Since I came to Prague to study the Czech language, I knew it was going to be a big challenge for me, but something that I would definitely enjoy. It all starts since my mother tongue is derived from Latin and Czech is derived from Slavic and boy, what a great adventure!
Ahoj, jmenuju se Angeles, jsem z Mexica!
Hi, my name is Angeles. I am from Mexico!
From learning how to pronounce the vowels and consonants that are not in my alphabet, to the grammar rules that at first seemed difficult to memorize. To this is added that each day is a new topic. In the beginning, I was demotivated because I arrived with the expectation that it would be simple because it was easy for me to learn to speak English ... but a Slavic language is totally different.
Learning Czech allowed me to get closer to culture and learn about the culture. I do not speak the language fluently, but every day I study and practice because I know I can and it is only a matter of dedication. My experience learning a language that sounds so exotic to my ears, so complex, has led me to want to know more and that some phrases or words do not carry vowels causes emotion. Know that at the beginning I could not pronounce it and that now, although my pronunciation is a little awkward, I can. That this is the result of my effort, something that little by little I notice when I go on the street and read the ads, the names of the businesses, I hear little fragments of people talking that pass by me ... Because I remember when I arrived I had to translate everything on Google and I was sad to ask something and not know what they were going to answer because I did not understand.
The real challenge was to speak it, it was to get out of my comfort zone and trust that I had the necessary knowledge to at least ask how I can get to Lucerne (because the streets of Prague are a magical maze!)
The classes were very entertaining, the Czech teachers are very dynamic and they always want you to learn the subject well, because they notice the effort you make to speak their language (although at first they speak to you in Czech, later you understand what they say). I had 3 teachers, one taught us the grammar rules, another taught us listening and another taught us vocabulary and reading.
My class was very small, there were only 6 students and I had 2 classmates, one from Korea and the other from Abu Dhabi. My other 3 companions were from Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. They were very interesting classes, I was amazed at the support I got from my classmate from Abu Dhabi, her way of helping me when I didn't understand something in class and the way she whispered the answers when they asked me something in class ... sadly because of the current situation, that had to end and we had to adapt to the online mode.e the change begins.