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NOTE to any one. If you wish to join, do it. Does not matter if we are in the for. ex. tenth lesson. You will just start from the first. If you need something more individual, tell me. I manage it.

Alphabet

A, B, C, Č, D,Ď, E, F, G, H, CH, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ň, O, P, Q, R, Ř, S, Š, T, Ť, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Ž

also we have "long vowels" Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ů, Ý

Pronunciation

Is difficult, because we have letters that are unique in the world.

Long vowels are indicated by an acute accent or a ring.

/iː/ is represented by letters í and ý
/uː/ is represented by letters ú and ů
/ɛː/ is represented by letter é
/aː/ is represented by letter á
/oː/ is represented by letter ó

Short vowels

/ɪ/ is represented by letters i and y
/u/ is represented by letter u
/ɛ/ is represented by letter e (and sometimes ě)
/a/ (actually an open central unrounded vowel [ä]) is represented by letter a
/o/ (actually a mid back rounded vowel [o̞]) is represented by letter o

Diphthongs

/aʊ̯/ represented by au (almost exclusively in words of foreign origin)
/eʊ̯/ represented by eu (in words of foreign origin only)

When these groups come together at morpheme boundaries, they do not form diphthongs in standard Czech; for instance naučit, neučit, poučit ([-au-, -eu-, -ou-] or [-aʔu-, -eʔu-, -oʔu-]). Vowel groups ia, ie, ii, io, and iu in foreign words are likewise not regarded as diphthongs; they may also pronounced with /j/ between the vowels [ɪja, ɪjɛ, ɪjɪ, ɪjo, ɪju].

/ʃ/ is represented by letter š
/ʒ/ is represented by letter ž
/ɲ/ is represented by letter ň
/c/ is represented by letter ť
/ɟ/ is represented by letter ď
/ɦ/ is represented by letter h
/x/ is represented by digraph ch
/ts/ is represented by letter c
/dz/ is represented by digraph dz
/tʃ/ is represented by letter č
/dʒ/ is represented by digraph dž
/r̝/ is represented by letter ř

Stress

The primary stress is always fixed to the first syllable of a stressed unit, which is usually identical to a word. The exceptions are:

* Monosyllabic prepositions form a unit with following words (if the following word is not longer than three syllables). The stress is placed on the preposition: e.g. ˈPraha (Prague) --> ˈdo Prahy (to Prague). This does not apply to long words, e.g. ˈna ˈkoloˌnádě (on the (spa) walk).
* Some monosyllabic words (e.g. mi (me), ti ((to) you), to (it), se, si (oneself), jsem (am), jsi (are), etc.) are clitics — they are not stressed and form a unit with preceding words. A clitic cannot be the first word in a sentence, because it requires a preceding word to form a unit with. Example: ˈNapsal jsem ti ˈten ˈdopis, I have written the letter to you.

Long words have secondary stress, which is usually placed on every odd syllable, e.g. ˈnej.krás.ˌněj.ší (the most beautiful).

Stress in Czech denotes boundaries between words, but does not distinguish word meanings. It also has no influence on the quality or quantity of vowels. Vowels are not reduced in unstressed syllables and both long and short vowels can occur in either stressed or unstressed syllables.

In fact, we read all the letters as they follow.

Origin

The name "čeština", Czech, is derived from a Slavic tribe of Czechs ("Čech", pl. "Češi") that inhabited Central Bohemia and united neighbouring Slavic tribes under the reign of the Přemyslid dynasty ("Přemyslovci"). The etymology is unclear. According to a legend, it is derived from the Forefather Čech, who brought the tribe of Czechs into its land.

Speakers of Czech and Slovak usually understand both languages in their written and spoken form, thus constituting a language diasystem, though some dialects or heavily accented speech in either language might present difficulties to speakers of the other (in particular, Eastern Slovak dialects to Czech speakers are seen as difficult to comprehend). Younger generations of Czechs living after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 (therefore sometimes less familiar with Slovak) might also have some problems with a certain amount of words and expressions which differ considerably in the two languages, and with false friends. Nevertheless, these differences do not impede mutual intelligibility significantly.

See more here:

History of Czech Language
Czech Phonology

or ask me.

1st lesson

This is just a symbolic lesson, where I test, if you know anything about Czech and our culture. After you pass the lesson, we will continue with the real lessons.


Put it here or PM me the answers.

2nd lesson

I am going to tell you some of the Czech history, culture and traditions. Then I give you few questions to make me sure, you have learned something.

Brief history of the Czech Republic

Some of the oldest settlers of the Czech lands were the Boii (Bójové, pl; sg - Bój), a Celtic tribe that inhabited the region from around the 4th century BC and gave Bohemia (Čechy, pl. only) its name. The Celts were later replaced by Germanic tribes, and around the 6th century AD, the Slavs (Slované, pl; sg - Slovan (masculine)) finally reached the territory from the east. In the 7th century, a Frankish merchant Sámo succeeded in uniting the Slavic tribes under his empire and defeating the tribe of the Avars that occupied today's Hungary.

Around 830, the Great Moravian Empire (Velkomoravská říše (feminine)) was established along the Morava River (F) by the Slavic dynasty Mojmírovci (sg, M - Mojmír; Mojmírovci - people of Mojmír). They are mostly the legendary dukes, but we also have some proves, that they really lived. Mojmír's successor Rostislav feared the German influence and asked the Byzantine emperor to send two missionaries, Cyril and Methodius (Metoděj) of Constantinople, to come and spread Eastern Christianity in the Great Moravian Empire. Cyril and Methodius created the Slavonic script (Cyrillic alphabet that is still in use in Russia and Bulgaria) and translated religious texts from Greek and Latin into the Old Slavonic language. After Methodius' death, the Roman Catholic religion was adopted and the Cyrillic script (Cyrilice, F) was replaced by the Latin alphabet. The Great Moravian Empire collapsed with the Hungarian invasion in 907.

In that time, in neighbour Czech lands, the Przemyslid dynasty (Přemysl - M, sg; Přemyslovci - pl, people of Přemysl) ruled from 9th century to 1306. They built Prague Castle, which they made the seat of power. The dynasty of dukes strengthened and so they became kings. In 1085, duke Vratislav II became first Czech king. But the royal title became hereditary from 1212 by the Golden Sicilian Bull. The Přemyslid dynasty ended with the death of its last member, Wenceslas III (Václav), in 1306.

The sister of Václav III married Jan of Luxembourg. His son Charles IV (Karel) is the most important monarch in our history. He became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. He build whole the new part (New Town) of Prague and founded the first university in Central Europe - Charles University.

His son, Václav IV was not that lucky. He experienced how tough the Czech people can be - the Hussite wars began. Hussites (Husité - pl, M; Husita - sg, M) were soldiers who followed the thoughts of Jan Hus, a catholic priest that tried to reform the church. He was executed in Konstanz in Germany for his thoughts. Huge movement of people thinking the same followed him and started the dark era of the country.

The Hussite wars meant total breakdown of the culture of Czech lands. While other countries experienced Rennaissance, Czech lands were in war with all the neighbours and even among its own people. The era ended with the battle of White Mountain in 1620. The Austrian dynasty of Habsburgs took the power over Czech lands and dominated them untill 1918 (in the end of the 19th century, there was a period called National Revival, where Czech noble men and academics tried to safe Czech language and culture). In 28 October 1918 Czech lands and Slovak lands became together Czechoslovakia. Tomáš Garigue Masaryk became the first president.

In the mid-1930s, the German inhabitants of the Czech border areas called the Sudetenland began calling for autonomy. Masaryk resigned from his post of president in 1935 due to illness and was replaced by Edvard Beneš. In September 1938, Germany, Britain, France and Italy signed the Munich Pact, giving Hitler the right to invade and claim Czechoslovakia's border areas, despite the fact that France had a treaty with Czechoslovakia promising help in the event of military aggression. O nás bez nás (about us, without us) has become a phrase bitterly remembered by all Czechs. On March 15, 1939, Czechoslovakia was invaded by Hitler's army. The border territories were seized by Germany and the rest of the country was occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of World War II in 1945. The end of the war came with the Prague Uprising on May 5, 1945 and the subsequent liberation of Prague by the Soviet Red Army on May 9.

Then the communistic era began. State was proclaimed as the only owner of every property or factory... People were persecuted. In '68 the "revolution" called Prague Spring was set. The Soviets took their army to repress the revolution and they succeded. The period from 1968 to mid-1980s was the period of "normalization", the purpose of which was to put things back to the way they were before the attempted Prague Spring reform. Any sign of disapproval of the regime was persecuted and opposition moved underground.

The late 1980s are characterized by public demonstrations. A week after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the Velvet Revolution brought an end to communism. Václav Havel, former dissident, was elected president during the country's first democratic elections in January 1990.

On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two independent countries, Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Havel was elected the first president of the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and was approved to become a member of the European Union in 2002. On May 1, 2004 the Czech Republic joined the EU along with 10 other nations.

Culture, traditions, habits