The Florya branch of Burç College recently held its second annual foreign languages fair with participation from students and their parents at its campus in the Istanbul district of Bakırköy.

Bünyamin Erdoğan, head of the foreign languages department at the school, said “In non-English speaking countries like Turkey, the basic problem in English language teaching is the lack of places where people can speak and practice English or be exposed to the language. In order to deal with this problem we organize English fairs in which no Turkish is spoken.” Why not try speaking to the teachers?

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Norway: First languages fear second place

Few countries voluntarily adopt a foreign tongue as one of their main languages, but Norway has been doing it for years with English. Now, however, its government wants to protect its national language. Too late me thinks…

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Australia & United Kingdom: Trainers in pyjamas

The advantages of learning by distance have long been recognised by students, but now new research among the people providing training by distance reveals that they too benefit from the flexibility and freedom. Trainers imparting knowledge and skills to their students dressed only in their pyjamas is one of the more surprising images to emerge from a recent survey of distance education courses for English language teachers.

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Scotland: Pupils to Get More Language Support

Pupils who speak English as a second language are to be offered more support under new council plans. Glasgow City Council has approved proposals to reorganise teaching services to offer more dedicated support to bilingual children and young people.

There are currently around 9500 pupils across the city with English as a second language – 12.5% of the school population. In a report, officials at Glasgow City Council revealed about 30% of the 9500 children whose parents are migrant workers, asylum seekers or refugees are not getting the support required.

Under the plan staff will be allocated to New Learning Communities under which social work, education and health services are organised and then deployed to respond to local needs.

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As if those Scandinavians weren’t already the undisputed masters of L2 English, Norwegian toddlers in publicly funded day care centers may be able to start learning English along with their nursery rhymes from this autumn. The top politician in charge of children and education in Oslo, Torger Ødegaard, has visited the Nordic area’s most successful school program, which lies outside Stockholm. It includes English instruction from an early age and he’s mighty impressed.

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Ireland: World of Work – Spreading the Word

The English teaching and learning sector received a significant boost recently when Minister for Innovation Policy Michael Ahern TD announced a grant of €400,000 for the newly launched English Language Learning ‘Skillnet’ in Ireland, which aims to provide opportunities for trainees and organisations in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL).

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Cyprus: English School will focus on integration

English School Board Chairman Kyriakos Vassiliou has confirmed the board will try to implement a series of expert recommendations to encourage the integration of its Turkish Cypriot students. I’ll believe that when I see it.

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