Czech Compatriots of all ages gather in Dobruska

Thanks to a programme organized by Prague's Charles University and the Foreign Ministry, Czech emigres, expatriates and their descendants can come the Czech Republic to study Czech language and culture. For more that ten years every August, the summer school has been held in Dobruska a small town in eastern Bohemia nestled in the Orlicke Mountains. Heather Bowne went along.

Czech Compatriots of all ages gather in Dobruska

Summer school in Dobruska

A lesson is under way, at the beginners' class at the summer school for Czech Compatriots in Dobruska.

Milena is a teacher at the summer school and a professor at Charles University, Prague.

" Hrajeme hru kde procvicujeme "mam rad, ma rad." " (We're playing a game where we practice "I like, he likes.")

Himena is from Mexico. Her Grandmother is Czech.

"Milena ma rada cokolad. Flora ma rada caj. Ricardo ma rad kolac. Mam rada zmrzlinu." (Milana likes chocolate. Flora likes tea. Ricardo makes cake. I like ice cream.)

Summer school in Dobruska

They've been thrown in the deep end: from the start all lessons are only in Czech. There are 12 students in this class ranging in age from 18 to 76. While all the students have a Czech connection, they are each motivated by different experiences.

William's parents were Czech, and he grew up speaking Czech. He's at the summer school with his wife, Barbara and their daughter, Susan. While Barbara does not know much Czech, she knows how to make traditional Czech dishes like svickova (roast beef sirloin with a tangy cream sauce and bread dumplings). Susan would like to move to the Czech Republic someday and hopes that her Czech will soon be good enough to read all of Nemcova's novel "Babicka" (Grandmother).

William: "Rali dupti upapupti (singing)...Do you know that? Have you heard it before? Is it a Czech song? I am from Baltimore, Maryland and this is my wife."

Barbara: "And I'm from Baltimore, Maryland."

William: "And this is my daughter."

Susan: "I live in Iowa."

Summer school in Dobruska

William: "My mother was born in Pilsen, and my father was born in Prague. My mother came to America around 1895, and my father came around 1910. They met in Baltimore, Maryland and married there."

Susan: "It's always been a goal of mine to speak another language. I always thought it might be French or Spanish. But then I've become more interested as I got older in the Czech heritage. So this is good to get a feel for what the Czech language is like."

Heather: Do you have a Czech connection in your past?

Barbara: No none I have zilch!

Heather: What's your background then?

Barbara: Probably English...but no Czech! Having no Czech background, it's difficult, but I'm hanging in there.

Summer school in Dobruska

Amnon is from Israel. In addition to attending the summer school in Dobruska this summer, he also visited his grandma at her house in Prague.

Amnon: "I'm from Israel. My grandma is Czech. Well, she had to go to Poland during the war. For me coming here...just knowing my roots and giving respect to her and to my families history, it's really important for me."

Daniel studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His dad is Czech and his family lives in Hradec Kralove, a city not far from Dobruska.

Daniel: "I'm from Ottawa, Canada. As of September I am supposed to be the president of the Czech and Slovak Culture Society of McGill University. So I figured it would be good if I spoke a little bit of Czech. I also have lots of family here. All my dad's side of the family lives here mostly in Hradec Kralove, and my grandmother as well in Prague."

Frederico studies chemistry in Lebanon. His mom is from Vsetin, a small town in Moravia, and his dad is Lebanese. As a kid his parents spoke Arabic, French and Russian at home. While his mom tried to teach him Czech as well, three languages were enough at that time.

Summer school in Dobruska

"I'm from Lebanon. My mom is Czech. We have this rule in our house, my mom and father speak Russian language, and they talk Arabic with me. So I want to change because it's not really me talking Russian. So I would like to talk Czech with my mom. My dad studied in Russia, and he was like president of a socialist party there. He went to Cuba in 1978, and my mom was there for tourism and everything. So they met there, and after that they met again in Czech Republic. They got married here. And then in 1980 they went to Lebanon. Czech language is so special for me because my mom is Czech, and I have the Czech nationality too. Czech language and Arabic language together for me are the first languages because those are my languages. I have Czech blood and Arabic blood, that's what's special about Czech language for me."

Regardless of their background in the end these students are all learning to speak Czech together. You can find out more about this annual programme at www.ujop.cuni.cz

Dobruska 2003 by Miguel Osers.