Czech Graded Readers for Tutors and Teachers

Create engaging reading materials for your students at every level from A0 to B2.

Using graded Czech texts helps your students build confidence with authentic sentence structures without overwhelming them. With Stichos, you can try live beginner passages on this page to support your teaching today. Prepare for a tool designed to give you complete control over the vocabulary and grammar you bring to your lessons.

Arnošt v hostelu

Venku je zima a fouká studený vítr.

It is cold outside and a cold wind is blowing.

Arnošt jde do pražského hostelu.

Arnošt goes into a Prague hostel.

Přichází na recepci.

He comes to the reception desk.

Vidí mladou recepční.

He sees a young receptionist.

Arnošt zdraví recepční.

Arnošt greets the receptionist.

Dobrý den, říká Arnošt.

Good day, says Arnošt.

Recepční říká dobrý den.

The receptionist says good day.

Mám rezervaci, říká Arnošt.

I have a reservation, says Arnošt.

Moje jméno je Arnošt.

My name is Arnošt.

Recepční chce jeho pas.

The receptionist wants his passport.

Arnošt hledá pas v tašce.

Arnošt looks for the passport in his bag.

Arnošt ukazuje nový pas.

Arnošt shows the new passport.

Recepční píše jméno.

The receptionist writes the name.

Arnošt platí kartou.

Arnošt pays by card.

Platba je v pořádku.

The payment is in order.

Recepční dává Arnoštovi malý klíč.

The receptionist gives Arnošt a small key.

Je to klíč od pokoje.

It is the room key.

Arnošt dostává klíč od pokoje.

Arnošt receives the key to the room.

Vypadáte, že je vám chladno.

You look cold.

Recepční nabízí teplý čaj.

The receptionist offers warm tea.

Máme teplý čaj, říká recepční.

We have warm tea, says the receptionist.

Jeden teplý čaj, prosím.

One warm tea, please.

Recepční dává čaj Arnoštovi.

The receptionist gives the tea to Arnošt.

Prosím, říká recepční.

Here you go, says the receptionist.

Arnošt si bere teplý čaj.

Arnošt takes the warm tea.

Čaj krásně voní.

The tea smells wonderful.

Arnošt pije teplý čaj.

Arnošt drinks the warm tea.

Arnošt má velkou radost.

Arnošt is very happy.

Děkuji, říká Arnošt.

Thank you, says Arnošt.

Nyní jde na pokoj.

Now he goes to the room.

Key Facts About the Czech Language

Speakers

About 9.8 million native speakers (2021), plus about 2.7 million second-language speakers (2012), according to Wikipedia's Czech language article.1

Did you know?

The sound written ř, as in the surname Dvořák, is very rare among the world's languages and is often claimed to be unique to Czech.1

The main challenge

Courses teach Standard Czech (spisovná čeština), but everyday conversation in most of Bohemia uses Common Czech (obecná čeština), an informal variety based on Prague speech, so learners hear forms their textbook doesn't show.2

CEFR exams

Where students struggle

  • Vowel length is phonemic: each of the five vowel qualities has a short and a long form, written with an acute (á, é, í, ó, ú/ů, ý). Stress always falls on the first syllable, whether or not that vowel is long, so learners must not hear a long vowel as stressed.3

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_language
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Czech
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_phonology

About the Czech language

Language familyIndo-European → Slavic → West Slavic → Czech–Slovak1
SpeakersAbout 12 million in total: roughly 9.8 million native speakers (2021) and 2.7 million second-language speakers (2012).1
Primary scriptLatin script (the Czech alphabet, 42 graphemes). The háček forms letters such as č, ř, š and ž, the acute marks long vowels, and a ring marks long ů.1
Word order & typologySVO as the base order, but word order is flexible and signals topic and focus. Nouns and adjectives decline for seven cases, two numbers and three genders, with masculine split into animate and inanimate.1,2
Official statusOfficial in Czechia and an official language of the European Union since 2004. Recognised as a minority language in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.1,3
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_language
  2. https://wals.info/valuesets/81A-cze
  3. https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/languages_en

Czech reading proficiency benchmarks (CEFR & CCE)

Stichos levelApproximate framework equivalentReader profile
A0Pre-A1Early Beginner
A1CEFR A1 (CCE-A1)Beginner
A2CEFR A2 (CCE-A2)Elementary
B1CEFR B1 (CCE-B1)Intermediate
B2CEFR B2 (CCE-B2)Upper Intermediate

Stichos levels are modelled on the Council of Europe’s CEFR reading descriptors; A0 roughly corresponds to the CEFR’s Pre-A1 band. The CCE exam from Charles University is offered at A1 to C1 (there is no CCE at C2) and is shown in brackets for orientation only; Stichos does not test or certify.

