the whole country, but I think that was just an example and of course foreign Czech learner would rarely call his foreign mum in Czech, so I guess that's not so bothersome :-)

[@tomastezky89]

... exactly ... ... a lot of people also say "Čau, mami" ... 👍

[@dusanarusinova3547]

My kids call me mámo, we are used to that. They also used to call their babičky "bábo" (bába Marta and bába Hana - they loved it and were used to that). I don´t think it´s something offending. It´s very individual.

[@loltadynicneni913]

Can you all please calm down? I said "almost nobody" and that it might not apply to the whole country, I didn't claim it to be a universal fact.

[@loltadynicneni913]

@@chapadlorodicka To jsem neřekl. Jen mi vadí, že mě lidi opravují, když jsem přímo řekl, že mluvím za jednu jedinou část republiky a navíc že to nevím jistě.

[@veronikaczr1105]

Hi, maybe a little tip for the beginning (I am Czech, but I've heard some foreigners used something like this): czech language has a little bit wierd emphasis - it's on the first syllable and quite unnoticeable. How to spot a foreigner? He puts a strong emphasis somewhere in the middle of the word and makes some syllables way longer while the rest is kind of lost. So here's finally the tip: use a metronome. Yes, a metronome, ideally one that has a different sound for the first beat. For example, you'll be learning some 3-syllable words: PING-pong pong NA-ho-ru SLEpice ŘEřicha etc., then SLIvovice PODkolenky ROzumbrada etc., DVEře, KÁva, KRAvál... Don't make those first syllables longer though! Length and emphasis are two different things. When there's a long syllable, add length, not additional emphasis. In the beginning, you can even take it to an extreme by using 2 beats for 1 long syllable: PO-čí-í-tač. Then try to say sentences in this way.

[@DreamPrague]

Thanks Veronika. I've heard this advice before, but I find it incredibly difficult! Especially to stress the first syllable, but not to make it long!

[@veronikaczr1105]

@@DreamPrague I can only imagine how difficult it is, but maybe years of practise will make difference 😉

[@danielahoti4109]

To je skutecne velmi dobre a jednoduche vysvetleni ceskeho akzentu na prvni sylabe. Ten navrch pouzivat metronom je genialni.

[@11lizgoodall]

That's a really good idea! I might try that. I am constantly putting emphasis on the wrong syllables - it's never the syllable I think it should be! I am a very obvious foreigner! 😆

[@jammmy30]

Wow! This was great 👍 tip! I could really “hear” the sound behind your explanation. You clearly have talent for this. BTW do you have any tip for Czech “i” and “y” in writing?

[@ZemplinTemplar]

Many English speakers tend to feel intimidated by the vowel length. However, you can learn pronunciation via phonetic equivalents in English: í (long i, in both Czech and Slovak) - like the "ee" in the English word "reek" or "seek" ý (long y, in both Czech and Slovak) - like the "ee" in the word "meet" or "beet" á (long a, in both Czech and Slovak) - arguably like in the colloquial AmE negative "Naah..." ó (long o, in both Czech and Slovak) - as if singing English "ohh" for a few seconds, but emphasizing purely the "o" part, not the "h" ú (long u, in both Czech and Slovak) - like the "o" or "oo" in the English words "room", "mood", "boon", "move", "lose" and "moo" e (in both Czech and Slovak and Czech) - similar to English "men" ä (Slovak only) - similar to English "man" (note the men/man way of remembering it) é (long e, in both Czech and Slovak) - roughly like in "café" with a French pronunciation (so no "-ey" at the end), or the "-cais" part when you say "Francais" with a French pronunciation ô (Slovak only, technically a diphtong) - a "uo" sound, roughly like in the term "quoll" Pronunciation of i/y, whether short or long, isn't that big of an issue, since the two vowels generally sound identical (in both Czech and Slovak). The real difference between the two is their position and usage in words - this reflects the grammar rules. Pronunciation isn't the main challenge with these two vowels. I'm sure there are even better examples on various sites online (likely even Wikipedia), but these are some quick ones off the top of my head. English speakers who've learnt Finnish in the past will have this easier, as Finnish represents long vowels by writing a double-vowel (e.g. a Czech or Slovak "á" would be an "aa" to a Finn). As for the assimiliation of sounds, such as a written v sounding more like an f, that actually reflects the normal speed and cadence of speaking the language. You could overpronounce things as "v Praze", with a heavy emphasis on the "v" preposition as a "v", by hook or crook, but whenever you try to pronounce that same preposition at a normal speaking speed... you'll notice you're defaulting to "f". Because it's simply more comfortable to pronounce it at that speed. Therefore, pronouncing it as "f Praze" at a normal speaking speed (when you're having a conversation with someone, saying a longer sentence, reading sentence after sentence as part of a continuous written text), the "f Praze" pronunciation is actually the right pronunciation, the official way to pronounce it. Logically, it is still a "v", but the grammar rules account for the fact that it's much more natural to pronounce it roughly as "f" while speaking at a normal speed.

[@frankdsouza2425]

How kind of you ZEMPLIN, to take so much trouble to assist people whom you do not know, and are likely never to meet.

[@vaclavplachta6539]

Přemýšlel jsem o tom, že jsou Vaše videa mnohem důležitější a užitečnější pro Čechy než pro anglicky mluvící cizince. Vaše schopnost spojovat lidi různých národů a kultur je pozoruhodná. Máte můj obdiv.

[@Geker3]

Záda - zadá, syrový - sýrový, slavista - Slávista, and my personal favorite: být - byt - bít - bit (and yes, those are 4 diferent words!). That was my Czech lesson in second grade of primary school.

[@adamneboezdy]

Supi často letí. Su piča století.

[@koksik8006]

Well být and bít aren't so different if you pronounce y and I differently, like in Lašsko, but then again we make it harder by not having long vovels :D

[@em-ers.r.o.1244]

Tieto odlišnosti v češtine ja ako slovák som si nikdy neuvedomil. Asi je to tým, že češtine rozumiem a češi rozumejú slovenčine.

[@em-ers.r.o.1244]

@Jan Krynicky Mít byt = mať byt, mýt byt = umývať byt a ostatné by som pochopil v kontexte vety.

[@etno2010]

@Jan Krynicky zavisi ako v inych jazykoch na teme...vsak?

[@josefmetodejelias628]

I think that for foreigners learning Czech, a visit to northern Moravia would be hell because of our dialect 😅

[@ingridlaskova1878]

Slovácko sa nesúdí. ❤️😂

[@josefmetodejelias628]

@@ingridlaskova1878 kdyby jen Slovácko :DD

[@frostyab7579]

Not as bad as Hanaci - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3uopJ5viqmHebs

[@jammmy30]

I get a lot of times from Czechs that my pronunciation of some words sounds a lot like it. Your way of saying things is closer to Slovak and Polish than Prague, right?

[@SuperVeverka1]

@@jammmy30 Northern Moravian accent sounds similer to Polish, south eastern Moravian is similar to Slovak. The reason is geographic proximity.

[@NetAndyCz]

Yeah, a lot of foreigners do not pay attention to the vowel length in Czech but it is really important for us. To the point that I (and many others) hear different vowel length in English even though natives do not perceive it that way. Also minimal phonetic pairs are handy to learn the pronunciation.

[@DreamPrague]

Very true!

[@malyvo0]

@@DreamPrague Well, it's quite similiar in English as well, the difference being in English the vowel length is manifested in the word's different written form - great example would be the word "sheet" and it's shortly pronounced counterpart ;-)

[@NataliaNNS]

Speaking for myself here, but maybe it’s not even a matter of not paying attention - I’m just not at a point where I can actually hear the difference in normal speech. When people pronounce different words slowly and deliberately, I can see (or better yet, hear) that the length of the sound varies. However, in the middle of a sentence, I’m just trying to keep up with the meaning and not get lost lol I’m hoping to get to the point of being able to notice these differences with more exposure to the language.

[@vladimiramatejova1796]

@@malyvo0 the difference is that in English also the quality of the vowel changes, not just the length. quality as in open/closed vowel. at least if you are trying to pronounce it the correct way. also in general quality of vowels is different in CZ/SK and EN. our CZ/SK vowels make us sound foreign in EN. fixing it can help us sound more like a native speaker

[@koksik8006]

Well, vovel length is not THAT important. There is an entire part of the country (areas in Moravia/Silesia close to Poland) where they don't use long vovels. But they have other means of distinguishing words, like making i and y different sounds.

