Go to list of Czech and Slovak courses

Czech and Slovak are the major official languages of the Czech and Slovak Republics.  They are located on the crossroads between North and South, as well as East and West.  Their cultures have been shaped by the diverse influences absorbed for over a thousand years.  Hence the knowledge of their social, historical and cultural development offers an excellent insight into this part of Central Europe.

The University of Toronto in the only university in Canada where you can study the Czech language (a course in Slovak is planned for the near future), Czech and Slovak literatures, and cultures, from the elementary to the Ph.D. level.  We offer Major and Minor programs in Czech and Slovak Studies, but you may also select individual courses. 

The core of our department's offerings is a two-year language sequence, one literature course, and one culture course.  If you have no knowledge of the languages, you can start from the beginning in SLA 105Y.  If you have some knowledge of the languages, you can enter directly into SLA 204Y.  No knowledge of the languages is needed to enroll in the culture course, SLA 215H, or cinema course, SLA225H.

Although the Czech and Slovak program might be especially attractive to students who would like to learn more about the lands of their ancestors, it should also attract the attention of those, irrespective of their ethnic background, who are interested in Western Slavic languages in general.  One can get acquainted with the wealth of cultures by learning the language and reading authors such as: Nemcova, Neruda, Seifert, Timrava, Tatarka, Hrabal, Hasek, and Kundera; watching the masterworks of Czech and Slovak cinema; being introduced to major linguistic and literary theorists such as Mukarovsky, Jakobson, Vodicka, Veltrusky.

Czech Language Placement Test

Please be advised that students enrolled in Czech language courses beyond the first year, who did not take SLA105Y (former SLA205Y), must take the Czech Language Placement Test.

Students enrolling in SLA105Y may be required to take a placement test if the student has any prior knowledge of Czech.

The purpose of this test is to assess each student's language skills and to place them in the correct course level. Students should be advised that placement is at the discretion of the department.

Students may write the Placement test on Thursday September 3 from 10 am -12 pm in Alumni Hall room 404. Please remember to bring a pen.

Please contact the department to notify us of your intent to write the placement test.