Czech at the University of Toronto

Czech is the official language of The Czech Republic, a country with a long and exciting history, multifaceted landscape, remarkable architecture, and a rich cultural history situated in the heart of Europe.
The Czech Republic is a member of the EU and the city of Prague is well known as an exciting European cultural centre.
The wealth of literature written in Czech is just one reason to embark on the adventure of learning Czech. World-renowned authors writing in Czech include Jaroslav Hašek, Karel Čapek, Milan Kundera, Ivan Klíma, Josef Škvorecký, and Bohumil Hrabal.
Other famous Czechs include church reformer Jan Hus, composers Antonin Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Leoš Janáček, film directors Miloš Forman and Jan Švankmajer. More recently, the playwright Vaclav Havel has played a major role in the political life of the Czech Republic.
Czech belongs to the west Slavic branch of Slavic languages and is written in a Latin-based alphabet.
Opportunities for employment using Czech and in the Czech Republic have expanded over the past decade.

Visit the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures website for more information.
Consult the A&S calendar for specific course offerings.

The University of Toronto has an exchange program with Masaryk University in Brno. For other opportunities, consult the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Is it true that Czech is difficult to learn?
Czech may be challenging because the grammar is quite different from English, however, the small class size allows the instructor to pay attention to each individual student. There is plenty of opportunity to practice new forms as they are learned.
Is Czech hard to pronounce? It looks complicated!
Don't be fooled by Czech spelling. Those diacritic marks above letters may look different, but Czech spelling is phonetic and students learn the writing and pronunciation system with ease. Czech is a unique language even among the Slavic languages, having a special r sound. Even the former president of the Czech Republic Václav Havel did not master it! Another peculiarity of the Czech writing system is that r and l function as vowels. This makes some sentences, like the well-known sentence strč prst skrz krk [Stick /your/ finger through /your/ throat] a fun challenge. It's not hard when you learn the trick!
What is the introductory course like?
The class is small, with 5-15 students. The class meets four hours per week and emphasizes speaking, listening, reading, and writing. An informal weekly gathering at český čaj Czech tea provides the opportunity to practice conversation skills. Students receive a great deal of personal attention and they are also able to take part in many extra-curricular events, including film screenings.