So, I've come to the conclusion that I must learn Czech to continue the research for my family tree ... English is my native language, I took German in highschool and still remember quite a bit of it, I've been teaching myself Spanish in my spare time thanks to my Mexican neighbors, and have now realized I must learn Czech.  I would like to travel to the Czech republic in the next 6 to 7 years, so I figure I have plenty of time to fully learn the language, and then I ran across this site .... I've recently discovered there is a mountain that shares my last name, which tells me my ancestors must have been of some importantce, the last name is now spelled Smrcina ... and we pronounce it "Smurr-chin-uh" which to me seems greatly americanized.  If anyone has any insight for my current situation, any info on possible family I may have in the czech republic (my family originated in Lisnich, Bohemia -- furthest back I've found is Vaclav Smrcina and Magdalena Daubek, late 1700's from Lisnich) ... if you have any good learning tips, it would be greatly appreciated, I'm very eager to learn, and learn languages fairly quickly, and, well, Spanish is quite boring ...