Czech culture and language
About Czech Republic
- Capital: Prague
- Geographical size: 78 867 km²
- Population: 10,538,275 (2015)
- Official language: Czech
- Political system: parliamentary republic
- EU member country: since 1 May 2004
- Schengen Area member: since 21 December 2007
- Neighbours: Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia
- Currency: Czech koruna (CZK)
- Religion: 88.5% non-religious or non-declared; 10.4% Roman Catholic; 1.1% other
Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbour of Czech, and the languages are closer than any other pair of West Slavic languages.
"Spisovná čeština" refers to the formal, written form of the national language, which is used in official documents, in literature, at school and in the media. Its rules are found in dictionaries and grammar handbooks and are overseen by the Czech Academy of Sciences' Institute of the Czech Language. The spoken form of this formal language is known as "hovorová čeština".
"Obecná čeština" is an informal variant of the language, which is simplified and has a slightly different morphology, vocabulary and pronunciation. It is used in everyday conversation but is not considered "correct" in written or formal communication.
EURAXESS Centre Prague
EURAXESS Prague offers weekly Czech conversation classes, in groups of 5-15 students, which are free of charge for researchers and their family members. There are currently three levels (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced).
2017 - 2018 classes take place at Vodickova 40, Prague 1 (5th floor) - next door to the EURAXESS office.
Timetable:
every Tuesday
16:30 - 17:30 Starters
17:30 - 18:30 Intermediate 1
every Wednesday
17:00 - 18:00 Elementary
18:00 - 19:00 Intermediate 2
The regular class schedule begins on Tuesday, February 20, 2018. (18 weeks, 20. 2. - 20. 6. 2018)
Courses are already fully booked.
EURAXESS Centre Brno
The South Moravian Regional Centre to Support the Integration of Foreigners offers Czech language courses for foreigners and they are free of charge at Centre. They are only intended for third country nationals who have permanent residence, long-term stay permission, temporary stay permission, a long-term visa or have been granted international protection =
In all Czech
The Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies, which operates under the Charles University in Prague, offers Intensive Czech Language Courses, Preparatory Courses for University Study in Czech, Language Exams, Online Czech Courses and Summer Czech Language Courses.
The Czech for Foreigners Portal provides an overview and comprehensive information for foreigners who are applying for permanent residence in the Czech Republic or for Czech citizenship and will be taking the Czech Language Exam or Czech Life and Institutions Exam.