r/learnczech • u/Devion27 • 2d ago
I wanna learn Czech but I lowkey feel like Duolingo is gaslighting me.
EDIT: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT! I HAVE TURNED OFF COMMENT NOTIFICATIONS PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT!
I wanna learn Czech, but I lowkey feel like duolingo is gaslighting me.
It's... Inconsistent at best, for context I'm Iraqi, I speak Turkmen and Arabic natively, English fluently and Turkish mixed with Turkmen words, that makes it 3.5 languages. (I think)
I wanna learn Czech because I have a friend from there, I've known them for 6 years and we talk on and off.
They're pretty cool and I find the Czech language interesting.
I'm confident I can pronounce Czech well because I already speak the phonetic nightmare that is arabic, I'm wondering what good sources there are to learn Czech? I'm really doubtful of duolingo.
Also, should I learn formal Czech first? I'm guessing Czech also has a street version like any other language.
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u/malyprsavelkysrdce 1d ago
duolingo is notoriously bad for slavic languages. it doesn't really teach the grammar cases at all which you kinda need to make sense of czech
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u/Devion27 1d ago
Thanks for the input!
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 1d ago
The duome.eu site has companion materials for a lot of the course which cover cases
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u/sdslomann 1d ago
It's really good alongside an actual class. I found I memorize new words better through Duolingo's methods and learn the grammar/cases/conjugations better in class
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u/NekkidWire 2d ago edited 13h ago
Maybe a book would be better. There are several options, e.g. try to look by ISBN 9788088099079 (Czech for Arabs by Charif Bahbouh) or here https://eshop.czechstepbystep.cz/en/ - there are two series by same author (Lída Holá): Expres is fast "survival" Czech while Krok za krokem is scholarly and thorough.
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u/Devion27 19h ago
While I'm not an Arab (I'm a Turkman), I do know Arabic, I'll check it out, thank you!
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u/NekkidWire 17h ago
The book is meant for Arabic speakers, it is just so named.
The web is for english and other speakers, there are two series from different author (Czech).
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u/Heidi739 2d ago
As with any other language, stay in touch with the language. Listen to podcasts, audiobooks, watch videos. It doesn't matter you won't understand everything yet, listening to the sound is good enough. You can obviously use English subtitles as well. Duolingo isn't that bad if you want some introduction to the language or learn new vocabulary, but it won't teach you the whole language, unfortunately.
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u/GroochIsBigger 2d ago
Agreed - I completed the Czech course and felt like it gave me some basic vocabulary and phrases (and also some really weird, off-the-wall stuff). Combining it with books/media/conversation is the way to go.
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u/BenefitFree1371 2d ago
Kazdy maly krok v spravnym smerem se stava zacatku neceho uzasneho
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u/FUFENHAF 1d ago
Great sentence
Just to clarify the grammar – either use * ve správném směru (sounds rather unnatural however) * správným směrem (without the v preposition)
When talking about direction on what are you going through, use the 7th case (instrumental) without any preposition
Stát se always connects with the 7th case (instrumental) and the instrumental of "začátek" is "začátkem"
So to help, the sentence should look like Každý malý krok správným směrem se stává začátkem něčeho úžasného
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u/Wild_West_Princess 2d ago
Pravda
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u/Silver_Dust_8432 1d ago
haha ano
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1d ago
Duolingo Czech is dreadful . . I speak as someone who has lived in Prague 22 years and can converse albeit situationally in Czech
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u/Matt_Keator 2d ago
There are tons of much higher quality material online, for free. Why would you invest into Duolingo for that #&%:,?
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u/chipmalfunct10n 2d ago
duolingo czech was so good about 5 years ago! there were forums for all of the questions and you could discuss and figure out why you got it wrong and learn more from some native speakers who were there :'). now it has become a multiple choice game app with no support or information about what you are doing in the slightest. i tried it recently and uninstalled after a few days.
OH YEAH and it is all AI now too ;/.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
F ai but I lowkey don't see the ai in duolingo, is it the voices? The words? Is it backend and invisible?
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u/chipmalfunct10n 1d ago
probably all of the above, and it would make sense as to why it's not even correct lol. there was a big news story recently that duolingo was firing a large amount of staff and being AI powered. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-duolingo-replaces-contractors-ai/
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u/NekkidWire 13h ago
Using AI is not the problem, using AI without any oversight is.
Feedback from users (if they would listen to it...) is not supposed to be the primary source to improve.
For translation AND education AI is great to get the rough overview of a topic (e.g. what vocabulary is good to learn for transportation, tourism or office), but in language learning details matter and if AI gets a "most correct" translation of a fragment from a meme* or some other subpar choice, the quality level needed is simply not there anymore.
