CZECH-REPUBLIC - PRAGUE
2nd Blog by Julian Lipp - Monday, 15 April 2024, 11:40 AM
Live in Prague without Czech Language or Basic Czech Language
After about two months in Prague, it's time for the second blog from the Czech Republic on the subject of language barriers and how I deal with them. The Czech language is very different from my mother tongue, German. You can tell that the languages have different origins and there are hardly any similar words. I already noticed the linguistic barriers in the first few weeks when shopping in the supermarket. As I was still missing a few things for my home furnishings, I wanted to get them at the shopping center. While I was able to find some things easily, other things were hard to find. For example, I wanted to buy simple cotton dishcloths for the kitchen, but couldn't find them so I decided to ask a sales clerk. Unfortunately, I realized that the lady didn't speak a word of English and just looked at me lost when I said "Excuse me" to her. So I tried my luck with a second saleswoman who looked a bit younger. However, she didn't speak any English either, so I decided to type in the word on my cell phone and have it translated into Czech and showed it to the sales clerk again. She then pointed to a shelf and typed something in Czech, which of course I didn't understand. However, I knew that I had already searched this area without success. It was then too tiring for me to try to explain to her that I had already searched the shelf and found nothing, so I came to the conclusion that they probably didn't have this type of wipes and went home again without them. In this case, I was not very helpful. I would at least have liked them to show me 1-2 products or to accompany me quickly to the shelf instead of just pointing at it rudely. However, I don't think this has anything to do with the culture, as it can just as easily be the case in Switzerland that the saleswoman in the supermarket is a bit listless or has better things to do than help you.
Since I am attending a Czech course for beginners here at school (official school subject with 3 ECTS), the situation has improved a little since I started. At the beginning, the language seemed quite aggressive to me. When the Czech teacher spoke to me in Czech for the first time, I thought that I had forgotten something or had done something wrong. However, I now know that these types of languages, such as Czech, Slovak and Russian, come across a bit like that to us and there's no need to be worried. I can now introduce the basics like myself, numbers, colors and a few important words and this has improved the situation a bit. It's nice to be able to understand a little bit and to be able to pronounce things better. There are a few special letters in Czech, such as "č", which is pronounced as "tsch". I was able to put my Czech skills to the test twice during my stay. Although it's nothing special, I was still happy that I was able to use what I had practiced. Both examples involve the use of numbers. In the first case, I ordered food to my apartment using a new app. After a few minutes, the delivery man called me and explained in Czech and very bad English that he couldn't find the entrance. Since I live in a large apartment complex, I was able to explain to him that he had to take entrance 696/8 and then 311 at the apartment. In the second example, I was at a petrol station just outside Prague and was able to explain to the salesperson, who also didn't speak English, that I had used petrol pump no. 4.
In the end, I don't know how often I will need "my Czech" after I return to Switzerland. If I think about it honestly, this will probably only be the case to a very limited extent when I go on a city trip to Prague, for example. Nevertheless, I don't regret having learned the basics a little, and I take away for myself that in many countries it is not at all a matter of course that people speak English to some extent. As soon as you get even a little outside of the tourist hotspots, the level of English decreases rapidly and you have to make do with other aids such as translation apps or you know a few basic words.