Study at a University in the Hearth of Europe

Czech language is studied by Japanese and Ukrainians

The fluent Czech sounding final speeches of the Summer School students would have confused any viewer. More than 80 students of 16 nationalities proved with their speeches that their completion of the intensive Czech course was successful and they receive their certificates of completion of the intensive Czech course deservedly.

The Czech and Czech Culture Summer School was a bit different than usual this year. It was held in cooperation with the University of Chicago and involved Ukrainian women whose Czech language education was supported by the Foundation. Students from Japan, the United States and Korea also participated. The international participants worked in six groups, which prepared special performances for the closing ceremony - from a knowledge quiz to singing and presenting memories of the course.

The students highly appreciated the content of the courses, the lecturers who prepared tailor-made lessons and connected the realities of textbooks and real information about life in the Czech Republic. "Thank you for the creative, interesting lessons, for instilling a love of Czech," or "Czech lessons are hard, but they have become the best experience of the summer." "The school prepared a boat for us, a hundred meters after we got out we found out that we had forgotten Tomáš. The captain turned the boat around and Tomas got on. We got Czech food and saw Prague from a different angle."

Each of the more than 80 students has different reasons for studying Czech, while Šárka from Chicago is studying for her family because her mother is from Prague, Bela from Korea has been studying the language for three years because she wants to work in Prague as a clerk at the embassy. Thanks to the support of the JT Foundation, thirty Ukrainians were able to attend the Summer School this year.

Their performance at the final certificate ceremony was very spontaneous and touching: "Thank you for your understanding and friendly approach. Thank you for letting us get to know your culture, for welcoming us to safety, for welcoming our children to schools and kindergartens," said one of the graduates of the Czech language course for Ukrainian refugees. A cake baked by one of the Ukrainian students saved a difficult farewell to their favourite lecturer.

"This year, for the first time, the FLAS course programme took place in a modified form - a combination of the Summer School programmes in Poděbrady and Prague. One of the most popular parts of the course are the historical blocks of post-war modern history focused on the Velvet Revolution, which we organize in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes," says Šárka Vašíčková, coordinator of Summer FLAS Prague. "The course was very well organized and I hope to come back to Prague soon," said a satisfied Ryan from Baltimore.

Credit: René Volfík, ÚJOP UK