Projekt Edison

Students impressions

"Beginning of this week hasn’t started too well. All students and teachers of our school were crowding in an unventilated art studio. Neither the rest of the opening ceremony or the explanation of the project has taken place according to my expectations. It was rather unclear. But since that time it was much better. Presentations of the foreign „teachers“ about their countries were interesting and informative. And in the Friday, our class had entire day with them. It was probably the biggest disappointment. Singing the Czech songs and videos about Czech Republic bustling with stereotypes, I was not interested. A brief glimpse of the better times came in the third lesson, when our class had Russian and Brazilian lectors. Brief but interesting discussion about life in their countries followed. After that, we have got some dance practice. And because I thought the foreign instructors were here to tell us something about their respective countries and culture and give us opportunity to improve our English, I was quite disappointed from this turnout."

"I really enjoyed the whole week with foreign students. I personally think it was a great opportunity to train and improve my language skills and to get to know a lot of interesting information about the countries – about those distant as well as those distant-less. Also a great experience was, when was allowed to take care of one of the students when inviting her for dinner. She was very kind, we spent hours by talking and it was not just me who favored her. And so I have to say the project was successful and I´m sure I´ll remember that week for a long time."

"At the beginning I haven’t expected too much from the project, except perhaps for freer week and possibly enrichment of the English vocabulary. But certainly I wouldn’t have imagined that during their presentations of different cultures, discussions on various topics and other activities with foreign students, we will befriend them so much that some of our classmates will devote a lot of time to them. On Friday, we could see how much the trainees have grown fond of our school. We were surprised, when some of them have visited our school the following Tuesday. The highlight of the event for me personally was a Friday, when we entertained the students and sang songs with the accordion of our class teacher."

"I initially had no expectations from the visit of foreign students but at the end I was pleasantly surprised. Week with the foreign students was a great change. The presentations of each of them we learned a lot, I think for us and unexpected information about the culture of their country. It was also interesting to listen in English. I perfectly understood to all students. AI definitely rate this week positively, but I think that our professors should be able to adapt more flexibly when students unexpectedly came."

"When we were told for the first time, that some foreign students will arrive to teach us in school by using their „Excellent English“, I was not surprised honestly. I didn’t believe in their English skills and I totally didn't want to learn physics or math in English. But I have to say I was really surprised in the end. Because the students didn't even try (thanks god) to teach us in the formal way. They preferred to talk about their countries, about the differences between our countries and so on. That was something really useful and more interesting for me. And for that reason I have to say that all the week was cool and I wouldn't mind at all to make the that week longer..."

"Week with the foreign students was very enlightening for me. I learned a lot new things, I learned something about other cultures and most importantly, I met new friends. I think that it was great opportunity for other to improve their English. Even when the students were from all parts of the world, we could understand each other. Thanks to our school we have changed their views on the whole Czech Republic."

"I remember the first day our guest, Evgeniy, arrived. I hadn’t known what to expect. I was really curious about the whole week, about the lessons, if I will be able to understand and so on. I have to say I was surprised, when I saw the single presentations of each student´s countries. I regret a bit that I haven’t seen all of them, on the other hand I was able to participate in some other activities. We were usually talking a lot after the presentations. We got to know many things about the countries, habits and we broke all the stereotypes. The highlight of our week was the Friday-block we spent with our colleagues, class-teacher and great mood every where. The best moment was surely the performance of our class-teacher using his accordion. Thanks to him, we showed our Czech dances and then they showed the AIESEC ones..."

"I can say just few words about this week – it was absolutely great! As we probably all know, five interns from all over the world came to visit us. We had a wonderful opportunity to learn about new cultures, make friends with foreigners and spend time with them outside school. For me, I think all about this week was positive. The atmosphere at the school was much more relaxed than usual. And I even believe that we can flatter ourselves with a positive evaluation from the trainees themselves. I think they had much better time here in Šlapanice then they had in they previous city of Plzen."

"What did I expect from a week-long project taking place in our school? Honestly, not much. When you don´t expect much, nothing can disappoint you, you can be only surprised in a positive way, and that´s exactly the case of project Edison. The trainees were very nice, they had quite interesting presentations and they tried to spend as much time as possible with the students both in school and outside the school. As for their „excellent English“ they were supposed to have, they naturally can´t be compared to native speakers, but their English was quite good and everyone could understand them easily. To sum up, we got to know other cultures, spent several lessons by polishing our English and had a lot of fun with foreign students while doing all that."

"Even though I did not expect much from this project I was, like majority of other students, very surprised. The whole week went smoothly and the atmosphere in school was much more relaxed than usual. We had presentations by the foreign students and also discussions with them during which we have learned some interesting information, and practiced English. The highlight of our week was a block on Friday which we almost entirely spent with the trainees. Overall, I enjoyed the week and a further visit would certainly be welcomed."

"Well, like everyone else, I hadn’t known what to expect from that week. And like everyone else, I was gladly surprised too. For example, I hadn’t expected at all, that the students will be so cool. They didn’t try to teach us, they pushed us to communicate as much as we could. Even though there was sometimes nothing to say, they helped us every time to keep talking. Nevertheless the best was to talk honestly about whatever you want to is to sit in the pub, drink some juice or some other alcohol-free drink and let your tongue speak... "

"From the project I was expecting practicants to teach us all subjects in English. What was my surprise when in first hour with Madalina instead of EU she started to talk about her country, their costumes or their cuisine. Other lessons were held in a similar way and that is why I really enjoyed them. The best day with practicants was Friday, because we were with them all day."