# Is it really "that" difficult??



## xxatti

Ok, I've been learning Czech for only a little over 2months now (of course I still cant speak it); and everytime I tell a native speaker that Im trying to learn Czech their 1st response is always something like.. "Why, it's really difficult isnt it?" 

Now I for one cant understand how so many native speakers (or any native speaker for that matter) can find their own mother tongue to be so difficult to speak. But every native Czech speaker I've come into contact with has said this. Can some native speakers chime in here and give their perspectives on this? Is Czech language really that difficult that I should not even waste my time attempting to master it?? I mean, if however many millions of Czech's managed to learn it, can it really be that difficult?? 

I've heard the horror stories of foreigners spending 6, 7, or even 10 or more yrs in the Czech rep. and still not being able to speak. Does anyone know of foreigners (especially those comming from a non slavic backround) that were able to gain an excellent command of the language?


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## Jana337

You cannot really draw conclusions from millions of natives able to speak the language reasonably correctly. Even very dumb people usually master their mother tongue better than very talented learners. The natives you talked to probably find Czech difficult to learn, but they can speak it easily.

And yes, Czech is very difficult (as are other Slavic languages). If you - after two months - still need other people to tell you, my compliments - you must be a very good learner. 


> I've heard the horror stories of foreigners spending 6, 7, or even 10 or more yrs in the Czech rep. and still not being able to speak.


 Those must be people who are extremely afraid of being wrong. Slavic grammar is very complex, and even foreigners whom we consider excellent speakers make a lot of mistakes. People from a non-Slavic background whose Czech is impeccable are extremely rare. But Czechs are welcoming and tolerant for they do not expect that someone would take the pain to learn such a small and difficult language. 

Good luck! 

Jana


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## xxatti

Jana337 said:
			
		

> You cannot really draw conclusions from millions of natives able to speak the language reasonably correctly. Even very dumb people usually master their mother tongue better than very talented learners. The natives you talked to probably find Czech difficult to learn, but they can speak it easily.
> 
> And yes, Czech is very difficult (as are other Slavic languages). If you - after two months - still need other people to tell you, my compliments - you must be a very good learner.
> Those must be people who are extremely afraid of being wrong. Slavic grammar is very complex, and even foreigners whom we consider excellent speakers make a lot of mistakes. People from a non-Slavic background whose Czech is impeccable are extremely rare. But Czechs are welcoming and tolerant for they do not expect that someone would take the pain to learn such a small and difficult language.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Jana


 
I don’t believe Im a good learner, but I do know enough to know that every foreign language is dificult and complex in its own way; especially for beginners trying to learn it. And I just cant understand how so many natives can have the idea that Czech is, or is one of, “the hardest languages” to learn. After all, they never even had to actually “learn” the language (at least not in the conventional sense). 
 
Maybe Im the one who's dillusional here. Maybe Im being unrealistic to believe that I'd have any shot at getting beyond a basic, intermediate level in Czech as a foreigner.


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## mikesz14

Jana337: Kannst du Polnisch? Wie findest du, sind Polnisch und Tschesich  sehr ähnlich oder(es geht mir um Grammatik)? Meiner Meinung nach sind sie wohl:/ Dabei würde ich noch Slowakisch und die Sprache der Osteuropäischestaaten stellen.


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## Jana337

mikesz14 said:
			
		

> Jana337: Kannst du Polnisch? Wie findest du, sind Polnisch und Tschesich  sehr ähnlich oder(es geht mir um Grammatik)? Meiner Meinung nach sind sie wohl:/ Dabei würde ich noch Slowakisch und die Sprache der Osteuropäischestaaten stellen.


 I don't speak Polish but I understand it quite well. They are very similar grammarwise. In fact, I believe that the degree of difficulty is comparable across all Slavic languages as far as grammar is concerned. Some languages might be easier to pronounce than others.

A correction: Osteuropäischestaaten Man kann nicht ein dekliniertes Adjektiv und ein Substantiv auf diese Weise zusammenfügen. Es heißt entweder osteuropäische Staaten oder Staaten Osteuropas. 
Und der Satz ist auch nicht in Ordnung (ich kann nur raten, was genau du sagen wolltest, obwohl mir die Bedeutung deines Beitrags sehr klar ist): Dabei würde ich noch Slowakisch und die Sprache der Osteuropäischestaaten stellen.
Wir können es gerne im deutschen Forum besprechen. 


