CzechFolks.com

When I used to live in the communist Czechoslovakia, I did not have a chance to learn English. I had no other choice than to learn Russian and German. I started to learn English a few years after the Velvet Revolution and most of it was self-taught. Today, Czech citizens are surrounded by American movies and English courses that will keep them connected with the rest of the world.

Many of Czech baby boomers from the 1980’s don’t speak English because their former comrades did not allow them to learn this international language in their teens but their options to learn are growing. Nowadays, children learn to speak English already in kindergarten and adults are catching up in evening courses.

One of the institutes that offers a variety of English courses is the British Council. This institute operates in many cities in the Czech Republic. The main office is located in Prague at Ulice Politickych veznu 13 in a building called Bredovsky dvur. Other branches known as the British Council, English Library, British Center, or British Section are located in Brno, Ceske Budejovice, Karlovy Vary, Liberec, Olomouc, Ostrava, Pardubice, Plzen, Usti nad Labem and Zlin.

The British Council’s concentration is mostly in teaching language courses for the public and companies and the administration of British language examination. The long list includes general English with variety of visual materials and Fast Track option, business English, legal English, IELTS preparation courses (for UK universities admission), Cambridge General English exam preparation (CPE, CAE, FCE, PET, and KET) and basic communication skills.

The British Council is just one of many organizations to pick from. The times have finally changed and everybody can now learn English or other prominent language. I did not have this great opportunity but I am happy that Czechs have so more options in their lives and one of them is to reach out to other cultures through travel and knowledge of foreign languages.

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Kdyz jsem zila v komunistickem Ceskoslovensku, nemela jsem moznost se ucit anglicky jen rusky a nemecky. Zacala jsem ucit anglicky az po Sametove Revoluci a vetsina my znalosti je pres samouku. Dnes jsou cesti obcane obklopeni americkymi filmy a kurzy anglictiny ktere jim umozni byt spojeni se zbytkem sveta.

Mnoho nasich obcanu z doby zvysene porodnosti v obdobi 80-tych let nemluvi anglicky protoze jejich “soudruzi” jim to nedovolili, ale jejich vzdelavaci moznosti se zvetsuji. Dnes se deti uci anglictinu jiz ve skolce a dospeli to dohaneji ve vecernich skolach.

Jednou z instituci, ktera nabizi kurzy anglictiny je British Council. Tento urad se nachazi v mnoha mestech v Ceske republice. Hlavni kancelar je v Praze na ulici Politickych veznu 13 v budove jmenem Bredovsky dvur. Dalsi pobocky jsou v Brne, Ceskych Budejovicich, Karlovych Varech, Liberci, Olomouci, Ostrave, Pardubicich, Plzni, Usti nad Labem a Zlinem a nachazeji se pod jmeny British Council, English Library, British Center, or British Section.

British Council se hlavne zabyva ucenim anglickeho jazyka pro verejnost a firmy a teke zkouskami z Britske anglictiny. Nabizeji zakladni agnlictinu skrze vizualnich predmetu a rychlokurzu, obchodni a pravni anglictinu, pripravy na IELTS (pro prijeti na Britske university), pripravy na Cambridge zkousku (CPE, CEA, FCE, PET a KET) a zakladni komunikacni znalosti.

British Council je jen jednou z organizaci z kterych si muzete vybrat. Doba se konecne zmenila a kazdy se muze ucit anglicky a nebo jiny predni jazyk. Ja jsem takovou moznost nemela ale jsem stastna ze Cesi maji v jejich zivote vice moznosti a jedna z nich je poznat jine kultury skrze cestovani a znalost cizich jazyku.