Czech

Czech is a West Slavic language spoken by over 10 million people. It is the official language of the Czech Republic and one of the official languages of the European Union. Czech is closely related to Slovak, and the two languages are mutually intelligible. Czech has a rich literary tradition, dating back to the 13th century. The first Czech book was the Bible translation by Prague preacher Mikuláš Drda. The first complete Czech translation was made by Bible scholar Jan Hus. Notable Czech writers include Karel Čapek, Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera, and Franz Kafka. Czech is a highly inflected language, with a complex system of declension and conjugation. It is also notable for its use of various diacritical marks, such as the háček (ˇ) and the caron (ˇ). Czech is considered to be a relatively easy language to learn for English speakers, as it has a similar grammar and a large number of cognates.