I have another story worth telling .... a few years ago I purchased a Sokol pin on ebay -- it was mailed to me - postmarked Czech Republic. My mailman came to the door and told me I received something from the Sezick Republic. At least that's the way he pronounced it -- the postmark was definitely spelled correctly - evidently he had no idea what it was or where it was. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Ondracek" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:46 PM Subject: RE: [CZ] Re: Czech / Bohemian language > 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. > > > > ==== CZECH Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from this list click on > mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe (list mode) or > mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe (digest mode) > Contact [email protected] for list related problems > For the CZECH-L archives, go to > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/czech > >