[@vladimirskach]

The egg story reminded me of another story that happened to another expat in the Czech Republic many years ago. So, this expat who was learning Czech went to the supermarket and wanted to buy eggs and couldn't find them. So he asked other customers first - "Kde je vejce?" and they looked at him strangely. Then he asked one of the staff, "Kde je vejce?" and they took him to the restroom. The expat was confused. He later asked about it on the discussion board and the issue was resolved. It's true that eggs are spelled "vejce" in formal Czech, but nobody actually calls them that in common usage - everyone says "vajíčka" - which is a diminutive meaning "little eggs" When an expat tried to pronounce the word "vejce", Czechs understood it as "wé-cé", which is the same as spelling the letters WC in Czech. WC is an abbreviation of the English term "water closet", but is normally used for toilet in Czech.

[@nicovacca8665]

Yeah that’s true, but also the main problem is you have to say kde jsou vejce, or kde máte vejce. Kde je vejce is like where is eggs, so W.C. Like u said is similar and makes more sense there. Where is the bathroom. If he said kde jsou then it wouldn’t happen I don’t think

[@kraftirnalp2687]

Kde je vejce = where is eggs Kde jsou vejce = where are eggs

[@czechgop7631]

@@nicovacca8665 where *is egg* because "je" makes it singular

[@nextghost]

In my previous job in northwest Bohemia, we had English lessons with a Scottish guy living here. One day, he was telling us (in English, of course) about his trip to Kadaň, which is a city about 10km from where we were at the time. But he mispronounced the name a little: Teacher: "Last week I went to Kadan..." Everyone: (confused) "Where?" Teacher: "Kadan" Everyone: "Where?!" Teacher: "KadaŇŇŇ" Everyone: "Ah, Kadaň, OK."

[@DreamPrague]

Big difference. 😂😩

[@nextghost]

@@DreamPrague Well, he said it with the English stress pattern which made it sound more like "K'daan". That also didn't help.

[@tomastezky89]

Similar mistake might happen betveen "Kyjov" and "Kyjev." Hopefully, Russian guy setting these days missiles can spell it correctly ... 🙄🙄🙄

[@michellemaine2719]

At least he didn't say Kadan, with the accent on the d, 😆

[@Geker3]

@@tomastezky89 Kyjov should not be writen in cyrillic :D

[@oida6599]

I know this is a bit off topic, but… what a beautiful garden this is!

[@wkostowski]

To my ears, the difference between 'byt' and 'být' is not only about the length, but also about the quality. 'Byt' has a sound which is similar to our Polish 'y', or perhaps to the short English 'i', (it is) which is more central and kind of lowered towards the French 'é'-sound (but not that much). 'Být' is longer, but it represents a clear 'i' sound, equivalent to the English 'ee', (I can sEE a bEE), with the highest possible position of the tongue.

[@11lizgoodall]

That's exactly what my czech tutor said! It's almost indistinguishable to an English speaker, but once it's pointed out you notice the difference.

[@NetAndyCz]

That is because in Czech most people pronounce i and y the same (and usually closer to y) and í and ý is pronounced the same as well, though usually closer to í. There are very few dialects that keep the distinction still, and a lot of people can make the distinction if they really need to point it out, but in the casual speech the i/y and í/ý are indistinguishable. PS: we also have words "bit" (several meanings, either the English "bit" - 1/0 or if someone is beaten) and "bít" (to beat/hit/pound someone)

[@DreamPrague]

Good tip!

[@breznik1197]

@@DreamPrague However, Moravian "i" can very differ from the Bohemian "i". E.g. the prime minister Fiala has very Moravian pronunciation.

[@vitozana8659]

@@breznik1197 vždyť je to taky Moravák (Brňák)

[@multimedialnibeta]

There is one more thing that makes your speech much more understandable to Czechs: be sure to put the emphasis on the first sylable of the word (or preposition, in case that it is a sylable preposition). I was teaching a friend of mine a little Czech and he was pretty good with reading in a correct accent. Still, it wasn't quite it. But as soon as he started to use the correct emphasis, it was like 50% improvement of understandibility. I was completely amazed myself how big difference it actually made.

[@21Jnci]

LOVED this video! I’m a military brat who grew up between Europe and US and learned most of the languages I speak by ear. These tips are awesome and will definitely be going into my arsenal. Thank you both!

[@Sleepyhead_Nyr3]

I feel like we have sharper pronunciation. In English and many other languages there are many letters in word that are pronounced dull or they're barely hearable but in Czech I feel like in most words we pronounc every letter sharp, clear and we don't use silent letters that much (of course there are some of them but it's not that usual)

[@siegfriedo]

Pronunciation is extremely important in any language. You can have vast grammar, syntax and vocabulary knowledge, you can have fluent conversational skills, but if you pronounce incorrectly, you will always sound "weird". ;)

[@StevenKrejci]

It goes both ways, really. I used to teach EFL English in Prague and I found that by far the most common reason why Czech speakers sometimes struggle with being understood in English is stress and intonation. In Czech, unlike in English, the stress in words is almost exclusively on the first syllable and the intonation reflects this. Czech students speaking English might consequently sound a little "flat" or monotonous because they pronounce words with the stress always on the first syllable as they are used to without realising that it is often the second or third syllable by which we identify single words in a sentence. Also the intonation in Czech is more subtle than in English and I often had to remind students to really "overdo it" as it just does not come naturally and they often felt a little silly. Sometimes teachers forget that this is actually more important than somebody pronouncing for example "wander" as "wonder," which is hardly a barrier to being understood in context.

[@kevingillette9699]

My teacher is a stickler for pronunciation. At first it was annoying. Now I realize how important it is. Your guest made a great point about English speakers being more used to mispronunciation by foreigners. Great video!

[@tomastezky89]

By the way, also Czech, Moravian, Slesian children have quite often problems with 100% correct Czech pronunciation. Plus: President Havel had wrong "ringing R" and Babiš keeps making "tsunami" of all types of mistakes (motýle etc), because he is Slovak and he ignores the fact, that Czechs, Moravians, Slesians underdtand Slovak very well // older generation used to be fluent in Slovak ... 🤔🤔🤔

[@TheTimsx]

Well, what about moravian dialect?

[@tomastezky89]

@@TheTimsx ... I agree ... ... the one is different too ...

[@BlackHe4rtQueen]

I think you could get this message across easier by pointing out the Czech Phonology chart. It is quite impactful to realize that every language has assigned different sounds to letters. It helped my German a lot, because now I know I don't have to imitate sounds of my teacher (who may not be perfect too) or my German colleagues (who obviously have regional differences) and I don't have to be embarrassed about the sound of it, because that is simply how the language is wired and it has some established standard, that everyone recognizes, although does not practice it.

[@RichardZbranek]

PRO TIP -> Although I agree pronunciation is important, this is hardly a Czech-specific thing, and it is not more complicated in Czech than it is in English. By that I mean the rules in Czech are clear, not so in English. The important thing is not to ignore the ´ or ˇ symbols, as English would do the same with more of a visible change. Eg. Bit - Beat; Live - Leave; Hit - Heat; --> phonetically written in czech bit - bít, liv - lív, hit - hít... Slight change of the vowel sound can make huge difference in Czech as well as in English, eg. ripe - rape; fur - far; deed - dead. / English and their produce - produce, refuse - refuse, and so on is much much harder. Homonyms in Czech at least sound exactly the same. My suggestion is practicing alphabet - English letters change their sounds depending on the word or even context, but this is not true in Czech (or it is quite rare). This makes it easy. Practice reading the letters as they would sound in a word, not as you would spell them. Words are just faster said individual letters in Czech, but not in English, and so this easy way is often overlooked and not even considered, but it can help greatly, especially with words you can spell but you are not sure how to say.

[@frostyodran5893]

cože? čeština má mnohem více zamotaná pravidla než angličtina, mluvení je jednoduché ale jak jde o i/y je to třeba 10 pravidel založených na tom jak to slovo vypadá, kam se řadí níže. pak je tam hromada výjimek. za to angličtinu stačilo naposlouchat na internetu a s ním vyrůst, angličtina plynulá a bezchybná

[@DonPedro6901]

I have started to build my own dictionary (PL-CZ) two years ago. I added there only different meaning or complicated words. Now it has more than 1550 words (and phrases), sometimes very expanded. Among them of course: syrový-sýrový, správa-zpráva, vratný-vrátný or some expressions taken from Gavin: přišel jsem k tomu jako slepý k houslí. I am only beginner but already did B1 on my own. I feel good when I hear and see the surprise of Czechs when I say that I am learning Czech. Of course accent and long vowels were a little difficulty, but when you hear a lot of Czech Radio it comes to your normal behavior, you don't even know when. If I ever had to improve my Czech with a professional teacher, Eliška would be the only choice!

