The Wise school!
on Tina's Journal (China), 04/Dec/2010 17:41, 34 days ago
Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}This is the private language school where I work in Pula. I teach students from ages 7 to adults. The 7 year olds are the most challenging! They are the cutest kids but I am always thinking of new ways to keep them focused and interested in the lesson. This week they all took it in turns to‘play’ teacher in the classroom which worked well, they didn’t want to finish the lesson and I think their parents were quite relieved when they finally emerged from the classroom. It doesn’t always go that smoothly though and after an hour with the little ‘uns I actually feel like I haveworked 20!!Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}The school is run by a lady called Monica who set up the school several years ago. I worked for her a couple of years back which was convenient for me as it’s only a 5 minute drive from my house. I was quite pleased therefore when she realised I had returned from China and asked if I’d like to work back there. This year I am the only teacher as the enrolments have been down compared to previous years but there’s enough work to keep me going! It’s nice to have a variety of students from beginners to advanced.The adults classes are great fun, I have some really nice students who are enthusiastic and we have lots of laughs in the classroom. They all  want to learn English for various reasons: for work, travel, dealing with the tourists in the summer or just general interest. English isn't widely spoken here in Sardinia or in Italy generally. When tourists come here they don't find it easy to communicate with locals. English only became compulsory in schools a few years ago. As English is the Global language of communication the education system is having to play catch up in this area. There has been a recent initiative by the Sardinian regional  government to encourage adults to learn English by offering free courses as part of the'Sardinia Speaks English'programme. It seems to be successful as places are filled quickly.