sustainED

Andrea Záhumenská is currently the Director of Studies at the Bridge English Language Centre in Bratislava, Slovakia. She has presented at a number of ELT conferences and delivered a range of external training sessions to English teachers. Andrea holds a Trinity TESOL Diploma and has recently gained EMCC coaching accreditation. She believes that teachers can and do make a real difference to students‘ lives and that they can have a positive influence on students that resonates beyond the classroom. She also believes that teaching is a dynamic and evolving profession and that the best teachers believe in lifelong learning and continually strive for personal development.

Kamila Jančíková studied both English and German and was a language teacher for twenty years. Now, she is in charge of the marketing agenda of the Bridge and Kogneo, and last year she published her first book of poetry. She is also a certified yoga instructor, as well as a certified ayurveda lifestyle coach, and her biggest interest is what she calls the poetry of life. She loves to write, take pictures, travel and read.

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 Practitioner 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.

Sandra is from Germany, from a small town near Munich. She is a methodical, thoughtful, and calm yoga enthusiast with excellent communication and interpersonal skills. What she values most about teaching is “the love and joy of the teaching profession.” Teaching is a hobby for her; it gives her the opportunity to help students grow. After completing her studies, she worked in the tourism industry but then decided to change careers. After successfully completing the CELTA course in Edinburgh, she began teaching English. For a good 8 years, Sandra lived in Spain, England, Scotland, and China. She loves learning languages and discovering new cultures. Sandra enjoys traveling, practicing yoga, dancing, spending time in nature, listening to music, and watching movies. She has been a teacher at The Bridge since 2019.

Kev is a unique English teacher with over 25 years of experience. He loves teaching, interacting with both adult and child students, and creating his own teaching materials. He is sociable, communicative, and well-read, yet independent and full of boundless energy. If you’re one of Kevin’s students, he’ll motivate you to learn, and before you know it, you’ll be reading books in their original language or watching movies without subtitles. He’s originally from England but lives with his family in southern Italy. His passions include his three children, art, Netflix, comic books, short stories, and photography. You can find several of his photography courses on Flickr. Throughout his professional career, he has focused on teaching, trained instructors, and served as an examiner for Cambridge exams.

Roman Krebes is an experienced English educator working across state and private sectors, specializing in curriculum design and tailored language strategies. With a strong interest in the long-term sustainability of the teaching profession, he actively advocates for the holistic well-being of instructors. He focuses on implementing strategies that improve workplace ergonomics and mitigate the physical and mental strains inherent to teaching. By addressing these factors, he seeks to help career educators and tutors prevent burnout, protect their physical health, and maintain high performance throughout their professional lives.

Klaudia Bednárová graduated from the Faculty of Arts in Nitra, majoring in English Language and Literature – Pedagogy. In 2009 she founded The Bridge English Language Centre, which became one of the founding members of the Association of Language Schools of the Slovak Republic in 2010 and an internationally accredited language school in 2020. Klaudia is actively involved in adult and teacher education. She is a member of the presidium of the AIVD and the Slovak Association of Age Management. She was at the birth of the Slovak Chamber of English teachers and lead the projects ELTforum.sk and The Bridge re-boot camp for teachers. Klaudia’s research focuses on the integration of education into the ecosystems of companies and organisations, ROI issues and the impact of education on the growth and development of companies. Her non-professional interest is finding strategies to effective learning.