Reference corpora

Czech frequency work draws on the Czech National Corpus (Český národní korpus), founded in 1994 at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.1

  • SYN2020: A representative reference corpus of contemporary written Czech, published in 2020: 100 million words, a third each of fiction, non-fiction and periodicals, centred on 2015–2019.2
  • A Frequency Dictionary of Czech: František Čermák and Michal Křen, who work at the Czech National Corpus institute, compiled A Frequency Dictionary of Czech, a core-vocabulary list for learners.
  • Register: Stichos’s rules call for standard written Czech (spisovná čeština) at every level, not Common Czech (obecná čeština) forms: dobrý, not dobrej.
  1. https://www.korpus.cz/
  2. https://wiki.korpus.cz/doku.php/en:cnk:syn2020

Readability design principles

Classic English readability formulas have been refitted for Czech.1

  • Refitted classic metrics: Bendová and Cinková (TSD 2021) refitted classic English readability formulas to Czech, drawing on the InterCorp and CzEng 2.0 parallel corpora.1
  • Stichos: Stichos controls difficulty with level-by-level grammar rules and sentence-length limits rather than a single score. At A0 a sentence has at most five words and no conjunctions.
  1. https://ufal.mff.cuni.cz/biblio/attachments/2021-bendova-p179299898553114557.pdf

Script & grammar scaffolding

  • Tenses: A0 uses only the present. A1 adds the compound future with budu plus the infinitive, while the past (minulý čas) waits until A2. B1 opens the present conditional (přítomný kondicionál) and simple contrasts between perfective and imperfective verbs (dokonavý / nedokonavý); B2 brings the full aspect system and the passive.
  • Rare forms: The past conditional (minulý kondicionál) opens at C1. Transgressives (přechodníky), archaic verb forms now used mainly for literary effect, appear only at C2.
  • Clitics: Auxiliaries, the reflexives se and si and short pronouns take the second slot in the clause (Wackernagel’s law).
  • Address: Strangers and formal settings use vykání; friends and family use tykání. At A1 the only imperatives are five informal ones (podívej se, pojď, vezmi si, počkej, sedni si) and the formula Prosím.

Related academic & framework resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What is included in the free preview on this page?
You can generate live A0 and A1 stories directly in your browser with interactive tap-to-translate vocabulary and line-by-line translations. No account is required to test the preview. Additionally, if you join the Reading List, you will receive 3 free sample stories formatted as a PDF.
Which levels will be available when Educator Studio launches?
At launch, Educator Studio will cover all levels from absolute beginner (A0) through upper-intermediate (B2).
How do I share stories with my students?
At launch, you will be able to share any story you generate by sending a web link to your students, with no limit on the number of share links you can create. Printed reading sheets with line-by-line translations and glossaries as PDFs will also be supported at launch.
Do my students need an account to read shared texts?
No, your students will open shared links in their web browser without creating an account. They will be invited, but never forced, to register a free account if they wish to save their stories and vocabulary.
How does audio pronunciation work for my students?
At launch, students reading a shared text can tap any word to hear it pronounced using a standard computer voice. With the optional Premium Audio add-on at launch, students gain access to natural-sounding voices, full story narration with distinct voices for different dialogue speakers, and downloadable MP3 audio exports.
Can I customize the grammar and vocabulary for my lessons?
At launch, you can paste custom word lists into the generator, choose any topic, turn specific tenses on or off, and edit any sentence or translation before sharing the text with your class.
How accurate are the AI-generated stories?
Stories are written by AI and automatically checked against grammar and vocabulary rules for the chosen level. Because this check relies on automated rules rather than a human editor, an occasional minor mistake might occur, so you should review each text before passing it to your students.
How does Stichos address regional variations in Czech speech?
Standard Czech (spisovná čeština) is the primary focus of course materials, but everyday conversation across Bohemia commonly uses Common Czech (obecná čeština), an informal variety derived from Prague speech. Giving students controlled reading practice helps bridge the gap when they encounter forms not found in traditional textbooks.

Learning Czech yourself? Try the learner reader →

Free Language Reading Samples for Tutors · Stichos