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Thank you for participating and happy holidays to all!

Hi Everyone,
The semester is over here at Kennesaw State, so I just wanted to thank you all for participating in the blog conversations. I hope that both the Slovaks and the Americans have learned something about English studies in another context and about the lives and prospects of English (Education) majors in the other country. If you have any feedback, ideas, or suggestions related to this type of collaboration, please post here or email me at kgephard@kennesaw.edu
The blog will remain open for conversations, though.
I have seen a lot of enthusiasm for reading on both sides of the Atlantic, so I just wanted to share this little article:
http://nonamerah.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/869/
Happy holidays to all of you!
Katarina Gephardt

Taking this elsewhere.

i would love to keep the communication open between these two classes.

my presence on the blog was minimal at best. that does not mean that i didn't read anyone's posts or comments. we have a rare chance to make new friends with people that we probably would never have met anywhere else so i am inviting all of you to join the group that i started. this is the message that i sent to my classmates:

i created a facebook group [the rough writers (Gephardt's Fall 2145)] so anyone interested is welcome to join, talk, share job information, or random things. you're already on facebook so its really only a click away.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/139942359448367/

All of the conversations our class has had led me to starting this. i liked the blog but i found it utterly unnavigable and since time is such a factor in my life (and probably is for all of you) i'm trying this. currently the only members are my wife and i because you can't start a group by yourself.

with the technology of today there is no reason to lose contact with anyone anymore. i hope to see you there.

-tim ford

Hello everyone! How's your weekend??? x)

pyjamas&bathrobe+music+bed=my saturday (=

and YOURS???

Hello, everybody!

My name is Jane and I'm from Bratislava, the Slovak capitol. I study my two favorite subjects, English and History at Comenius University in Bratislava. Before that I attended University of Economics for three years, but I realized that I really hated it and that I never want to work a day of my life in the field.
I have been tutoring kids of various ages since about 2005 and from that it was only a small step to the decision that I want to become a teacher. I even spent a semester teaching a bilingual class at the high school I had attended. I really enjoyed it, so applying at the Faculty of Education was a no-brainer.
This is only my first semester here, but I can already tell that I like it here very much so far:-)

Hello everyone! :)

My name is Lucia and I am student at Comenius University in Bratislava. I study English language and literature together with Biology and this is my first year of master´s degree. I cannot say that I have always wanted to become a teacher, I made that decision at secondary school. Ever since secondary school English and Biology have become my passion. During classes I would just picture myself in the position of teacher and wonder how exciting it would be. So, when the time came for me to choose a university teaching English language and Biology was my only option. To be honest, my parents as well as my friends were not very happy with my choice due to the fact that teachers in Slovakia are underpaid and not properly appreciated. However, I did not let that to stop me from pursuing my goal.

After completing the master´s degree I would like to take up a doctorate in Biology. I am considering Zoology, Biological Anthropology or Virology. The idea of becoming a scientist and doing my own research in one of the above mentioned fields in combination with teaching at Uni is fascinating to me. To get there requires a lot of hard work but I know what I want and I am going to do my best to achieve it.

In my spare time I love reading, especially English books. Like other young people I enjoy going out with friends, listening to music, watching movies as well as spending time with my family. Apart from that I have always been very interested in make-up artistry. So in order to chase my dream of becoming a make-up artist I took a professional make-up artistry course. I am glad whenever I can help women with their make-up for special occasions like wedding or prom. I just love the surprised look on women faces when I finish their make-up, it is like asking me "is it really me?"

That is probably all for now. I am looking forward to hearing from all of you, so feel free to comment or ask a question :)

Have a nice day!

Lucia F.

:-)

Dear all,

My name is Jana. When I got my degrees in management and international relations, I found out that working in business isn't satisfying for me. I always wanted to be a teacher, but the status of teachers in my country is really low, therefore I wanted to get some “better” education than a “poor” teacher training when graduating high school.

When I say the position of Slovak teachers is bad, I don’t only mean the salaries (they earn significantly bellow the average wage). Much more serious problem is that they do not get any recognition in our society. If you declare that you study education, people usually ask you “Uhmmm, and what did you want to study before you got a place at the Faculty of Education?”.

It’s true that most of the students take education as their second, third, or fourth choice, and they apply only in case that they wouldn’t get the place at Faculties of medicine, philosophy or economics. The fact that people study education just for getting a degree makes it really difficult for our uni teachers to create a good learning environment, as the majority of their students are not motivated at all. But there are some of us who really want to do this job and are keen on gaining new experience and knowledge. This usually means that we have to look for “western” sources of information on English language education, as our Slovak knowledge base is very restricted (and influenced by 40 years of autocratic approaches).