[@NatsumiMichi]

Great way to get the initial practice is through movies/shows. If you get your hands on Czech Netflix, pick something you already know and watch it dubbed (or better yet something originally Czech) with English subtitles - later on with Czech subtitles to start picking up on the written differences. Getting used to the sound and flow of the language really does a lot for beginners.

[@VojtaMarek]

wow, Jen, I just wanted to say how much I genuinely enjoy your content. probably wouldn’t even bother going on youtube if it weren’t for you and your videos. love them, love you. you seem like a such a great person..)) and by the way, your videos about learning czech and working on your citizenship are my favorites along with the weekly news roundups ones😀 good luck, you go gurl!

[@Dirkeecz]

1 pronunciation tip I would give you is that pretty much all of czech words have emphasis on the first syllable, not like in english. For example, when you say e-LI-ška with emphasis on the LI, second syllable, that sounds a little bit off to the czech ear, even though we will undestand. Emphasis should be on the "E". The word should come out of your your mouth in like one quick breath. Btw, love you videos Jen :)

[@janurban7030]

A bude i nějaké video v češtině? V rámci praxe... :D :)

[@DreamPrague]

Uvidíme...

[@martinamolnarova8598]

Anooo😁

[@janurban7030]

@Mix2M počkat jako vážně? Ne... To není možné to mi nikdy nedošlo... Mockrát vám děkuji za otevření oči a pochopení! Díky moc! Bůh vám žehnej! Kéž by bylo více lidí jako jste vy!

[@rtepsutlaf]

@@janurban7030 kdepak bychom byli bez těchto požehnaných pomocníčků na internetu. Zaplať pánbůh za ně. Jinak bychom umřeli úplně blbí.

[@petex3909]

@@janurban7030 cool...)))

[@RA-Redacted68]

I've been living in South Moravia, Vír, for the past 11 years, I also teach the English language, being English native, and yet I still struggle to learn the Czech language. I know the basics, but have always struggled learning languages, even when I was in school. But the Czech's where I live, know and understand what I'm trying to say.

[@stevevasta]

Decades ago, I knew a Slovak who was studying engineering at Charles University. He told me that his Czech classmates would tease him about his Czech pronunciation!

[@malabuha]

Babies listen and try to imitate the sounds, and as they do, they pick up the meaning, so your Check friend makes a good point when she says to first spend time to listen in the language, correct pronounciation then pick up the vocabulary and grammar. I just discovered your channel and i'm enjoying it the whole morning. You make amazing, meaningful content for your viewers and you're so pleasant to watch ❤️ thanks so much, greetings from Croatia

[@mazzstevey]

About a week ago I started Eliška’s Pronunciation course 1. My wife, a native Czech speaker, was challenged helping me learn to speak Czech and she was frustrated because I couldn’t break certain English speaking habits (my fault, I certainly don’t blame my wife because I’m an awful speaker, yet she married me so go figure…). I know lots of Czech words, to hear and spell them, and I understand basic grammar but my ability to speak Czech has been terrible (really terrible). After just a week of taking Eliška’s course I have more confidence to speak Czech and my wife hears a huge difference (she was almost in tears, in a good way, after I showed what I had learned already). I wasn’t sure about taking Eliška’s course but I took a chance and I’m so happy I did (my wife is also happy because I needed some special help). The exercises from the course has made a huge difference for me (you do need to practice). The bonus is that I’m having so much fun doing her classes… When I started learning Czech I wasn’t focused on learning to speak. It seemed enough to understand some Czech and say some very basic phases, but looking back that was a mistake and I’m happy I’m correcting that mistake. Eliška’s course is helping make it fun to learn how to speak correctly. It may seem like a lot of money to spend on the course, but I recommend I investing in her Pronunciation Course. I took up learning Czech as a hobby and to connect more with my wife. Down the road my wife and I hope to retire in the Czechia, so I started taking my learning more seriously hence investing in this course and other learning. I have a long way to go but I am a strong believer in building a strong foundation and Eliška’s course is helping. Also, I prefer learning mostly on my own, so this course helps with that and also offers advice on how to practice with a native Czech speaker.

[@Flightcontrails]

Ahoj! Always love your video content, I never know what to expect with your great acting skills, you are probably not acting as I expect your naturally creative, witty amongst other things. Camera tip..when doing one on one chats, avoid looking at the camera as the “chat” viewed by your audience is just that, is viewing you. Looking at the camera especially when the person is speaking distracts the viewer from the conversation. The viewer should feel like they are watching two people speak. Dramatic scenes can be created by you suddenly turning to the camera, pointing and saying for example “now don’t forget that” or “I told you so” and then promptly turning back to face your companion. Its completely different if using two cameras doing interviews where you speak directly to the camera and the two pieces are edited together later. Love your channel by the way, I have learned so much from you and Honza and had a few giggles along the way. Keep working as hard as you do.

[@jeffsaffron5647]

No problem Jen. Here in Ostrava we disregard the "čárky" as well.

[@dr00g35]

Bo není čas! :D

[@radovandujka9222]

Myslím si, že dokonalá ukázka české výslovnosti je ve slově ,,zpěv", kdy se ,,z" mění na ,,s" kvůli pravidlu párových souhlásek, ,,ě" jde vyslovit pouze jako ,,je" a ,,v" se mění na ,,f". Tedy, ačkoli se píše ,,zpěv", vyslovuje se ,,spjef".

[@goodstorylover]

I really really like Eliška, I think her tips are great! The "shadowing" might be tricky though, you have to pick the right example to follow. I am Czech, and when I started to live in Wales, it was almost impossible to follow the local people because of the accent, so I used to watch TV - daily soap operas and then I gradually picked up an Australian accent (the series being Neighbours from Australia .o)).

[@georgiancrossroads]

I completely agree about the pronunciation. I study puppets. In Czech it's loutky. The immediate English temptation is to say something like lute-key. No one understood me. But then I realized that the o is long. So I would then say lote-key. But even that wasn't really understood because there is a u in there too. Each vowel is pronounced always. So then I say low-oot-key. And that is mostly understood. I have to avoid making a diphthong out of it, which we always want to do. Pronunciation is crucial, like the notes in a song. I live in Tbilisi Georgia. The vowels are easy but the consonants are tough. Understatement of understatements. So between K and H there are five consonant sounds. And then putting them near other sounds is a skill all by itself. So I totally agree. Also the rhythm of the language is important. So the long vowels in Czech are crucial to the rhythm of the language.

[@DreamPrague]

You're 100% right and this was a new concept for me...even after many years of studying Czech!

[@Giofear]

Just watch out for the "key" part in loutky :) it must be short - more like "ki" than "key" (as in the word kiss), people will understand you but this is the small nuance which will give away your foreign accent.

[@tomastezky89]

We Czechs 100% appreciate and admire everybody who is trying to speak Czech. We also know, that for Slavic nations Czech is much easier than for others. Usually helps to know few perfect sentences in Czechs // especially when shopping or when dealing with Czech (always difficult) authorities ... Keeping my fingers crossed for you ... When we were studying English before 1989 we had no teachers and no English available in Czechoslovakia // with few exceptions. Like the movies with the Beatles etc 🤔🤔🤔 👍👍👍

[@tomastezky89]

Next time you might say: "Loutky jako Špejbl a Hurvínek." Everybody will understand it ... 👍😅👍

[@Giofear]

@@tomastezky89 Spejbl* :)

[@petrabednar3916]

This is such an amazing video and the context is aplicable for all languages, just as Eliška says. I live in the Northern Minnesota, where peeps aren’t used to foreigners at all and I still have a dude once in awhile who can’t understand me (his brighter other half translates with no issues, lol, and we blame it on the mask) Pronunciation and correct diction is very important in English too, or you end up offering send from Sahara instead of sweet little something after dinner, as I happened to do for years. You’d think, given the setting, peeps would get it, but they didn’t. That’s how important pronunciation is! Just as Eliska said, pronunciation and the correct accent/diction/stressed syllable should be learned along with the vocabulary so that you don’t learn bad habits that are sooo hard to get rid of later on. Great video!

[@mardyjane7664]

Vowels are important in Czech for several reasons and foreigners might get confused with Czech on the internet because, sadly, many people don’t use diacritics. An extreme example could be the word “hasici”: it could be “hasiči” - firefighters; hasicí - adjective describing something with the purpose of extinguishing or controlling fire (hasicí přístroj = fire extinguisher); hasící - adjective describing activity of sb or sth (a noun), usually stands behind the noun (firefighters *extinguishing* fire).

[@DreamPrague]

Some Czechs I follow on Instagram or twitter don't use diacritics and it's so confusing for me to read what they write!

[@Pizin]

More extreme examples are: car (tzar) vs cár (scrap) hrabě (earl) vs hrábě (rake)

[@beth12svist]

Extra layer of confusion with hasicí/hasící (and other verb-based adjectives like that) is that it's often actually not differentiated in speech; it's one of those things Czech children have to learn in school as well - and therefore many people write it "wrong".

