Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook: With Two-Way Dictionary [ペーパーバック]

For only 8 dollars I think this book is a good buy. Sure, you will find people who speak English in the Czech Republic, but I think it would be 'slightly' rude that you didnt even make an effort to learn some key phrases in Czech before your visit. Czech is their official language, and if you want to have a real cultural experience rather than getting by on your English, then I would recommend looking into this product. This book will lend you some key phrases as well as background to the country and people of ancient Bohemia. I visited the Czech Republic also, and found that many of their street signs, signs in general were in Czech, and it was really useful for me to look it up in the phrasebook. Also as well as the dictionary, it has subject vocabulary, as in what to do when you're in a restaurant, what to say in a doctor's office, telling the time, things like that-mostly anything you can think of. The biggest plus of this product is that it is actually up to date, and gives you vocabulary for anything (even what to say on a date!) and isnt out of sync with the times. Also it was coveniently sized to fit into my small purse or pocket withouot being an incovenience. I think this product helped me in familiarizing myself with their culture before going there-so I wasnt as culture shocked as some of my other colleauges. I recommend this book.

The person who pointed out the problems with the phonetic translations in this book is completely correct. I'm not saying this just because I'm an American and I expect everyone to speak as I do (if I felt that way, why would I be using this book?). The thing is that the Czech language isn't very similar to English. If I had pronounced "prosim" (the most useful word in Czech) as "prah-sim" (the way this book leads you to believe) I would have been completely wrong. Fortunately, the version I bought also came with a CD. (The CD doesn't follow the book, but it still has the important words and phrases.) The point is: YOU MUST LISTEN TO AUDIO RECORDINGS OF CZECH IN ORDER TO PRONOUNCE IT PROPERLY. No matter how good the phonetic transcription is, Czech is just too different from English to sound it out.

I am not a language specialist, but I found some flaws with this book, most especially with the phoenetics written next to the Czech text. For example, according to the book, the letter o sounds like "the o in 'dot'". Now this makes perfect sense within the context of the book. But in the introduction, it tells us the author "was born and educated in Czechoslovakia, and has been living in Australia since 1983." This tells me that the guide to the vowels are based upon the Australian/British vowel system. So the Australian pronunciation of "dot" has a more pronounced "o", while the American "dot" sounds almost like an "ah." My concerns of this were proven when I listened to recordings of certain Czech phrases by native speakers ("prosim," or "please," does not sound like "prah-seem," like the book may lead an American to deduce).

Also, vial phrases to traveling are hidden in various places in the book. The phrase "where are the toilets" is hidden on page 205, under "emergencies..." I don't categorize needing a toilet as a true emergency (like the phrase "it's an emergency!") But then the most complex phrases are located in the beginning of the book ("Are you here on holiday?" and "How long are you here for?") Perhaps it's just me, but as a traveler in a foreign country, I want to learn the basic phrases before in-depth conversation starters. And, with all due respect, how am I ever to understand the response to the phrase "Are you here on holiday?" in Czech?!!

This book has thousands of phrases you will never need to know. If you want to be able to ask questions and UNDERSTAND the responses, perhaps a real language book or formal class is necessary. And if you can memorize all the phrases in this book before leaving for the Czech Republic, then you probably don't need this book! By the time you find the phrase you need in the heat of the moment, the conversation is dead.

For the information in the book, it is surprisignly compact. The introduction to the language and the culture in the foreword to the book is extensive and informative.

Some of my favorite phrases:

Prilezitostne si dam kokain ("I take heroine occasionaly")

Nerozumel jsem tomu dobre ("I had a few problems with the language")

Yeah, I wonder why.

If you REALLY want to be able to use most of the phrases in this book effectively, you need a language class! This book will give you the essential phrases, but you had better find their page number before leaving on your trip, or you will have your nose buried in its 281 pages!