Lesson 1 – Alphabet, reading

      I know, nobody likes grammar. But in the Czech language the letters in words are read the same way they are written (unlike English, French, ...), so knowing the alphabet is pretty useful.
      There is a regular alphabet, same as in English (with one extra letter "ch"). Then there are letters with a small comma upon them (vocals only) and letters with a hook upon them (some consonants and the vocal "e"). Because Czech is a languages with millions of exceptions, there is one special letter "ů" with a ring.

A a – as in "but"
Á á – as in "can't" (British English) or "dart"
B b – as in "bath"
C c – as in "tsunami"
Č č – as in "cheek"
D d – as in "dust"
Ď ď – as "dy" or "dya"
E e – as in "bet"
É é – as in "bear"
Ě ě – as in "yet"
F f – as in "fear"
G g – as in "gram"
H h – as in "hug"
Ch ch (note the form of the capital letter – C + h) – as the Scottish Loch
I i – as in "pig"
Í í – as in "beak"
J j – as in "yard"
K k – as in "card"
L l – as in "lump"
M m – as in "mug"
N n – as in "nun"
Ň ň – as in "canyon"
O o – as in "sort"
Ó ó – as in "board"
P p – as in "plain"
Q q – as in "squirel"
R r – like Spanish "r"
Ř ř – like Polish "rz" (play it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cs-%C5%99eka.ogg)
S s – as in "sand"
Š š – as in "shop"
T t – as in "trust"
Ť ť – as "ty" or "tya"
U u – as in "put"
Ú ú – as in "soup"
Ů ů – as in "soup"
V v – as in "vague"
W w – as in "vague" (used in foreign words only)
X x – as in "fix" (used in foreign words only)
Y y – as in "fill"
Ý ý – as in "feel"
Z z – as in "zip"
Ž ž – as in "measure"
       You might have noticed that the vocals with comma are just prolonged forms of regular vocals. Yes, they are. But remember that the length is not so distinct. We don't hold the vocal for 2 seconds.
      "Ů" is read the same way like "ú". "I" and "y" are read the same too.
       Letters "d", "t" and "n" followed by "i" are read as "ď", "ť" and "ň". "D", "t" and "n" followed by "ě" are also read as "ď", "ť" and "ň".
       "Mě" (and "mně") is read as "mňe". (That's why so many Czechs don't manage to write a sentence correctly.:)

      You can read words merely by connecting the letters. Here are some examples:
čest f. [chest] = honor
jídlo n. [yiedlo] = food, supper
most m. [moast] = bridge
tělo n. [tyelo] = body
konzerva f. [conzervah] = tin
ahoj [uhhoy] = hello – remember this one :)

Now you know, how to read Baťa [batya], girls! :) (The shoes, if you don' know.)