Contemporary Czech [Paperback]

Michael Heim (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0893570982 | ISBN-13: 978-0893570989 | Publication Date: May 1, 1983

Developed by Professor Michael Heim (UCLA), the text contains grammar, extensive model sentences, and exercises (Part 1) and a series of review lessons (Part 2). Vocabulary and sentences are recorded along with a selection of exercises. Czech-English, English-Czech glossaries are provided. This intermediate course is particularly helpful for those who have a command of Russian. 3 audio CDs and a 271-p. text. Product no. AFCZ10D

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Czech

Product Details

• Paperback: 271 pages
• Publisher: Slavica Pub (May 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893570982
• ISBN-13: 978-0893570989
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Slavic Languages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another reader, January 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Contemporary Czech (Paperback)

This book serves as an excelent reference for learners of Czech -- far better than any book you'd run into in your average book store. It has been my staple and savior for years of learning and using Czech, and I still depend upon it for reference. The russian examples, as mentioned by a previous reviewer, are extensive. This is excellent for a slavophile such as myself, coming to Czech after studying Russian. The book does not rely upon them entirely for explanation, however, leaving its usefullness unscathed should the reader have no prior familiarity with slavic languages. My only cause for disappointment is the exercises, which I found to be entirely insufficient. If you won't be practicing Czech frequently otherwise, look elsewhere for a workbook, but keep this one as your grammar bible!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well organized, concise, efficient way to learn Czech, November 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Contemporary Czech (Paperback)

Heim's _Comtemporary Czech_ is a very grammatical approach to a language that has a lot of grammar. The first chapter is dedicated to spelling, pronunciation, etc., and chapter two begins immediately with an introduction to seven noun cases, exemplified by the feminine hard declension in the singular. It is expected that the student will understand the concept of the inflected noun and be able to begin to use these seven cases immediately. The rest of the first section of the book is similarly densely packed.

Although the student is presented a huge amount of information, the text is so well organized and the exercises so well matched to the lessons that learning the elements of Czech grammar is fairly painless.

The second part of the book is a series of review lessons (which introduce many of the grammatical irregularities omitted in the first section) and is intended to be used together with reading material. By the time the student has finished the first half of the book, he has been exposed to all of the important aspects of Czech grammar and can use and recognize them in his own writing/speaking and reading/listening.

The book includes a number of appendices where the declensions of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc. and verb conjugations are presented concisely in one place. The text serves as an excellent reference grammar, and I have used it (and continue to use it) since 1975. (Although 1975 predates publication, I was one of Dr. Heim's students and therefore have a pre-publication copy of the text.)

Although I have searched, I have found no other Czech grammar written in English that is more complete or easier to use than Heim's. For further information on grammar or on the forms of specific words, it is necessary to use the standards of the Czech linguistic community (which are written in Czech). This text brings the student as far as any in English, leaving him prepared to use Czech sources thereafter.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, October 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Contemporary Czech (Paperback)

The last person to review this book was not satisfied due to the large amount of Russian examples in the book. I think the evaluation is quite critical and in my opinion, quite wrong. The book covers czech. It occasionally mentions a russian example for those who have a knowledge of that language. It is particularly useful because there are grammatical topics in czech which look like russian but are not used as often as in russian speech or writing(compare czech mozne vs. russian mojno). There are also examples that point to similar attributes between the two languages. As the author states in the preface, it is not necessary to know russian to use this book succesfully. In fact, every concept that uses russian, also has an explanation without the use of russian. The russian examples are merely side notes which can be useful to those with a knowledge of russian, but are by no means essential. In fact one can flip by many pages on which no russian examples are present. In all, this is a first rate book. I recommend it to anyone with or without a knowledge of russian.