The Europe Meets School Programme: Thriving Cultural and Language Lessons ****************************************************************************************** * The Europe Meets School Programme: Thriving Cultural and Language Lessons ****************************************************************************************** My memories of language lessons at school are along the same lines as my memories of “food classes or girl's netball – characterised by a sense of confusion, an oddball teacher and question of “why exactly am I being made to do this”, as I learnt how Smartie cookies are step on a production line or as I gallivanted round in one of those itchy pleated sports s whistle periodically blown at me whilst my male classmates were allowed to charge and scre the mud for an hour. You get the idea – languages were generally met with a “sigh” by most children, including myself, and most look back on their days of unpronounceable French and German grammar as a closed book that will gather dust for some time. With 95% of Brits estimated to be lingo-lacking according to the BBC, it's no wonder that risen over our linguistic ignorance and over the part that this stagnating position plays interconnected and international global scene. Evidently, it is amongst school pupils and can pinpoint the birth of this general lack of concentration on and ambition towards langu light both cultural and institutional problems. But, when fingers point to our schooling, at fault? Could it well be our exam-obsessed learning goals and uninspiring curriculum, topped off w afterthought attitude towards languages that makes us Europe's most monolingual country? G and social affairs journalist Louise Tickle hits the nail on the head for many of us in sa a foreign language is difficult, right? Well, yes, it is if you start at 11 (no child in E Scotland or Northern Ireland has to learn a modern foreign language before they start seco only do it for three years, get the bare minimum of curriculum time, have your classes so you forget what you learned last Wednesday when it comes to the next lesson on Tuesday, an apply your skills, so it's all theory and no practice (let alone pleasure) ... this is pre schoolchildren in the state sector are taught modern foreign languages in the UK.” Numerous conversations with Erasmus students at Charles University on this topic prompted more tangible answers. It was on my visit to a small, local Czech school in Strančice near part of the Europe Meets School programme that I was enabled to do a bit of cross-comparis scheme, which was kick started in Germany and brought to Prague in 2008 by the Erasmus Clu of Arts, has a simple but budding initiative; exchange students assemble a project such as presentation for a native school at their host country, informing the children on a topic about their home. Your only criterion is imagination and stimulation, encouraging the chil and inquisitive, ensuring that “everyone can experience the richness of European culture.”

I arrived expecting a slow session of continuous trans was greeted with beaming smiles and perfect hello's, good morning's and how are you's at t primary, ZŠ Strančice.

Charles University has overseen 15 EMS projects in the year 2013/14, fostering some unique topics such as Spanish fairy-tales, Ancient Greek monsters, popular German music and Swiss Visiting students have been given the opportunity to run 1-6 sessions for 1-2 groups, givi an insight in to life outside the Czech Republic on countries such as Slovenia and cities Presenters can also incorporate any specialised knowledge they have, which has facilitated alternative sessions such as a Welsh language workshop and some hands-on Baroque in Moravi traditional Portuguese tiling for architecture lessons and art schools. These projects have everything to do with languages, as many have been conducted in a fore for the children. I was all too hasty jamming my PowerPoint full of photographs in the eve language barrier, where I soon found there wasn't much of one at all. So, there was me in style, talking about tubes and Big Bens, Royals and chunky chips, in English of course. I a slow session of continuous translation, but I was greeted with beaming smiles and perfec good morning's and how are you's at this sweet local primary, ZŠ Strančice. Although my au older than eleven, they were all very capable at asking and answering questions in English my dialogue, turning only sometimes to the class high-flyer for translation in to Czech an occasionally by their teacher to construct full and grammatical sentences. My two sessions followed by a humorous question and answer session, and I was astonished at their attentiv English-taught class and their promising capabilities at such a young age. For the case of British schoolchildren, we can harbour some hope from children's obvious s languages. Like little sponges, they absorb their exposures and retain them for years to c delights from previously working with children at a play centre in an international town w up to three languages before they could locate their countries of heritage on the map. At the EMS trip was a learning experience for me as much as the children, bridging an underst two very different education systems. From observing their conduct of foreign language tea that Czech primary school is undoubtedly the crucial, determining age for the future of a bilingual fluency, and that – putting it simply – British schoolchildren need to be made t we take a leaf from Europe's book, this turnaround can be made in putting languages at the learning, with a similar tone of seriousness as core subjects such as Maths and Science. B it equally in to all dimensions of school life including conversations between the teacher recreational activities such as pen pals, drawing and play, guest speakers and cultural pr languages becomes less of a regimented, isolating experience and more of a gentle, practic eases languages in to culture and mind. This in turn seems to create an air of 'naturalnes acquisition of a second language. Blogging head teacher Tom Sherrington poses the question in his article Lost in Translatio Foreign Languages in Schools Needs an Overhaul: “if you had a completely free choice, what school curriculum look like?” My EMS visit got me thinking just this, and Sherrington call teachers to use this simple line as inspiration. Would it be possible to scrap fragmented confined curriculums and panic attack-inducing exam pressure for some creativity and appli interactive tasks that challenge and vitalise students on a daily basis, with teachers who nourish them? This was exactly what Sherrington reiterated to the Guardian, admitting that don't give it enough time in the curriculum” and that approaches are “limiting and formula relevant, engaging content, which he eludes as a “diet of vocabulary-driven rote learning grammar tacked on”, claiming he has “too often (…) seen lessons in very good schools where learn a list of colours in isolation ... but can't put a related sentence together with an Furthermore, six months later, the earlier vocabulary has been forgotten.” This deficiency in the syllabus, where “language learning is not high on their list of pri Sherrington reaffirms, is backed rather worryingly by a “popular culture” that is “exclusi centric, fuelling a complacent cultural-lingual apathy.” British schoolchildren fit within a new generation of people with a fairly passive identity with modern foreign languages... overly-critical and Scroogey (I did have some good school trips thanks to GCSE German), he in saying that “a meagre two hours per week is no contest for the mighty cultural counter- says: 'Who cares? Everyone speaks English anyway!'” This is because sadly, this mindset ex classroom and on to the beaches of Spain, Portugal and anywhere else with a chip van and a really – watch out for the sunburnt pie-eater in their natural habitat, speaking English a to, almost anyone and everyone, loudly and slowly, adding “mate” on to any bar order. Crin Poppy Gerrard-Abbott is an Erasmus student studying BA write for the iForum to build on her journalism skills Czech culture and life in Prague through attending loc Poppy saw the iForum as an exciting opportunity to pur fun experience that has brought some exciting opportun offer such placements to future students.