Maturita mistakes...and other stories ;-)

Well, it's that time of the year - the exams are over, most of the students have been successful - apparently only 6 students failed from 4AB,8AB & 6AF - which is a big improvement on the 11 last year! As well as making notes to mark the students, I also collect ideas on how to help the students more...what are the regular problems which keep cropping up...and also some of the more memorable moments :-) Hope you enjoy the read!!

•   Tom was talking about corruption in football as a referee – he was once approached by someone with a bribe - he told them to pay the other team as he didn't accept bribes! ;-)
• One student commented that the Statue of liberty has a 'fire in her hand'!! (if it helps you now, the word is 'TORCH'!)
• Another student didn't seem to understand what 'hitch-hiking' meant as he went on to say that 'my family and grand-parents used to do it together'! (we guessed he meant hiking!)
• Pronunciation is always important, but even as a native speaker, I can learn something amusing – for example, one student, talking about travel, said 'cycle paths' – but to me it did sound like 'psychopaths'! :-)
• When asked 'what are the opposite to serious newspapers', one girl said 'not so serious' ;-)
• The same student also said that there was 'no difference in the news between CT1 and Nova!' - which I find very hard to believe...
• A number of students still like to go 'skying' – maybe one day they will go 'skiing' too...
• Sometimes a student is lucky to pick a relevant topic - Eva G had 'English and American Literature' – and she had the peace symbol (connected with Allen Ginsberg) on her ring...and it was on the US Literature Map too! How cool is that?!
  
  
  
• Another student was asked about CR – 'what is grown in the area of Mikulov?' - 'Vegetables,' she said. Yeah – gimme some of that carrot wine! :-)
• The same girl also looked at some pictures of famous Czechs and said that Masaryk was Smetana! :-o (Even I know what Masaryk looks like!)
• We were informed by one girl that lacrosse was the British National Sport!
• One young man said that terrorists 'hitch-hiked a plane and flew it into the Twin Towers' – to which Mrs Bicova said, 'and were they standing on the cloud at the time?' (I'm sure he meant hijacked...)
• The same guy, when asked about a historical date said 'I don't know.' Mrs Castulikova tried to give him a clue and said '17...?' to which he replied 'I really don't know!' - and with great emphasis!
• Sometimes students get their much rehearsed and memorised information mixed up – 'in autumn, nature springs to life...'
• And often the right word just eludes them – in talking about the Environment, one girl said 'the facilities are going into the air...!' - she meant to say 'the fossil fuels are going into the atmosphere...'
• One girl said that 'one lesson (at SGO) lasts a quarter of an hour...' - she wishes!! :-)
• Those tricky grammar questions can sound amusing...if the student gets it wrong! – 'it's dark, I will switch off the light...'
• When asked 'what is the best thing about being a teenager', a young man replied 'That I don't care about anything!'
• One of the more common mistakes - 'I travel to school on foot...' - are those feet motorised??
• The wrong word again! One girl was describing a picture connected with health – looking at a picture she said 'it looks serious, there is a cemetary.' Mrs Agnew replied, 'It's an ambulance!' 
• When asked what character he would like to be in history, a young man replied, 'I want to be a prince and have an adventure with a dragon and a princess...but I don't know which would be the biggest adventure!'
• Many students change history and geography during their English exams: 'Missisppi is 4 kilometres long...' 
• And some manage to keep it at a basic level...'In Florida there is alligator – it is a very big animal...'
• We were also told by one girl that 'horses are used as a form of communication...' (she meant transport, of course...but perhaps horses do speak??)
• Even though I warn students...there is always one! – 'Are you chewing gum?' - There is a quick swallowing motion...'No!' ;-)
• Some basic knowledge is required – 'There are taxis in London.' 'What colour?' 'Yellow...' :-O
• And often I can learn a new phrase in English, which is borrowed from Czech culture & traditions – referring to May 1^st holiday a young girl said, 'I have been under the tree this year...'
• Some students insist on telling us - 'I am boring...' (and we might get bored of listening to it!) 
• And some students can be very confident – on coming to the end of her exams she was asked - 'What will the weather be like tomorrow?' 'It will be nice, I will have passed Maturita!'
• Literature is sometimes rewritten too – about Oscar Wilde it was said by one young man that 'His most famous work is 'My Fair Lady'...and another of his plays is 'The Little Prince'...'

A symbolic gift

At the end of the school year, when the exams are finished, the (mainly) successful class will organise a 'večírek' - which is basically a farewell party to which teachers who taught the class are invited...though it is also an opportunity for the students to de-stress :-) Food and drink are usually provided - and it is also a chance for students and teachers to meet outside of the usual arena of the classroom. And sometimes gifts are given - certainly to the class teacher who has walked with the students through their years of ups and downs...and sometimes for other teachers...

Last Friday (1st June), I attended the party of 4A - a great class who I had a lot of fun with. I was very surprised when one student (Petr) came over to give me a plastic bag, containing a surprise...and what a surprise! I opened the bag and found a Sparta Prague football shirt...and as I unfolded it, the name of 'Poborsky' was revealed...and the number '8'. At first glance, this seems an odd gift for a loyal Aston Villa fan. But in an instant, I realised why he (and his brother, whom I had taught in my first year, 6 years ago!) had bought me this particular gift...he remembered 'the story'! :-)

When students first get to meet me, I offer them to ask me any questions...and of course, one of the regularly asked questions is 'Why/when did I come to Czech Republic?' And the story begins in the summer of 1996, the European International Championships. The Czech Republic were playing Portugal in the quarter-finals at Villa Park - and my friends and I had tickets in the Holt End (Villa's end)....where the Czech fans were! This was perhaps the first time that I had met Czechs (to my knowledge)! And it was a lovely chipped goal from Karel Poborsky that put them into the semi-finals! You can see it here (it's the 3rd goal):

It was great to celebrate with the Czechs, and perhaps we did learn to say 'Češi do toho!' (the equivalent of 'Come on you Czechs!')...and little was I to know that just a few months later I would be travelling overland with 4 friends to the Czech Republic...and would meet the beautiful woman who became my wife...and would end up being an English teacher at a prestigious Grammar School in Olomouc! Wow....!

So, in many ways, Petr's gift is a very precious gift to me. It is symbolic - a marker of where I came from...and to where I am now :-) And I am a very happy man. Thank you, Petr. Thank you, God!