Back to school

Back in 2008 I met Ilona,  my girlfriend,  who has given me a different perspective on life in a number of ways. 

1) One should live every day like it was their last and have fun (my Facebook photo album is proof of this ethos)

2) Ilona has helped me appreciate that basic communication is important,  no matter what technology is used to transmit it.  She is Czech.  Her English is A*,  my Czech is a D-

I have been taking Czech lessons for a while and during my first lesson I discovered that before you learn another language you must first understand your own.  I don't.  My tutor started with ‘nouns and verbs’  but after seeing my eyebrow raise,  she quickly realised that I needed to learn the building blocks of English grammar before I could tackle the same in Czech,  the lessons continue.  Learning another language,  including all its patterns and intricacies is immensely interesting and well worth the effort.  Through Facebook I can talk to our Czech friends without Ilona,  is this the modern version of a ‘pen pal’ perhaps?

The conclusion?

1) Technology like Google Translate is great but its not the same as learning the language yourself

2) Do schools still arrange ‘pen pals’? Could ‘Facebook Pen Pals’ bring this back to life?

Nasladanou