Teaching Czech to Foreign Students at Medical Schools in the Czech Republic – Approach, Problems and New Challenges

Abstract

For medical students in English study programme in the Czech
Republic, knowledge of the Czech language is an important tool for successful
communication with Czech patients and for practicing their practical skills in
medicine. However, most of them meet Czech for the fi rst time in the fi rst year
of their medical studies. Th is predetermines certain specifi cs of teaching this
language, which in a very short time must progress from A0 level to a language
for specifi c purposes – i.e., medicine. Given that Czech is only a marginal
subject for foreign future doctors with a relatively small time allowance, it is necessary to eff ectively balance the grammar part with the practicing of
appropriate doctor-patient communication using an adequate vocabulary.
Th is is a challenge not only for the students themselves, but of course also for
the teachers who prepare the concept of the subject and create the contents
of the courses. Th e following article aims to map the current situation in the
teaching of Czech as a foreign language at Czech medical schools and to outline
some problems and challenges.