Conversation Classes

Pretty Slovak students from GSK

Teaching here is totally different in comparison to what I did in Lithuania and Poland. For a start, there is no proper teacher's room with loads of native speakers. What's more, class observations are almost non-existent here. There is no senior teacher picking little holes in your lesson and noting down every single word you say and every move you make. The only way you know if students are dissatisfied is if they call and complain. Most appreciate the fact that I'm here, earning less money than what I would at home.

Old Town Squares

There are many pretty old town squares in the Czech and Slovak Republics that consist of baroque churches, nice cafes and little museums. Yet, some are dirtier and grubbier than others, and once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
Trnava is one place 50km north of Bratislava. It is said that it is Slovakia's oldest town. Like many Slovak towns, the outskirts are pretty grey and graffiti-riddled. However, the old town is pleasant enough. Here, you can see some churches, drink coffee, walk around till your heart's discontent. Despite the fact that it has a population of 79,000, there is no decent shopping centre. Unlike Britain's shopping centres, Saturday afternoons in Slovak towns are totally dead. By 4pm, Trnava's shopping centre is a proper ghost town. The shops here shut at 12 and everyone disappears to somewhere else. The police here appear to be rather bored and have got little better to do than text their friends, wives and girlfriends and munch away on fast food.

A Tale of Two Cities: Bratislava to Vienna

Karlsplatz cathedral, Mozart's Closet and nightscene

There is nowhere in the world where two capitals are so close to each other. There is a distance of 40 miles between Bratislava and Vienna, and takes approximately 90 minutes by bus and 50 minutes by train. It actually turns out that it is cheaper and quicker to travel by train. 100sk cheaper. It is 400sk return by bus and only 300sk by train.
Vienna has a population twice of Bratislava. Unlike it's poorer counterpart, Vienna is modern, confident and bustling. What's more, Vienna is cleaner and has less graffiti-riddled towerblocks than Bratislava. It is also around 3 times as expensive as Bratislava. The avareage museum costs around 9 Euros. When one is used to Slovakian wages, it can be difficult as you are limited to walking around the parks and old town. A packed lunch is recommended. Even the Schnitzels and beer is more expensive!!!
However, a daytrip is to this great city is doable with limited funds. One of the best things about the city is that it is one of the most bike friendly cities in Europe. Visitors to the city can get around by a city bike wich costs next to nothing to hire. About 1 Euro an hour. Just add your credit card details and take it away.

Slovak Wine cellars

AINova, the academy in Svaty Jur celebrated its 10th anniversary last night with many guests and EU diplomats - some as far as Brussels. After listening to the achievements of the academy, we had a buffet in one of Slovakia's many underground cellars, which are usually only reserved for important functions.
This also gave us an opportunity to taste some of Slovakia's magnificent wines with some experts from the local area. They tell me that this year will be an exceptional year for wine, thanks to Slovakia's extensive summer. Although I know nothing about wine, Michal, my student invited me to taste some of the fantastic wine from the region in the Carpathian mountains.
It is the end of October and the temperature is still above 18C.

More classes

I have a new class today. It is for a cartography organisation who need EU law. Sounds interesting, but the book I have to use has n o pretty pictures, but loads of text and more text. In the first unit, students have to figure out loads of mind-boggling acronyms that mean nothing to the rest of us. The three students just simply cannot be bothered to go through definition after definition and acronym after acronym.

The sun's still shining

Although the nights are getting colder, the day is still pretty warm, despite the fact we are almost in the middle of October. For the time being, I'm certainly not missing the british weather. The time is right for a hike in Western Slovakia's wine country and a beer on the patio in the old town. Modra, about 20km away from Bratislava, is particularly worth seeing. Although the place is relatively small, it has a distinctive chcaracter with its wince cellars and vineyard surroundings.

Slovakian Company classes and Students

At the moment, I have around 6 companies. The biggest client is Glaxo Smithkline. The office is very plush and the atmosphere is very formal. Its students, however, are the most relaxed as they are happy with conversation classes where they can relax, talk about everything and anything. These classes consist of no more than two students and are relatively informal.
My most interesting, but challenging group is ECB (Energy Centre Bratislava), a non-profit environmental organistation that deals with energzissues in ťhe country. The class consists of ten upper-intermediate students and takes place in the company's kitchen.
Some classes can be a knackering experience, especially when the lessons take place at around 7.30 in the morning and the students are half-asleep and thinking about something else.
Getting from one end to the city to the other can be challenging as you have to sit on buses where everyone is packed like sardines. Even if one allows plenty of travelling time, the chances of being late for classes is high. When buses show up, they are already taking more people beyond their capacity. When the bus is full, one often has to wait another 20 minutes for another one.
However, there are a few perks. Most comapnies give you plenty of tea and quality coffee and often give you plenty of time to settle in. What's more, if you have a director on a 1-1 basis, chances are that he or she will often cancel the lesson when they have more important things to do.
for more on comapny classes see the following link
http://www.englishdroid.com/company.html

Slovakia's great outdoors

It's the last day of september and the weather is still blazing hot, while its cold and wet in England. I decide to make the most of it and head off to one of Slovakia's newest national parks, Mala Fatra, 30km east of a grey industrial town called Zilina. Established in 1988, it is Slovakias newest national park. Unlike the lower and higher Tatra mountain parks, Mala Fatra is small and most of it is accessible by foot. Its highest peak is around 1910 m.