Czech words with an AI agent:
from a letter to flashcards

Short answer. Ask the agent to save Czech words or phrases to your vocabulary, and with the Talkfirst connector it writes them into your vocabulary and flashcards in one go, with a translation and an example. The words then come back through spaced repetition and quizzes: recognition, recall, listening and saying them out loud. The agent sees what you already know and what is due today in every new chat.

Ask Claude or ChatGPT for the Czech you need to call a landlord or answer a letter from the foreign police, and you get a good list in seconds. A week later the list is somewhere in an old chat and the words are gone. The fix is not a smarter agent but a place where the words live: a vocabulary that turns into flashcards and quizzes, and that the agent can read and write.

That is what the Talkfirst connector gives the agent. This page is about the first and most important habit of learning Czech with an AI agent: handing it words. How to connect the connector is in the main guide to learning Czech with an AI agent.

What happens when you say “save it”

With Talkfirst connected, the agent has a tool, vocab_add. One call can save up to 200 entries, and each entry has the Czech term, a meaning in the language you learn in (English, Russian or Ukrainian), an example, a level and a kind. The entry goes into your vocabulary and into your flashcards at the same time. Duplicates are skipped, so you can paste the same list twice without making a mess.

There are two kinds of entries:

• A chunk — a word or an expression of up to about five words: potvrzení o ubytování (proof of accommodation), objednat se k lékaři (to make a doctor's appointment). Chunks go into flashcards and quizzes.
• A formulation — a whole ready-made sentence, such as Dobrý den, volám kvůli inzerátu. Je byt ještě volný? (Hello, I'm calling about the advert. Is the flat still available?) Formulations do not go into quizzes. Instead, the conversation partner in your talks creates a reason for you to say them.

The agent reads the rules for saving words in the Talkfirst docs before it writes anything: one entry is one word in its dictionary form, or one whole phrase. The form you met in speech goes into the example. If you heard Pomůžete mi to vyplnit? (Will you help me fill it in?), the entry is vyplnit (to fill in), with that sentence as the example. Lists are split into separate entries, and a grammar rule is not an entry at all.

Where the words come from

A letter, a form, a work situation

The best words are the ones from your own life. Paste the text and ask the agent to pick out what you will actually need to say.

Here is a letter I got from the foreign police: … Explain in English what they want from me. Then pick 10 words and phrases I will need at the appointment and save them to my Czech vocabulary, A2, each with an example.

The agent explains the letter, then calls vocab_add with entries like cizinecká policie (foreign police), povolení k pobytu (residence permit), úřední hodiny (office hours).

I start a new job in a warehouse on Monday. Save the 12 Czech words I'm most likely to hear in the first week: shifts, pay, my manager. Chunks only, no full sentences.

Here you would expect entries such as směna (shift), výplata (pay), vedoucí (manager).

A conversation you already had

After a voice conversation in Talkfirst you get a review: corrections, “Say it better” rephrasings and new words. Each has a “+” button that saves it to your vocabulary. The agent in the chat sees the same result and can save the useful parts for you.

Conversation review in Talkfirst. A frame from our test setup on the English course, not a screenshot of a live chat; the review looks the same for Czech.

Look at my last conversation. Save the corrections and the “Say it better” phrases to my vocabulary, and tell me which one I should practise first.

The course decks

The Czech course has A1 and A2 decks by topic: meeting people, a café, the pharmacy, transport, renting a flat, at the doctor's, at a Czech office, work, false friends and more. The agent can list them with topics() and quiz you on a topic. If you want the words without the app, the lists are also on Czech words for beginners and in the Czech phrasebook.

Show me the A2 topics of my Czech course. I'm looking at flats this month, so start with renting a flat.

What the app does not have

The Talkfirst app has no “add your own word” button. Your own words get into the vocabulary through the agent or from a conversation review. In the app you can see the whole vocabulary in the Vocabulary tab and remove a word you don't want.

How the words come back

Saving is half the job. Talkfirst brings the words back with spaced repetition: the agent sees which flashcards are due (srs_due) and records your answers (srs_review), so a word returns after a day, after a few days, after a week.

Quizzes (quiz_start) have five types: recognise (you see the Czech and choose the meaning), recall (from the meaning to Czech), listening, saying it out loud, and “say it in Czech”, where you see the translation and answer by voice from memory. A quiz can take words that are due, weak words, new words, a topic, or an exact list.

Quiz me on 10 words from the doctor's topic: first by listening, then say them out loud.

Repeat only the ones I got wrong, then save this quiz as “doctor” so I can run it again before my appointment.

The agent repeats the quiz with only the mistakes (only_wrong) and saves it (quiz_save); saved quizzes are listed with quizzes. If you don't know where to start, ask for a placement check.

Telling the agent what you already know

A deck always contains words you know. Instead of clicking through them, tell the agent:

• “Later” — the card is deferred (defer_card).
• “I don't want to learn this one” — the card is skipped (skip_card).
• “I already know it” — the word is marked known (mark_known) at one of five levels: I recognise it, I recall it, I get it by ear, I pronounce it, I use it.

Let's go through the A1 meeting people words together. I'll tell you which ones I already know, and you mark them.

That is calibrate: the agent walks through the list with you. For one word, word_stats shows its status, each skill from 0 to 2 and the median response time per skill. A slow answer is a reason to talk about the word, not a verdict.

How am I doing with “objednat se k lékaři”? And show me all the words I don't recall confidently yet.

The second part uses vocab_list with a filter.

The app also has three modes: Strict, Zen and Mix. Zen is for days when you want to learn without pressure.

Czech words worth saving early

If you speak another Slavic language, add the false friends deck early: čerstvý means fresh, pozor means watch out, úžasný means amazing, život means life. And save the questions you will ask at the office, not only the answers: Kde podám žádost? (Where do I submit the application?). In the A2 speaking exam you ask the questions in the dialogues; see the A2 speaking part.

Next step: the same words, said out loud and scored word by word — checking Czech pronunciation with AI. All guides: Czech guides. About the course: Talkfirst for Czech.

Questions