Alžběta Janečková

When I was filling in the application form for the database of the international organisation based in Paris this spring, I naturally tried not to let it slip that I speak French and I love working in an international environment. In the end I hardly used French during my four months working for the OECD, but I was able to participate in the carrying out of a project for the Czech government, which I would now like to share with you.

In my first blog, I wrote of my astonishment at discovering the bust of Masaryk at a London university, and about why there are so many Czechs in London. Since then, I have managed to get outside of the Czech language bubble, but not from the reach of popular Czech culture and Czechoslovak history. Thus, this blog tells you why there are so many Czechophiles in the UK and what motivates them.

A characteristic difference between Czech and Anglo-Saxon education systems, at least in the humanities, is in essay writing. However, it is not about ‘writing’ itself – that is, after all, just the outward manifestation of a long process which shapes the student’s thinking, teaches him to search and classify sources and arguments, and finally to shorten and cite his writing. I will attempt to guide you through this process in brief – it will be a reportage from places currently experiencing the of so-called essay season.

If you asked me to characterize my field of study a year ago, I would have said that it is as ‘European’ as you can imagine – with French and German as languages, and the rest in English: an analysis of EU structures, European law, the heritage of European philosophy (Locke, Hume, Kant and Rousseau), and in history, the French Revolution or the Congress of Vienna thoroughly discussed. We have indeed studied all of this.

I would like to share with you my favourite aspect of studying of London, and take you on a tour around places, traditions and study habits; a tour around libraries.

In the enormous competition of stunning libraries in London, the SSEES Library of Slavic and Eastern European languages is not of the most beautiful. Nevertheless, I like to go there often. As I descend the stairs to the basement where Czech books are, I pause at the bust of Masaryk - at least with a glance. It is already over a year since I have sent my Personal Statement off to UCL, beginning with an allusion to the Czechoslovak president-philosopher. I wrote it unaware of the fact that not only is Masaryk well-known here; he is to this day revered as the founder of what is today one of the largest institutes for the study of Slavic and Eastern European languages in the UK and the world.