ELT World » Eastern Europe

ENGLISH FOR LIFE: The 6th International and 10th National ATECR Conference

david — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:47:00 +0000

The Sixth International and Tenth National ATECR Conference

The 6th International and 10th National Conference will be held in České Budějovice from 12 to 14 September, 2008 and promises to be an absolute belter. It will be hosted by the Department of English of the Pedagogical Faculty of the University of South Bohemia. This highlight of the Czech conference season promises to offer a varied programme of talks, workshops, demonstrations, research-oriented presentations and poster sessions intended for teachers in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

The main aim of the conference is to provide a forum for sharing experience and ideas, demonstrating teacher achievements and promoting networks of teachers. The ELT resources exhibition will be open to all for the length of the conference.

Registration Forms and Speaker Proposal Forms are available here.

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English Tactics in the Czech Republic

david — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:30:00 +0000

English Tactics in the Czech Republic

Imagine walking into a workshop on teaching tactics for English-language learners and being greeted by the keynote speaker in Japanese. This is what a group of primary-school teachers can look forward to next month during an all-day event being held at a Žižkov hotel. Not only does Steve Watts plan to greet attendees in Japanese, he intends to conduct the first part of his presentation entirely in the Asian language, the bugger. This might seems a little strange given the fact that Watts, a British national, is considered an expert in the field of English-language teaching methods. Watts doesn’t intend on leaving his audience in the dark for the whole afternoon; just long enough to remind teachers what it feels like to learn a second language.

Reminding language teachers what it’s like to learn a language, eh…

Read the full article here.

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Teachers on TEFL in Poland

david — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:37:00 +0000

Poland is recognized as being a fairly easy place to start your TEFL career. Why that is could be for a number of reasons. After all, it’s not necessarily always a good thing for it to be easy to find a job. ESL Base is one website with some information about teaching in this country, with contributions from those who have been there.

Anonymous notes, ‘Poland has high unemployment, as a result your boss always has the upper hand. It is a good idea to get a solid contract. The contract should include pay and number of hours per week. Many poorly run “English Schools” will guarantee high hourly wages but not the hours per week. This can be problematic, if you make any plans based on your salary.’

Gill elaborates, ‘(the) transport system in the city is wonderful – best is to buy a monthly ticket (ticket office at Plac Bankowy) for 66pln. This will enable you to use the buses and trams and metro trains for one month. 66pln is the equivalent of £10. Average cost of a flat is 1200 – 1400pln – just over £200 per month. You can get a very pleasant one room flat with kitchen and bathroom for that amount.’

Stakhanov (probably not the Soviet super hero) suggests, ‘Poland is becoming a popular destination to teach English, especially among those who don’t want to follow the herd in Spain. I taught in Poland for one year in a place called Lodz, which happens to be Poland’s second largest city. Like many places in Poland, it was grey and drab, and had high unemployment. That said, Lodz has a university and important film school which attracts people from all over the world. On the good side, the school was well-equipped; students were highly motivated, demanding, but easy to get on with. At the time, I earned about 2,500 zloty per month, which is of course peanuts in comparison to British wages.’

Geoff adds, ‘Plenty of jobs available especially for a native speaker. Many employers will take you on a part time contract and allow you to work privately for extra money so long as you keep focused. Most cities are equipped with reliable and cheap public transport and most young people will speak English if you ever require any assistance. As one of the biggest markets for ESL teachers it is a great place to start, however, to ensure you get a job it is a must that you appear in person for an interview, as much for your sake as for theirs.’

Read more at ESL Base, a useful website all in all, with plenty of other resources worth exploring. Also, learn more at the Poland & Hungary forum.

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The Real Kazakhstan: Eager to Attract Foreign Expertise

david — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:50:00 +0000

I, like many of you, have become familiar with an image of Kazakhstan based on the comedy character Borat. Paul Bartlett, in this great article which was a prize winner at the excellent transitions abroad website, tells rather a different story while sharing his experiences of teaching in the country.

It’s funny what difference a year can make. When I told family and friends that I was moving to Kazakhstan they looked at me blankly and asked “Pakistan?” Now in the wake of Borat Sagdiev’s notorious antics, it seems that everyone has heard of this Central Asian state.

