Exchange programme in the Netherlands

I participated in this programme in 2023. I really enjoyed being there in May, then in February, because the Netherlands is more spring country than the city of Prague.

Language:

For exercising and training English, this programme is great. You have to speak all the time. It is not really polite to speak Czech behind your exchange students' backs. They have really good English and you can catch every new word you don't know.

However, going there to learn the language is not a good idea. They don't want to spend time teaching you the language. It is much better to go there with some level of English. But our school is able to teach you this level, so don't be worried.

The country:

Seeing the country with this programme is great. Living in a smaller city is really nice, because you can see the typical Dutch infrastructure of the city. Amsterdam is much more crowded than Leiden, so you aren't able to see the great usage of bikes. In Leiden however, the biking system around the city is spectacular! You can get everywhere in the city in 30 minutes. They have separate roads and cyclists have much more respect for the bikes, than here in the Czech Republic. The city of Leiden is a really nice city. It is able to show you almost every typical Dutch food including food, architecture, culture, infrastructure etc. The all day trip to Amsterdam was pretty good, but Leiden is a much better city to live in as the students that participated in this programme said. Overall, when it is your first time being there, they will put a big effort on showing their country throughout the whole exchange. 

School programme:

The school programme was always except one whole day trip in the morning. The main topic is cultural differences and I think it's a great topic, because you can learn a lot about their culture and living in the Netherlands. But as the weather was changing a lot, the programme was not flexible enough. We had to have a boat trip in Leiden, when it was raining a lot. It would be better to go bowling that day and instead of bowling, we would go on a boat trip in nice weather. Bu

t even when this happened, I enjoyed the school programme anyway. 

Overall:

I enjoyed the whole programme in Prague and in Leiden. I learned a lot about their culture and I met pretty nice people. It's really well made from both sides and the teachers did a good job. I would recommend this programme.

Štěpán Komárek 8. B

Adventní Vídeň

Koncem listopadu vyjeli němčináři na poznávací zájezd do Vídně. Během bohatého programu navštívili Schönbrunn, muzeum Time Travel, galerii Albertina, Stephansdom a Prater. Užili si atmosféru adventních trhů a měli možnost "pošprechtit" si německy.

                                                                            

                                                                Vlasta Vojtášková - učitelka německého jazyka

Francouzský den – závěrečná školní slavnost všech žáků a učitelů francouzštiny

V červnu 2021 jsme se všemi ročníky a skupinami uspořádali « Francouzský den». Program projektového dne zajišťovali především žáci pro sebe navzájem, s podporou vyučujících. Na programu bylo společné vaření francouzských palačinek, sportovní hry, pétanque, vědomostní kvíz, dílna divadelní improvizace, dramatické prezentace všech tříd a závěrečný piknik. Den se vydařil a předsvědčili jsme se, že francouzština napříč ročníky může žáky stmelovat.

Lucie Kubečková & Zuzana Šmídová

Tři králové po francouzsku

V prvním lednovém týdnu si francouzštináři ze všech skupin zažili svátek Tří králů (Epiphanie) podle francouzské tradice.

Ve školní kuchyňce si přichystali tříkrálový koláč (Galette des Rois) podle francouzských receptur.

Některé skupinky zvolily klasičtější marcipánovou náplň, jiné jablkovou. V žádném tříkrálovém koláči nechyběla porcelánová figurka (la fève).

Ten, kdo ve svém kousku galette našel figurku, stal se králem nebo královnou.

Všechny koláče, galettes, byly nádherně vyzdobené, dali jsme si záležet.

Než se koláč upekl, naučili jsme se zpívat i tradiční tříkrálovou píseň.

Zvláštní pochvala patří chlapcům z 9. tříd, kteří při čekání na galette vyrobili ze zbytků těsta skvělá jablka v županu.

Bravo et Merci!

2nd trip to England

 Our trip to England began with a long and crowded coach journey, thankfully we had Harry Potter playing on the coach TV to get us through the night and into the English frame of mind. We arrived to a breathtaking sunrise on the white cliffs of Dover, a sight which should never be taken for granted, and the students happily started taking in the first of many authentic British moments whilst us, the teachers, started clutching the first of many cups of British coffee. Our journey continued onward until we arrived in our hometown for the next week, Stratford-upon-Avon, otherwise known as the birthplace of Shakespeare. The students had an hour to themselves to refuel before our day's activities began. Of course, the nearest Poundland became besieged by our group. We never thought we would see the boys so excited over pens, but one hundred pens for one hundred pennies soon changed that. After we had finished raiding Poundland, we got back to the more cultural side of things. We stepped back in time when visiting Shakespeare's house on a guided tour and explored the place where the playwright who shaped the English language grew up. In Anne Hathaway's house we saw where the love of his life resided. Then, lastly, in Holy Trinity church we visited the final resting place of Shakespeare and his family. Our day of travel, culture and pens concluded with meeting our host families who served us a hot dinner and provided a warm bed. 

Sunday morning brought us breakfast and excitement because we were about to say hello to Legoland, a firm favourite among the students. Even though the weather decided to greet us with its typical English self (rain, gloom and a tad more rain) we managed to enjoy seven straight hours of thrills. One of our students even managed to win a massive cuddly dog, putting us teachers to shame since our several attempts completely failed.

With the weekend over, it was time to let the students try their hand at studying in an English school.

Over the next four days, a lesson was held in a beautiful location every morning. The students created their own restaurant menus and composed articles whilst just outside the window British rowers sailed past on the misty morning river. In the afternoons we alternated between stuffing ourselves with chocolate at Cadbury World, becoming miners at the Black Country Living Museum, walking the hallways where the lover of Queen Elizabeth I. resided, becoming a perching spot for monarch butterflies and of course doing a mad shopping dash in the holy grail that is Primark. 

Leaving our host families and sailing away from England's shores were sad moments but made easier by knowing the whole trip had been one of the most memorable experiences we could have had. 

Caitlin - teacher of English conversation