Czech is a Slavic language related to Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and several others. It is spoken by about 12 million people most of whom reside in the Czech Republic, but Czech speakers are scattered throughout the world.

The Czech and Slovak Republics are two of the newest members of the European Union, and they are its fastest growing business markets. Companies are moving their factories eastward to take advantage of lower taxes and a more eager workforce. Slovakia has been dubbed "Detroit of the East" due to the number of car manufacturers that have relocated to the country. Furthermore, Czech is a "gateway" language; that is, knowledge of Czech facilitates the learning of other Slavic languages and cultures.

Czech gives you access to a wealth of Czech and European culture. The Czech writer Karel Čapek gave the world the word "robot," Jan Hus fomented a proto-Protestant revolution 100 years before Martin Luther, and the Czechs drink more beer per capita than anyone in the world. A lot more. Other notable Czechs are playwright, president, and dissident Václav Havel, the composers Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček, authors Milan Kundera and Bohumil Hrabal, filmmakers Jíří Menzel and Jan Švankmajer, and the sports personalities Martina Navrátilová and Dominik Hašek.

Students can major and minor in Czech. UT offers a three-year series of Czech language courses every year: CZ 506, CZ 507, CZ 412K, CZ 412L, CZ 325, and CZ 326.