UBC July 2026 - Czech Language

Photo by Richard James on Unsplash





Czech (čeština) is a West Slavic language spoken by roughly 10 million people, mostly in the Czech Republic. It’s closely related to Slovak and Polish, and it comes with a delightful bonus feature: seven noun cases, which is exactly as fun as it sounds.

Historically, Czech immigration to the United States peaked between 1848 and 1914, and today you’ll still find Czech-American communities in places like Texas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. According to 2009 data, about 70,500 people in the US still spoke Czech as their first language, ranking 49th nationwide, between Turkish and Swedish. Respect.

When we visited the Czech Republic, armed with exactly zero knowledge of the language and an optimistic attitude we were hoping to get by the way we did in  Stockholm, where we could usually piece together just enough to navigate.

In Prague, that assumption didn’t quite hold up.


To prepare for my trip, I memorized the essentials:


Dobrý den, Prosím, Děkuji, Ano, Ne, Na shledanou.

(Hello, please, thank you, yes, no, goodbye)



A survival kit, basically.

Reality, however, involved standing in front of a pizza menu trying to decode it like it was ancient runes. We eventually resorted to Google for the most basic ingredients. I would like to say this was a low point. It was.

Ham: šunka
Tomatoes: rajčata
Porcini mushrooms: hříbky

What stuck with me after the trip were the words that kept appearing everywhere in the city:

Náměstí (square), nádraží (station), most (bridge), zámek (castle).

At some point you stop translating them and just accept that everything important in Czech involves either getting somewhere, crossing something, or visiting something very old and impressive.

This was a humbling experience, and it made me wonder, hypothetically, how I would adapt if I ever received a job offer in Prague. It would likely be with an international company where English is the working language. They might help with the practical side of relocation, like finding a place to live, but eventually, I would be on my own.

Would I then take the path of least resistance and stay within an international, English-speaking bubble, like so many expats in Switzerland do? It is something we locals often comment on. “They should make an effort and learn the language; it’s part of integration,” we like to say. And yet, in practice, we are often the first to switch to English when someone tries, because it is simply easier.

Would I make the effort to attend Czech classes consistently? Would I manage to let go of perfectionism and just speak, however imperfectly, using the few words I had?

I will probably never find out. But I suspect I will be a little more understanding the next time I make assumptions about language, effort, and integration.




PS: And then there’s the one word that needs no translation even if you don't actually like it: pivo. Can you guess?