I would like to apologize to anyone on the list who may have been offended by my comments about american schooling. I certainly did not mean to suggest in any way that any one on the list was uneducated or unschooled, but it seems some may have taken it that way. Nor was there any intent to impugn the fine contributions of the many very dedicated teachers in our schools. My frustration was with a fact about our society and certainly not with anyone on the list! What I don't think can be undisputed, however, is that due both to budget constraints and administrative priorites little emphasis is placed on history, especially non-US history, foreign languages, or foreign culture and neither is a particularly significant part of the required curriculum in most american public schools. Similarly, there is little real coverage of foreign news and cultures in the American mass media, other than where it directly affects US political interests or has a sufficient human interest factor, such as in the case of a natural disaster with high mortality rates. Others certainly may reasonably disagree over the extent to which these subjects should form part of the curriculum, and I do understand that in many schools it is difficult enough for struggling teachers to find the resources and time even to successfully convey the basic 3Rs. Obviously I am personally one of those who takes the opinion that more background in history and more understanding of other cultures should be taught in this country, especially where we, as a superpower, interact with the rest of the world in so many areas and so many ways. It may have been sufficient to ignore the rest of the world in the 19th century, but as multiple world wars and other conflicts and events have shown since that time, it is no longer possible to do so. To move on the world stage as an active player without an adequate understanding of the other places and peoples with which we interact is not merely arrogant, it is a recipe for disaster. More to the point vis a vis this list, such education would have been very helpful to most of us as genealogists whose ancestors were from places whose history we know little about. It was this last point that I clumsily tried to make in my comment about american education. I should not have allowed myself to express this as a matter of exasperation, and for that I apologize. Kevin BTW here are some interesting results of a survey done by National Geographic in 2002: "About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent. . . . And some results from a study in 2000 by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis, showing we don't even do very well on our own history: "More than 500 seniors at 55 of the best colleges and universities in the United States responded to the telephone questionnaire, which consisted of multiple choice questions on topics ranging from the Magna Carta to the Monroe Doctrine, from the Battle of Yorktown to the Battle of the Bulge. Sixty-five percent of the students -- from such schools as Yale, Northwestern, Smith, and Bowdoin -- failed to "pass" the test and only one student answered all 34 questions correctly. Ninety-nine percent of the respondents, however, correctly identified Beavis and Butthead!" >>> john <[email protected]> 04/11/06 6:48 AM >>> "American schooling is so deficient in terms of history and philology"......Gee that was not very nice!

Thank you, Kevin, for your graciousness. Cultural and academic illiteracy has sadly become the norm in our society. Rose "Kevin Kittilson" <[email protected]> 04/11/2006 01:05 PM Please respond to [email protected] To [email protected] cc Subject Re: [CZ] Re: Czech / Bohemian language I would like to apologize to anyone on the list who may have been offended by my comments about american schooling. I certainly did not mean to suggest in any way that any one on the list was uneducated or unschooled, but it seems some may have taken it that way. Nor was there any intent to impugn the fine contributions of the many very dedicated teachers in our schools. My frustration was with a fact about our society and certainly not with anyone on the list! What I don't think can be undisputed, however, is that due both to budget constraints and administrative priorites little emphasis is placed on history, especially non-US history, foreign languages, or foreign culture and neither is a particularly significant part of the required curriculum in most american public schools. Similarly, there is little real coverage of foreign news and cultures in the American mass media, other than where it directly affects US political interests or has a sufficient human interest factor, such as in the case of a natural disaster with high mortality rates. Others certainly may reasonably disagree over the extent to which these subjects should form part of the curriculum, and I do understand that in many schools it is difficult enough for struggling teachers to find the resources and time even to successfully convey the basic 3Rs. Obviously I am personally one of those who takes the opinion that more background in history and more understanding of other cultures should be taught in this country, especially where we, as a superpower, interact with the rest of the world in so many areas and so many ways. It may have been sufficient to ignore the rest of the world in the 19th century, but as multiple world wars and other conflicts and events have shown since that time, it is no longer possible to do so. To move on the world stage as an active player without an adequate understanding of the other places and peoples with which we interact is not merely arrogant, it is a recipe for disaster. More to the point vis a vis this list, such education would have been very helpful to most of us as genealogists whose ancestors were from places whose history we know little about. It was this last point that I clumsily tried to make in my comment about american education. I should not have allowed myself to express this as a matter of exasperation, and for that I apologize. Kevin BTW here are some interesting results of a survey done by National Geographic in 2002: "About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent. . . . And some results from a study in 2000 by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis, showing we don't even do very well on our own history: "More than 500 seniors at 55 of the best colleges and universities in the United States responded to the telephone questionnaire, which consisted of multiple choice questions on topics ranging from the Magna Carta to the Monroe Doctrine, from the Battle of Yorktown to the Battle of the Bulge. Sixty-five percent of the students -- from such schools as Yale, Northwestern, Smith, and Bowdoin -- failed to "pass" the test and only one student answered all 34 questions correctly. Ninety-nine percent of the respondents, however, correctly identified Beavis and Butthead!" >>> john <[email protected]> 04/11/06 6:48 AM >>> "American schooling is so deficient in terms of history and philology"......Gee that was not very nice! ==== CZECH Mailing List ==== The mailing list is configured to reply only to the list. If you are making a personal reply to a poster, it will be necessary to delete the list address and add the individual's address.