[@volldillo]

I don't speak Czech, but several other foreign languages (including Russian) and I agree about the importance of pronunciation. When I was teaching languages, I always let students do pronunciation exercises and learn pronunciation. Not only does it train the muscles, but it gives also a good additional mechanical and acoustical stimulus for the brain, so memorization is better. But first, one has to understand, how vowels "work", how they are formed (vocal square) by using tongue and lips. Once these ingredients (tongue position, rounded/unrounded lips, long/short, melody) are understood, students can train for themselves together with audio recordings. But vowels come in combination with consonants, and the really important things are these combinations (phonemes, morphemes). In general, this allows for several kinds of learners: Analytic ones or "natural ones". For analytic ones ("bottom up"), I provide every detail and then these details are combined. For "natural" learners ("top down"), we simply let them try variations in the sense of differential learning.

[@Pidalin]

It's funny that make Russian accent is actually very hard for Czech person, they pronounce words completely alien compared to Czech, but still, I see Czech actors playing Russians in American movies all the time, it's mystery for me. 🙂

[@SuperVeverka1]

@@Pidalin Unless a Russian speaker has a really thick accent, their English sounds similar to other Slavic language speakers. That’s why.

[@siegfriedo]

@@SuperVeverka1 Russian accent in English sounds very different to Czech accent in English

[@SuperVeverka1]

@@siegfriedo A thick (strong) Russian accent does. Beyond that an average American can’t tell the difference from other east Europan accents. To give you a differrent yet similar example: when speaking English, can you tell if someone’s native language is Spanish (from Spain), Mexican, Argentinian, Italian, Brazilian or Portugese?

[@siegfriedo]

@@SuperVeverka1 Yes I can

[@p.sch.8037]

Everybody may have different opinions, but if I could point out one thing, which is for me at most importance in Czech compared to English and other languages, then it's the RHYTHM! meaning where and how you put your stress in a sentence, because "V češtině je důraz na první!" And Eliška is quite right about it in her recommendation to listen first, I think, just there is not much distinction between pronunciation and rhythm in the video, and from those two the correct rhythm might be even more important in general. It’s a very simple, but essential knowledge to be well understood and have some really meaningful progress. Grammar you will improve, vocabulary you will learn, pronunciation you will get better by time, but where and how to put the stress and rhythm, that’s the thing, which needs your full commitment to simply switch your mind and accept, that there is clear distinction between English and Czech, which goes well beyond vocabulary. And if you get the stress and rhythm right, it will actually help you with pronunciation and general understanding from the other side, because what Czech ear is to trained to hear is: 1st the rhythm, then 2nd the pronunciation, then 3rd the grammar and then 4th the vocabulary If you will have good rhythm and so so fair pronunciation, people will most likely understand you and enjoy your speech even if you will not use perfect grammar or if you use some simple vocabulary to describe, what you want. So, for me, if you are really looking for ways, how to improve your Czech really significantly, focus on the stress and rhythm and that will help you to be understood maybe even more than pronunciation, otherwise you will find yourself funny at best and misunderstood in worse case. And it’s not that difficult in the end. Czech has regular word and sentence stress, we have no funny French sounding words, any irregularities, everything is regular: If there’s preposition, stress is on the preposition, otherwise on the first syllable, no exceptions. All you need is just to accept it, make a commitment and go for it: "V češtině je důraz na první!" and keep repeating that for yourself all the time. You have to train it at first and then incorporate it into your daily Czech more and more until it will become like a switch: “Now I’m talking English, so I have my regular American accent. And - SWITCH - Now I’m talking Czech a ‘V češtině je důraz na první!’” And if you want to have some fun in the process, you may ask your Czech friends to teach you some Czech cursing with the right stress, because if something in Czech is supper off and extremely funny with the wrong stress, it’s cursing :-) Very few foreigners actually do this extra step with stress and rhythm to improve their Czech, many of them just learn some vocabulary and accept, that they will sound a little bit weird and funny, but from my point of view as a Czech native speaker, it’s worthy, because it fits in Pareto principle of what people enjoy on somebody speaking Czech the most considering the language, not the content, and that is the nice sounding regular rhythm. And remember, as I pointed out in my comment to “Nikdy nebudu opravdová Česka!”, commitment to correct stress is not for one hour or one day: "V češtině je důraz na první!" is something, which shall be present in your mind non-stop, 24/7, to the rest of your Czech life. And if you want one last tip, you may start to practice the correct stress with some Czech friend and the phrase: "Uvidíme se příští týden." ;-) ( and "Uvidíme" is actually "Uviďíme", just it isn't written that way, you have to know di=ďi / dí=ďí / ti=ťi / tí=ťí / ni=ňi / ní=ňí (Czech Slavic softening speciality). But still, that's the pronunciation and the rhythm has the lead :-) ) So, good luck and give us some update on your “stress and rhythm progress” as well :-) And btw kulajda is the best! ;-)

[@petrjara7559]

With bad rhythm you might sound weird and it's probably the first thing you notice but it literally has no influence at meaning. In Korean and some other languages just position of stressed syllable can differ meaning of whole sentence.

[@p.sch.8037]

@Petr Jára It may not have that much of a difference as in other languages, where it may cause you to be completely misunderstood, but if you don't pick up the Czech rhythm right, it's more likely, that you will tend to make vowels long, where they shouldn’t be, running into all those sorts of problems pointed in the video with a pronunciation of “sýrový” vs. “syrový” and so being misunderstood and so on. So, it's not that critical, sure, you may be understood without the right stress and rhythm as well, yet it might be also more likely for you to be misunderstood without it. But what I wanted to pointed out the most is, that despite many foreigners don’t think about it that much, it’s actually not that difficult to pick it up, if you focus on it, and it’s worthy, because you will sound better, you will be less likely to be misunderstood and all in all, it will make you Czech life a whole lot easier and giving you as a foreigner the sense, that you finally “fit in” once you get over this. That’s my point. So for all foreigners learning Czech: “V češtině je důraz na první,” don't be hesitant or afraid, just go for it! (and you will see and feel the difference for yourself)

[@jitkatravnikova7887]

Možná by mohla Jenn navštívit Ostravu. Tam se s důrazem na první ani s dlouhými samohláskami nemusí obtěžovat :-)

[@p.sch.8037]

@@jitkatravnikova7887 Jasně. Anebo na Slovácko, tam se také mluví docela zajímavým způsobem ... :-D Ale to se mluví i v Americe ... "kalifornština" zní jinak než "jižanština" zní jinak než ... Tedy alespoň Kaliforňanům, mé ucho sice možná pozná lehký rozdíl, ale už ho geograficky nezařadí, když mám dobrý den, tak maximálně poznám rozdíl mezi britskou a americkou angličtinou. Nicméně pokud se vrátíme zpět do ČR, tak mně ostravština vždycky připomínala takovou českou francouzštinu, resp. češtinu s francouzským nádechem a přišlo mi to vždy zajímavý a zajímavým způsobem exotický :-) :-) Ale obecně bych českou "exotikou" asi cizincům hlavy nelámal. Většina jich ostatně stejně žije v Praze, takže když se naučí, že "důraz je na první," tak se budou v Čechách cítit jako doma :-) Hlavně je prosím nikdo neučte pražštinu! Když se naučí, že: "V češtině je důraz na první," tak si s tím vystačí všude a bude se jim žít šťastně a spokojeně.

[@afiiik1]

Great video. I agree, pronunciation is just as important as grammar. Not because it's wrong to have a foreign accent but because it helps one understand how the language works. When it comes to vowels, the biggest difference for native English speakers would probably be that all of the vowels are pronounced fully, none are diminished to' uh' or 'ih' (take the word "serenity" - only one vowel out of the 4 is fully pronounced) Another problem for a native English speaker could be how simple the Czech vowels are. English vowels tend to have a lot more movement in them - many of them are diftongs. Czech only has two diftongs: - ou- and - au- written out like that. All the rest of the vowels are pronounced straight with no movement in the mouth.

[@DreamPrague]

Thanks for watching and for your insights,. Iva!

