From London to Prague

Time is passing by and I find myself in the second term of my second first year as a university student. It has been a little over a year since I left the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science.

It has therefore been a little over a year since my life has taken a sudden turn and all my career expectations went down the drain. Instead of law textbooks I browse through notes from my Phonetics and Phonology class, read early Scottish texts and do morphology exercises. It has been five months since I started studying English and American studies at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University, and I am, perhaps surprisingly, happy with my choice.

Many ask me for a comparison between the two – LSE and Charles – but my answers are unfortunately not as academic as one would expect. Both Law, and English and American studies are in their proper academic spheres somehow atypical and quite incomparable. However, it would be unfair not to share some of my observations. You’ll be disappointed if you expect an elaborate comparison of the Anglosaxon and the Czech academic tradition because my notes are no more than a few subjective thoughts on the two unique programmes.

Both programmes are one of the most respected legal and philological authorities in their respective countries.

Reading is the number one activity whíle studying both; however, to compare reading belle lettres to legal and academic documents is to compare salt and pepper. Unless you are reading George Orwell.

Self-study and preparation takes up much more time at LSE. It is important to note, however, that LSE Law is more time consuming than other programmes offered by LSE itself.

Following that, I have only recently discovered that  leisure time and social life are actually real and not a product of my wild imagination.

Logically then, studying in the Czech Republic is incomparably less stressful. To sit down and start writing an essay after an almost one year long break is weirdly pleasant and I am glad to say that studying itself is again enjoyable.

I do not bump into as many students in sweats as I used to in London. But then again, I do not bump into as many students in suit and tie either.

Cutural and linguistic diversity is not one of the advantages in the Czech Republic.

Studying English outside England can actually mean good quality which is something I did not expect before. The Faculty of Arts offers me a variety of both Czech and foreign professors and I can set the standard of education myself to quite a big extent which I appreciate.

The bureaucracy at Charles makes people go mad times. Still, even this setback has a certain advantage – students are forced to keep up and pay attention unlike at LSE, where students can slack off if they wish to. Not that it proves beneficial in the once-per-year exams, but they can.

Student life in the United Kingdom tends to be of a very active nature and the whole system makes it practically impossible not to join in. Student societies and clubs are more of an exception here in Czechia and one has to actually research in order to participate.

Ambition,  prestige and pressure have therefore disappeared from my life to a certain extent. While I do miss them from time to time, I am firm in my opinion that I chose well. As I foreshadowed in my previous blog post, it is about time that I slow down, relax and actually enjoy being a university student – but not to become lazy and learn something new at the same time. English and American studies tick all the boxes so far. And after all, we students have to try, work hard and be honest everywhere and it does not really matter where or what we actually study.

 

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