Studying at the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies was a key for achieving my dreams. When I came to the Czech Republic in 2021 to study medicine, I faced a big challenge - I had to learn Czech and get ready for the entrance exam in just 9 months. But thanks to the intensive course at UJOP, I not only learned the language, but also got accepted to five medical faculties at Charles University. Now, I’m studying at the 2nd Medical Faculty and I know that without the support of UJOP I wouldn’t be where I am today. UJOP taught me that with determination and the right preparation, even the highest goals can be achieved.

I was born in Prague to a Czech mother and an Italian father. Although I have lived in Italy since my youth, I was raised in a bilingual environment and have always kept a connection to the Czech language and my homeland. I worked as a Czech language teacher for 40 years. It has been important for me to follow not only the development of the Czech language, but also the changes in Czech society and their impact on socio-cultural competences in teaching Czech. The knowledge I gained at many international conferences and methodological seminars (e.g. the Course on Methodology of Teaching Czech for Teachers from Expatriate Communities Abroad) organised by the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies was of great help to me. It allowed me to compare my experience with colleagues working both in the Czech Republic and abroad. During the lectures and seminars, I could deepen my knowledge of teaching methodology, discover new textbooks for teaching Czech to foreigners and learn about the latest trends in didactics. I came back to my workplace eager to share and try out new didactic methods and tools. I think the students could feel my enthusiasm. My main goal was to spark their interest in the Czech language and the Czech Republic. If I managed to do that even a little bit, I consider my mission accomplished.

My participation in the preparatory Czech language course at the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies enormously helped me personally and professionally. I quickly adapted to my new life in the Czech Republic, I was able to make contact with Czechs and find friends among them. Professionally, my Czech language helped me a lot in understanding professional materials and gave me confidence when taking exams at university.

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I really enjoyed the time when I studied at the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies. I came to a new country and was getting to know a new culture and language. It was one of the best years of my life, and a kind of bridge between my life in Russia, where I had left everything behind, and going to the conservatory.

The Czech Republic is practically my home, it is a great place to live.

interview here.

Studying Czech at the Institute of Language and Preparatory Studies at Charles University was one of the decisive factors that enabled me to integrate into the Czech working environment. I currently work as an assistant professor at the Institute of Romance Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, where I teach literary studies and Italian literature.

The two semesters I spent learning Czech at UJOP were a big turning point for me. Not only did I learn to speak and write in Czech and to use the language correctly, but I also got to understand Czech culture and how people live in the Czech Republic. I also met people from all over the world, many of whom are still part of my life today. Without this strong foundation in Czech and understanding the society I built at UJOP, it would have been much harder to get into university and later find a job. Plus, I wouldn’t have felt as comfortable here in Prague and in the Czech Republic, which eventually became my home.

I came to Prague in 2006 to chase my dream of studying animation at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). As soon as I arrived, I signed up for a Czech language course at UJOP UK. Thanks to their excellent language preparation, I soon got into the master’s programme in animation. Now, I’m a visual artist and animator and I’m also finishing my PhD at the Department of Philosophy and History of Natural Sciences at Charles University.

Originally, I had thought I’d go back home to Colombia, but everything turned out differently. I met my love in Prague, started a family, and now I have two kids with my Czech partner. Half of my heart will always belong to the Czech Republic.

And it all started at UJOP :-) .

I moved from Russia to the Czech Republic when I was eighteen. My goal was to get a good European education. I wanted to study at Charles University, which I knew was one of the best universities in the Czech Republic and one of the oldest in Europe.

My journey started with a Czech language course at the UJOP. I was not good at Czech at all at the beginning. I couldn't understand grammar or pronunciation and I didn't understand more than half of what people said to me in shops or outside. But thanks to my hard studying, by the second half of the course I was one of the best students in our group. Thanks to a good language foundation from the Institute of East European Studies, I was able to successfully complete my BA in East European Studies at the Faculty of Arts, my MA in Russian Language and Literature at the Institute of East European Studies, and begin my PhD in Slavic Literature.

Thanks to a difficult, yet beautiful start at the Institute of Languages and Literature, I managed to get to where I am now and I am very grateful for this opportunity.

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Studying Czech at UJOP Charles Univeristy has allowed me to understand parts of the world that I only knew marginally. I've gained a new perspective on how similar the ways of thinking can be even in different languages. This helps me in my work as an interpreter for the Italian public radio and television network RaiNews, where I translate from English, French, and Spanish, as well as Czech.Studying at the UJOP is an experience I wouldn't hesitate to repeat a hundred times.

I attended the language courses at ÚJOP for a year and a half. It was good for me that the classes here were taught only in Czech and prepared me well not only for life in the Czech Republic, but I was also able to understand the more difficult classes at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU). Practicing phone calls and writing e-mails in my Czech lessons also helps me a lot in my professional life when communicating with gallerists and buyers of my paintings.

The experience of studying at ÚJOP was important for me as a start in my academic life. The program was well structured, which helped me not only to learn the language but also to integrate into the new culture. Thanks to this preparation, I successfully completed my bachelor's degree in Ergotherapy at the University of West Bohemia and then went on to study a master's degree at Charles University focused on adapted physical education and sport for people with specific needs in the Czech language.

I am currently working as a children's ergotherapist and a cognitive rehabilitation therapist, while studying in a PhD program at Charles University.

I attribute my professional success to the solid linguistic and professional foundation I acquired at ÚJOP.