Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook: With Two-Way Dictionary

Average customer rating:

VERY POOR- CHOOSE ALTERNATIVES
GET THE VERSION WITH THE ATTACHED CD!!!
Good, but with a few problems...
CZECH Phrasebook
About the CZ phrasebook and the two earlier reviews

Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook: With Two-Way Dictionary (Lonely Planet Czech Phrasebook)
Eugenia Mocnay
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1864501847

Book Description

Live the cultural life in the Czech Republic - immerse yourself in a Dvorák symphony or chill out at a Prague jazz club. With the special section on architecture you'll know your Gotika from you Rokoko. Or if that's not your scene, get out of town, stay in a chalupa and hike in the mountains or swim in a jezero. And in the evenings, chat soccer with the locals over a piva. Nazdravi! <ul>

clear pronunciation guide and transliterations throughout to make sure you'll be understood </li>

packed with phrases for shopping, eating and drinking </li>

confidently roam around the Czech Republic with essential travel talk </li>

camping, hiking and cycling sections to get you outdoors and into the action </li>

special section on architectural styles </li>

extensive two-way dictionary </li></ul>

Customer Reviews:

VERY POOR- CHOOSE ALTERNATIVES.......2007-04-10

American bashing is for pedantic cave people. Regarding this book, it is perhaps the poorest language tool for acquiring Czech on the market. It might look nice in its package, and Lonely Planet might lend confidence in the product, however my review comes from 2 sides. From Czech Speakers themselves, and as learner of the language to whom this book was left to me.

Let me just say this, if my Czech friends want to have a laugh, they request I bring this book with me to the pub! Avoid this book and demand quality from Lonely Planet, not a half baked product out to suck quick tourist money.....

GET THE VERSION WITH THE ATTACHED CD!!!.......2007-01-20

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.

Good, but with a few problems..........2007-01-19

I am not a language specialist, but I found some flaws with this book, most especially with the phoenetics written next to the Czech text. For example, according to the book, the letter o sounds like "the o in 'dot'". Now this makes perfect sense within the context of the book. But in the introduction, it tells us the author "was born and educated in Czechoslovakia, and has been living in Australia since 1983." This tells me that the guide to the vowels are based upon the Australian/British vowel system. So the Australian pronunciation of "dot" has a more pronounced "o", while the American "dot" sounds almost like an "ah." My concerns of this were proven when I listened to recordings of certain Czech phrases by native speakers ("prosim," or "please," does not sound like "prah-seem," like the book may lead an American to deduce).

Also, vial phrases to traveling are hidden in various places in the book. The phrase "where are the toilets" is hidden on page 205, under "emergencies..." I don't categorize needing a toilet as a true emergency (like the phrase "it's an emergency!") But then the most complex phrases are located in the beginning of the book ("Are you here on holiday?" and "How long are you here for?") Perhaps it's just me, but as a traveler in a foreign country, I want to learn the basic phrases before in-depth conversation starters. And, with all due respect, how am I ever to understand the response to the phrase "Are you here on holiday?" in Czech?!!

This book has thousands of phrases you will never need to know. If you want to be able to ask questions and UNDERSTAND the responses, perhaps a real language book or formal class is necessary. And if you can memorize all the phrases in this book before leaving for the Czech Republic, then you probably don't need this book! By the time you find the phrase you need in the heat of the moment, the conversation is dead.

For the information in the book, it is surprisignly compact. The introduction to the language and the culture in the foreword to the book is extensive and informative.

Some of my favorite phrases:

Prilezitostne si dam kokain ("I take heroine occasionaly")
Nerozumel jsem tomu dobre ("I had a few problems with the language")

Yeah, I wonder why.

If you REALLY want to be able to use most of the phrases in this book effectively, you need a language class! This book will give you the essential phrases, but you had better find their page number before leaving on your trip, or you will have your nose buried in its 281 pages!

CZECH Phrasebook.......2006-08-30

Very consise and compact and easy to use.

Wish I had ordered it in LARGE print.

About the CZ phrasebook and the two earlier reviews.......2004-11-15

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!

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