What Country Speaks Czech

Times, and names, may change but this country remains all things to all people. If the hustle and bustle of beautiful and sophisticated Prague, wears you out a little, then not far away there are the mountains with their hot spas where you can relax a little. Peace and quite is also to be had in the little villages and hamlets. The population of ten millions has plenty of space in the landmass of thirty-thousand square miles. Of population twenty three percent profess the Roman Catholic faith, two percent Protestantism, with the rest unspecified. Since 1989 the transition to a market economy in what was the old Soviet Bloc has led to huge demand for English language skills. Everything from tourism to commerce, to membership of the EU depends heavily on English, and natives who want to...  [Read more]

Problems for learners in a Country of your choice: Italy In this paper I will address the issues I face as a teacher from the context of living and working in Italy, as well as the common problems my students encounter while learning and speaking English. I also want to draw attention to the input culture and society has on language, and look at how these factors influence dynamics within the classroom. Of course, it is nearly impossible to view ones self outside your own given cultural perspective, so as a result of this I will also be discussing my own assumptions on how I "imagined" people might act, compared to the reality of the situation. Often I neglect to take into account these differences, simply because I was raised in America, where I am used to a different set of cultural...  [Read more]