Learning English language and building bridges

​Nowadays, the English language is prominent at the global scale, used to encourage connections between people from various nations to facilitate their communication through diverse areas – in which, as examples: business, academic research, fashion, computers, and more. A group of teachers from different countries and schools took part in the "Intensive English Language Course for Education Staff." They approached study with a positive attitude and put maximum effort into each activity.
The new edition of the course took place in Palermo from 02/06/2025 to 06/06/2025. We had the pleasure to welcome a group composed by, Małgorzata Grzesik & Ewa Podembska from Zespół Szkolno-Przedszkolny, w Słodkowie in Poland, , Iveta Kalberga & Dace Tindenovska from Talsu Valsts Gimnāzija,  in Latvija , Sirpa-Helena Karjalainen from OSAO, in Findland,  Odete Maria Alves da Laja, Hélder José Marques Caridade, Maria Ermelinda ,Rodrigues Cerqueira from Escola Profissional de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural de Ponte de Lima, and Maria de Fátima Moreira de Brito Nunes from Agrupamento de Escolas de Vilela also  in Portugal and finally ,Alena Ružičková from Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in Slovakia.

​Throughout the week, the participants had various challenges to enhance five essential skills: English use, listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The group began their journey by introducing ourselves and describing our jobs, organizing interviews to get to know each other. Learning a language requires effort and practice, so every day the course was filled with numerous exercises and activities. 
They covered several grammar topics, including a review of tenses, the use of phrasal verbs and adverbs. Each lesson was based on everyday situations, such as organizing daily tasks, discussing routine activities, hours and schedules, and hobbies. They also explored topics like the importance of learning a foreign language, travel, and future planning. To enhance effective learning, we conducted formative assessments and activities using games, quizzes, readings, real-life simulations, and various other methods.

​Thanks to our team, the participants also had the opportunity to enjoy the city of Palermo with two sightseeing tours of the city center, as well as dinners and lunches in typical Sicilian restaurants.
The participants enthusiastically embraced all the speaking challenges with courage. During breaks, they seized every opportunity to converse with fellow participants in English, exchanging best practices and insights about their schools and countries. It was an exceptionally productive week. We hope they maintain this positive attitude in their continued English studies and cherish the multicultural environment they successfully established within just one week.
Discover more about this course here.