Czech is the main language here, but most people also speak English or German. Because of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia until the early 1990s, many of the older citizens speak much more Russian than English. The city of Brno is a university city, which means many of the locals are young students who have grown quite comfortable with English.
The Czech crown, or "koruna," is the primary currency here. Many of the surrounding countries all use the euro. The Czechs adopted the koruna when they split from Czechoslovakia in 1993, and they have continued to use it ever since, as it stands as a representation of their earned indepedence.
A large bottle of water costs about 19 korunas, which is less than one U.S. dollar! Their prices look very different from ours, since one U.S. dollar is worth about 21 korunas. When I go out to eat, the prices are normally range from 150 to 200 korunas, which always scares my American brain! But those large numbers are actually only worth about six to ten U.S. dollars.
