Published in The Prague Post, c. 2002. Text from the author's final draft; the printed version may differ slightly.
According to some, language is the perfect window to the spirit of a nation and if they are right, Americans are extremely fond of adversity. One of the most popular words in the vocabulary of your average expatriate entrepreneur is 'challenge'. He writes it in his emails home, she shares it with her friends over coffee at the Globe, and he encourages Czech co-workers to seek it, or at least if things go wrong to use it as an excuse. Czechs, on the other hand, find coping with this rather challenging. If they look up challenge in an average dictionary (and most are below average) they will be told that it means výzva which is not very good because it is typically used in the context of duels, and although today's permissive society offers ample opportunity for defending a lady's honor, few people get up early enough. So what other words are there to take up the slack? There is the good old problém which will take of sentences such as 'We had to overcome a lot of challenges.' It won't fit the bill, though, when it comes to 'facing a challenge' so you have to substitute úkol (task) or obtížný úkol (a difficult task).
Another problem will soon rear its ugly head if English decides to challenge. There you have to apply your knowledge of the situation. You can popřít (refute), namítnout (raise an objection), or brát v pochybnost (to doubt). If you challenge somebody to prove their point, you can go back to vyzvat (invite to) although you must be aware that it is fairly strong and may result in a confrontation. It is also more formal and better suited to the parliamentary floor rather than a pub brawl.
Once you start talking about challenging things, you invite further hardship. Turning vyzvat into an adjective is no good as it gives you vyzývavý which means provocative with a sexual subtext. Problematický may be an alternative but the best option probably is těžký (difficult).
No matter what word you choose in Czech, remember that it will never have the full meaning such as it might have in a sentence 'It's a difficult job for me but I like the challenge.' To make it comprehensible and translatable it would be best to rephrase it into 'It's a difficult job for me but I don't mind because it will help me learn more' or whatever it is you mean by challenge.
What is the bottom line, then? If you're speaking to Czechs, be it formally or informally, avoid 'challenge' like the plague. This is especially important for business consultants who come in and fill company mission statements with challenges and then watch in despair as the hapless translator butchers their slick piece of prose into an incomprehensible jumble. So if you're one of these people, here's a challenge for you: do without.