Hi,

 I am thinking in visit Czech Republic and Slovakia in January 2009, then I was wonderig wether it is a good idea to try to learn some Czech or Slovak before travelling. Probably I´ll spend about 16 days between Czech Republic and Slovakia. Well, althought I´ll not be there completly alone, a Czech and a Slovakian friends of mine must make me company, I guess it would be nice to know at least the basic of Czech or Slovak, even for a matter of politeness.

I´m more inclined to pick Czech than Slovakian, since it´s more 'famous' and must have more material, and I think I´m going to spend more time in Czech Republic than in Slovakia.

 So, I would like to have some hints about materials. I don´t only a simple phrasebook, yes, I need them too, but I would also like to have a book that could help me to learn the basic grammar and structures. By the way, I think it is much easier to learn even the basic phrases when you know some language rules. 

 If possible, as I am not an native English speaker, I´d like to know if any of you know a good material in Portuguese (or Spanish), for learning something from English is harder to me, not because of my English is bad, but some aspects of other languages seem much more complex than they really when compared to English, due to the English structure. But it is a personal opinion, for some languges it may help, of course. 

Thank you in advanced,

Good bye.: