What language am I even speaking?

Language was my number one fear as I prepared to study abroad. It is essential to communicate what you want and need. I told myself that before I left I was going to teach myself the basics of the Czech language so I could survive my first few days before we got into our language class. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn as much as I wanted to. Submersing yourself in the culture is the best way to learn, and that is exactly what I did.

We touched down in Prague four days before we headed to Olomouc. My friends and I were completely on our own for food to daily activities. We quickly learned the basics (beer, hello, good-bye, and thank-you). This got us by just fine, along with a combination of pointing at the menu and both us and the native speakers getting frustrated. We made it through the first few days just fine though. Prague is a populated city with many foreign visitors; so many waitress and shop owners spoke broken English.

The different symbols put different stresses on the letter itself and even on the letter before!

I would tell locals that I was here to study and they would ask me where. I would reply that I was studying in Olomouc. Many times I got a response I was indifferent about. I was told that Olomouc was not nearly as touristy as Prague and was more like a true Czech town. I was excited to truly live in a real Czech town and get to know the culture. On the other hand, this meant that less residents of Olomouc spoke Czech. We ran into much more language problems during our first week or two here in Olomouc. I got my fair share of dirty looks and eye rolls.

90% of the time the language wasn’t a huge barrier and both of us would just laugh it off because we were both clueless. One lesson I did learn was to initiate the conversation in Czech. If I am to greet a local by saying “Dobry den” (Czech for hello), they are much more willing to work with me. This is compared to me walking into a restaurant and saying hello and showing no intention of immersing myself in the culture and language.

Dobry Den! Czech for Hello!

We are now entering week four of Czech language class. This has further assisted me in communicating effectively. I had my own solid base of basic words and phrases needed to get by. Our language professor is an excellent teacher and teaches us great material to use when we are out on the town.

My first instinct when I landed in Prague was to speak Spanish. I’m not quite sure why this was, but I found it sort of comical. I took Spanish in high school and retained a fair amount of information about the language. I also remember picking up on the language and pronunciation quickly. This is not the case with Czech. There are special rules and most letters don’t make the same sound as they do in the English language. I’m at the point now where I want to learn more and more of the language in an attempt to fit in like a true Czech citizen. This Slovak language is challenging, but I’m enjoying expanding my knowledge. Learning the language is making the Czech Republic feel more like home.