eMates eMates - 1st issue | Page 15

INTERVIEW WITH Mrs. Milena Kmochová, English and Music teacher, a class teacher of V3.A Hello. Welcome to this interview for our English magazine called “eMates“, we would like to ask you some questions. First of all, how long have you been teaching at this school? I´ve been teaching here since 2008, which is I think… probably 9 years. If you got a chance to choose again what would you teach, would you choose differently? That is… quite a difficult question. I like teaching English, except that I studied Czech and Musical Education, and these subjects I wouldn´t probably hate to teach either. But I have never taught Czech and I don´t think I would like to. But overall I like teaching. What foreign languages do you speak? Except for English, of course. I studied Russian, but I only use it passively. For example, for reading newspapers. And I can also speak a little German. Do you think that education of English at this school is adequate or it could be better? I think that everything could be better, but on the other hand… teachers at this school think a lot about how to teach the best way, and they´re doing a lot for it. There is definitely enough motivation to improve from their side, if not better. We´ve heard that you have taught abroad. Where and who did you teach? I taught on a Fulbright Programme for 1 year. It was in Minnesota at the international exchange programme called „English As a Second Language“. That means that the students could be from America, but their parents had migrated to the USA or they were speaking another language than English at home. Something like refugees? You could say that. Were they trying to improve their chances in society, or were there other reasons for them to learn English? Well, the refugees were there for various reasons, some of them were running away from a war, others were from Vietnam, where they had been living in camps … Then there were Hispanic Americans or Africans. The composition of them very much depends on actual situation in the world. But… they are learning in normal schools, only with a different approach to them. in the Grand Canyon What do you think about e-Twinning? It makes it possible for you to communicate internationally, and that is a good experience. You can try various things, look at the world from different angles, and