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Jana Cemusova
Instructor, Institute of Language and Professional Preparation,
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Lecturing: Communicative "Torture": A Cultural
Approach to Teaching Czech
Host: University of Kansas, Center for Russian and
East European Studies, Lawrence, KS, c/o Dr. Maria Carlson
August 2000-May 2001
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Jana Cemusova loved living in a "multi-cultural" environment
at the University of Kansas (KU), and took advantage of every
opportunity she had to explore America's cultural diversity during
the academic year's breaks.
It was the first trip to the United States for Cemusova, who
is a professor of the Czech language at Charles University in
Prague. She visited Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Orleans, Florida,
the Georgia coast, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Illinois,
Missouri, Nebraska and Washington, D.C.
Among her most exciting discoveries were Southern writers and
Ethiopian restaurants; meanwhile, her 8-year-old son, Samuel,
developed a passion for frozen custard. Samuel, who attended public
school in Lawrence, made friends easily, and quickly became fluent
in English through English as a Second Language courses.
Cemusova taught Czech in the Slavic Languages and Literature
Department of KU's Center for Russian and East European Studies,
where she made some lasting friendships. She took English classes
at the university to improve her fluency, established a "Czech
table" in a KU dining hall and offered lectures on her homeland's
culture.
The effects of her Fulbright project, which included a research
component, are already being felt in her home institution, she
says. She has designed some new programs for students, and is
working on a handbook for teaching Czech as a second language.
Her attention to staying in touch has reaped dividends for Charles
University. Two of her students from KU studied Czech with her
in Prague this year and a KU graduate student is teaching English
in her department. She also arranged for a student group to visit
Prague in January 2002.
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