Language problems
Since moving to Prague in 2006 I've become pretty fluent in Czech - more by sheer perseverance and hard work than being any sort of a cunning linguist. After putting in all this effort I'm reluctant to speak English with Czechs unless there's a particular reason for doing so - for example if someone is a competent English speaker and genuinely wants to practise to improve.

I don't want to appear boastful or arrogant here so will point out that many Czechs do speak very good English and deserve admiration for this. Sometimes though the bizarre situation arises when someone insists on speaking English to me even though they only know ten words and have no grammar. For example, the receptionist at the dentist's who, after I'd explained in (I hope!) correct Czech that the crown had come off my rear left molar and needed replacing, replied "You want speak the English? I speak him very good."

This doesn't happen much now but was not uncommon in the past. Rather than get annoyed, I'd deal with it by saying I was from Finland and that I spoke very little English (I realise that's not a very believable story, given the Scandinavians' linguistic abilities). I was counting on the fact that nobody was likely to know Finnish (of course I don't either). I tried this on one bloke I got talking to in the pub, even going so far as saying how much I loved Sibelius's beautiful country (where I've never been). Cue him rabbiting on incomprehensibly; at first I thought that perhaps my Czech wasn't as good as I took credit for, then it came out that he'd lived several years in Helsinki and spoke Finnish fluently. Exit Eesnahk looking like a complete dickhead.
(eesnahk, Thu 12 Aug 2010, 23:20, 2 replies)

vg
I was in Stockholm a couple of weekends ago with a friend who claimed he "spoke pretty good Swedish" - needless to say over the weekend I heard lots of people say very clearly, "don't worry, I can speak English!"
( sanityclause is waiting until, Thu 12 Aug 2010, 23:32, closed)

I went for a teaching job in Prague a while back and was utterly baffled that they don't have the perfect simple tense. You did well to learn Czech, I sucked at it.
(dancebiscuits, Fri 13 Aug 2010, 11:31, closed)