Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with care and imagination, Czech food can be hearty and satisfying. Plus, with new
restaurants pouring into the city, it's getting easier to eat lighter in Prague.
Besides being the center of extracurricular activity, pubs
(hospody)
are the best places
to get fulfilling, inexpensive meals, not to mention the best brews—Pilsner Urquell,
Budvar, Staropramen (some call them “liquid bread”). Selections are typically the
same: sirloin slices in cream sauce and dumplings
(sví
c
ková na smetan
ê
),
goulash
(gulá
s
),
roast beef
(ro
s
t
ê
ná),
or breaded, fried
hermelín
cheese
(sma
z
en
;
s
;
r).
Reservations aren't usually accepted, but you might see tables reserved for regulars
known as
s
tamgast.
LANGUAGE
Bohemia, through good times and bad, has been under a strong Germanic influence,
and throughout a great deal of its history, German was the preferred language of the
power elite. The Czech language, however, stems from the Slavic family, which
includes Polish, Russian, Slovak, and others, though German has altered many Czech
words. Czech uses a Latin alphabet with some letters topped by a small hat called a
há
c
ek to denote Slavic phonic combinations like “sh” for
s
,
“ch” for
c
,
and, everyone's
favorite, “rzh” for
r
.
Slovak differs slightly from Czech, but Czechs and Slovaks under-
stand each other's language.
USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES
English
Czech
Pronunciation
Hello
Dobr
;
den
Doh
-bree den
Good morning
Dobré jitro
Doh
-breh
yee
-troh
Good evening
Dobr
;
ve
c
er
Doh
-bree
veh
-chair
How are you?
Jak se máte?
Ya h k
seh
mah
-teh
Very well
Velmi dob
r
e
Ve l
-mee
doh
-brsheh
D
ê
kuji vám
Thank you
Dyek
-ooee vahm
You're welcome
Prosím
Proh
-seem
Please
Prosím
Proh
-seem
Ye s
Ano
Ah
-no
No
Ne
Neh
Excuse me
Promi
n
te
Proh
-min-teh
How much does
Kolik to stojí?
Koh
-leek taw
stoh
-ee
it cost?
I don't understand.
Nerozumím.
Neh
-roh-zoo-meem
Just a moment.
Moment, prosím.
Moh
-ment,
proh
-seem
Goodbye
Na shledanou
Nah
skleh-dah-noh-oo
I'm looking for . . .
Hledám . . .
Hleh
-dahm . . .
a hotel
hotel
hoh
-tel
a youth hostel
studentskou
stoo
-dent-skoh
oo
-beet-ohv-noo
ubytovnu
a bank
banku
bahnk
-oo
the church
kostel
kohs
-tell
the city center
centrum
tsent
-room
