Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook & Dictionary

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.

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!

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.