Language in Prague

You'll probably be fine speaking English in Prague, as long as you stay in the tourist zone. If not, speak German.

In 2012, I spent a couple of days in Prague. I had been staying in Zwiesel, in the Bavarian Forest N.P., and went on by train via Bayerisch Eisenstein, and Pilsen to Prague. By staying in Zwiesel, I had a Waldbahn Pass, that covered rail transportation to the Czech border. So, the day before, using my pass, I went to the station at Alzbetin (Zelezna Ruda) to get my ticket for the train to Prague the next day. I asked the woman at the desk whether she preferred English or German (I don't speak Czech, but I can get by in German), and she said German.

I had similar encounters in Klatovy, Pilzen, and Prague. Every time they preferred German, but I think they also would have communicated in English. Prague used to be the capital of the Holy Roman Empire of German Speaking People.

I had two meals at a small restaurant near my accommodations. I had the same waitress both times, and we always used English. The last night I asked her if she would have preferred to speak in German, and she said, "yes".

So in my experience, if you can speak in German, they would prefer it, but if you speak English, that's OK too.

I was in Prague last year. You’ll be fine with English, but it’s nice to say hello and thank-you in the local language.

I went with Dobrý den (doh-bree den) for hello. I couldn’t bring myself to say Ahoj (ah-hoy). It seemed out of place on land. :-)

I was last in Prague in May. I speak no Czech. I had no trouble finding English speakers. And when I didn't, or actually when I wanted to read something in Czech, I used Google Translate.

It's always nice to learn the basics but don't worry about it.

To give you an example....the young lady who checked me into my hotel in Prague spoke fluent English but little Czech. She wasn't from Czechia.

You didnt ask about Budapest. But the shock will be that everyone speaks English. What do you do when you are one of 9 million on a continent of over 350 million and you speak a language that shares nothing functionally in common with any other language on the continent? Well, you make your children learn English. At least that way they can travel a bit.

Here are the biggies..

• Viszontlátásra (vee-sont-lah-tash-rah) Goodbye
• Jó reggelt (yoh reg-ghelt) Good Morning (until 10am +/-)
• Jó napot (yoh nah-poht) Good day (all day)
• Jó estét (yoh esh-tate) Good Evening (after 6pm)
• Jó éjszakát (yoh ey-sa-kaht) Good Night (when leaving for the evening)
• Igen (eeghen) Yes
• nem (nehm) No
• Köszönöm (kew-sew-newm) Thank you
• Nyitva Open (signs in shop windows)
• Bocsánat (bow-cha-nat) Sorry or excuse me
• Tolni Push on a door
• Húzni Pull on a door

A couple of years ago we spent a month in Prague and also went to other nearby cities. We learned the basics (hello, please, thank you, yes, no and location names). We found the divide was in age: older citizens spoke little to no English, while the younger people were quite fluent in English. Prague usually wasn't a problem, but the smaller towns in the Czech Republic may have fewer English speakers.

Thank you all for relieving me of one worry. I'm also relieved to get clarity on Budapest. How bout this one? I carry two credit cards but don't like to show them all the times I need to pay for small stuff. I'm also not yet comfy hauling out my iPhone to pay. I like to carry cash that works. We'll arrive in Germany with many euros but what about Prague and Budapest? For those I guess I need to by some of their currency before we leave home and use ATMs once we get there. Any advice and/or reassurance?

Thank you, tons.

Rob

I prefer to get the local currency from my bank (Wells Fargo) at home ahead of time. That way I don’t have to worry about finding the “right” type of ATM or the machine eating my card. But, you can easily get cash once there as there are ATMs everywhere. Just be sure to use a bank ATM.

This video has advice on using ATMs in Prague:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTGXR03ZN68

The cost of the ATM fees vs the cost of the trip was always a silly thing for me to worry about.

Just wait till you get to Budapest and go to a Bank ATM. Tell me how you are arriving and from where and where you are staying and I can tell you a close easy ATM.

If you like to run on cash. That's fine, I do a lot too. Take out 20.000 for each day you will be here, so 3 full days 60.000 It's. You will spend it all but get a feeling for how much more to get on the second draw. Also your cards will 99% work 99% of the time if you want.

We dont have a pickpocket problem here. Ive never met a victim or even heard of one. But I presume it can happen. We all walk into the bar and drop our phones on the bar or table just like the US with no problem and an equal possibility of something happening. But do show a bit more care because other than me LOL you dont have a support network here if something does happen.

What are Hungarians like? The last mass antigovernment protest had maybe 250.000 in attendance. It began and ended at the times on the protest permit and they picked up their trash at the end. No one arrested. Nothing broken.

The last time in Prague was a day trip from Vienna in 2016. I used only English then which worked out just fine.

In Moravia in 2017 I went by train to Brno and Slavkov. In those 2 places the interlocutors both guys and women spoke either one or the other, not both, English or German, which I always asked, be it in a cafe, book shop, museum in the chateau, train station, etc

Depending on the answer I adapted my language to their answer, all quite satisfactory and pleasant.

Re: Prague and other towns (smaller) and language usage. Don't just rely on English. For getting by, it'll do maybe.

For a more extensive, detailed discussion, it may not work depending on the interlocutor. In Pilsen (2001) I used mostly German, ie with the taxi boss and exchange office, and Czech train personnel, checking-in in the Prague student dorm facility (ages ago in 1973), mostly German, some English, street shops , restaurants exclusively German with the clerks, waiters ...all dated experience examples.

Praha hl n has its signage in 3 languages, Czech, German, English. Prior to the Velvet Rev. also tri-lingual but Cyrillic Russian, Czech, German , one of the first signs you notice when arriving.