Everything You Need To Learn Slovak

Everything You Need To Learn Slovak

Slovak is a West Slavic language spoken in Slovakia, where it’s the official language, and, to a lesser extent, the Czech Republic. It’s a descendant of the Proto-Slavic language, also known as Common Slavonic. It’s spoken by about 7 million people.

Slovak is mutually intelligible with Czech, due in large part to the fact that both were historically seen as one language. This means that, if you learn Slovak, you’ll be getting two languages for the price of one!

You’ll also see similarities in vocabulary and grammar between Slovak and other Slavic languages, like Polish and Russian.

We’ve compiled a list of useful resources for learning the language. Though it’s short, there’s more than enough here to get you started.

Slovak Language Learning Books

Your first step in learning Slovak should definitely be a beginner’s Slovak language course book. The best Slovak instruction books will introduce you to the basics of the language, including Slovak grammar and structure, while being clear and easy-to-understand, testing you along the way.

Next on your list should ultimately be a concise English-Slovak dictionary. This will help you understand new words and see how they’re used in different contexts.

A Slovak phrasebook also wouldn’t hurt, especially if you need to learn essential Slovak phrases quickly, and don’t have time to work through a course book.

Slovak Children’s Books

Reading children’s books in Slovak is a great method for beginners to gain exposure to the language in an easy, stress-free way.

With short sentences, colorful and memorable illustrations, and stories that are usually fun and engaging, you’ll pick up plenty of new vocabulary, and get comfortable building sentences of your own.

The Slovak kids’ books on this list are bilingual English-Slovak stories, so you’ll have the English text to help you read and understand the Slovak.

Slovak Movies & TV Shows

Slovak-language movies/movies with Slovak dubbing can be a great way to learn Slovak, as they often feature conversations that you’ll find useful for everyday situations. They tend to use natural dialogue that will help you gain a better grasp of the language.

Not only is this a fun, entertaining way of picking up new vocabulary, it’s a great way to improve your Slovak listening comprehension, and acquire some Slovak slang.

Slovak Digital Courses

For the audiovisual learners out there who aren’t fond of book study, you could try using a Slovak e-course. These usually come in the form of Slovak audio and/or video instruction, designed to nurture your listening and speaking skills, and get you communicating in the language quite early on.

Udemy’s Slovak course is one of the few digital courses available in this language. It offers 2.5 hours of video lessons, lifetime access to all future updates, and availability across any smart device, including TVs. There are even a couple of end-of-course practice tests!

SLOVAK UDEMY COURSES

Udemy Slovak