How I learned Czech by using linguistics

How I learned Czech by using linguistics

Publikováno: 21. 8. 2022

Linguistics is often understood as something so abstract that it has no bearing on the field of language teaching and/or learning. Now, while there isa large number of articles out there that deal with complicated, theoretical matters, I do believe that this - the idea that linguistics is too academic for any practical usage - is a big misconception. In reality, linguistics can be a huge aid in learning new languages. It can make the whole learning process more thorough and efficient.

To give you an example from my own life, I will tell you about 4 ways in which linguistics has helped me to take on Czech.

1. Language contact and familiar constructions:Languages are constantly in contact with each other and accordingly, adopt certain aspects from each other (or disappear in the worst case scenario). I am always so happy when I discover a construction in Czech which sounds familiar and may possibly be originating in the Germanic language family. The other day, for example, I learned the expression Je mi to jedno(I don't care, lit: It is me one) and then it dawned on me that in Dutch we have the same expression (if somewhat less harsh in meaning) Het is mij eender (It is all the same for me, it doesn't matter, lit: it is me one). This ties in with the second point of language typology.

2. Language typology: Typology is usually seen as a field on its own because it deals with so-called "big data". It essentially looks at a certain element in a (number of) language(s) and makes mass comparisons against other languages. On a much smaller scale, being able to see the correlations between one language and another has been an asset for me in my quest to master Czech. One the one hand, I can make comparisons with Polish - a language which I learned waaaaaay back and have completely forgotten - because they are very closely related languages (aka Slavic), and on the other hand, I can make comparisons with Dutch and German - because of the shared historical background with Austrian German. Both are insightful and provide interesting information to easily memorise and retain Czech.

3. Phonetics:Phonetics looks at how we produce sounds, and more importantly, where in the mouth. While most sounds in Czech are very similar to the ones in my native language (Dutch), there are some that stand out. I assume we are all familiar with the infamous ř? I struggled for weeks, but then a fellow linguist told me: it is an alveolar fricative trill. Knowing about phonetics, I knew that this meant that I had to (1) hold my tongue to the alveolar (aka the part just before your teeth), (2) make sure there was friction between my tongue and the alveolar while making the sound, and (3) trill my tongue, just like I would with a normal r. And tadaa, I could finally say it!

4. Morphology: Morphology is the field that looks at how words are formed. This one proved to be the most useful to me so far, since Czech has a lot of different word elements or "morphemes". For instance, there are adjectives which come from nouns in Czech: les-ní (of the forest), jar-ní (of the spring), sněm-ovní (of the parliament), prac-ovní (of the work) etc. One could try to learn them all by heart, but more systematically, why not just memorise that -ní can make adjectives as well as -ovní? At first it's hard to know when to use which, and I assure you, you will produce things like jar-ovní, but that's where the input-based learning comes in and plays an important role. You will hear the right forms, AND by knowing these little rules, you will also easily recognise them.


So, this was a short exposéon how linguistics can help you to truly understand a new language and its many aspects.