Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cambridge English Language Assessment 

Spain and Portugal

New look Teaching Resources Website

At seminars I have given, especially when using the great resources that I have found on the Cambridge English Teaching Resources Website, several teachers have commented that they found the Website difficult to navigate.

So, today I am delighted to pass on the news that the website has been revamped and reorganised.  Certainly, the start-up page is a lot less cluttered and more dynamic.

I would encourage you to visit the site if you haven't done so or haven't been there for a while.  There are some fantastic ideas and suggestions and materials. Like this one below, submitted by a teacher called Andy (a very active contributor to the Website)

The Cambridge Experience events start in Porto

Today I have the pleasure (and the time!)  to chat with my colleague Nick Shaw, member of the Cambridge English Presenters Team who will be delivering the talk "Worried about going for Schools?" at The Cambridge Experience Porto , next Saturday 23rd of March at Hotel Eurostars das Artes

Nick Shaw graduated in Modern Languages from the University of Cambridge and subsequently completed a PGCE course at the University of London and taught French and Spanish for a year before deciding to move into English language teaching. Although he has been preparing candidates for Cambridge English exams since 1977, his active involvement with the organisation began as an oral examiner in 1985. 

In addition to being a member of the Seminar Presenter and Centre Inspector teams in Spain, Nick acts as a consultant to Cambridge University Press on a variety of projects including mainstream coursebooks, examination preparation materials and grammar books.

Nick delivering a seminar at the latest
Cambridge Experience in A Coruña

Hello Nick, first of all: why did you decide to go into English language teaching?

After graduating from university with a degree in Modern Languages I spent a year trying to get myself converted into a trainee accountant, after which my employer and I mutually agreed that the honorable profession was not made for me (or vice-versa). So I decided to take myself off for a year to reflect on my future, and answered an advert for English teachers needed in A Coruña, a town near which I had spent a couple of months four summers previously. Thirty-seven years later, I'm still there and still reflecting!

What is the favourite bit about your presentation?

The questions from the audience, for a variety of reasons. First , if there aren't any I feel that I have failed to engage and interest participants in what I wanted to say. Secondly, they show me to what extent I have been successful (or not) in getting my message across, and most importantly of all, they more often than not make me think on my feet and remind me that we're all learners.

Who or what inspires you?

The teachers I work with, not only at the school in A Coruña, but at events and conferences I attend (not always as a speaker!). There's always so much you can learn from your colleagues if you remember why we were born with two ears but only one mouth...

What’s your all-time top tip for English language teachers?

Softly softly catchee monkey. Or to put it another way, a slow, careful and persistent approach to what you do, giving your students time to grasp a concept, make their mistakes, practice until they get it right more often than wrong and finally internalise it is almost always going to give you better results than a showy display of classroom fireworks that leaves them dazzled, but only able to remember that they'd had a good time.

Do you have a favourite elt website?

No, I don't do favourites. ELT websites, authors, musicians, football teams - you name it, there's good and bad to be found in absolutely everything, and if you keep your ears, eyes and mind open and exercise critical judgement, you can generally get something of value from anything you come across - even if it's realising that although questions don't necessarily have to have a right answer, they can certainly have wrong ones...

A gadget you can’t live without?

A P38 can opener (see picture). I first came across this amazingly versatile and useful item on one of my earliest camping trips to Spain when I was a teenager, and it instantly replaced the much more cumbersome, expensive and pocket-stretching Swiss Army knife as my number one gadget. In my experience, small is beautiful and the simplest solutions are always the best.

And finally, why do you think teachers should see your talk?

You'll have to ask them! I hope that my talk will help to allay some of the fears surrounding the idea of 'external evaluation' and show that Cambridge English: Preliminary for Schools and Cambridge English: First for Schools examinations are not as daunting or unattainable as we may think, and in fact to a great extent mirror the way our students use the language they are learning from us in real-life situations, making what they do in the classroom much more relevant to them.

Thanks Nick! It's been a pleasure to chat with you!

Welcome to the Teaching Together blog!

Welcome to this new and (hopefully!) inspiring blog.

I would like to tell you a little bit about me: my name is Anne Robinson and I was born in the  North-East of England; I now live just outside Santander.

I’m a teacher, materials writer (author of Fun for Starters, Movers and Flyers, published by Cambridge University Press) and teacher trainer.  I’m the Senior Presenter for  Cambridge ESOL in Spain and part of a very active Seminar team.  

Every year, we share our ideas and tips with teachers in around 100 seminars all over Spain.  This means we have the chance to meet lots of you in person!

The idea behind this blog is to increase our contact with you and to offer you support. 

We hope to continue the generation of ideas that starts at seminars. 

I feel very lucky to be a part of this blog and I hope that what you find here will help you and inspire you! 

Please feel free to contribute with comments and suggestions and any questions you might have!

I am looking forward to Teaching Together with you!