How big is the language barrier.?

So today we took a trip to the other side of the river to visit the old town. It is, as with every old town area of every city, much calmer, quieter and prettier than the bustling city centre. This part of Prague has quite a few attractions, from boat trips, to the castle, to the "famous" John Lennon wall.

fun is round every corner...(Kampa Park)

However, today we set out to see the park named "Kampa", it's probably best recognised for the big fat crawling babies (statues, although there are a lot of chubby babies round here.) There was some school field trip there, climbing all over the modern art..Some young school kids came up to us with a quiz that had been assigned to them by their teacher; they had to get strangers to help them answer some questions about Prague.

Of course, Veronika was able to speak with them and try to help them with their task, but it was when some of them turned to me for help, that I had to badly explain I don't speak Czech. My favourite method is "Prosim, Anglicky" but I say it so well that no one is ever sure if they believe me...
Although, I have learned the metro announcement off by heart now. But anyway.. It was then that the question dawned on me "Is there actually a language barrier in Prague?"

During my first month and half here, I have not really encountered any communication problems. In Prague, the majority of people are either foreigners too or they speak English as a second language. Everything is easy to attain in English, from travel cards to health insurance, there is always someone who is willing to help you. Luckily though, I have had Veronika with me a lot of the time to avoid any confusion, which has made the relocation a whole lot easier.

wurk it gurrrl..

The only communication barrier that there maybe has been was with Veronika's family. But I have learned that many things can be communicated through body language, gestures, and very badly spoken Czech. I have picked up bits of Czech here and there, but nothing that I would feel confident about speaking to a stranger.

So when it comes down to it, I do honestly believe that if you want to learn a language then you can focus it in a more widely spread language than Czech. It goes without saying that you should learn some basics to be polite, a please or thank you never goes a miss.

So yeah, tak cau ty vole :D

Park Kampa.!