I spent two excellent weeks (1 - 13 Aug, 2016) in Oxford on a professional development course (ENGLISH FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION) organised by Lake School.
Primarily it was a language course to improve our language skills, especially communication skills, but we also got insight into British culture and everyday life in Britain. During the lessons we had the opportunity to get acquainted with each other’s national traditions as we came from 7 different countries. In our group there were 10 participants all together from Germany, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Hungary.
Some good practices were also introduced, which we can share with our colleagues and integrate into our own teaching practice in order to increase the efficiency of the teaching and learning process.
During the two weeks we were given optional homework for the following days and we had some tests at the beginning of each lesson. Our tutor was absolutely amazing, well-motivated, high-educated and helpful.
We had enough free time to spend together making new friends, new partnerships, discover the beauty of Oxford and its surroundings. The school also offered us a guided tour in Oxford, around Christ Church as well, and two more trips for the weekend. One of them was organised to London and the other to the Isle of Wight. We visited two of the most famous pubs in Oxford in the evenings where we could enjoy the typical British food and drink.
All the programmes were well-organised and fantastic.
It was a great time for me. Although I am not an English teacher, I got valuable and useful experience for my teaching practice. I also got some marvellous new friends from all over the world and we have been keeping in touch with each other ever since.
