LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY

My name is Christine and I am 25 years old. I was born in Komarno, which is a

small town on the south-west of Slovakia. The reason why I have mentioned my
hometown is that it is a very special little town. It borders Hungary to the south and
owing to that almost all its citizens speak two languages – Slovak and Hungarian.

I was raised in the “two language speaking trend” as well. Although the first
words of my life were in Hungarian and Hungarian is the language closest to my
heart, I consider Slovak just as important as if it was my second mother language.
Being perfect in both languages, my parents had the choice to log me either to a
Slovak or a Hungarian elementary school. They chose a Slovak one. At the first
grade of elementary school I started attending German lessons which were not
compulsory. This lasted for two years, and then I switched to English. I was 9 years
old that time.

At the end of the fourth grade of elementary school I decided to go to an

octennial grammar school with specialization on foreign languages. I continued
learning English there; we had 2-3 lessons a week. After the first two years in the
grammar school we were offered to choose one of the two additional languages –
German or Spanish. As I had already been learning German before, my choice was
obvious and predictable. We had 2-3 lessons of English and 2 lessons of German
every week.

At the age of 12 I started attending additional weekly English lessons in a

private language school in Komarno. Both the lessons in the language school and my
teacher – Ms Lopatova were so great that I didn’t leave until I had my B2 and then
C1 exams done with certificates in my pockets. Those five years from 12 to 17 were
the most important in narrowing my future plans and choosing my career.

One year later I did my A-level exams in the grammar school, both from
German and English. After finishing school I wasn’t prepared to go to a University
yet, so I started teaching in the private language school that I had previously been
attending. But as the years went by, I realized that being just “good” was not enough.
I wanted to have a diploma. I wanted to be more than good; I wanted to be a lawful
teacher with an unquestionable background.

And now, seven years after doing my A-level exams; I am here, at the
University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra as a third year student, doing the
most interesting bachelor thesis of all time and waiting for the future to bear fruit of
my so far done work.

Christine Bekeová