CLASSES
Czech and Slovak Language Classes for Adults
Schedule for 2025-2026
Fall trimester: Week of September 29 – Week of December 1 or 8
Winter trimester: Week of January 5 – Week of March 9
Spring trimester: Week of March 23 – Week of May 25
Learn Czech or Slovak with Sokol Minnesota!
- Language classes for adults at many levels
- Open to high school students with permission
- Friendly and supportive learning atmosphere
- Ten-week trimesters
- One 90-minute class per week
- In-person classes meet at our historic CSPS Hall, 383 W Michigan, St. Paul
- Online classes meet via Zoom and are open to students anywhere
- Enrollment limits: minimum four students, maximum ten students
- $125 per trimester for Sokol Minnesota members; $150 for non-members
- Textbooks may be purchased from Sokol Minnesota
Registration opens soon for Fall classes!
Questions? Need placement advice? Contact Education Director Sally Lieberman at education@sokolmn.org.
Beginning Czech Year 1 and Beginning Czech Year 2 are full! Please reach out to Sally Lieberman at education@sokolmn.org to be added to the waitlist.
Beginning Slovak, Online
Suitable for complete beginners.
Instructor: George Hoffman (Click to read profile)
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. CT
Beginning Czech Year One (A1), In Person
Suitable for complete beginners.
Instructor: Michael Trittipo (Click to read profile)
Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Beginning Czech Year Two (A1), In Person
Primarily for students who have taken our Year one class, or who have already had a beginner's introduction to Czech.
Instructor: Luboš Mareš (Click to read profile)
Thursdays 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Advanced Beginning Czech (Low A2)
No class at this level currently; email education@sokolmn.org for alternatives.
Intermediate Czech (High A2-B1), Online
Suitable for students who already studied at the A2 level.
Instructor: Jana Zmrzlíková (Click to read profile)
Wednesdays 6:15-7:45 p.m. CT
Advanced Czech (B2), Online
For students who already know basic Czech grammar and can read and converse about a variety of topics.
Instructor: Renáta Tichá (Click to read profile)
Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. CT
Michael Trittipo
In-person, Beginning Czech Year Two
Michael Trittipo studied second-language teaching theory and methods at the University of Minnesota (for teaching ESL) and the Defense Language Institute (where he taught French 2019-2020). The DLI also happens to be where he first learned Czech as a soldier during the Cold War, with zero background. (You can learn it as an adult, too!) He maintains it with reading and listening, and occasional months at one of the Czech “summer schools.” He looks forward to his second year of teaching this wonderful language.
Tess Dajc
Online, Advanced Beginning Czech
Tess Dajc was born in Kolín, Czech Republic. She has been teaching Czech for over ten years. In her spare time, she likes to write poetry and was recently published in several literary journals.
Luboš Mareš
In-person, Beginning Czech
Luboš Mareš was born in the Czech Republic in the small town of Milevsko. After elementary school he continued to study at the Central School of Engineering (SPSS) in Tabor and ended his educational journey in Prague at Czech Technical University (CVUT). He has been living in Minnesota for 23 years. Luboš is a teacher of kung fu, tai chi, qigong and mindfulness at Sokol Minnesota. Teaching Czech language gives Luboš the opportunity to bring the Czech Republic closer to our hearts.
Renáta Tichá, PhD
Online, Advanced Czech
Renáta Tichá, PhD, has been teaching advanced Czech at Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota for the last nine years. She is originally from the Czech Republic and enjoys supporting Czech learners in Minnesota on their Czech language journeys, including for preserving their Czech heritage, speaking Czech with their family, or wanting to study or work in the Czech Republic. She is also a research faculty in special education and disability services at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration.
Jana Kalinová Zmrzliková
Online Intermediate Czech
Jana Kalinová Zmrzliková has been teaching Czech as a foreign language for almost 20 years. She has experience teaching students of all age groups, from toddlers to seniors. She holds a degree in Czech language pedagogy from Masaryk University in Brno. Jana is a founder of StudyCzech, a Brno-based language school specializing in teaching Czech
for foreigners. She is also an editor of AHOJ, a magazine for Czech language learners. Jana is now living in Washington, DC, with her family. She enjoys walking in the forest, swimming and practicing yoga in her free time.
George Hoffman
Online, Beginning Slovak
George Hoffman has studied Slovak for over 12 years, and has taught it for three years. He has a Ph.D. in Classical Languages and taught Ancient Greek and Latin in college in the 1970s, after which he went to work for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. His favorite Slovak writer is Dominik Dán, the author of an extensive collection of murder mysteries set in Bratislava. George‘s maternal grandparents were both Slovaks from the Námestovo area, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1903 and lived in Chicago. He has been to Slovakia several times and has visited Námestovo.