Mr Alemany’s humour and happiness in educating people have been utilized during his eighteen years at the International School of Prague. He has many passions; music, teaching languages and sports.

How it all started

When Mr Alemany finished university, he did not want to teach and was unsure what to become. He studied philology – the study of languages and literature. After university he was tired of being in a classroom and having to learn all day, so he tried different things. He worked for a local television channel interviewing lots of people to produce different news each week. He also worked for the government as a translator in Spanish and Catalan. He even tried some office jobs but those didn’t click for him. But then he gave teaching a chance and he taught Catalan to three-year-olds. It was during this time he realised he was enjoying teaching more than the other jobs he had tried out. He found this more entertaining due to the direct contact with other people and this led him down the path of a successful teaching career in Spanish and Catalan.

Teaching Career

Mr Alemany is an experienced teacher and this is demonstrated by the fact that he has been teaching for around 30 years.

He has been through ups and downs but still enjoys teaching Spanish and Catalan. Interestingly, he believes that in languages there are chances to speak about multiple things such as identities, cultures and who students are. He thinks in this way because languages are broad and in comparison to other subjects they don’t have a sole focus on one topic. He believes you can talk about anything and just use your own ability in languages, and with this comes the fact that students are willing to share about themselves willingly and openly. Mr Alemany loves to share his passions and learn about his students as well.

Throughout his career, he has taught both middle school and upper school students and during his time teaching he has had many good and bad moments. When asked, “What is the most difficult challenge for you as a teacher?” he answered the question slowly, thinking about different moments and then he said “the most difficult thing as a teacher is not being able to give enough time to every student. I find this difficult because I want all students to have the best success possible but find it difficult for students to improve exponentially due to the fact that I can’t give maximum time to all my students.” 

On the flip side, he has had some very enjoyable moments during his teaching years. For example, he said his favourite moments are “when students come to visit after having left school and have already graduated. These moments are very heartwarming moments.” He finds it very special when they come back and remember their teachers and special memories. Even if they just drop by to say “hi” or have a small conversation. This warms his heart with happiness and he also loves to learn about how successful they have become and how they are doing. He also likes to hear about students’ hobbies and passions that inspire them. 

His Passions

Mr Alemany comes from a musical family and his mum sang professionally in choirs, so music has always been one of his main passions and he feels that music is probably his strongest ever passion. Participating in and sharing music is important for Mr Alemany, which is why he enjoys music. “During my university years, the school had a radio show. I participated in those with friends and during that time we talked about music and even interviewed some artists and bands.” Additionally, as a child, the music seemed to be in his family’s blood and interests; his aunts and uncles also sang and played music, along with most of his other family members. With music playing such an important role in his family, he followed in their footsteps and got interested in “rock and roll.” The crazy reason why he likes it is due to the fact that he finds it a very democratic type of cultural expression. It is a tool for the expression of something that is happening politically beside the sound itself. Music is still very important to him and this is shown by the fact that he still plays with friends today.

Another passion of his is sports. He has been a sports fanatic since a kid, he enjoys both playing and watching. In context, Mr Alemany likes to watch F1 but plays tennis and as a kid “in Spain, I mostly played football and basketball after school with friends.” he would play anywhere because they didn’t have pitches or fields he said. Sports were not a big part of the school and he had to do them after school. But, the school did have a track and field program and he took part in that. He claims “I was very fast” and “I was the fastest one.” Furthermore, he also plays tennis even today, but says “I really enjoy tennis, even though I am not very good.” Sport is very important to him as well as his involvement in music. 

With all this being said, a crucial aspect of his life is of course his family. It is just as important as anything else for him. He likes to spend time with family, “I like going on walks with them and doing some cultural activities.”