BIO

Mark Andrews worked as a teacher trainer at Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary for 15 years in the Department of English Applied Linguistics, before that he taught in the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic.

He has been living and working in Central/Eastern Europe for 40 years now, 12 of which were as an ELT methodology teacher and advisor with the British Council. For six years he was involved in a language and culture project with Secondary School teachers in Hungary which resulted in a text book for teenagers “Zoom In”.

He was co-ordinator of the IATEFL Hungary Culture and Literature Special Interest Group for 5 years and is a big supporter of teacher associations in the Central and Eastern European region. He worked for SOL (Sharing One Language) for 10 years both in Devon and in this region as a teacher trainer, teacher on student courses and course and materials developer.

He now works freelance and in the last year has been teaching week long courses for teenagers in Austrian schools for “English in Action”. He enjoys coming to Slovakia a lot and co-ran four summer camps in Čadca, Stará Turá and Šamorin on a boat on the Danube.

BIO

Kamila Jančíková studied both English and German and has been a language teacher since then. She loves her job and enjoys interacting with people. She is a very communicative person who is curious about people´s stories. Kamila is punctual and organized but also flexible.

She is a passionate yogini (and a certified yoga instructor), a certified ayurveda lifestyle coach, and her biggest interest is what she calls the poetry of life. She writes and photographs her poetry, loves fresh and empty morning slopes, cycles around Bratislava, and lets her heart melt in theatres, concerts and galleries. Furthermore, she is a bookworm too. She enjoys travelling around Europe, solo or with friends, as well as taking care of her herbs and plants. One of her favourite activities is networking and inter-cultural exchange.

Worskhop: Creative writing

Creative writing is a wonderful way how to connect with your intuition and grab everything out of that fascinating thing called the brain. There are many ways how to boost your creativity and the only precondition is: your ACTIVITY. With a little help in the beginning, you will just sit down and write. Without any limits.

In the workshop, we will explain the basics, look at how we can use creative writing in our classes and the main part will include: your own WRITING.

And why should you attend? Because it´s fun and it opens new horizons. Playing with words, turning them upside down, linking your ideas with them and observing what is arising from this game.

Looking forward to seeing you… write.

BIO

Barbora Gecseová is a project manager covering Erasmus programme of international projects, inhouse projects in teacher training and CSR activities at The Bridge English Language Center. She has background in linguistic and translation studies with both professional and volunteering experience of project management in various fields supporting education and diversity. As a project manager with a passion for connecting people and cultures she merges her experience in the latest and unique project dedicated to the community of teachers using humanistic approaches in their profession – Hlt.digital.

Workshop: Hlt.digital as a path to self-development

In this session we will explore ways how an Erasmus project can become a tool for your self-development. We will share our teachers´ experience with Hlt.digital project and information how to get involved in it. Our aim is to create an open space for exchanging best practices and ideas for independent development.

Ben Gwillim served for 25 years in the British military before becoming a teacher.  Having completed his CELTA, he moved to Bratislava in 2014 and has been teaching at the Bridge English Language Centre ever since.  He completed the Teaching Advanced Learners Course at Pilgrims under the tutelage of Hanna Kryszewska in 2018 and the Lexical Teaching course at the Lexical lab in 2019 under Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley.  He currently teaches a range of courses both face-to-face and online and has specialised in teaching advanced students (C1 and above) over the last 5 years.  He also teaches presentations skills to corporate clients and has worked extensively with early-stage start-up companies, helping to improve their pitches and presentations.  He has also delivered workshops at conferences in central Europe focusing on the use of authentic materials and provides regular input to the school’s in-house training programme.

Ben Gwillim served for 25 years in the British military before becoming a teacher.  Having completed his CELTA, he moved to Bratislava in 2014 and has been teaching at the Bridge English Language Centre ever since.  He completed the Teaching Advanced Learners Course at Pilgrims under the tutelage of Hanna Kryszewska in 2018 and the Lexical Teaching course at the Lexical lab in 2019 under Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley.  He currently teaches a range of courses both face-to-face and online and has specialised in teaching advanced students (C1 and above) over the last 5 years.  He also teaches presentations skills to corporate clients and has worked extensively with early-stage start-up companies, helping to improve their pitches and presentations.  He has also delivered workshops at conferences in central Europe focusing on the use of authentic materials and provides regular input to the school’s in-house training programme.

BIO

Emma has a master’s degree in literature from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, a CELTA diploma from the International House London, and has recently completed the Coaching Practioner course with the Bridge, gaining her accreditation with the EMCC shortly after.

She has been teaching for nearly 10 years and was integrating coaching methods into her lessons before participating in the coaching course.

She sees coaching as a great way to get to the heart of what our students are looking for from their language learning and a useful resource for teacher’s to help themselves as well and make sure they’re getting what they want from their career.

Workshop: Why do I teach?

Often, we focus on our students and what they’re getting from the learning experience, but what about us as teachers? What are your core values for your work/life and how can you better bring those into the classroom in order to make sure you’re getting the most out of the experience too? In this session we will identify what your core values are and how to better make sure that they are in congruence with your everyday teaching

BIO

Oksana has been working as a teacher of English for 16 years. She has worked both with Ukrainian and Slovak students.

She has taught English in a wide range of contexts, from young learners to adults. She is a CELTA, IHCYLT, and CAE certified teacher, keen on learning and sharing. Constantly on the look out for fresh ideas and engaged in continuous professional development. She enjoys facilitating the growth and development of her students.

Workshop: Team-building activities and psychological games

Are you still struggling with students’ bad behaviour and they can’t work in a team? Oksana Nosenko’s workshop “team-building activities and psychological games” is aimed to help you to establish a good atmosphere in the classroom, learn students’ personalities better, and knit them together.

BIO

Oksana has been working as a teacher of English for 16 years. She has worked both with Ukrainian and Slovak students.

She has taught English in a wide range of contexts, from young learners to adults. She is a CELTA, IHCYLT, and CAE certified teacher, keen on learning and sharing. Constantly on the look out for fresh ideas and engaged in continuous professional development. She enjoys facilitating the growth and development of her students.

Workshop: Listening games and activities or “how not to get bored in the lesson”.

Have you ever noticed that your students’ faces become sour when you tell them they are going to do a listening task? If you have – you definitely need to visit Oksana’s workshop Listening games and activities or “how not to get bored in the lesson”.

She believes that learning through games is an effective way to teach listening skills. If you have ever felt that your listening activities have become a little bit repetitive and the students are not very engaged in practicing their listening skills – this session is for you. She is going to demonstrate games and activities which your students will definitely enjoy.