Daniel Markus, an Australian ex-pat who has been teaching English at Bratislava's Gymnázium Matky Alexie for seven years, gave his English students (16 to 17 years old) an assignment in November: write a Letter to the Editor based on something they read in Vol. 5 No. 38 of The Slovak Spectator. Here is some of what they wrote:
Dear Editor,
After I read your article about 'Hillary offers NGOs belated kudos', I can say I did not like the way it was written.
I disagree that you write about what she mentioned about Slovak politics. Although she has the right to her own opinion because we are a democratic state, she does not have the kind of political influence for example the President of the US would have. She only represents co-operation among NGOs in the world and she does not take part in the discussion of our political matters.
That is why your article should have been about how she negotiated with the NGOs and not whether the Slovak government acts as the West would like it to.
This is the way I see it, and I would appreciate it if you would pay attention to what an article, an impartial article, should really be about. Personally, I think this is just to impress foreigners and show that we are on your side.
Matej