Borat’s backward home country is one supposedly populated by misogynists, racists, and perverts. The reality is somewhat different, as visitors to this vast country in Central Asia can testify. Kazakhstan is a country of contrasts−dynamic, go-ahead modern cities surrounded by beautiful, unspoilt nature. The people are open and hospitable. Kazakhstan is a melting-pot of different nationalities−estimates put the number of resident ethnic groups to be in excess of 130. The country prides itself on having achieved a great degree of ethnic harmony with Kazakhs, Russians, Ukranians, Uzbeks, Uighurs, and Turks just a few of the different groups living side by side with few problems.

I moved to Almaty, the country’s vibrant commercial and cultural capital, in August 2005 to work as a teacher trainer in a university. Kazakhstan is a huge country, the ninth largest in the world by landmass, with a small population of around 15 million. For the last few years the economy has been booming with petrodollars and you can see the results in the skyscrapers of Astana, the capital, and in the trendy shops and cafes of Almaty.

Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s undisputed economic powerhouse and Almaty is the business hub of the region. The Almaty Financial District, which is taking shape in the south of the city, reflects its ambition to be a significant player in Asia.More top of the range 5-star hotels are set to open their doors in 2007, and Almaty is home to many multinational companies.

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Learn more about teaching English in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan at the teaching English in Russia and Ukraine website.
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Astana is a gleaming city of glittering skyscrapers in the middle of the windswept steppe: the purpose-built city is the grandiose vision of the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ordered the capital moved here from Almaty in 1997. Astana is where ambitious young Kazakhs go to get ahead. It is a windswept city, home to government workers and diplomats, and lacks the buzzing nightlife and cultural life of Almaty.

Work and Living

While there are a lot of opportunities for work in the oil and gas industry, Kazakhstan is keen to develop other spheres in order to avoid over-reliance on its mineral wealth. Key areas include tourism, finance, and the service industry. To achieve this diversification, the country is keen to attract foreign expertise.

Kazakh Culture

Although the SUV is ubiquitous in cities, the horse still plays a major role in Kazakhstan. Horse-racing is popular in the summer months in Almaty, along with more traditional horse games such as kyz kuu, tenge alu, kokpar, and audaryspak. Kyz kuu is a form of horseback kiss chase and tenge alu is a feat of superb riding skill where the rider attempts to pick up a silver coin while moving at a swift gallop.

Kokpar is the Central Asian variant of polo played with the body of a headless goat; it’s a fast and furious competition with riders battling to steal the carcass from each other in order to deposit it in the goal. Audaryspak gives an equine flavor to another favorite Kazakh sport, wrestling, as the two contestants grapple on horseback aiming to unseat each other.

Ethnic Kazakhs are a superstitious lot–I have been told off for whistling, sitting in the Kazakh mourning position and asking people where they are going. Serious transgressions that will cause offence include being disrespectful to food, in particular bread, wearing your shoes indoors, blowing your nose in public, pointing to the sky and putting your bum or feet on pillows. Kazakhs are great believers in the malign influence of the evil eye and will use charms and amulets to fend it off.

Language

Language has become a contentious issue in Kazakhstan.The state language is Kazakh and moves are afoot to strengthen its presence in the public domain. Russian remains an important communication language both within the country and the former Soviet Union. But its position is likely to be diminished with time as Kazakh becomes more widespread. English has become increasingly popular as an international language with more and more people studying abroad and doing business with foreign counterparts.

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Have your say about teaching English around the World at David’s ELT forums.
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For the moment you can get by with just Russian in the main towns and cities but if you’re planning on staying long term you may want to consider learning Kazakh. Tensions between Kazakh and Russian speakers are beginning to come more to the surface. Some ethnic Kazakhs resent the failure of large parts of the population to learn Kazakh, the state language. I was in a restaurant in Astana recently when an ethnic Kazakh guy started shouting at the head waitress, an ethnic Russian, telling her in no uncertain terms to “go back to Russia”. Fortunately, such incidents are rare.

