My name is Kaed Hornick Martin, and I am a 17-year-old Exchange student from Canada.
I attended Masarykova Gymnasium for 10 months, participating in regular daily schedules with 6SXA. The school as an approach to education very different to what I grew up with, but I didn´t hate it. In contrast to Canada´s “pro-tech” out-look, I enjoyed the “old school” fashion used here. My classmates sometimes complained about having to put pen to paper, but, until now, I didn´t realize how much I missed it.
The style of teaching is also quite different. Throughout my year, I noticed a very theoretical manner of learning. It wasn´t often that students had the chance to use beakers and Benson Burners clamps and microscopes. Because of this it gave the school very serious atmosphere. And it, at time, made it hard to remember the fun of learning.
Another unique was attending English for foreign speakers as a native speaker. If I am to say I learned anything, it will be that I am absolutely useless about English grammar. It was incredible to see my classmates learn the theory, and then start to use it in daily conversation. It was also incredibly humbling to have to google something like “what is past perfect?” in order to write test.
With a collection of diverse materials, media and exercises, these kids are learning to read, write, speak and translate beautifully. I was blown away by the level of English language many of these kids are capable of understanding.
Living here has been the experience of I life time, everything seems to be so different from home. This school though incredible, is difficult for foreign students to assimilate with. Students here for the most part, have a drive or ambitions. To be clear, those aren´t bad things, but those qualities can make it for someone like me, who is only here to learn the Czech culture, a bit harsh.
The first 4-6 months were really hard. I fell alone, lost, confused, and frustrated. I am happy to say that things did get better, and this place, my friends will always be my second home, my second family.
Kaed Hornig Martin, SXA, Canada