Jana


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## cyanista

xxatti said:
			
		

> I don’t believe Im a good learner, but I do know enough to know that every foreign language is dificult and complex in its own way; especially for beginners trying to learn it. And I just cant understand how so many natives can have the idea that Czech is, or is one of, “the hardest languages” to learn. After all, they never even had to actually “learn” the language (at least not in the conventional sense).


Well, I've heard similar statements lots of times - made by native speakers of different languages. It usually goes: "Oh, poor learners of French/German/English/Russian/Japanese! I can't imagine how I'd learn all those exceptions (endings, phrasal verbs, whatever)." 



> Maybe Im the one who's dillusional here. Maybe Im being unrealistic to believe that I'd have any shot at getting beyond a basic, intermediate level in Czech as a foreigner.


It all depends on your persistence. I'm sure those people who lived years in another country and still couldn't speak its language just never gave it a try.


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## Marijka

xxatti said:
			
		

> Is Czech language really that difficult that I should not even waste my time attempting to master it??



Come on, don't give up  You're not wasting your time!! I don't know about Czech, but I know many Americans, whose Polish is communicative  It's not THAT difficult, if you really WANT to learn it.


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## parolearruffate

I'm Italian, and I studied czech for almost five years. Unfortunatly I didn't live in czech republic very long, just ten months and a lot of time ago. Since then I read a lot, but I don't practise the language actively. I understand very much, I have problems to speak. I can explain myself quite well, but I still do a lot of mistakes. For my experience, Czech IS a very difficult language to learn.  It's not English, it's not French, it's not italian. You need a lot of exercise and a lot of practise. It's very difficult for a foreigner to speak it fluently. This doesn't mean it's impossible. And it doesn't mean when you learn a language you have to speak it perfectly. It's true what Jana says: czech people are very tolerant with foreigners speaking their language.
So keep on studying and don't worry too much!


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## mikesz14

Marijka said:
			
		

> Come on, don't give up  You're not wasting your time!! I don't know about Czech, but I know many Americans, whose Polish is communicative  It's not THAT difficult, if you really WANT to learn it.



I`m not sure. I know a lot of english and german nativ speaker and they have big problems with our language. The most difficult is declination, because polish has 7 causes and a lot of prefixs and endings. Other slavic languages are very similar to polsih :/ (also 7 causes)

http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Čeština
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Język_polski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_language (english)


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## Marijka

mikesz14 said:
			
		

> I`m not sure. I know a lot of english and german nativ speaker and they have big problems with our language


I didn't say that they are *fluent*, I said that they are *communicative*. It makes a difference...at least I think so


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## xxatti

Marijka said:
			
		

> I didn't say that they are *fluent*, I said that they are *communicative*. It makes a difference...at least I think so


I dont learn languages with the intent to only be communicative. I dont just want to be able to go and order sandwiches in stores, and only be able to speak and understand simple dialogue, etc. I want to be able to hold detailed conversations about more complex topics and such. It's not acceptable for me to just be "communicative" in any language that I feel is worthy enough for me to put my time and effort into.


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## mikesz14

xxatti said:
			
		

> I dont learn languages with the intent to only be communicative. I dont just want to be able to go and order sandwiches in stores, and only be able to speak and understand simple dialogue, etc. I want to be able to hold detailed conversations about more complex topics and such. It's not acceptable for me to just be "communicative" in any language that I feel is worthy enough for me to put my time and effort into.



I agree with you  When I learn some language, I would know details of it and not only to be "communicative"


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## Marijka

When I wrote communicative, I didn't mean that they are on basic level. It's just, they make a lot of mistakes, and their pronouciation isn't perfect (all those ć, ś, ż, ź, żdż... ) but they can be easily understood, even when they, as you said, "hold detailed conversations" as they all are philosophy students  (one of them is my friend who's been living in Poland for 1,5 year, and he's never learned Polish before). IMHO it all depends on your motivation.


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## elroy

This thread might be of interest.

Personally, I don't think any language can be categorically described as hard or easy.  It all depends on the person learning it: his background (especially linguistically), his enthusiasm, his motivation, his environment, etc.

Also, I think it would be common courtesy to respond in the language used by the original poster, or one you know he/she knows.


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