New Czech Step by Step: Pack: textbook, workbook & audio CD [Paperback]

To be fair, I haven't tried every Czech book, and when I lived in Prague there were many choices, but this is the one that I had the most success. I don't think that it matters which edition you choose, save some bucks and buy the older used edition- they are both almost the same. Lots of great visuals-which I need, good texts, and accompanying DVD. I honestly do not understand how anyone who does not live in the Czech Republic can self-learn this language without an instructor, but if you are taking a stab at it, please use a great text such as this in addition to lessons on the web. It is an extremely tough language-more difficult than Russian, and I get plenty of practice at home with my Czech partner; I still suck! So if you are tackling Czech without living in the Czech Republic, be willing to put lots of work into it and get an excellent book such as this one. Survival Czech is not such a bad book either.

Chances are, if you're thinking about learning Czech, you will be in one of the following situations:

- you have a Czech boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife
- you are imminently moving, or have already moved, to the country because of that person

First things first - Czech is hard for English speakers. Or any native speakers of Germanic languages. There's no getting away from this. You are in for a tough ride.

It's important to have some perspective about this book. There's not enough here to give you anything more than a 'basic' level in the language. However, everything is explained well and it is not just grammar, grammar, grammar. There are plenty of those kinds of books out there, btw. The book tries to be fun and a creative teacher can do a lot with it. There's a reason why this is (probably) the most popular and widely-used book for expats in Prague. The thing I have used the most is the laminated card with all the case endings - very useful for reference.

To clarify some points in other reviews - the instructions for the exercises ARE in Czech but ALL these words are TRANSLATED at the very beginning. Simply flick back to the start if you don't understand the instructions. And come on, most of the activities are not rocket science! Fill in this, match the phrases, etc. Also, there are 2 books - the yellow textbook and green workbook, plus a CD. If you don't get all this when you buy as new, then you haven't gotten what you've paid for.

Criticisms of this book are that it is too simple, and the dialogs are unrealistic. The latter is mainly from native Czechs. The counter argument is that the dialogs cannot possibly be 'realistic' due to the level of the book. The simplicity argument is also relative. There is a massive amount of grammar to be learned just to be able to say basic, everyday things correctly. In this regard, the book is caught between a rock and a hard place - trying to cover all the basics, but also making a big effort not to terrify foreigners enough to make them run straight for the border.

Definitely recommended but only as your first Czech book.

I spent last year as a foreign exchange student in the Czech Republic. I went there knowing only a handful of words, and over the course of 10 months became pretty much fluent. This book can't do everything, but I found that if you can find a native speaker to work through it with you, it makes a huge difference. It won't teach you much vocabulary, but the grammar practice is really great. Understanding Czech grammar is half the battle when it comes to being able to understand and use the language. I found the workbook a bit tougher than the text book, but still great for solidifying those mind-bending declensions. Make sure you have a good dictionary (google translate works!) and good luck!