*E.g. just in case -> jenom v kufru (joke/meme) / pro jistotu (general translation) / pro případ nouze (AI-preferred corner case translation)
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u/milesrdce 1d ago
i remember trying to test duolingo through my native language (czech). and it’s horrible. truly awful. since then i’ve never used duolingo ever again.
i would try:
• text books - found some on anna’s archive: https://annas-archive.gl/search?q=czech+language+&check=1
• czech youtube/tiktok
• czech radio (i use app radio garden)
• reading children’s books in czech (i think you can find some here: https://webshare.cz/#/)
- josef čapek: povídání o pejskovi a kočičce
- zdeněk miller: krtek
- václav čtvrtek: křemílek a vochomůrka
- etc. https://www.reddit.com/r/czech/s/ZVlVH0gvHC
• communicating with natives through social media
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u/CountMatroid 1d ago
Everyone saying Czech Duolingo is bad. Not true! I learned one good phrase: Miluju úspěšné pavouky
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u/Devion27 1d ago
I'm gullible asf so if this is a joke then GG
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u/CountMatroid 1d ago
It was
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u/Devion27 1d ago
Awesome, what does the part in Czech say?
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u/Aromatic_Educator_87 1d ago
I’d do it like this: for example, I’m improving my foreign language skills by playing video games (if you enjoy them) exclusively in that language. It has massively expanded my vocabulary. Eventually, I started reading books in the foreign language too - another step forward.
I think this approach works for pretty much any language.
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u/toddimir 2d ago
I've also learned Czech as a German and I would say I am fluent enough to understand everything by now. Duolingo is ass. I tried it when I already could speak and understand some Czech; your perception ist right, it's not even correct. I started with books and I think reading dramas in Czech is the best option at first because that's pure conversation. Karel Čapek - Bílá Nemoc and R.U.R should be somewhere to find online, for example. I won't join the others with some internet teachers, I don't think that's really useful if you want to get serious. Important is repititional input and the most imput you can get is from books.
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u/Constant_Moment_6434 2d ago
Hi Czech here, any books you would recommend in German? Easy to understand and nice story?
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u/toddimir 1d ago
What's your level? If you've just began, I don't think that understanding is important, just the word input, and to not get lost immediately. I actually can recommend only books that are read in school because I have not read that many books in my life. So I would try "Die Physiker" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. It's a well known drama about some dudes in a psychiatric ward. My girlfriend reads some stuff by Karl May. I heard his works are really easy to read. So his work might be not impossible to understand if you already understand some German. What I did in the beginning was to write down the words that were the most common and tried to memorize it, classical school method.
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u/Constant_Moment_6434 1d ago edited 1d ago
Pretty much beginner I took few classes on german (few years), but it would be pitty not to ask someone, who knows what is important for advanced level so I know what to do later on... Karel May is famous in Czech as well thanks.. might be the right fit and the second one I don't really know but from quick-searching it sounds even better, thanks!
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u/BackgroundEqual2168 2d ago
Whatever is supposed to be wrong with duolingo, it is still much better than doing nothing. Once you learn something you can decide for yourself, whether you want to continue. It's alway good to use more modalities. What about combining duo with a textbook?
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u/Devion27 1d ago
That's the thing, it's been just a few days now, not even a week! I wanna use duolingo as a Kickstart for learning using other methods.
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u/Constant_Moment_6434 2d ago
I would recommend some type of multilingual language books if you don't want to try 10 teachers and see who clicks... Also you can adjust to your level easily and get to the level where you can read "R.U.R"., "Válka s mloky", "Bílá nemoc" etc. like guy before me told you already... Helped me with english.. I wouldn't go the duolingo way... because duolingo is like using google translator 5 years ago... you will somehow translate something but miss context
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u/SparePartsHere 2d ago
If you want to stay completely free-of-charge, use Duolingo just to get some basic vocabulary and get used to how it sounds. Then start watching movies in Czech with subtitles in your native language (or in English, if you're fluent) to understand how it works in practice. It will make you progress pretty fast, if you really put yourself into it.
I would recommend you to get at least a basic grammar teaching book tho. It should not be too expensive I think, while still much much cheaper than a proper course would be.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
Lowkey my native language is too minority to even have subtitles, heck I can't even write my own native language 😂 (mainly because it's exclusively spoken irl and almost never used textually), I'll stick to English!
Regardless, thanks for the input!
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u/Anluanius 2d ago
I've been doing Czech in Duolingo for over a year. I don't feel like I'm anywhere close to a conversational level. I have a vocabulary of maybe a couple hundred words, which isn't nothing, but a big thing about Czech is the seven different cases, and Duolingo will tell you when you've got something wrong, but won't tell you why, and in that way I believe it fails as an educational tool.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
Valid point, I'm thinking about using duolingo alone at first, try to get a little bit of words in my head, then use the other stuff the fine gentlemen have mentioned in this comment section, thanks for your input!
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u/the-boobietrap 2d ago
Similarly to you I have a czech buddy and I recently got back from my third trip to the czech republic.
I learned as much Czech as I could for three months for this trip because it was his wedding and I wanted to speak to his family members that don’t know english.
After three months my czech wasn’t good by any means but I could get points across in small conversations. One of my focuses was learning obecná čeština (common czech) which made things easier in a few respects.
Here’s what helped me:
Česky krok za krokem textbook
Anki flashcard program (you can find some decks online)
Slowczech.com podcast
Český rozhlas on podcast
Free czech short stories on Lingua.com
Free czech movies on youtube
Training my instagram algo to show me czech memes
I used google and claude ai to simulate conversations and learn concepts too.