My parents did not support me when I decided to become a teacher. The reason might be that my mom, after 30 years of teaching, feels unappreciated and tired of living of few hundreds euros per month. I understand her concerns and feelings. However, I think you can always get a whole lot of appreciation and energy from your students when you know how to do the job and when you do it with love.

Future after graduation? I feel I need much more knowledge and experience. I had an opportunity to observe some lessons in Finland and to spend couple of months at a village school in India. Especially Scandinavian educational systems are very inspirative, therefore I’m about to go for an internship in Iceland (starting in January). Then I’ll probably start teaching here in Slovakia. And my long-term aim is to help to change the system of language education in Slovakia, as I think such change is inevitable.

Hello everyone!

My name is Anna. I come from small town Michalovce. I study languages at Comenius University - English and Slovak language and literature. I’m in my second (and I hope in my last) year of master's degree. I study pedagogy because I always wanted to be a teacher and English a Slovak was my favourite subjects at my secondary grammar school. I chose these subjects because I like literature. I like reading and also I like to learn new things. My family was not very happy about my decision because my mother is a teacher and she knows how it is difficult. She always says: teaching is not only occupation but it is a mission. But unfortunately, as it was mentioned, the position of a teacher is rather low-ranking in our country. In spite of this fact my parents support me. In the future I would like to teach but also I would like to try something different. I have not decided yet and I am still thinking about it.

Have a nice day. J

Greetings everyone

My name's Katarina and as many of my colleagues I'm studying English and Slovak language and literature. Somehow I have always known I wanted to study English because it was one of the few subjects I truly enjoyed during my high school studies. When the time came to choose a university I applied for interpreting and translating of English and Arabic language, and as a backup plan teaching Slovak and English language and literature. Fortunately, (but in fact at that time it was kind of a tragedy for me:) my backup plan worked out and I am here today. My parents were not enthusiastic about my decision. They didn't like the idea of me becoming a teacher because as many of my friends have already mentioned - the position of a teacher in our country is rather low-ranking. But during those 5 years at university I realized I didn't enjoy translating at all, and I have found myself in the role of a teacher. I have been teaching mainly adults for 3 years now and I love how creative and rewarding this job is I would probably do it even after graduating.

Besides that I enjoy many creative activities. I love making "jewellery" from beads, fine wires, different metal components etc. but recently I haven't had enough time to do it. I also enjoy scrapbooking - I make different kinds of postcards, notebooks, photo albums... Many of my friends and family members get these as presents, so I guess they wish I would stop already and buy them proper gifts ;) but it ain't gonna happen my friends :D I also enjoy reading, cooking, baking and decorating our flat. I am newly married so I still enjoy spending time with my beloved hubby ;)

So take care and have a nice day.

HAND :)

Good evening to everyone! Pekný večer všetkým!

My name is Janka. I come from a small village Staškov. However for last 3 years I have been studying and living in Bratislava. To be more specific I study the combination English language and civics (not sure if I have the right word, in Slovak we call it občianska náuka :)

1. Why English? Because it is an international language :) Moreover I like English very much. When I was a child I remember watching TV channel CARTOON NETWORK all day long. Even though I have no idea what they are talking about. I like English songs as well as later learning about English at school. The only thing what bothers me about English is (like for most students) grammar -tenses and articles.

2. My family have supported me.

3. Difficult to answer. I love reading book. Mostly psychological books about relationship between men and women but also writers like Heller -Catch 22, Ch.Bronte, Hemingway,...

4.What would I like to in the future? Well I would love to teach, but according to my opinion in our country teachers are underpaid. Money are important but for me not the most important. I have not decided yet. I am still thinking about it.

Shattering The Skies Above...

Hello everyone!

My name is Filip and I study English language and literature in combination with biology. During my high school studies I decided that I want to become a teacher and I still want to be (= . Alright, I have introduced myself a bit and you can find many information about me in my profile so go ahead and check it out! It is great to see all the new people here. I have read some of the posts and comments, pretty ineteresting, fascinating! Feel free to leave me a comment or ask a question. I am looking forward to our "exclusive" discussion (=

Have a nice day, Filip aka TheDagger

Hi everybody!

