Hi! Nice to meet you.

My name is Vendula (you can call me Vendy) and I teach Czech as a foreign language. And the truth is, I never wanted to be a teacher. I studied linguistics and translation with the goal of “doing something book-related”. Maybe a translator, or an editor. I didn't have a clear idea – I just knew I liked languages and I enjoyed reading, so it seemed like a good fit.

During my Master's, I had the opportunity to do an internship at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and teach Czech. Being an introvert, the idea of standing in front of a classroom full of students terrified me, but I really wanted to go to Spain (mostly to gorge on gazpacho and empanada de atún), so I decided to power through. Just one semester and it’ll be over, I said to myself.

But something surprising happened – once I got over the initial stage fright, I found myself looking forward to the classes. It was amazing to see foreigners learning my native language – something I honestly never thought about before. I mean, who would want to learn the language of our teeny tiny country? As it turned out, quite a lot of people! So when I got back to Prague, I knew I wanted to keep going.

And that’s how it all began.

I contacted a few language schools, got hired to teach foreign employees in a Prague-based company. Soon my students started to recommend me to their friends and family members. You know what I love most about teaching now? It’s the fact that I can meet you and so many more interesting people than I ever would otherwise and learn about their lives, home countries, cultures, professions…

Oh, and that dream of mine about becoming a translator? I did that, too. I translated a few books (you can check them out here) and I realized I didn’t enjoy the process as much as I thought I would. So I became a full-time teacher instead.

Side note: Despite my untraditional last name, I’m a native Czech speaker – born in Prague with a surname ending in -ová and raised in a picturesque Czech village with a “hospoda”, “pošta” and “sámoška”. I acquired my beautiful new Ukrainian surname Něchajenko in my late twenties by marrying my now husband (yes, I'm that good at integrating foreigners!).

So now you know my story. And I can’t wait to hear yours!

What I’m good at (on a personal level):

Making amazing banana pancakes
Remembering all the details from the Harry Potter books
Beating you in ping-pong

What I’m bad at but enjoy anyway (on a personal level):

Bending into various yoga asanas
Singing to my daughter
Discussing black holes, dark matter and the end of the universe, even though I understand about 0.001% of it

What I’m good at (on a professional level):

Making you feel comfortable and confident when speaking Czech
Responding to your needs and wishes, no one-size-fits-all kind of lessons
Seeing your mistakes as a learning tool, not something to be ashamed of
Speaking in a way that you understand, 99% of the time we’ll be speaking in Czech during lessons
Being a linguist, I actually understand Czech grammar, but I’m also not afraid to admit that I do not know or remember something – I’ll look it up before our next lesson

What I’m bad at (on a professional level):

Gamifying our lessons, since I don’t really enjoy games that much myself
Teaching complete beginners from very different (Asian, Arabic…) language backgrounds, since I don’t have a lot of experience with that
Preparing you for certified B2 or C1 exams, since I’ve never done that
Helping you learn specialized medical or tech vocabulary, since I’m not an expert in those fields
Making vocabulary cards for you, since I don't really believe in learning isolated words

Lessons are held online via Zoom
You choose the length and frequency of the lessons
I ask you about your current level, needs, wishes, preferences and goals
I design each lesson based on your needs and goals
Homework assignments are optional, I'll encourage you if you'll want them but won't pressure you
Lessons can be canceled up to 24 hour in advance