Keeping Czech alive abroad: How Krajánek ve světě helps children stay close to their roots
One of the challenges of living abroad is gradually losing contact with your native language, and this can be even more difficult for children of expats. Various associations can therefore serve as a bridge to their native language and fellow countrymen, often run by volunteers who want to share their enthusiasm for their native language with children living abroad. One such organisation, focused on the youngest generation, is Krajánek ve světě.
Life abroad certainly brings plenty of excitement, discovery and new experiences. At the same time, however, choosing to settle in a foreign country inevitably involves certain sacrifices. One of them is losing daily contact with one’s native language, which gradually gives way to the dominant language of the new home. As a result, second- and third-generation expats may have little or no contact with the language of their parents or grandparents. And it is not just about language. Naturally, after moving to a new country, people gradually adopt new customs, holidays, cultural practices and traditions. But how can they keep in touch with their roots?
This is where expatriate associations can play an important role, promoting language, literature and culture among expat communities. One such organisation, focused primarily on Czech children living abroad, is Krajánek ve světě, which could be translated into English as “Little Expat Abroad.”
Lenka Kanellia is the president of the organization, whose activities date back to December 2013, when the first-ever issue of the Krajánek magazine was published.
That is an online magazine created by an international team of 65 to 70 volunteers from more than 20 countries, including editors, illustrators, and proofreaders. On the first of every month, there is a new magazine for children abroad.
The monthly magazine, which is freely available online after registering on the Krajánek ve světě organization’s website, is primarily aimed at multilingual children aged 5 to 12. What makes the magazine unique is that it introduces children to Czech traditions and explores the differences between traditions in the Czech Republic and those of the country where each young Czech expatriate lives. Everyone involved in creating the magazine’s content works on a voluntary basis. Each issue is also dedicated to a particular country where little Czech expatriates live, allowing children to learn more about other Czech children growing up in different parts of the world.
We are also contributing local content such as traditional recipes, a mythology corner, a travel feature, and an interview with an inspiring or talented Czech child living in that country. This approach allows readers to discover Czech communities around the world and also learn more about the particular community or country featured in each issue.
A large part of the magazine, however, is dedicated to helping children learn the Czech language. The association’s other activities are also closely connected with teaching Czech.
Another major project of the organization and the second pillar of its activities is our online Czech school. We have been running this school since 2020. It is one of the largest online Czech educational programs for children living abroad. Last school year, the program connected almost 200 children from more than 40 countries. We have international classrooms with children from different countries. You can have a classroom with a girl from Spain, a boy from France, and another boy from Germany. So they are all connected.
Of course, since each child lives in a different country, the lessons are conducted exclusively online. This online format also makes it possible to provide Czech language instruction to children living in more remote parts of the world.
The school is designed for children who do not have access to a local Czech community school, or who have a local school but whose schedule or timing does not fully meet their needs. We provide education for them. Usually, there are children from preschool age, four or five years old, up to almost 18 years old.
The lessons run throughout the entire school year and are suitable both for children who speak little or no Czech at all and for those who simply want to improve their grammar or become more fluent in Czech conversation. The lessons culminate each year in a summer camp, where the children finally get to meet their classmates from the online lessons in person.
It's an opportunity for the schoolmates to meet other children living abroad, and also an opportunity for the families to meet. We do it in the Czech Republic because it is the connecting point for everybody. The focus is on strengthening their language skills through everyday communication and building friendships with peers and kids from all around the world.
Children aged 5 to 14 travelled to the camp from 16 countries, including China, the United States, Greece and Turkey, as well as many others. The team also included six junior instructors who had attended the camp in previous years and returned this time to help with its organisation.
According to Lenka Kanellia, president of Krajánek ve světě, this year's camp, organised in cooperation with the Czech Association in Greece, was once again a success. The children enjoyed it, and hopefully they are already looking forward to next year's edition. In the meantime, they can, of course, practise their Czech through online lessons or by reading articles in the Krajánek magazine.