My name is Vanda and I study languages at Comenius University - to be specific - English and Slovak. Inspite of the fact, that I am in the last year of my study, I am still getting used to on the fact that I study teaching, because I have never been interested and never planned to work in this sphere. I am desperately in love with art, predominantly with literature, kinematography and fine arts. To be honest, the study of literature at my school is the only thing which keeps me alive, because I hate drill and memorizing of the rules and definitions which sometimes don´t make a sense to me. The grammar itself is a nightmare for me, doesn´t matter if Slovak or English, they perfectly bother me both!:D I´m also a great chaotic who loves to analyse and perceives all around intuitivelly and emotionally. On the other hand, it is not so much surprising that I have decided for this combination, because I did love English since my childhood. I was always curious what my favourite cartoon heroes said and tried to imitate them. I was fascinated by the smooth elegance of its fluency and sound. Yes, I can say that it was a love on the first sound!:D Do you know what I mean? Have you ever been to enchanted by some language like this?

Teachers in our country are very underestimated and miserably paid. They are not so respected as it was many years ago in the times of our parents and grandparents. The respect and appreciation of their work is not so much in fashion nowadays. These are the factors which are strongly irritating and demotivating for me for doing this job. It requires a lot of giving but the feedback is not guaranteed. Eventually, as everything in life... Personally, I am very emotional and impatient type of person, so this job would be pretty destructive for me!:D These are the reasons why I so admire all the teachers who do their work with enthusiasm and eager will to educate and tutor young people. Here are many negatives for me, but I have to say that I am surprised how teaching amusing and creative can be. That creative aspect is what I so appreciate about it and that´s the reason why I will not quit my private lessons of English. It is an opportunity to work on myself, make a progress and get into a contact with new lovely people. It is true, that it is a great satisfaction when you can help with your knowledges to other people. Even though they pay you, that feeling of great satisfaction cannot be replaced with any money in the world. :)

To say truth, I have a quite clear vision of my future. I can´t say that I will never teach but it is not what i really want to do in my life and what would make me happy. I passionately love writing, being a writer is a dream since my childhood. To work in some journal, travel and use my knowledge of language in reality also tempts me because beside of that I could find a time for my own writing. I have many people who inspires me - my family, friends, people who also create somethnig or write. I am pretty obsessed by Stephen King since my 13 and I have probably something around 50 books from him. I think that he is the one of the greatest narrators of our era. I also love and admire american playwrights as T.Williams, E. Albee, E. O´Neill, D. Mamet... I also love british J.Osborne. Shakespeare, beat poets, french writers, philosophers, musicians... There are many artists who I love and are my eternal source of inspiration. S. Dali, F.Kahlo, V. van Gogh are also my great idols. I also love rock music ( frantically GNR, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Queen, Van Halen, The Doors, The Darkness, Foo Fighters, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Depeche mode, etc...), photography, travelling and partying with friends.

What about you? What are your passions and idols?

Write if you want, I´ll be glad.

Take care and carpe diem! :)

I’m Lydia.

I study English language and literature and pedagogy, because I want to be a teacher of English language. I have already been teaching adults and kindergarten children. But after university I would like to teach at a regular secondary school.

I’m in my first year of master's degree. I wrote my BC thesis on the topic of Northanger Abbey a Parody of Gothic Novel and I plan to write my MA thesis pn 20th century American literature.

Hello:)

My name is Andrea and I study English language and literature and Pedagogy at Comenius University. It was difficult for me to choose the second subject because I wanted to study only English language, what is my favourite subject since the kinderkarten, where I started to learn English.

My family and friends always support me, no matter what I study. But my parents are really glad that I have choosen English, because they know how important is to be fluent in the language of global media.

As I have already mentioned, English language is my passion and I am definitely going to work with it in my future, but I have not decided yet, in what field. After school, I would like to travel a lot, to try variety of jobs(e.g. advertisment, translating, teaching,...) and then I will decide what is my dream job.:) I have great plans so I hope to graduate what will be the first step to start make my plans come true.:)

Have a nice day

Andrea

Dear ALL,

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kristina and I am a student at Comenius University in Bratislava as well. I study the combination of two languages, English language and literature and Slovak language and literature. Since my early childhoon I wanted to become a teacher, I used to play with my dolls or cuddly toys every single day as a teacher. I loved it so much!

Firstly, I tried to study Psychology, but I changed my mind and decided rather to study Pedagogy, studying languages, my favourite one- English. Even though my future occupation is not being paid very well (I think it is so stupid- pardon my language, but TEACHING children is the most important thing in everybody´s life. Every person in every contry has to attend the school.) I am still considering becoming a teacher. On the other hand I don´t have much experience in teaching, but my will is really strong and I believe I will learn everything important to become such a good and favourite teacher.:-)

My vision of study is recently quite complicated because I am on maternity leave. My daughter was born 21st October, 2011, so I am at home taking care of my sweet angel, who is sleeping at the moment, so I may write few words here.:-) You can imagine how time management is crucial in this situation. I try to do my best to be perfect mum and also not to neglect my school tasks. Is anybody who has a child as well and studies at the same time? If so, it would be great to have a talk about managing the time between school and the child.

