Spotlight
Learn more about Czech by visiting these websites:
The Case of Texas Czech
Read the PowerPoint presented by Lida Cope at AAAL 2010.
This online, searchable database of profiles allows heritage language programs to exchange ideas and resources with one another.
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Czech is the national language of the Czech Republic and is spoken by 12 million people worldwide (Lewis, 2009). It is spoken throughout the Czech Republic, in regions known as Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The west Slavonic language is very similar to other Slavic languages such as Slovak, Polish, and Sorbian (Ager, n.d.). Spoken dialect variations within the Czech Republic include Central Bohemian, Czecho-Moravian, Hanak, Lach, Northeast Bohemian, Southwest Bohemian (Lewis, 2009).
The Czech Republic experienced heavy emigration around the years of World War One, World War Two, and between 1948-1968, which spread the Czech language to countries such as Austria, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Croatia, Australia, Canada, and a large population in the United States (Kučera, 2001). In the year 2000, 1,262,527 Americans identified with a Czech heritage, and 441,403 identified as Czechoslovakian (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
Czech language schools and classes exist across the United States because of the efforts of Czech heritage language speakers to preserve the language spoken by their ancestors. While opportunities to learn the language in formal programs are limited, there is a Czech-speaking population that is making efforts to keep the Czech language alive.
Search for Czech programs in the Heritage Language Programs Database.
The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages has developed the Heritage Voices Collection, an online series of documents designed to allow heritage language speakers and programs to share their unique voices with visitors to our website.
- Read about the Czech language.
(PDF, 259 KB)
- Read about Czech Language Programs and Czech as a Heritage Language in the United States. (PDF, 259 KB)
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Meet the Language Representative
Simone Hrouda serves as the Czech language representative for the Alliance. Learn more about Simone Hrouda.
Return to Heritage Language Spotlights page.
