They got to know each other by chance while waiting for a common lecture. The first semester was just in its third part and Alisson had just arrived in Brno. Unlike her classmates, she arrived in the Czech Republic a month after school started because of the lengthy visa process.
“Yu-Jou was actually the first person I met at Masaryk University. We hit it off right from the start and even now, after four semesters in Brno, I spend most of my time with her. But once we finish our bachelor’s degrees, I think all that will change, because we are both tempted to go for a master’s degree somewhere else abroad. We want to experience as much as possible because our generation has so many opportunities today,” says Alisson, a student from Ecuador.
They are both happy that they chose the Czech Republic for their undergraduate studies. They were attracted mainly by its location in the heart of Europe, its affordability and safety, but also by the quality of teaching and the large international student community that exists at MU. And so they ended up enrolling on the English Language for Education bachelor’s programme, which will enable them both to work as English teachers in the future.
When they arrived in the Czech Republic, however, they both experienced a bit of a culture shock. For Yu-Jou, it was getting used to the local cuisine, which was very different from what she was used to in Asia. Alisson found it difficult to get used to the more reserved Czechs, who do not smile at strangers. Over time, however, she came to love living in the Czech Republic, although the beer culture that the whole country lives by still amazes her two years later.
Practical classes gave us the most
Overall, their studies at MU have exceeded their expectations. They praise the interesting classes, the great teachers at the school and are happy to have met students from Canada, the US and the UK in their classes. This gives them the opportunity to learn English from different perspectives and to be exposed to different accents and forms of English.
“But the school is far from easy. We have a lot of courses, and we also teach in local schools for several months, so the semesters go by very quickly. The placements in real schools have really taught us a lot, even though it was very challenging at first. We had to walk into a class of eighteen-year-old students and start teaching them English, even though we’d never done that before. But it was through these experiences that we learned the most about teaching and discovered that we enjoy teaching others,” said Yu-Jou, a student from Taiwan.
Both students will be working on their theses next academic year, the topic of which they have to choose this semester. They are also starting to think about where they would like to study for their Master’s – both are considering the United States, but Yu-Jou is also thinking about Japan or Taiwan. “We'll have to see where we end up,” say the students, smiling.
Both agree that they will miss Brno, Masaryk University and their daily contact very much. “It’s hard to imagine that we won’t be spending all this time together. But that’s life. We are both very happy that we had the chance to get to know each other. It’s interesting that even though there are some cultural differences between us, we get along so well. For example, I like to go dancing at parties and I am generally quite social, while Yu-Jou prefers a quieter environment. We also have a completely different notion of time: Yo-Jou goes everywhere on time and I am always late. We’re like yin and yang. Maybe that’s why it works so well,” laughs Alisson from Ecuador.