I have indeed been learning Czech for a while. Iām not particularly good at it (rather the opposite), so I donāt think Iām the best person to give tips on how to learn it. That said, hereās what we did in the first Ā and so far only Ā formal Czech class I took. I think this order works quite well if you have never learned a language with cases before:
1. Learn the pronunciation. This involves more than just the alphabet. Learn how the environment may affect some sounds (for exampleĀ Ä after m or b,f,d at the end of a word).Ā
2. Learn some basic fixed expressions, yes/no, basic greetings (dobrĆ½ den, dobrĆ© rano), expressions to askĀ āhow are youā and posible replies (dobÅe, vĆ½bornÄ, nic mocā¦) how to say thank you, and all that stuffā¦ For this you could use travel language phrasebooks.
3. Learn how to conjugate the verb to be (bĆ½t) in the present. Once you know this, learn how to introduce yourself (like Jsem studentka z KanadyĀ - Iām a student from Canada) At this point youāre only learning that as fixed expressions, donāt worry about cases or grammar or anything for the moment.
4. Learn some basic nouns. Everyday objects. If your language(s) doesnāt(donāt) Ā use gender, then learn how gender works in Czech. Learn the demonstrative pronouns ten, ta to, ty. Now you can form simple sentences such as to jeĀ dÅÆm, to je stÅÆlĀ (this is a house, this is a table) and so on..
5. Learn some basic adjectives. VelkĆ½,malĆ½,dobrĆ½, spatnĆ½, hezkĆ½ and so on. Learn the colors. Learn also how to use jakĆ½. Now you know how to describe nouns. Learn how to ask simple questions such as co je to? Learn how to negate.
6. Learn the possessive pronouns in the nominative (mÅÆj, tvÅÆj, jeho, jejĆ ā¦)
7. Time to learn more verbs! Learn how to conjugateĀ mĆt (to have) as well as some verbs of the type 1 (those that end it -at such as dÄlat) and 2 (those that end in -et/Ät/-it such as such as myslet, rozumÄt and mluvit)
8. Time to get started with the cases! Learn the accusative singular. Learn the different expressions for āto likeāĀ (lĆbĆ se mi, chutnĆ” mi, mĆ”m rĆ”d, rĆ”d + verb, miluji/miluju)
9. Learn the days of the week and some adverbs of time (obvykle, Äasto, nĆ©kdy...)Ā
10. Time for more verbs! Learn how to conjugate those of the type 3a (end in -ovat such as studovat) Ā and some common irregular verbs for everyday actions (jĆt, jet, ÄĆst, psĆ”t, pĆt)
11. Once you know the nominative and accusative singular well, you can start learning the nominative and accusative plural.
12. Lear the modal verbs:Ā chtĆt (want), moct (can, be able to), umÄt (know how to),Ā muset (must), smÄt (be allowed to)ā¦
13. Ok now this is when things get fun :P Since you now know how to conjugate jĆt and jet, itās time to learn prepositions of direction and location (do, na, v). This involves learning the genitive and locative/prepositional cases. so learn how to use those cases! Remember that the genitive is the most used case in Czech!
14. Once you get there you should be familiar with how cases work, so learn all the other cases. When they are used and which prepositions take which case. Make a chart with the endings for nouns, adjectives and pronouns and stick it somewhere where you can see it everyday :P
For more basic vocabulary, you can refer to this post. You can also take a look at my vocabulary blog @prvni-slovaā for some inspiration (shameless self plug :P)Ā
I hope this is of some use to someone because it took forever to write
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