ELT World » ukraine Your local friendly TEFL blog Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:32:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Ukraine: Custom language courses in demand /2008/08/ukraine-custom-language-courses-in-demand/ /2008/08/ukraine-custom-language-courses-in-demand/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:55:53 +0000 david /news/?p=66 The increased presence of foreign investors, particularly English-speaking businesses, into the country’s markets has fueled the language school market’s robust annual 2030 percent growth. Increasingly, Ukrainian professionals, companies and families recognize the importance of foreign language skills, and not just English.

Read the full story…

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]]> /2008/08/ukraine-custom-language-courses-in-demand/feed/ 0 More European TEFL News than you can Stomach /2008/03/more-european-tefl-news-than-you-can-stomach/ /2008/03/more-european-tefl-news-than-you-can-stomach/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:23:05 +0000 david /news/?p=11 Just in case you’re short of something to do today, take a look at this lot. Is it really possible that all these people around the world are having to deal with our language? It just doesn’t seem right, does it?

Surprising as it may seem, schools are struggling to cope with an influx of students from abroad, with many teachers facing classes in which a third of pupils do not speak English as their first language, teachers’ representatives told the Times Online. The number of pupils who did not have English as their mother tongue had risen by 66,000 in a year, the conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers was told.

Read the full story…

Switzerland: English seen as “most useful” foreign language

Not just British tourists, also a majority of, er, Swiss reckon that English is the most useful foreign language in the country, although it is not Switzerland’s “lingua franca” as commonly believed.

Read the full story…

United Kingdom: Not Enough Cash to Teach English

Whoooaaaa… you misread, the headline doesn’t in fact read not enough cash to teachers of English. Headteachers have said the £2-million spent on teaching English to immigrant children in North Lincolnshire is inadequate, according to the ever influential This is Scunthorpe website. Schools say they have less to spend, even though the number of students whose first language is not English has risen.

Read the full story…

Estonia fears English too dominant in its schools

Education authorities in Estonia Thursday warned that the hands-down dominance of English in its schools is depriving the Baltic state of the language specialists it will need in the future.

Read the full story…

Turkey: English Time Celebrates Its 10th Year

Scourge of English teachers throughout Istanbul, the English Time language school celebrated its 10th anniversary recently with a reception held at Istanbul’s Divan Kuruçesme. Speaking at the reception English Time founder Fethi Şimşek stated that when they established English Time 10 years ago their concern was to raise the quality level of English education in Turkey (no, really, that’s what he said). He said they have been achieving this aim without making any concessions since 1998.

Read the full story…

United Kingdom: £10m Bill to Teach Migrants English

Town halls in Greater Manchester are spending more than £10m a year teaching immigrants to speak English, the Manchester Evening News declares. The Department for Schools says a growing amount of taxpayers’ money is being spent on teaching English as a second language. Your point?

Read the full story …

Scotland: International Rescue for City School Pupils

Language specialists (and not the Thunderbirds) are helping non-native speakers improve English as different cultures get along: excited chatter fills the room as the pupils work on their science project. What isn’t immediately obvious is how many youngsters discussing a recent visit to a butterfly farm are not fluent in English. They are all reading the same books, but alongside some sits a specialist teacher – armed with flashcards picturing insects and their name in English – ready to prompt when necessary.

Read the full story …

United Kingdom: The Primary School Where Every Child Learns to Speak 40 Languages

Welcome to Newbury Park Primary School in Redbridge, north-east London, where its 850 pupils will have learnt phrases in 40 languages by the time they transfer to secondary school, notes the Independent. The school has adopted a policy of teaching each language spoken by the 40 ethnic groups among its pupils.

Read the full story …

Iceland: Bilingualism: Why Not?

Last week it was reported that the fabulously named Bifröst University in west Iceland would become the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor’s degree in business taught exclusively in English. While there is already a range of courses offered in English at several of Iceland’s universities, Bifröst says that by offering the degree in English, it is responding to the needs of students planning to work in the international arena.

Read the full story …

Russia: Language Learning Popular as Ever

In a statement that may well bemuse anyone who’s ever taught there, the St. Petersburg Times reports that the thirst for learning English and other foreign languages continues as Russians travel more and seek international business partners.

Read the full story …

Some Soviet language learners
Stick poking remains a national pastime in Russia

Belgium: Language director defends EU’s costly translations

A high official in the European Commission’s translation branch has said that despite discussions and fears in recent years about mushrooming costs for translations and interpretations in the EU, the principle of granting each citizen the right to communicate with Brussels in their own language should not be altered, no matter the number of member states in the future. Mmmm… there be money in that there Brussels.

Read the full story …

Ukraine: All in English

When foreigners visited Kyiv some ten years ago, language was the main problem in adapting to the local environment. The situation is now somewhat different, proclaims the Kyiv Post. Although not everyone can freely chat with you in English, the majority of citizens can understand you and will try to help you in any way possible. Apparently.