Just came back from my doctor's office, talked to my doctor's nurse about obtaining some antibiotics to take with me on my trip to the Czech Republic. Nurse says: where? The Czech Republic. Where is that? After telling her, I had to spell 'Czech' for her. Don -----Original Message----- From: Kevin Kittilson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [CZ] Re: Czech / Bohemian language I would like to apologize to anyone on the list who may have been offended by my comments about american schooling. I certainly did not mean to suggest in any way that any one on the list was uneducated or unschooled, but it seems some may have taken it that way. Nor was there any intent to impugn the fine contributions of the many very dedicated teachers in our schools. My frustration was with a fact about our society and certainly not with anyone on the list! What I don't think can be undisputed, however, is that due both to budget constraints and administrative priorites little emphasis is placed on history, especially non-US history, foreign languages, or foreign culture and neither is a particularly significant part of the required curriculum in most american public schools. Similarly, there is little real coverage of foreign news and cultures in the American mass media, other than where it directly affects US political interests or has a sufficient human interest factor, such as in the case of a natural disaster with high mortality rates. Others certainly may reasonably disagree over the extent to which these subjects should form part of the curriculum, and I do understand that in many schools it is difficult enough for struggling teachers to find the resources and time even to successfully convey the basic 3Rs. Obviously I am personally one of those who takes the opinion that more background in history and more understanding of other cultures should be taught in this country, especially where we, as a superpower, interact with the rest of the world in so many areas and so many ways. It may have been sufficient to ignore the rest of the world in the 19th century, but as multiple world wars and other conflicts and events have shown since that time, it is no longer possible to do so. To move on the world stage as an active player without an adequate understanding of the other places and peoples with which we interact is not merely arrogant, it is a recipe for disaster. More to the point vis a vis this list, such education would have been very helpful to most of us as genealogists whose ancestors were from places whose history we know little about. It was this last point that I clumsily tried to make in my comment about american education. I should not have allowed myself to express this as a matter of exasperation, and for that I apologize. Kevin BTW here are some interesting results of a survey done by National Geographic in 2002: "About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent. . . . And some results from a study in 2000 by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis, showing we don't even do very well on our own history: "More than 500 seniors at 55 of the best colleges and universities in the United States responded to the telephone questionnaire, which consisted of multiple choice questions on topics ranging from the Magna Carta to the Monroe Doctrine, from the Battle of Yorktown to the Battle of the Bulge. Sixty-five percent of the students -- from such schools as Yale, Northwestern, Smith, and Bowdoin -- failed to "pass" the test and only one student answered all 34 questions correctly. Ninety-nine percent of the respondents, however, correctly identified Beavis and Butthead!" >>> john <[email protected]> 04/11/06 6:48 AM >>> "American schooling is so deficient in terms of history and philology"......Gee that was not very nice! ==== CZECH Mailing List ==== The mailing list is configured to reply only to the list. If you are making a personal reply to a poster, it will be necessary to delete the list address and add the individual's address.

Don't be too surprised. My public research librarian and the local FHC did not know "what" the Czech Republic was when I attempted to locate supporting materials early in my research. But I know here in Virginia they can provide great information aimed at ancestors who served in the confederate army. Entire library shelves house materials on our civil war. The GTA volumes were not complete, the Baca volumes were not available. Remember there is great information gathered and uploaded to the Czech Website. It is especially important that newcomers to Czech research make a stop there, in the end it will benefit them to know more about their ancestral history. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~elainetmaddox/ I also thank Kevin for being with us. He is an informed and articulate helper on this list and a valued member. Elaine It is a great error to take oneself for more than one is, or for less than one is worth. --Goethe Hello Don On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, you wrote > Just came back from my doctor's office, talked > to my doctor's nurse about > obtaining some antibiotics to take with me on my trip to the Czech > Republic. Nurse says: where? The Czech > Republic. Where is that? After > telling her, I had to spell 'Czech' > for her. > Don

speaking of which, what is BTW? judi

Computerese. BTW = by the way. Elaine I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. --Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Hello judi On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, you wrote > speaking of which, what is BTW? > judi

I knew that "Back to Work" didn't make sense! judi

btw means by the way judi wrote: >speaking of which, what is BTW? >judi > > >==== CZECH Mailing List ==== >Czech Message Boards are at >http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.ethnic > > > >