Is the Russian language close to the Czech Republic's Language?

4 Comments

1. Marek says:

   June 28, 2010 at 9:38 am

   My mother tongue is Slovak so I can give you an overall picture on this. Czech and Russian share about 40 % of vocabulary which is either the same or similar enaough to be recognized and understood. To give you a clue, I will throw in a couple of basic words in Czech and Russian (in latin transcript):

   tomorrow – zítra – závtra
   milk – mléko – malako
   clean – čistý – čístyj
   to give – dát – dať
   healthy – zdravý – zdaróvyj
   the day after tomorrow – pozítří – poslezávtra
   to find – najít – najtí
   I don´t know you – Já tě neznám – Ja tibja ne znáju
   What are you doing ? – Co děláš ? – Što délaješ ?

   As you can see, the similarities can be striking but they work only in just about those 40 times out of 100 and it works for basic words only. More advanced vocabulary is totally unrecognizable. Let´s see:

   Conscience – svědomitost – sóvjesť
   pronunciation – výslovnost – proiznošénije
   real – skutečný – nastojáščij
   precise – přesný – tóčnyj

   The bottom line is that you can make yourself understood in czech republic speaking russian but only on a basic level (for example asking for direction) but reading newspaper or having a more convoluted discussion is beyond reach. In fact, Czechs have nowadays hard time understanding even Slovaks whose language is 90 % the same. I hope I helped a bit
2. inga says:

   June 28, 2010 at 9:38 am

   nope..
   the only close to russian language is bulgarian …..r slavic languages.
   if u want to speak a language there try english then russian
3. Nia says:

   June 28, 2010 at 9:38 am

   Ukrainian and Belarusian are close to Russian. Czech is also a Slavic language but it’s not similar enough to be understood by Czechs.
4. moravianhawk says:

   June 28, 2010 at 9:38 am

   no, this two language are not mutually understandable. Czech is Western Slavic language and had not been interactive with Russian language until the beginning of the 20th century. Both nationals would not understand each other. For me as a Czech, I would not be able to comprehend any form of spoken Russian. But I had studied it a bit under communism, so I could little get by with Russian in former USSR.. But Czech language is absolutely no understandable to any Russian. The same for Czech people if they never heard Russian before, they have no idea what the language had to say. People who claim that every Slavic language is mutually understandable usually have not know anything about three branches of the Slavic nations.

   Besides if you try communicate with Czechs using Russian language you will receive extremely hostile responses in Czech (and anywhere in Eastern Europe) and will cause you more harm than help. Either way.. speak English first and if person is willing to communicate in Russian than switch to it.. Otherwise.. good luck and expect trouble.