Is it a custom in the Czech Republic to say hello when meeting strangers or not? And how?
Situation1
A man enters a cinema in Prague. He sees the cashier lady selling the tickets. It is his turn to buy some.
a)
To start, he says: "Dobrý den, prosím dva lístky"
To finish, he says: "Děkuji, nashledanou"
Situation 2
A girl meets another girl in the hall of the library, she wants to ask her something and does not know her.
b)
To start, she says: "Ahoj, můžeš mi prosím poradit?"
To finish, she says: "Díky, Ahoj"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So you see, it is a custom to greet people even if we do not know them. We use "Dobrý den" or "Ahoj" to start and we say "Nashledanou" and "Ahoj" to finish the talk. Can you guess to whom we say "Dobrý den" and to whom "Ahoj"? What is the difference between the two situations?
I would like to hear from you on this topic of being in the Czech Republic and using different types of greetings, for example "Ciao".
Please reply to the post and let's practise our Czech.
Martin, OLS Community Manager – Czech
