Re: "Slovak film relieves British ignorance", Culture shorts, Vol 8 No 36, Sept 23 to 29
While understanding Lucia's concerns, I feel she is being slightly over-critical. What else would she suggest? People are not going to go along to a geography lesson, but they do like watching films. It's a sneaky but clever way of educating people. At present, not many British people know much about Slovakia, but it could be said that this is as much Slovakia's fault as Britain's. Slovakia, despite being a wonderful place and having a great deal to offer, is not the easiest country to explore if you don't speak Slovak, which many Brits, quite reasonably, don't.
But then again, it could be argued that it won't make a lot of difference if British people know or don't know about Slovakia. Most EU nationals don't know very much about Finland, and this hasn't prevented Finland from becoming a fully participating member of the EU.
I think Slovakia could benefit a great deal from expanding its tourist industry, in the same way the Czech Republic has, and if it wishes to do so, the above can only help this to happen at a faster pace than it otherwise might.
Scott Lafferty
