The main language spoken is, not surprisingly, Czech. The Czech people are extremely proud of their heritage and language. Even when you are travelling around an international city like Prague, you will not find hardly any signs written in English. The exception to that rule is that some of the tourist destinations do include signs in English.
While many people in Prague speak several languages, many older Czechs are unable to converse in English. If you are travelling outside of Prague, do not expect older individuals to understand English. People born before 1980 people still speak some Russian from when the country was occupied by the USSR. Younger people often speak English or German. In fact, English has been taught in most schools since the early 1990s. There is a smaller percentage of the population that is fluent in French or Spanish.
It is recommended to learn some phrases in the Czech language before visiting the nation. Be forewarned that the Czech language is considered to be one of the most difficult languages to truly master. If you can learn the basic alphabet, then the pronunciation is easier to grasp. The Czechs pronounce every single letter in a word, and the stress always falls on the first syllable.
The language is very difficult for English-speakers to grasp, and Czech is considered to be one of the most difficult languages in the world to master. However, if you can learn the alphabet (and the corresponding letters with accents), then pronunciation is easy as it is always the same – Czechs pronounce every letter of a word, with the stress always falling on the first syllable. The combination of consonants in some words may seem mind-bogglingly hard, but it is worth the effort!
English/Czech
If you only speak English, here are some useful phrases that can assist you in your travels around the Czech Republic.
Hello! / Dobrý den!
Do you speak English? / Mluvíte anglicky?
Do you have any brochures / guidebooks in English? Máte nějaké brožury / průvodce v angličtině?
I don’t speak Czech/ Nemluvím česky.
Czech to English (or English to Czech) dictionaries are a wise investment regardless of where you are travelling to inside of the Czech Republic. Typically they include common phrases and a traditional dictionary for vocabulary terms. These dictionaries come in handy whether you are asking for directions or trying to figure out what to eat at a local restaurant.
You can also purchase tapes, compact discs, and even pc software to help you learn the Czech language. It helps to have an audio reference when learning any language, so that you can speak it as well as you can read or write it.