Read the full story …

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]]> /2008/03/more-european-tefl-news-than-you-can-stomach/feed/ 0 More Euro TEFL News than you can Shake a Stick at /2008/03/more-euro-tefl-news-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at/ /2008/03/more-euro-tefl-news-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:16:00 +0000 david /2008/03/more-euro-tefl-news-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at/ Just in case you’re short of something to do today, take a look at this lot. Is it really possible that all these people around the world are having to deal with our language? It just doesn’t seem right, does it?

United Kingdom: The Struggle to Cope When Children Do Not Speak Any English

Surprising as it may seem, schools are struggling to cope with an influx of students from abroad, with many teachers facing classes in which a third of pupils do not speak English as their first language, teachers’ representatives told the Times Online. The number of pupils who did not have English as their mother tongue had risen by 66,000 in a year, the conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers was told.

Read the full story…

Switzerland: English seen as “most useful” foreign language

Not just British tourists, also a majority of, er, Swiss reckon that English is the most useful foreign language in the country, although it is not Switzerland’s “lingua franca” as commonly believed.

Read the full story…

United Kingdom: Not Enough Cash to Teach English

Whoooaaaa… you misread, the headline doesn’t in fact read not enough cash to teachers of English. Headteachers have said the £2-million spent on teaching English to immigrant children in North Lincolnshire is inadequate, according to the ever influential This is Scunthorpe website. Schools say they have less to spend, even though the number of students whose first language is not English has risen.

Read the full story…

Estonia fears English too dominant in its schools

Education authorities in Estonia Thursday warned that the hands-down dominance of English in its schools is depriving the Baltic state of the language specialists it will need in the future.

Read the full story…

Turkey: English Time Celebrates Its 10th Year

Scourge of English teachers throughout Istanbul, the English Time language school celebrated its 10th anniversary recently with a reception held at Istanbul’s Divan Kuruçesme. Speaking at the reception English Time founder Fethi Şimşek stated that when they established English Time 10 years ago their concern was to raise the quality level of English education in Turkey (no, really, that’s what he said). He said they have been achieving this aim without making any concessions since 1998.

Read the full story…

United Kingdom: £10m Bill to Teach Migrants English

Town halls in Greater Manchester are spending more than £10m a year teaching immigrants to speak English, the Manchester Evening News declares. The Department for Schools says a growing amount of taxpayers’ money is being spent on teaching English as a second language. Your point?

Read the full story …

Scotland: International Rescue for City School Pupils

Language specialists (and not the Thunderbirds) are helping non-native speakers improve English as different cultures get along: excited chatter fills the room as the pupils work on their science project. What isn’t immediately obvious is how many youngsters discussing a recent visit to a butterfly farm are not fluent in English. They are all reading the same books, but alongside some sits a specialist teacher – armed with flashcards picturing insects and their name in English – ready to prompt when necessary.

Read the full story …

United Kingdom: The Primary School Where Every Child Learns to Speak 40 Languages

Welcome to Newbury Park Primary School in Redbridge, north-east London, where its 850 pupils will have learnt phrases in 40 languages by the time they transfer to secondary school, notes the Independent. The school has adopted a policy of teaching each language spoken by the 40 ethnic groups among its pupils.

Read the full story …

Iceland: Bilingualism: Why Not?

Last week it was reported that the fabulously named Bifröst University in west Iceland would become the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor’s degree in business taught exclusively in English. While there is already a range of courses offered in English at several of Iceland’s universities, Bifröst says that by offering the degree in English, it is responding to the needs of students planning to work in the international arena.

Read the full story …

Russia: Language Learning Popular as Ever

In a statement that may well bemuse anyone who’s ever taught there, the St. Petersburg Times reports that the thirst for learning English and other foreign languages continues as Russians travel more and seek international business partners.

Read the full story …

Some Soviet language learners
Stick poking remains a national pastime in Russia

Belgium: Language director defends EU’s costly translations

A high official in the European Commission’s translation branch has said that despite discussions and fears in recent years about mushrooming costs for translations and interpretations in the EU, the principle of granting each citizen the right to communicate with Brussels in their own language should not be altered, no matter the number of member states in the future. Mmmm… there be money in that there Brussels.

Read the full story …

Ukraine: All in English

When foreigners visited Kyiv some ten years ago, language was the main problem in adapting to the local environment. The situation is now somewhat different, proclaims the Kyiv Post. Although not everyone can freely chat with you in English, the majority of citizens can understand you and will try to help you in any way possible. Apparently.

Read the full story …

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]]> /2008/03/more-euro-tefl-news-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at/feed/ 0 Ukraine: tough but rewarding /2007/06/ukraine-tough-but-rewarding/ /2007/06/ukraine-tough-but-rewarding/#comments Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:40:00 +0000 david /2007/06/ukraine-tough-but-rewarding/ 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.

____________________

Learn more at the Teaching English in Russia and Ukraine website.
____________________

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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