I can’t believe it is only day 4. I feel like I have been here for weeks because of all of the activities we have done! One of the best was our Czech language crash course. I was really excited for this class because I have been slowly learning Czech on Duolingo (70 day streak…not to flex). Despite the streak, I quickly realized that Duolingo doesn’t prepare you for real-life conversations
Anyway, after my limited time learning Czech, I have a whole new level of respect for anyone who has mastered it. It doesn’t sound like any other language I am familiar with. It is super difficult to pronounce and nothing sounds the way it is spelled. Still, our crash course was really fun and surprisingly helpful. Since the lesson I have been trying to use Czech in public even if it’s just saying děkuju (thank you) or ahoj (hello).
What really struck me is how tough it must be to work across language barriers professionally. I struggle just ordering food, yet there are engineers and professionals who are designing and building complex things together in foreign languages. It made me realize how essential communication is, not just in everyday life, but especially in fields like engineering where precision really matters. The language barrier is real!
We 🫶 our faculty!
Swanson School of Engineering 