Yes, English is taught in the school (Slovak is primary, children elect it or Russian, English or other languages, but most prefer English, since about 1991. Before 91 Russian was mandatory.) Here is the problem. If you are writing to a very small, rural village, they are mostly filled with elderly. The children are all gone. I have cousins in Slovakia who regularly complain that their villages are "dying" and they are correct. When I walked the streets, there was no one under 50 and even my cousins had moved away to Kosice. Thanks to Joe Stalin and economics, the young are predominantly moving to the cities for work. Small villages only have elementary schools through about 4th grade. The kids then go to a boarding school (state funded) for the remainder of their education. These schools may be 20-40 miles away in other large towns. So, the kids are not around, except perhaps in the summer vacation time. I also contend that it can be perceived as arrogant to write in English when it is clear what the native language is. This potentially could shut down potential correspondence. I know a fellow who went to France, asked where to find a bathroom (in English), the Frenchmen shook their heads, said they didn't understand English. Later it was learned they knew English, but because the American didn't even make an effort, he was shunned. You can always find someone to write a letter. I had a priest in the Byzantine (Greek Catholic) Catholic church translate the letter for me. In this day of email, you can probably find someone in Slovakia who would do it for you for about 1/6 the price of an American-based translator. Even the transfer of money is simple. I just completed this exercise for a translation from Ukrainian. Some (few) will do it for free. If you want to go this route, just post an email on saying your looking for someone to translate a letter, and to write you privately. Then workout a fee on the side. Bill Tarkulich -----Original Message----- From: Ginny Pietsch [mailto:vpietsch@pdq.net] Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 10:12 AM To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: "Blind Letters" Hello Peter, Thanks for the information. I plan to send some letters very soon. Hopefully I will receive a reply. I thought that the young people would possibly know English, but wasn't too sure. Is English taught in school now? Is it offered by choice or is it taught to every student? Just wondering. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237