[@Honza6]

Velmi rozumím vašim problémům s jazykem - sám jsem prožil asi 10 let v Německu, jazyk jsem se učil v Mnichově na kurzech pro UNI-studenty, a měli jsme výborné lektory, kteří neučili jen řeč, ale i celý kontext = kdy se které slovo používá a v jakém významu. Byli tam studenti z celého světa a troufám si tvrdit, že podle přízvuku dodnes poznám odkud kdo pochází. Měli jsme i výborné učebnice, ve kterých byla např. slova se všemi předložkami => a celé tvarosloví. Nová Čeština se z velké části (hlavně v gramatice - jakkoliv se to nezdá) inspirovala v Němčině - má víc podobností než je slyšet, ovšem převzala hlavně "modernější" konstrukce (např. slovesa nemáme až na konci vět). Co většinou uniká: 1. pusa a všechny svaly, které pusu ovládají se musejí přizpůsobit jazyku - jinak to nezní dobře. Dá se to nacvičit jen mluvením a mluvením a mluvením ... 2. cizinec se nikdy nezbaví přízvuku - s tím je nutné se smířit - například moje babička z Haliče se přízvuku nezbavila ani po 50 letech ve Francii a v Čechách. Existují ale i výjimky - moje dcera v Mnichově absolvovala studium v jeslích a následně ve školce, potom základní školu a gymnázium v Praze, ale na vídeňské univerzitě jí přesto považovali za Němku z Mnichova = pro dokonalé zvládnutí jazyka mohu doporučit zahájit "studium" už v jeslích. 3. pokud nezahájíte jazyková studia už v jeslích - ať se budete snažit jak chcete ...to, že nejste z Čech se pozná hned při prvním otevření pusy. 4. pokud pusu neotevřete, nikdy nezačnete mluvit. A mluvit je lepší s chybami než nemluvit vůbec. Asi mě nebudete mít ráda, ale tak to je, a Čeština je složitý jazyk = mnohem obtížnější pro angličtináře než když my se pokoušíme naučit německy nebo anglicky - což jsem nikdy nedokázal. Pokud jsem to správně pochopil - i vy zastáváte názor, že člověk sám sebe nesmí brát zbytečně vážně 😉

[@tomasklimes2536]

I'd work on the accent - you often stress the penultimate syllable, e. g. svíčková and Eliška making them rather svičkouva and Elíška. The Czech in most cases has accent on the first syllable or if preceded by short reposition, than. That is actually what, I think, makes the language easier than English. Btw you ought to teach Eliška how to pronounce better.

[@loltadynicneni913]

Yeah, I don't want to be mean, I'm sure she's a great teacher, but it's kind of a paradox when someone teaches pronunciation and has problems with it in another language...

[@irena4545]

Thanks that I don't have to be "that guy" and point it out on my own ;-) Eggs x ex ...

[@Lulu-rl1mf]

@@loltadynicneni913 Not a paradox, she is teaching the language she is good at. Not having a perfect English pronounciation has nothing to do with her teaching the Czech pronounciation. If anything, it just highlights the importance of having a good (native) teacher and having a good learning strategy. She can literally use her not perfect English pronounciation to promote her teaching of Czech.

[@AKuTepion]

@@loltadynicneni913 Nikdo není kritičtější k angličtině Čechů než Češi samotní. Přitom zlatý její akcent proti průměrnému Skotovi. Fakt nemůžeš čekat, že někdo bude mluvit jako rodilý Angličan nebo Američan, pokud tam nežije fakt dlouho (nebo od dětství). Eliška mluví plynule a je jí dobře rozumět, ani to nějak moc netrhá uši. S přehledem bude patřit mezi nejlepší mluvčí angličtiny, na které tu můžeš natrefit, pokud nepočítáš rodilé mluvčí, profesionální tlumočníky a lidi s extrémním talentem na jazyky.

[@mr.carter1545]

Hello Jen! My best friend and I will be in Praha in June: Would you have time for tea? He's a Czech guy that loves you and your channel. He loves your take on the Czech language and culture. I started watching when applying for a Fulbright to study at Charles University. - 2 fans in SF, Ca

[@RomanDaniel]

Myslím že paní prodavačku rozhodilo "sýrové" vejce z důvodu, že u nás se vařená neprodávají. Aspoň jsem je tedy nikdy neviděl. :)

[@nikolabartunkova4153]

Prodávají se na Velikonoce v supermarketech, ale jsou už obarvená, takže je člověk snadno pozná.

[@kolebolkadimir8364]

|A to buď rád, že si o tom ani neslyšel :)

[@quicksilver2446]

For as difficult the CZ language is, I agree that it's all about the sound, the long and short of it, but hey, practice makes perfect.

[@jammmy30]

Yes, remembering which is which is really killing me :) *I wish there were some simple rules for it!

[@petrjara7559]

@@jammmy30 Remembering what?

[@jammmy30]

@@petrjara7559 to say long or short is not hard at all, but to remember which one is where that is the tricky part

[@robinsebelova7103]

I meet a problem with pronounciation often. I am great fan of audiobooks so I have a quite big library on Audible. Those books are mostly american english, but there are very noticeable differences in pronounciation of some words between different narrators. For example: "issue" - some pronounce it "is-sue" others "e-shoe". In other case, this time written, some americans ignore the difference in meaning of "your" and "you're" or their, they're, there.

[@jirikouba6993]

Some native languages in USA deploy the same pattern, but more complex: vowels are short or long, high pitched or low pitched, nasalized or without nasalization.. Navajo and Apachean, for example.

[@ingridlaskova1878]

Native languages? That sounds weird. Much better is American Indian languages.

[@Pidalin]

@@ingridlaskova1878 Isn't word "Indian" considered racist now? If you don't speak about someone from India ofcourse.

[@ingridlaskova1878]

@@Pidalin Lakota actor Russell Means prefers whe they call American Indian. People from India are call Indian American. 🤷‍♀️

[@Neumini.s]

@@Pidalin It's not. At least not by Indians (Native American) themselves, thats why they use names like National Congress of American Indians.

[@jirikouba6993]

@@ingridlaskova1878 Indigenous?

[@Sailacz]

It's a bit surprising for me to hear that learners are not focusing on pronunciation enough but maybe I was just really lucky with my primary school english teacher, because she was the only one giving me the best foundations in english, making us actually converse in english and pay attention to pronunciation, especially after hearing my highschool schoolmates struggling with answering simple questions in english and their terrible pronunciation after years of learning.

[@Sailacz]

Oh and the discussion bellow reminded me one thing - last year during covid I was tutoring my nephew for a short time and I was terrified to find out the're not learning to write new vocabulary in IPA therefore can hardly read it and of course is learning a lot of words to pronounce wrong...

[@Daralyndk]

I can definitely relate here I work as a conductor for Czech Railways and I often have issues to understand the customers who ask for certain city or train stop. I usually just switch to english myself just to avoid it. V tomhle ohledu se dovedu vcítit. Pracuji jako průvodčí pro České Drahy a dost často mám problém pochopit jakou zastavku nebo město cestujicí hledá. Raději casto přejdu do angličtiny abych se tomu vyhnul.

[@petrskupa6292]

Jen, I like your videos. You open often interesting topics. Here I divert a little from your main focus (still interesting) and return to what Eliška said: “Czech speakers are less accustomed to foreign accent than english speakers “ TRUE! ... but... : My highlight: It is true only for native or really good english speakers. I, as second language user of english, had really, really, really hard time with foreign accents and wrong pronunciation in english (by different nationalities than my own) few years back. It was already at the stage where I could talk freely with anyone... as long as they understood me (I did my best) and they were native speakers (both British and American ones). I could listen hours long presentations in difficult topics .... yet 🤦‍♂️, while listening at the conference - when the speaker changed to french, spanish or japanese (or Australian for that matter) - they started speaking their own version of english and I was lost 🤦‍♂️😞. Accent is important, pronunciation is important ... if not for natives - the proper register, pronunciation and accent is actually important in international settings, where most listeners are actually also second language users (trained for particular sound patterns) and their “language imagination “ is not trained so well yet. The same language imagination failed me at that time, while on phone with cracking noises and skipping few sounds of my talking partner. I could easily fill the gaps in Czech in similar situation, yet it was big obstacle in english. Actually... now, some 15 years later - I listen to chinese english, spanish english or even Australian english 😂, rather without much effort. (KZbin helps a lot). Actually I see, that when I am at loss and need someone to repeat it, it seems it usually is when natives do the same, they ask the counterparty ... to “please repeat that once more”. However..... many, many years were in between understanding natives and imaginating what that damned crooked english of someone tries to convey... 😆😅. (Till this day I have bit of problem with some Indian english speakers, especially if they are extraordinarily careless in their pronunciation, I understand them only when stopping everything else and focusing intensely... Indians, some, look at pronunciation as unnecessary bother 😓)

[@BHFJohnny]

I think this is something too abstract for non-Czech speaker. As a native speaker, I don't have to think about it, because its totally natural. But when Czech is not your native language and you need to do this mental calculus on the fly, it must be super difficult. Just that word "mít - to have" I have - Mám. You have - Máš or Máte. First one for singular informal, second one for singular formal or plural He, She, It has - On, Ona, Ono má. We have - Máme They have - Mají I mean, why? 😅 It's so much easier in English. It's mindblowing. Makes you wanna just give up and quit.

