"Já tady česky umím nejlíp."

Translation: I speak the best Czech around here.

[HughLomas]

Why isn't it "I know" since umim's hint is "I know", wouldn't "I speak" be mluvim?

[RianVanGijlswijk]

I am wondering the same

[DaliborNovy]

It is just because we say in Czech "Já umím ....." (some language) significantly more often than "Já mluvím ..." . And in English, it is exactly vice versa. And Duolingo teaches the phrases the way they really speak. Therefore the "lingo".

[Leo970566]

(No guarantee) As I got it, umět means something around "can", so in this case, you "can" czech the best. And since knowing a language is about speaking and understanding it, it is translated as "speaking" czech the best.

[DaliborNovy]

Just a note - the infinitive of "umím" is "umět" (to know how to do something / can do something). The word "umít" does not exist in Czech. Only "umýt" and it is "to wash".

[horsthartm2]

Where does the "around" come from, shouldn't there be something like "kolem"?

[DaliborNovy]

When we say "Já jsem tady nejlepší." or something similar, we mean "around here"

[horsthartm2]

So it is contextual? Or is it related to the present people? Is it the people in or of the street, the whole village, the county ....
So who were you the best of? Thx

[DaliborNovy]

Usually the best of all the people present. But there may also be special situations where it may mean e.g. class, school, workshop or a tourist group... (Not everyone has to be present at this time).

[BrianG1941]

I translated the sentence in the same way as Mr Bass and agreed with his analysis but was marked wrong. An explanation of why would be most useful.

[BoneheadBass]

Curious. "I speak Czech the best here" (my answer referenced in the earlier comment) IS among the acceptable translations, as is "I speak Czech best here." Maybe there was something else in your answer that Duo didn't like. (That's why it's always helpful if we copy/paste our complete answers into our comments.)

[DaliborNovy]

"I know Czech the best around here." is also accepted (now).

[Sue899924]

So, if I understand these translations in this section, umět (which I thought was to know how to) is now meaning to speak. Why? Thanks

[VladaFu]

Umět means to have an ability, here to have a language ability. You know how to speak in the given language. Actually, it is not exactly the same as to speak. There are languages you may not speak at all, but you still can know them at a good level - like some ancient languages, read it and write it.

Or you can even be mute. And you can still say "Umím anglicky.".

But mostly when you know a language, you also can speak it. So you can say both "Mluvím anglicky." and "Umím anglicky.".

"Mluvím anglicky." can also mean "I am speaking in English." (right now, in case you can't determine the language)