minats_zone

Dear everyona, I've just got back from a rather challenging trip to Ekaterinburg.I really got tired there and it was 2.30am when I finally stepped in. The main problem was that I had to carry a pretty large bag with all the training materials (booklets, videos, instructions etc.). This was not easy and my shoulders are still aching. Nevertheless, the whole experience was worth it. I met so many nice young teachers from all over Ural and Siberia and we had so interesting exam sessions with guinea pigs (volunteer candidates - school kids) that this made up for all the problems. My tranees were really highly motivated and it was not difficult to run the sessions with them. The hotel I stayed at was also rather good (its name is 'Fort'; a small, family-run hotel not far from the centre). The weather was really good and sunny. I even managed to walk along the local flee-market (they sell semi-precious stones there and 'Russian Souvenirs' like matreshkas, ushankas etc. th...

Yes, it was my flying visit to Ekaterinburg on these week days. I gave talks on Garnet Education (books for Academic English and ESP) at the Ekaterinburg State University. There were about 30 local teachers from all over Ekaterinburg and I tried to persuade them that Garnet books are the best choice for them in their teaching situations. They agreed but said that having so many restrictions from their local educational authorities may prevent them from using the books with their classes. Bureaucracy and concervatism are still really dominating over common sense in many towns across Russia, especially in smaller ones. Even so, teachers got interested and they can buy the books for themselves and it's really a good thing for their self development. Well, Ekaterinburg was pretty bright and warm for this time of the year and I hope that my next flying visit to this city (on 24-26 October) doing Training and Coordination YLE for Cambridge ESOL will be almost as good. Anyway, look at som...

Hi, there. Though I've posted recently, I see the good reasons to write again and yes, it's our Moscow Indian Autumn which is here to stay. The gloomy forecasters promised the grey skies and rains by the weekend but they were lying, it didn't happen. The Indian Autumn has given us two really great weeks of fabulous colours and blue skies. Not typical of our lands, isn't it? Well, I had a really busy week before this weekend and spent 2 days excorting Andy Cowle (Marshall Cavendish ELT) around Moscow. By the way, you can see him with a friend of mine - Olga Kut'ina at school 1359. He's a really nice, open-minded man from Glasgow. In the background of the photo, there is an interactive whiteboard - not the only one at school 1359. I wish we could have them at other educational institutions, too. Another news is that Marina turned up on Sunday at our dacha with her new boyfriend - K.... The pictures came out not very good (blurred) as it was evening. But you could ...

Hello there. Some time's passed and I realized that I haven't posted to my blog and said about any news in my life during this autumn 2008. Eventually, good, bright and relatively warm days settled in Moscow and I really enjoy the fabulous colours in the streets and from my kitchen-window. You can have a look and make sure I'm not lying. Well, as for the business matters, I've been teaching 4 groups of 1st year students and 2 groups of 2d year students who are studying to become IT engeeneers and businessmen. Generally, they are good kids from all over Russia. I guess they are the children of some important, high profile people as entering HSE is not easy. To be honest, I don't really understand many terms in the IT coursebooks, but trying to give the impression of being knowleagable and confident is the only thing I can do now. That's the point and a trick at the same time from my side. I hope I can understand IT English better when I'm in the middle of the...