[@DreamPrague]

It's especially hard for native English speakers because we have no concepts of declination. Just trying to understand it makes my head hurt.

[@beth12svist]

And then you throw in dialects and you might get "maj'", or "majou" in South Moravia, instead of "mají". :D

[@hanselvogis5142]

@@beth12svist And maji, majó, majú, maju and majum.

[@beth12svist]

@@hanselvogis5142 All of the above, and often more than one in one place since especially cities get people from all over the country. :D

[@mattchalup]

My Czech friend introduced me to shadowing and I love shadowing slow czech.

[@rczv]

I actually have a different problem: my pronunciation is a lot better than my overall level of Czech. So, if I look up what I want to say ahead of time on deepl, I can present it quite decently. Therefore, the person I am talking to assumes that I speak the language well... and that lasts exactly until they ask back, and I have to form a sentence without the help of the internet.

[@mtutor5500]

I personally don't think that Czech pronunciation is difficult, as Czech is very phonetically consistent. I don't consider it to be my main focus (as a language tutor) but I start with pronunciation first as it's the necessary first step to understand spoken language which I try to use in my lessons as soon as possible. My students usually have a very good pronunciation after just a few lessons (so they might not know yet what they say but they say it well), many master even "ř". A to je co říct! :) I don't remember any student having a big trouble telling long vowels from short, as the difference (if not "written" the same) exists in English (and other languages) too, as noted by others in the comments. (ý/y or í/i: Beat/bit, á/a: large/but and so on). If someone needs help (not only) with Czech pronunciation, I'll be happy to help. :) I love our language and teaching Czech especially to foreigners.

[@frankdsouza2425]

M Tutor: You sound the ideal person for dragging us, who have given up, out of our despair. My Beloved and her two children speak superb English, but beyond that. .... Also, am I correct that nice, decent folk though the Czechs 🇨🇿 unquestionably are, they don't go on for BANTER?? Alas.

[@mtutor5500]

​@@frankdsouza2425 I am not sure if you are indeed asking (if so, I am not 100 % sure I understand your question - do you mean that Czechs do not have a sense of humour? I'd say the opposite. Czechs are well known for their sense of humour) or if it it is just a rhetorical question. But yes, I'll be happy to help. :) Czech pronunciation is super simple. There are many things that are difficult in Czech but pronunciation ain't one of them. :)

[@libork8106]

Great video, ... many Checks should listen to you and Eliska ...

[@stephenroberts4019]

Thank you, great video and pronunciation is something I really struggle with whilst learning Cz

[@oscargomez6993]

Welcome to the club. Happens to me in Florida for my Cuban accent

[@rudyskarecky290]

HI Jen, in your conversation with Eliška, when you talk about her, the stress is on the first syllable "E"-liška, unless there is a preposition. In that case, it will be "pro" Elišku, stressing the PRO, not the E. Please confirm with Eliška. This is a rule for all nouns, not just Eliška.

[@jirikouba6993]

Situation complicates if sylable stress is replaced with length, that causes length distortion.

[@kasuha]

I would kind of agree and disagree. Sure, there might be complete misunderstandings and they're often topic of jokes and funny stories but they're not frequent and when the person you're speaking with knows you're a foreigner and puts just a little bit of effort into trying to understand you, they will understand you despite you butchering the pronunciation. Czech language is inventive, we're used to words being shifted out of shape during normal conversation just for fun. It's just where that shaping collides with other words and it makes sense in the context where problems occur. And of course, Czechs naturally know how to avoid these collisions but for foreigners it's much harder. There's one thing about Czech language: If you learn how to read each letter separately and then string these sounds according to how the word is written, you wil sound funny but you have pretty good chance to be understood.

[@chicacheca]

Great video, thanks a lot!

[@IllidanS4]

I think every school should teach IPA at some point in the basic language course. That makes discussing proper pronunciation so much easier...

[@SuperSpecies]

IPA is only needed for learning languages like English, where how a word is written doesn't necessarily match pronunciation. It is completely unnecessary for Czech.

[@IllidanS4]

@@SuperSpecies There are almost no two languages that agree on the pronunciation of any word. You may get within the phonematics of a foreign language while still using the phonetics of your language, so it will be understandable, but it won't be perfect. You still have an advantage when you are learning a new language and know IPA, at least in English schools teaching (any) other language, or Czech schools teaching English.

[@martinhlubucek612]

Hi all I think that you are talking about the conjugation too? Nice video. Thanks

[@henryletham6077]

It is actually quite hard to find a native English teacher who would be willing to correct one. It is much rather all great and perfect and ok. Anyway, I mostly recommend my language class students picking a song or film of their liking and working on learning the sounds as if they were playing a musical instrument.

[@tomastezky89]

We Czechs, on the other hand, have difficulties with English too: Almost no Czech pronunces "W" in a correct way 🙄 "Th" and "R" is the same story 🤭 Words "bad/bet/bat/bed" are quite often pronunced in identical way 😥 And ... when one is to use "had had" = big problem 😥 ... and if spelling orally something in English = tragedy for all Czechs for sure 🙄 Well ... and English is written in a different way, than one pronunces it ... 😭😭😭 ... and no teachers of English had been available in here at all before 1989 ! The only good teachers' name was "The Beatles" ... ... "When I was younger, so much younger than today" etc 🤔🙄🤭🤫😅

[@lubomirvrana2158]

Yep, I wished we had KZbin when we were young :) I can see that youngsters have it much easier. I will never get to C1, let alone C2.

[@tomastezky89]

@@lubomirvrana2158 ... I agree, we had it difficult before 1989. Nevertheless, I was lucky, because of finding an empty slot at the State Language School Prague (now Café Louvre) in the 80ies. We had 18 lessons per a week. We needed 3 months to be fluent in English, nevertheless, I kept studying for 4 more years // I had less lessons. The key point was, that for ½ a year I studied in the USA after 1989 // I have passed there a university exam. Only, thanks to my stay in the USA, I have stopped permanet Czech~English translation in my head and I was finally able to cut off Czech 100% when speaking English ... If Czech children had a chance (e.g. when 14 years old) to study at school for 3 months English only, we Czechs would be as fluent in English as the people in Scandinavia are. But our politicians would have to be interested in teaching our nation top English // they believe, that top mathematics is much more important than English ... 🤔🙄🤔

@@tomastezky89 Actually, in the early 90's there were still available some teachers that learned pretty good English before 1968. Besides that, there were also some programs to employ native speakers back then. In the early 2000's the situation got way worse IMO. And to be honest, even now I'm not super happy with nowaday's English teachers' skills in CZ. They should study with Jen!

[@ohorok2]

How have do you have? Do you do how-how? 😁

[@tomastezky89]

@ You are right. Thank you very much ... ... I was lucky, I studied in the early 80ies at the State language school in Praha. It was only 30 of us. We had 18 lessons per a week for 2 years. Nevertheless, I have had a chance to study English at this school only thanks our family contacts. Than 9 for 2 years, plus 1 year 5 lessons per a week. We had 3 teachers who were fired from university because of political teachers. I had studied before for several years, but we had had 1 hour per a week only, so our knowledge was near zero ... ... by the way, everybody was laughing at me in the 80ies, because nobody uderstood, why I bothered to study not useful English ... 🤔

[@PavelSkollSuk]

She has a point. Also pronouciation differs slightly from the written form and depending on location, Na shledanou Bohemia: "naschledanou" Moravia: "na zhledanou" Why? Just because shl is not easy to pronounce if you speak a little bit qucker and we are lazy beings, zhl or schl is really pronounced instead.

[@Saiphe_]

Or be like me, lazy ass being, just using "Naschle" (:

[@DreamPrague]

oh, that's interesting, I didn't realize that difference between Bohemia and Moravia!

[@breznik1197]

@@Saiphe_ Or "nazhle", if you are in Moravia.

[@mardyjane7664]

Of course it doesn’t mean that everyone in the certain region says it the same way :)

[@beth12svist]

@@DreamPrague There is that difference in pretty much all words with "sh". To the point that Bohemians might pronounce even "zh" more like "sch" sometimes! There's a street and bus stop in Prague named after Zhořelec, the Czech name of a Polish town - it would, of course, be "shořet" in Czech, and pronounced "schořet" in Bohemia (sometimes?) and "zhořet" in Moravia. Hearing that Bohemian pronunciation applied even to a word that's spelled differently (in the bus speaker) was, after about ten years living in Moravia, particularly weird. :D

[@marketcernikova7024]

Hi Jen & Eliško! R U in touch with Gavin? Any news from him? How is he? We're missing him A LOT! Is he still learning Czech or does he teach Portuguese only? Thanks a million!