Eating and Drinking

Kazakh food is very meat-based. Ethnic Kazakhs were traditionally nomadic roaming the steppe with their livestock; vegetables were hard to come by so horsemeat, camel meat and mutton made up the bulk of the nomad’s diet. Kazy, horsemeat sausage, remains a favorite and the national dish is besbarmak, consisting of meat and strips of pasta with the broth drunk separately. The name means “five fingers” and refers to the way the dish was traditionally eaten. Kumis, a mildly alcoholic drink of fermented mare’s milk, is a traditional tipple, but nowadays beer, vodka and wine are just as likely to be drunk with a meal.

Freetime

You will never be short of things to do and see in Kazakhstan. Almaty has the Zailisky Alatau mountain range on its doorstep which offers winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding at the resort of Shymbulak and outdoor ice-skating at Medeu stadium. These mountains are also great in the summer months for trekking and climbing.

The nearby Kapshagay reservoir has sandy beaches and safe swimming. It has been chosen as the site for the Kazakh version of Las Vegas as the casinos are moved out of the main cities. Five hours’ drive from Almaty is Sharyn Canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon in its beauty, and the singing sand dunes in the Altyn-Emel national park are an unusual attraction.

The “Borat Effect”

Kazakhstan is a vibrant and welcoming country and now that the “Borat effect” has put it on the map more, people are starting to discover its attractions. The national carrier, Air Astana, is to increase the frequency of its London flights to three times a week in January 2007 to satisfy increased interest in the country and U.K. banks are reporting increased demand for tenge, the Kazakh currency.

It’s a place of fascinating contrasts between the old and the new, the city and the country, tradition and modernity. The country has left its Soviet past far behind and the people are upwardly mobile, driving the latest SUVs and wearing designer gear. With the economy opening up, foreign expertise is in high demand. Kazakhstan is a great place for those who like to work hard and also like to play hard.

These are extracts of an article originally published in full, as part of their 2007 Expatriate Writing Contest, at the transitions abroad website.

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/articles/living_in_the_real_kazakhstan.shtml

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Ukraine: tough but rewarding

david — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:40:00 +0000

Ukraine is a country struggling to establish an independent identity. Presently, several state-building concepts are vying for predominance; the outcome could have a profound influence on the development of civil society across Central and Eastern Europe. The following article by Tanya Kerusenko, explains her experiences of teaching in the country, and can be found in full at the One Stop English online Magazine:

I would like to share my little experience in teaching English. I am a young teacher, who has been working only for four years. My first teaching experience was at an ordinary Ukrainian school where I was able to face all the problems of our education.

I would like to mention the fact that the teachers used to be the most respected people in our society. I say ‘used to’, because now we have almost the opposite situation. Teachers, doctors, and many other useful workers get the lowest salaries. That’s why so many experienced and well-qualified teachers give up their work and start doing something different.

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Learn more at the Teaching English in Russia and Ukraine website.
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Many of them go to Poland to work as teachers, but many more people set up their business, or go abroad (to Italy, Israel, etc.) to work on the farms or in the bars. Young teachers also don’t want to go to school, they either look for a better-paid job in Ukraine (very often the work is not connected with the education they have got) or go abroad. The number of really devoted teachers is decreasing dramatically.

Another problem is equipment. Only very few schools in big cities can afford to havie at least one video and a TV set, or computer class that could be used for teaching English purposes. Books are not provided by the school libraries as they used to be. So students must buy them themselves. The choice of books is very wide. There are a lot of representatives of different publishing houses ( Oxford, Macmillan, Cambridge, Longman, etc.), that provide the schools with books and information about all the latest books on the book market. The only problem is that many parents cannot afford to buy such a book for their children.

But despite of all the problems in our society, there are enthusiastic teachers, who use every opportunity to make their lessons interesting and useful. We work not for the sake of money, but to see happy children’s eyes when they succeed in learning a foreign language. Due to the Internet and growing possibility to travel around the world, our people are becoming more and more conscious of the importance of learning foreign languages. Parents send their children to different courses or find them tutors when they are as young as two years old. Children dream of being able to express themselves in a foreign language. They study carefully every word and do even more homework that they were asked to do.

This article by Tanya Kerusenko can be found in full at the One Stop English online Magazine.
(http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?theme=mag&catid=58256&docid=145886)

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