When you get off a plane, a train, a bus, what greets you is signs and more signs.  True some of them are in English, or other languages, too, but in smaller towns at least, you'll have to rely on your knowledge of Czech.

As you get off a plane, you'll probably look for Passport Control or pasova kontrola and Customs or Celni kontrola.

After you pass those, you'll be looking for the Exit sign, which is vychod.  This word can be easily mistaken for its exact opposite vchod which means entrance.  Now repeat them once again, Vychod means exit and vchod is entrance.  If you want to know which way to run in an emergency, look for the sign Nouzovy vychod or Emergency Exit.  

Another two signs which might sound and look frustrating similar to a foreign visitor are Otevzeno - Open and Zavzeno - Closed.  If you're not hundred percent sure if a place is open or closed, you should try the door.  In that case, you'll want to know whether you push or pull it open.  In Czech, the signs read sem which actually means here and tells you to pull the door towards you, and the other is tam, meaning there, in which case you have to push the door to open it.

In many public places, you'll find the sign Zakaz kouzeni which means No Smoking.  If a sign reads Zakaz vstupu, it means No entry. 

There is another pair of signs, which could, at times, be really important.  Unless there are internationally comprehensible symbols on the doors, you simply have to be able to tell between the words Muzi and Zeny in public toilets.  Well, Muzi stands for Men and Zeny means Women.  There is another pair which is also used frequently pani and damy.  The first word, pani, stands for gentlemen, and damy for ladies.

 

- Pavla Horakova
Radio Prague