[@jarmillex3198]

pronunciation is important not just for learning Czech, but any foreign language. it's important not just for being understood, but obviously also for understanding (if you learn that a word is pronounced a certain word and somebody will say it differently than you think it's pronounced, you may not understand it, it will sound as a completely different and unknown word to you). as I wrote earlier in one of my comments to your earlier videos, you may think that English is a bit different, because it's a widely used language and you are used to foreigners speaking English, with different types of pronunciation, whereas Czech people are not used to foreigners trying to speak Czech. Your guest mentions this in the video. But in fact this does not only apply to the Czech language, but for many other languages, most languages in fact, if not all. Try speaking to a Frenchperson with an accent and mispronouncing words and they won't understand you. Also, a person from an English-speaking country who is not used/exposed to foreigners so often, may also have trouble understanding a foreigner mispronouncing English words. Also, it's not just a matter of pronunciation of sounds per se, but of things like what syllable you put emphasis on (this can differ across languages; central European languages like Slovak tend to always put emphasis on the first syllable of the word, whereas e.g. the French always put it on the last one, and in English it varies and can change the meaning of the word e.g. from a noun to a verb, think e.g. of a word like "report" - so it's very important indeed in English as well), or if the language has a tendency to shorten words, not to pronounce part of words in the flow of speaking, or if grouping of words influences their pronunciation (in some languages, including Czech, Slovak or German when one word ends with a specific sound, it may influence the pronunciation of the first sound of the next word and the second word would be pronounced differently compared to when it would be said in isolation, without the first word, it's called "spodobovani/asimilace" in Czech), and many other issues. All these make up what we perceive as the "melody" of the language. Even though e.g. Slovak and Czech are very similar languages, they have different pronunciation of certain sounds, especially consonants, like d or t (their Czech version is more aspirated than Slovak), even though "at first sight" these may look like the same sounds and are represented with the same letters. That's part of why it sounds funny to Slovaks when a Czech speaks Slovak and vice versa. And the same applies to speaking any other foreign language - unless you consciously work on it, you have a tendency to pronounce similar sounds/letters the way it's done in your mother tongue, even though there may be subtle differences in their pronunciation. This is all what contributes to creating a foreign sounding accent in a language. It's a whole "science" and it's interesting and fun, and it's definitely part of learning (any) language. It's a bit ironic given the topic of the video, but your guest has a very Czech pronunciation of certain consonants which makes her sound very "Czech" even in English. :D

[@chrisdunn1155]

This is really useful, thank you!

[@AB-cc7dg]

I think a good way to fix the long vowels is to exaggerate - you can really stretch out the long vowels. Czechs are more likely to understand you pronouncing it like "pééééče" than "peče" because some Czech kids tend to pronounce it that way. American English kind of has these long/short vowels, although the sound is a bit different from Czech: - cop vs cup - body vs buddy - bat vs bet - bad vs bed - batter vs better - pool vs pull

[@toruvalejo6152]

Hi Jen, the Old Quibbler at you service. :) I ran into one of Eliška's videos on pronounciation some time ago and I must say that nothing teaches you your own language more then if U are forced to explain real basics of it to a complete begginer becouse then U must start to really think of it and reveal its rules "to the bone". In result of it sometimes I wonder how can someone learn his own langugage properely unless being confronted with complete stranger... Still - very usefull video! Keep up the good work! ;)

[@sirhonza]

This finally could be the way how to learn scottish accent. Thank you :)

[@guntherneuwirth349]

the length of the vowels is not important, you can do without it, people in Ostrava do not pronounce long vowels, the people of Prague are stretching everything and people from South Moravia also speak a little differently

[@Pidalin]

In real life it's not that simple, as a native Praguer, when I was near to Ostrava on vacation, they didn't even realize that I am originally from Prague, we arrived there by car with number from Poděbrady and they were asking what village are we from, it was pretty funny because we all speak totaly "praguish." There are many myths and half truths about dialects and accents, but I noticed many times that Moravians can't actually surely recognize someone who is real Praguer borned in Prague, they think we say helééééé and přijdu dýl, but for me as Praguer, it's same funny for me as for them and I think people from Pilsen speak like that or western bohemia generaly. When I was in Pilsen few years ago, I had problem with trying to not laugh. But vice versa, many Praguers think that there is something like typical accent from Brno or Ostrava, I can recognize people from Ostrava or Moravia by tone how they speak, but words are very mixed now, I hear many Moravians even using "ej" on end of words, I know even one Slovak who is saying that, it can be everything very confusing. But when I hear something like "zelené auta" I am pretty sure that person is from Moravia and I hear it even in TV very often, it looks like Moravian reporters are not that skilled in trying to avoid their not formal language, I think many of them don't even know how it is really correct (zelená auta) and that created myth that moravians use formal Czech, they say it because they don't even realize they speak non formal langauge. I live in village in central bohemian region now (near to Nymburk) and people really say přijdu dýl and such things here, which is really weird for me, it's only 30 km from Prague in east way, people should not speak like that here, I am sometimes confused by their words, sometimes I really don't understand and it's just 30 km from Prague, for example I had to google that "čuba" means female dog and many other words. 😀 But "přijdu dýl" really makes me crazy, my co-workers are constantly saying that.

[@guntherneuwirth349]

@@Pidalin yes no every praguer sounds like That, but i mean typicky praguer

[@Pidalin]

@@guntherneuwirth349 But who is typical Praguer? You can barely find person who grew up in Prague and who is not influenced by langauge from other regions. For example my cousin is saying "halééé" and such things, but he spent a lot of time as kid in Karlovy Vary with his grandparents from his side of family and even me, my mom and my sisters are all making fun of his "halééé" and we are Praguers. This is really interesting and complicated thing which needs some serious scientific research. 🙂

[@jakubs.6103]

@@Pidalin Spisovná čeština je prostě umělý nepřirozený jazyk používaný hlavně v psané formě. Jsem z Ostravska a dobře vím, že spisovná forma je zelená auta, ale nikdy bych to neřekl, nejde mi to přes hubu. Tady říct zelená auta, tak budeš za podivína. Skřípu zubama, i když to mám jen napsat. Stejně tak se chodí do doktora, ne k doktorovi. Ale jinak je super, že máme každý jiné nářečí. Třeba v Polsku s výjimkou hornoslezské aglomerace mluví všichni stejně, což je trochu nuda. :)

[@jakubs.6103]

@@Pidalin A mimochodem, pokud vím, většina lidí z Čech by řekla zelení auta, což je z pohledu spisovné češtiny úplně stejně špatně jako zelené auta. :)

[@gorgthesalty]

Wait, vowels? It's easy, just keep them clear. A -- ah E -- eh O -- oh I or Y -- ee (short version of that sound) -- note on Y: it makes the consonants D/T/L/N hard before it, while I makes them soft) U -- oo (short version of that sound) If they have a line over them (or circle above U), make/keep them long, otherwise say them short -- just keep it clear in both cases, no English "in between" AE/OU or one of the other 26 vowel sounds English makes. Some of the other vowel marks are same clear vowels, but they just change how the consonant before them is pronounced, similar to what Y does. Or, they can make the vowel long. You can see which is for what on wikipedia. Trivia: Slovak O with a hat is a diphtong = UO and Slovak A with two dots is an E (hard E). 🙂Otherwise, same rules. *Also, accent on first syllable in EVERY WORD.* (applies to: Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Finnish...) There, easy! P.S. All consonants are simple sounds, not a "spelling bee" English pronunciations. K -- it's just the [k] in key. Now go have "fun" with Czech grammar, because that's where the FUN is MWAHAHA!

[@jakubtomek7829]

Brings back the memories of our Mexican friend asking how we say "death" in Czech (=smrt) and then when she tried it, she pronounced it starting with z...

[@CookingwithYarda]

Czech language isn't easy at all !! Trust me, after 20 years living abroad, I can barely speak Czech now 🤣

[@DreamPrague]

I lose any Czech I have when I leave the country even for a week!

[@tomasbyrom3954]

As an English as a Second Language teacher, I think vowel length is just as important in English. I think it's weird that you don't teach pronunciation in your A1 classes. Especially vowel length which is very important in English also. Beach and b!tch, sheet and sh!t - these are only different because of vowel length, and probably a lot more of a worry than raw vs cheesy. It could be a North American teaching style, but in Australia/NZ and Asia-pacific, pronunciation is a huge focus.

[@martink2875]

The most important thing to learn Czech language: Do not smile, speak as if sawing wood regularly, bring a skyrocketing amount of patience for all the obnoxiously complex grammatical rules with yourself. Nah, just kidding xD I think we people from CZ are getting more and more outwardly from all the exposure to internet, social media, more and more foreigners etc. For me personally it's super cute when a foreigner tries to speak Czech with their accent and stuff, at which time I generally get all chearfully helpful and smiling. Anyway, great video as usual, thanks!

[@PVPV-dx4ph]

Great! Great! Pronunciation is the key. Great Czech teacher. But to start speak and create some usable sentences in any language you need to learn many thousands words individually with proper pronunciation otherwise by saying of one sentence you get stuck because of the missing words.

[@hosec4905]

Pozdrawiam czeskich braci z Polski

[@petrjara7559]

Cześć

[@cemper0079]

Zdarec👌

[@martinfiala4038]

Just like Czech expat ends up in the US and with the school English not recognizing accents in the word, no one understood me and it made my life hard trying to understand what Americans say as well ... I think it applies to all languages, the punctuation makes some logic even though you might know it yet. The declination is an absolute nightmare because then foreigners realize that almost every word in the Czech sentence can be irregular and that is where more of the phenomenons all kick in at the same time - the punctuation - Czech "pády" (2x7), tvary a vzory >> modifying the pre/post fix around the stem of the word. You need to do it automatically to speak a perfect Czech. It must be the real tough wall to break, I assume. I wish I could help people to make it easier to understand, especially to realize how much it is important.

[@carthtc3429]

Eliška is so cute, I sometimes forget to listen to the video and drift away in my mind... 😇

[@pohlpiano]

You speak well! And your videos are not bad either.

[@kluculda]

I have the same problem in Hungary with pronunciation. Big different when you told word with one letter or dubbled letter and wrong long of letter. F.E. egy or négy 1/4 and tizenegy or tizennégy numbers 11/14 🙂

[@Targanar]

I think it´s not so big issue. Well, of course the meaning changes if you pronounce it long and short in these examples but that´s why there is the mark above the letter. And you just have to know the difference. But I don´t think we have so many similar words distinguished just by this pronounciation in Czech. More I learn English I find out that Czech is not so difficult. We have less words, not so many synonyms or not so many of them used commonly, and just three tenses. Yes, we have seven cases and a difficult system of declinations and conjugations but if you master the basic rules and patterns for the words then it´s quite ok. A lot of Czech people have problems with mě and mně. If you say it, there is no difference in pronounciation and if you write it wrong nothing so serious happens and you can always correct it via some application. The rule to distinguish mě and mně is simple. 2. and 4. case - mě, 3. and 6. case - mně. You just have to learn the cases and then it´s easy. Well we also have many exceptions and those prefixes and suffixes but it´s not a matter of life and death. it just needs some practice. The last thing. I really don´t think the pronounciation is so big issue in communication with the Czech people. If you say "Kopilá sém novy být" instead of "Koupila jsem nový byt" which is correct, you just make the native speaker laugh but he understands.

[@Hetschoter]

12:33 Don't know if it was intentional, but there is typo in the word "ďábel", since it's written with a short "a". Otherwise, great video and it could be very helpful.

[@DreamPrague]

Thank you!

[@breznik1197]

And "mama", "mamo" instead of "máma", "mámo".

[@SouthPoleAntarctica]

think of spanish - it too has the moving emphasis, it too uses a hyphen/tilde symbol (in rather awkward way) and it too changes the meaning of the words completely. Czech at least distinguishes the long and short vowels, not just the emphasis. fighting these hyphens is like us Czechs struggling with the totally different meanings of the verb _put_ being defined by the adjoined preposition {put on, put off, put out - you get the idea)

[@SouthPoleAntarctica]

sorry, apparently it's called acute not hyphen in English. i'm rooting for nabodeníčko

[@kachnickau]

We still see your huge Monstera, you can not blurr that out :D Great tips for learning any language!

[@vikistastny473]

Ok tvá překladatelka je moc pěkná, mohla by ses jí zeptat jestli by nešla se mnou na kafe .-) ..Díky

[@yamirkaibarra5415]

Great 👍 thank you. I will used

[@Suchac_cz]

Sorry for nitpicking, but Eliška should improve "too x two" and "better x badder"... OK, Im crawling back under the stone :D ...anyway, great video as always. Interesting thoughts 👍 I have a theory, that people with good tonal or musical hearing have a big (maybe huge) advantage when learning foreign languages.

[@caifothiazz]

is there any difference? i mean "two x too".

[@Suchac_cz]

@@caifothiazz A tiny one, but it is. In my ear 😉

[@DreamPrague]

No difference between two and too. Badder is not a word! 😜 And yes, a musical ear, as we call it, is definitely an advantage. Shame I don't have one!

[@Suchac_cz]

@@DreamPrague Badder - I was somehow describing the sound than the actual word. I know that something can be worse, not badder 😉 Two x too - ok then, maybe for me the difference makes its position in sentences - mostly middle x end

[@kjama1]

Which English pronunciation is correct? English is an official language of a lot of states (even in Asia, Africa, Malta or Carribean region. So, all of these should be considered as correct... I try to teach Estuary accent (with bits of the Scottish one), if it is even possible as being Czech. But if a student is consistent, I don´t mind American (I probably wouldn´t mind Creole either, for example - though not sure I´d understand). 10y ago, I´d probably be horrified with Eliška´s accent. Now, I can say, she uses English as Cross-cultural Communication, which is now a term used in business and international companies.

[@Lucy-Luc-Lu-L]

Lool, this so reminds me when a friend ordered "jedno pivo" in the restaurant and they didn't understand him :D

[@jammmy30]

Oh, Boy! Do I have a lot of input on this! :) Nr.1 I totally agree that Czechs are SO unused to hearing foreigners pronouncing their language that they really do Not understand person who mixes up long and short vowels. It is almost hard to believe, but after a while one realises that it is Not a joke and not something personal against you. By the same token we would not be able to communicate here in Malmö at all if this principle was applied (half of city are migrants). 2.Yes it is very hard to remember where it is short and where long vowels. 3.on the other hand I do Not agree that there would be anything else that is hard about Czech language melody and pronunciation. Very fluent, very melodic. I mean, I agree that it is great to listen to Czech fairy tales, radio, TV and mostly Music (songs), but aside from those pairs short/long one just catches on with it. But melody and understanding of Czech just comes to you without having to really Do anything about it. It just like remembering a song or any other melody. You listen to it and than you can repeat. Ofcourse it does not mean that you will remember all of it, but than you just put language just like melody “on repeat”.

[@iannickCZ]

Such strong Czenglish, that rips my ears off...

[@petrjara7559]

I don't really get the point why this should be disappointing. Of course many words have totally different meaning if pronounced with wrong characters as another word. English works the same - Reed x Red, Beat x Bit Except in Czech you don't stack vowels to make pronunciation longer, you just use ´ You can think double e is obviously different from single e but e and é difference is negligible. But it's not and that's the point Best advice is: don't look at éíáýúů as weird modifications of normal vowels but take them as different letters

[@lexsmith8689]

so there´s something about mechanical learning after all.. sometimes to learn it mechanically is the best thing.. then when you have it learned you can actually make sense of it..

[@SaurusCZ]

Its oftopic but I have to ask you. Where did you buy those beautiful garden chairs?

[@JamesWhole24]

Velmi pěkné a naučné. :-)

[@Last_Starfighter]

Hey, Jenn! You don't have to deal with the pronunciation of vowels much, a simple trick is enough - always say all vowels briefly and every Czech will understand you, only everyone will think that you are a girl from Ostrava! 😂😉😄😆😛👌👍

[@Last_Starfighter]

@Jan Krynicky Ostravakum to je jedno, oni to pochopí z kontextu věty! 😂😉😄😛

[@Last_Starfighter]

@Jan Krynicky Nepotřebují ho, Moravskoslezský kraj je dostatečně rázovitý, tak proč cestovat někam jinam?! 🤔😂😉😄

[@garimeragonols]

my first thought was to learn each letter of our alphabet as it is pronounced (B as B, no BÉ), because each letter is pronounced the same every time (some exceptions, but not like in english). also i remember my sisters saying TD instead of R in words fast, and it gets you to say the R, TDamvaj TDamvaj TDamvaj TDamvaj TDamvaj TDamvaj TDamvaj (tramvaj)

[@SigMaQuint]

My immediate impression, from following word of the day for some time, is that Czech is one of the most difficult languages to pronounce. To me it seems that it is the consonants. My mother tongue is Norwegian.

[@vojtechpribyl7386]

There are some sound distortions after 11:43. The words are understandable, but something went wrong with the recording or upload.

[@cazb73]

So it isn't error, but property? Oh Gee. I almost urge helpdesk of my internet provider! :D