Welcome to the Czech alphabet! The good news is that it uses the familiar Latin script, just like English. Even better, Czech is largely phonetic. This means words are pronounced as they are written, which makes learning to read much easier.

You'll notice some letters have extra marks on them. These are called diacritics, and they are not just for decoration. They change the sound of the letter, often in a simple, predictable way. Let's look at the full alphabet first.

Czech vowels are straightforward. There are short vowels (a, e, i, y, o, u) and long vowels. A long vowel is simply held for about twice as long as a short one. You can spot a long vowel by the little diagonal dash above it, called a čárka (á, é, í, ý, ó, ú).

The other main diacritic is the háček, which looks like a little hook (ˇ). This mark transforms a standard consonant into a new, distinct sound. Think of it as creating a brand new letter. For example, 's' becomes 'š' (the "sh" sound) and 'c' becomes 'č' (the "ch" sound).

A few Czech sounds can be challenging for English speakers. Let's break them down.

The letter c is pronounced like "ts" in "cats." It's a sharp, quick sound. Don't confuse it with č, which is the "ch" sound from "church."

And now for the most famous Czech sound: ř. There isn't an equivalent in English. It's made by raising the tip of your tongue and vibrating it while also making a 'ž' sound (like the 's' in "treasure"). It's a tricky one! Many Czechs will understand you even if you just pronounce it as a regular 'r' or 'ž', so don't stress too much about perfecting it right away.

With these rules in hand, you can now sound out a huge number of Czech words. The key is to take it one letter at a time and remember that what you see is almost always what you get.

Ready to check your understanding? Let's try a few questions.

Don't worry about perfect pronunciation from day one. The more you listen and practice, the more natural these sounds will become.