Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebook: India)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

I lived in Prague for 2+ years. For much of it, I carried around this book in my pocket, along with a freebie "AAA Taxi" Prague map from the airport stapled to the inside front cover. Other reviews complained about it not teaching you Czech. Honestly, if you're an English speaker only, and take courses from a private tutor, you're barely going to grasp the language after a year - or maybe 2. So, don't expect to learn the language from a "Pocket Guide" on a 3 week holiday. This was an amusing book to keep around, had some decent phrases in it. It had some useful quick-reference sections, like numbers, months, days of week, etc. It's worth while to pick up and learn a few polite phrases, like "Please," "Thank you," etc. I did pick up some other phrases not in this book, and wrote them in the back cover to keep handy. (Can I have a high chair please?). Would have rated this book higher if phrases like that were included ;-) Also agree that access for very useful phrases, like "Where is the toilet?" should a bit more convenient. And the dictionary at the back was very limited. I ended up getting a separate translation app for my phone. Would have liked to see more grocery food words there.

Despite its shortcomings, I recommend this book to my colleagues that go to Prague for extended periods of time.

ideal for long trips, but impossible to digest on a whim during short stays. it is definitely a good idea to practice beforehand as this is not an easy language to acquire.

American bashing is for pedantic cave people. Regarding this book, it is perhaps the poorest language tool for acquiring Czech on the market. It might look nice in its package, and Lonely Planet might lend confidence in the product, however my review comes from 2 sides. From Czech Speakers themselves, and as learner of the language to whom this book was left to me.

Let me just say this, if my Czech friends want to have a laugh, they request I bring this book with me to the pub! Avoid this book and demand quality from Lonely Planet, not a half baked product out to suck quick tourist money.....

Very consise and compact and easy to use.

Wish I had ordered it in LARGE print.

I wasn't surprised when I saw that the two earlier reviewers were from the US of A. They actually view it as the phrasebook's shortcoming that in the country at hand they actually speak some English as well. How ignorant is that?! Since the yanks probably won't know the answer to that either, here's the answer: Very. Most of the world does not speak enough English to adequately convey their sentiments, ideas, opinions, whole personality...but does that matter to angloamericans? No, they actually think that a travel experience will be as rewarding whether or not you speak the language of the native residents. As long as they understand your Enligsh, all's well. I hope, for theirs sake as well, that some of these people see the error of their ways.

About the phrasebook then. LP phrasebooks have maintained a standard of excellence and the Czech phrasebook is no exception, everything you could think of needing from a phrasebook of this size is there. A section in grammar kicks things off and even though it's shorter than, for instance, the Spanish PB grammar section, it's useful especially if you're interested in learning more about the Czech language. And I was delighted that the "Dating & Romance" (not included in all of the LP phrasebooks, dunno why) section was there since Czech women are absolutely beautiful :). I highly recommend this book, myslim ze to bylo bájecné!

If you're going to a major city in the Czech Republic, say Prague, don't bother with this book. Almost everyone there speaks English anyway so to the extent that you need to learn phrases like "thank you", "please", etc. just to be polite, you can use the language index from a regular old guidebook like Fodors. Even if you do go out into the country, you won't be able to use much more that what's in the guidebooks anyway. After all, a few key phrases and lots of pointing and smiling will get you farther than being able to say "You should visit us in Scotland sometime when you're in the area". And you'll never ever ever understand anything that's said back to you based on a book like this. The motto "Don't just sit there, say something" is meaningless. Sure I can phonetically babble all the mumbo jumbo I want, but that doesn't mean that I can actually communicate something with someone in Eastern Europe. And we couldn't find how to ask for the check in a restaurant anywhere in this book, which is one of those useful phrases when you head to places like this.