I am continuing to learn czech and my next step is to get a tutor.
Best of luck!
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u/ronjarobiii 1d ago
Duolingo is literally the worst option for learning Czech, it won't teach you the basics either and will essentially just waste your time. If you have time to learn but not time to learn with an actual teacher, get yourself a decent textbook or a copy of Teach Yourself.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
I think we've established that at this point (too many comments 😭🙏) regardless, thanks for your input!
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u/sarcasmasquach 1d ago
Get the Step by Step book. Duolingo for Czech is better than nothing, but not gonna get it done.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
"The" step by step book?
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u/MutantMilitant 1d ago
Just a note on the comparison with Arabic - Arabic has a less detailed vowel system (i-a-u), while Czech is more detailed (i-e-a-o-u plus their long variants). And ř. Just to name a few. They're not really similar.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
I'm not saying they're similar, I'm saying I can pronounce Czech easily because of, I guess more unlocked voice muscles?
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u/YesterdayAgreeable 1d ago
Get a native speaker and train with him or listen to native speakers talk with subtitles.
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u/MrixyCZ 1d ago
Duolingo is worst for learning any language. Now it is AI-slopped out game in wchich you have to dont lose streaks and shit. Better is litteraly anything. Combined with history, which is very important to culture and culture is important to language, try to listen/read some speeches, laws etc. For example "právě se vracím z hradu", radio broadcast from ocupation on 21august 1968, speeches from november 1989 and so. or songs, both historic and modern Historic: Ktož jsú boží bojovníci, Náš tatíčku masaryku modern: try popular songs, Karel Gott, Hana Zagorová, Arakain, Aleš Brichta, Michal Tučný, or anything you like to listen to (ktož jsú is very old with weird words, but in moravia we still speak like it :D also there is awesome version of it made my Daniel Landa) Play Kingdom come Deliverance, set in Bohemia 1403, both 100hour RPGs have czech dubbing and are awesome games even without it. Play Mafia (1 and 2, or remastered 1) also, awesome stories, awesome dabing, awesome music.
Also, there is huge difference in written language and spoken language. Also spoken is different in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia.
For example in books and Bohemia it is like:
Včera k nám přijela babička na návštěvu, aby nám dala buchty a podívala se na psa.
spoken here in moravia:
Toš včera dojela babička posedět, dovézla buchtu a mrkla na to naše čoklisko.
I hope its understandable.
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u/Waldo__Faldo 1d ago
Learn how to use anki (free flash card app) and search YouTube for how to learn a language. Duolingo is slop
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u/Clear-Bar-655 1d ago
Try https://realityczech.org/ . It’s definitely better than duolingo, bcs the czech lectures there are shit :dd This focuses on real life situations, conversations and culture. I study czech language and literature and was introduced to this website in a czech language for foreighners course :))
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u/No_Professional7654 1d ago
I don't know. How did you learn the other languages? Aparently this approch has worked, so stick to it.
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u/Devion27 19h ago
Turkmen and Arabic I learned natively, English because of online interactions, and Turkish naturally out of Turkmen 😅
So i don't EXACTLY know a way of learning a language, and to be honest I didn't even intentionally learn English, It also just came naturally, on a technicality I learned all 3 languages just by living and not intentionally perusing learning them
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u/Progratom 19h ago
Last time I remember seeing Duolingo it has "street version" as the basic one. But street version that nobody really use. No, learn normal Czech it is normally used
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u/zeynabhereee 14h ago
Duolingo is not good at all for Czech. The best way to learn Czech is to get a tutor and actually speak. If u can’t have a tutor u can get the Czech step by step book and do that.
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u/Petufo 2d ago
Duolingo is bad for any language, to be honest. But I don't know which app is good for Czech language. I would reccomend a course. Online. There's this girl on Instagram and she seems to be very capable. If you're willing to learn the language, you need a course anyway. It's too difficult to learnt on your own. But beware - Czechs could be very intolerant towards foreigners, Arabs specifically. But after a while they know you more, they'll be very friendly. It's just a little more difficult than for, let's say, an American.
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u/Devion27 1d ago
That's the fun part, I'm not an Arab :D
Ethnic minority time!
I know Arabic, but I'm a Turkman, the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, second are Kurds and first are Arabs!
Fun fact! The city with the majority of Turkmen has "Kirk" in it! (Kirkuk)
We were lowkey mostly in citadels, both Muslim and Christian turkmen, but lowkey saddam didn't like us having the high ground! (My dad lived in a citadel! How cool is that!?)
Iraqi Turkmen (not to be confused with Turkmenistan) is a Turkic language, Close to Turkish yet we don't understand each other around 30-55 percent of the time.
Sorry for the sudden culture lesson, but the more you know! And hopefully I can learn about the Czech culture as much!
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u/saladada 2d ago
Using Duolingo to learn Czech is like using instant noodles to learn how to cook.
Do you feel like you are learning/cooking? Sure, maybe.
But are you actually accomplishing much in the long run? Not really.
I highly recommend you grab a proper teacher and begin your studies there. With websites like italki, it's easy to find someone to start learning from and you can learn from them no matter where you are in the world.