I wish you a nice day and see you soon :-)

Kristina

Hi everybody!

My name is Adriana and I study English and Psychology at Comenius University. I had a rough time choosing what to study after finishing the secondary school, but English was (and still is) my favourite subject and I wanted to continue developing in it. I love reading so I try to work on my English this way and my other passion is watching American TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries and Glee. For me it is a good way to practice the language and at the same time have a lot of fun :).

As for the reactions of my family..well, my parents would be happy even if I didn't choose to study at the Faculty of Education. The main goal was to get accepted to the University regardless the field of study. Now I just hope to graduate and who knows what will happen in the future..I'm still not quite sure about my plans.

Have a nice day,

Adriana Takacova

Hello everybody!

My name is Michaela and I study Teaching English and literature and Pedagogy at the Comenius University.

My decision to be a teacher came very soon. On my primary school I was decided to become a teacher. I was strongly influenced by my grandmother (who was a teacher in the primary school and was brilliant and everybody loved her) and other great teachers who crossed my way. They did their job passionately, with love to us. Even though they were strict and demanding to us, they showed us love too. I wanted to be similar to them.

On my secondary school my desire stayed unchanged. Here I started to learn English and I fell in love with it. I decided to study English. After studying one year on another Slovak university I entered the religious order The School sisters of Saint Francis and after 3 years of formation I came to Comenius University. So, to the question about family and friends’ support I think I have the largest group of supportersJ. Except my family and friends, there are my 160 sisters who deal with me my studying! I really like teaching and I hope after finishing this school I will be useful as a teacher on some school in Slovakia (or somewhere else, who knows!).

Have a nice day!

Michaela

Hi :)

I am Halina from the Faculty of Education in Bratislava as well, but everyone calls me Lina, so you can if you like to :) I study in combination English/German for both are my hobbies and in the deep past absolutely interconnected which I find pretty fascinating.
In my free time I teach and I really try to do my best although there is a lot to work on.
My job concerns teaching as well but the subject matter defines a great deal for I am a dancing teacher and I earn my living myself by dancing.
I went through several exchange programs during my grammar school studies so I really enjoy meeting people from other countries or meeting new people generally.
Looking forward for further discussion :)

Dear All

Dear All,

I would like to contribute with my experience to the discussion. My name is Renata and I study English and Slovak languge at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. My choice of university studies was not simple. My secondary school was concerned with sciencies such as Mathematics and Physics. So I was expected to follow this way at the Uni. There were some positive influences which drove me the other way. I have a part-time job in a law firm. I am frequently in touch with legal English. It is very specific sphere of language with its own structure, vocabulary, syntax and stylistics. Definitely, I would like to deal with this issue in the future.

Best regards,

Renata

Hello everyone,

my name is Petra Mórová and I am studying Teaching English language and literature in a combination with Teaching German lang. and lit. at Comenius University.

Out of the two languages, English is definitely my stronger. I've had English since I was 7 which makes it... 17 years now (wow, I feel old now). Anyway, the major breakthrough came after quite a few years of learning - at high school. Although I wasn't sure about what I wanted to do with my life at that time (and I'm still quite undecided about it), I knew I really liked English and could imagine working with it professionally.

I love the sound of it (Slovak is too monotonous) and I'm especially enthusiastic about all kinds of "weird" accents and area specific words, such as in Scottish or Irish English. If you can think of any such words from where you come, go ahead and let me know some ;-)

To answer another question, English is very welcome and even demanded in all sorts of occupations in Slovakia. Lately, I've been thinking about my future employment. It's becoming a pressing issue now and I find myself in a bit of an existential crisis at the moment. If I could, I would probably join a research studying English language, because I find it so fascinating! However, that isn't too feasible. So I am toying with the idea of trying translation, since I love literature and working with language.

In addition, I'm still considering becoming a teacher, but I haven't had much practice so far and my other problem is that I don't think of myself as the right kind of person for that. I was told that I speak too quietly and don't seem very self-conscious, but that, on the other hand, I am very nice (some say perhaps too nice). With these personal traits, I'm simply not sure students would respect me. So my question to you is: Do you agree that there is a set of qualities a teacher should have like I repeatedly read in education books? Or is it irrelevant in case he/she can establish a functioning relationship with his/her students and teach them well? Don't be afraid to express your honest opinions, I won't get upset :)

To very concisely mention yet another point, my family and friends have luckily always supported me in my decisions and had faith in me, even when I myself sometimes don't.

That's all for now. Feel free to comment if you like and have a great day.