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Current AffairsTeachers seek to revive Latin at Czech schools

Latin once used to be the cornerstone of classical education. Until the middle of the 20th century, some knowledge of the language was a prerequisite for any career in the academia, and Latin was taught at every grammar school. But the numbers of students taking up the language has dropped by a half over the past decade. That’s why a group of Latin teachers launched a campaign to revive the teaching of Latin at Czech schools. More

Current AffairsThink tank recommends English being made sole obligatory foreign language in schools

This week the government’s economic think tank, NERV, issued a report recommending, among several changes, that English be made the only obligatory foreign language in Czech schools. The idea is that time allocated for additional languages could be better spent on areas where until now many schools have been weak: the teaching of information technology or economic or financial literacy. A little earlier to I spoke to Daniel Munich, associate professor at CERGE-EI in Prague and a member of NERV. More

Current AffairsCzechs have average foreign language skills, above-average need for foreign language

How do Czechs’ foreign language skills compare to those of other European nations? At first glance, good – squarely within the European average. But in a small country with an above average need for foreign language skills, good may not be good enough, and in some cases there are more jobs than there are linguistically qualified job-seekers to take them. More

NewsSurvey suggests majority of Czechs speak no foreign language

Letter from PragueDubbing has its drawbacks but children knowing Alain Delon is cool, non?

The Czech Ministry of Education called recently for the country’s public service TV station Česká Televize to show more films with subtitles. The suggestion is that the language skills of Czechs will improve if fewer of the movies they watch are dubbed. More

Current AffairsHelping disadvantaged children to learn English

Under communism Czech society was highly institutionalized and an unhappy legacy from that time is the disproportionately large number of children growing up in children’s homes. By way of comparison, there are fewer children in institutional care in Britain than in the Czech Republic, even though the country has nearly six times the population. Children growing up in homes often end up with huge social and educational disadvantages, and this was what motivated the Faculty of Education at Prague’s Charles University to carry out a project aimed at developing after-school teaching activities for children in children’s homes. The project focused on English teaching. David Vaughan reports.  More

Czech BooksA pioneering Czech academic explores how our native tongue influences the way we see the world

What goes on in our mind when we learn a foreign language? Why do we find it so much harder than learning our mother tongue? And what can we do to make the often painful process of learning languages easier? These are just a few of the questions that have long fascinated the Czech psycholinguist Barbara Schmiedtová. Still in her mid thirties, Barbara has taught and researched at many top European universities, and has published extensively in English, German and Dutch – all of which see speaks fluently alongside her native Czech – exploring the pioneering science of psycholinguistics. Put simply, this is the study of what goes on in our head when we are speaking and understanding language. When we met in Prague a few days ago, Barbara told me about the research she is currently carrying out at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and about her particular interest in second-language learning.  More

Current AffairsBest English teachers receive awards at Prague ceremony

Good English teachers are in great demand in the Czech Republic. While more and more children want to learn the language, schools are facing a serious lack of qualified teachers. The Prague Post Endowment Fund is aiming to improve the situation by organizing The Best Teacher of English Competition.  More

Current AffairsCzech schools face lack of qualified English teachers

An overwhelming majority of Czech school children choose English as their first foreign language but there is often no one to teach them. A recent report by the Czech School Inspection has shown that Czech schools are facing a serious lack of qualified English teachers as well as native English speakers.  More

NewsToo few native speakers teaching languages at Czech schools, say inspectors