In mid-June, students of "Business and Languages" went on an excursion to Brno in the Czech Republic.
What's the best way to learn a new language? Clearly, by talking to native speakers - and ideally in the target country itself. For students specializing in Czech on the Business and Languages course, this is possible during an approximately one-week excursion, which traditionally takes them to either the Czech capital of Prague or the Moravian metropolis of Brno. A group of eight people went to Brno from June 13 to 17. The second-largest city in the Czech Republic with a population of over 400,000 has a rich cultural offering, a dynamic student population and a beautiful surrounding area, so the decision of the matriculants in favor of Brno was quickly made.
During their stay in the university city, the group was culturally accompanied by the RE:PUBLIKA festival, which offered numerous concerts, exhibitions and events for a month to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. On the evening of their arrival, they were able to marvel at the French participants' contribution to the international fireworks competition, which took place at the nearby reservoir.
On the following days, we naturally explored the city and its life in detail. With the main focus on the myths and legends surrounding certain buildings, our points of interest included well-known sights such as the old town hall and the baroque Spielberg fortress as well as inner-city squares such as the Krautmarkt and the Platz der Freiheit. We learned a lot about the city's important role in history as the capital of Moravia and about its architectural and cultural heyday during the Habsburg monarchy. Most of the time we had breakfast and lunch together and - as is only natural - ordered Czech food. This meant that those who were not yet quite so fluent in the language had to move out of their comfort zone. However, thanks to the skills acquired during their studies and the empathy of some of the waiters, waitresses and sales assistants, even these situations were mastered with ease.
The students also had a lot of individual freedom. Some of us went to concerts in the old town, others visited the "Dva světy" (Two Worlds) exhibition by Alfons Mucha and others attended film screenings as part of the RE:PUBLIKA festival.
The longest day trip took our group to Lednice, a good 50 kilometers south of Brno. The destination was the neo-Gothic castle there, which, together with other parks and castles, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 as the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape. During guided tours of the first two floors, we were able to see how the princely Liechtenstein family lived and worked. A walk through the botanical garden with its beautiful ponds rounded off the trip and made it a great experience. The stay in Brno ended as it had begun - with a long and impressive fireworks display, this time over Spielberg Castle in the center of the city.
The event also marked the end of the RE:PUBLIKA festival. So on Sunday we set off on our journey home "illuminated" in the truest sense of the word. Excursions of this kind are a great practical building block for a largely business, language and translation studies course, because getting to know the country and its people is a huge motivational boost for improving your language skills. Finally, there is also the opportunity to use your first sentences directly. The entire student body found the stay inspiring and successful. Our special thanks go to Mgr Potůčková, who took care of the impeccable organization of the trip in advance and was also available to the students with help and advice during their stay.
Text: Max Melzer, Anne Christin Heidrich, Christine Herold