Conclusions

After doing different activities with 3rd graders in both countries we have some conclusions.

First of all, let's remember how this project began.

We started introducing the English alphabet and from then students have written acrostic poems, they described themselves with adjectives of the same letter as their names, they produced oral descriptions and at the end, they learnt some words of the other foreign country alphabet (the Czech Republic and the catalan alphabets)

Children in both countries have found out that there are many similar names which are used in many languages and then also names that are very typical for each country. It was very interesting for the children to discover these facts and also to be able to match the names with the faces on the videos they have shared.

Moreover the Czech teacher had a great opportunity to visit Catalan school and take wonderful name bookmarks as a present from Catalan kids to the Czech ones.

But...have you ever thought of your name belongs to you but is used by more others. Incredible, isn't it? Children and teachers have concluded that is important to respect the name. Children explain that sometimes they do some jokes about them and most of the times, they don't like them. They prefer choosing the way friends, teachers, relatives and acquaintances call them.

On the other hand, teachers hoped to find more traditions in families but although behind a name it’s possible to find different families stories, there is a huge number of possible reasons why the popularity of names can be influenced by names of famous figures or current celebrities. However, it is an individual choice which can be influenced by a number of other factors such the religious, cultural and ethnic identities of families, friends or fictional characters.

Both teachers and kids consider the project and cooperation enriching and interesting, a great opportunity to find out not only about both countries typical names but also something little about their languages and cultures.