Go to:  
    tip

    Learn some basic Czech phrases...

    Posted by matthk 12 November 2005

    You'll have an entirely different experience (and could save some money) if you learn some Czech before going. The Czechs are friendly, but are also wary and stand-offish and many have a particular dislike of English, American & German tourists. * Why? Well the English have an unfortunate reputation for boozy stag & hen parties, Americans are regarded as loud, culturally ignorant and "taking over" their city and the poor Germans get a bad rap due to their shared history and the fact that some (only some) have a nasty habit of insisting on speaking German to Czechs. (Many Czechs speak perfect German, but often don't like to.) Even if you merely learn to say hello, goodbye, thank-you and please, your experience of Prague will be profoundly different. These simple courtesies (and the Czechs are BIG on manners) will often save you money, get you better service and could even get you a table in a restaurant which would normally be 'full'. You'll also engage more with the people of Prague, who are the true cultural treasures of my favourite city on the planet. So how do I learn? If you don't want to go to lessons, at the very least buy the "Rough Guide Czech Phrase Book" it was the absolute best thing I bought before heading to Prague. * (They love, love, LOVE the Irish though, whom they see as kindred spirits: a proud intellectual history, home of novelists and playwrights and a struggling people who shook off the chains of oppression & tyranny to become a republic)

    all over Prague

    100%

    agreed

    7

    people

    I agreeI disagree