Czech is hard to learn due to the complex system of declension and conjugation. It takes a long time to get used to this system and even simple sentences appear to be a massive mountain to climb at the beginning.
There are many ways of learning Czech, either in the Czech Republic or in your home country. All methods have their advantages and disadvantages.
There are a lot of language schools in the Czech Republic, most of them in Prague. They usually offer crash courses of one to four weeks with around six to eight hours of classes a day. Their teachers are usually specially trained language teachers and almost all native Czech. You will get a good grasp of the language in a very short time. This enables you to handle every day situations in the Czech Republic. However, these courses are a very pricey way of learning the language.
If you do not only want to learn Czech but also want to dive into the culture, a home stay language course is the right choice. You live with your teacher's family in the Czech Republic and gain an insight into their daily routines. The level of your classes is adapted to your personal skills and wishes.
This option is very often offered by international exchange organisations, such as CIEE.
If you want to explore the Czech Republic in your holidays and want to acquire some basic knowledge of Czech, a language holiday could suit you. It usually includes language training in the mornings and sightseeing activities in the afternoon allowing you to practice your newly learned knowledge right away. The level of language learned here however is not very high and it should be kept in mind that the focus is put on offering holidays.
Visiting language classes at a Czech university is another option for learning Czech. They usually only charge a marginal fee or are free if you are a registered student at the specific university. The teachers will also very likely be well trained professionals. However, as there are only one or two classes per week it takes significantly longer to learn the language. It may be that you cannot attend classes if you are not a registered student at the university.
A very effective way of learning Czech is private classes. You can find contact information of private teachers at university boards or also on www.belingua.cz . Sometimes language students offer private classes and this may be a good alternative to expensive language teachers.
Another good possibility to learn Czech is finding a native Czech person online who wants to learn your native language. This is a very inexpensive learning method and it can be adapted perfectly to your skills. You can also decide yourself how much time you want to spend learning. Another advantage is that you will learn real life Czech.
However, this way of learning might be better suited for someone who has basic skills in Czech. Since both participants are unlikely to be professional teachers the beginning can be very tough. It is also a good idea to include language teaching books in the learning process.
Finally, you can also learn Czech using teaching books and CDs. This is very hard since questions you may have cannot be answered directly. Also mistakes made by the learner cannot be corrected. In addition, it takes a lot of personal motivation to keep up the learning.
Becoming an au pair is an inexpensive way of getting in touch with Czech culture. You will usually stay with a family for at least half a year. Meals and other expenses are included as well as a little spending money.
There are a lot of agencies that establish contact between au pairs and families. Most of them will charge fees but also offer the possibility of changing a family and providing one or two week preparation classes.