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Published: June 17th 2010
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In the fall of 2009 a second authorised Cambridge center opened in Romania. That was the
EUROGNOSI center in Pitesti. It is a huge step for Romania in terms of private language schools offering top-notch courses and most importantly, preparing students to take a Cambridge examination. The center is well-equipped with interactive boards and cutting-edge technology designed to help students boost up their English in no time, with much less effort and definitely a lot more fun than ever before! Learning a foreign language is so much easier now if we compare it to how languages were taught 10-15 years ago. Memorizing long lists of words and verb forms is a case in point. Learning is so much fun, the resources we use and the possibility to design our lessons in advance is of great help, making the lessons go smoothly and far more enjoyable for both teacher and students. Preparation does take longer, as focus is laid on preparing thoroughly the courses, but that is what actually makes the delivery and presentation of vocabulary and grammar easier for the students. Lessons are student-centered and practice-based, with a very hands-on approach to acquiring communication skills.
Apart from the obvious technological
advantage, what I am very fascinated by is the fact that private schools are proliferating, offering students who are willing to better their language skills a fun alternative when they leave the state school classroom. The latter is most often crowded and many times the teacher is unfortunately uninterested in doing their job properly.
I love working at
Eurognosi. I love the technology and the freedom I have in choosing my resources and designing my lessons. I compare the way we teach English here to the way I was taught English throughout primary, secondary school and university. I was made to memorize and memorize and memorize stupid endless lists. We focused on translation and did very little practice in terms of acquiring listening and speaking skills. Whereas here that's our main focus: conversation, speaking, learning the natural-sounding English, with little or no help from translating words or phrases. To be honest, I wish I had had this opportunity to learn a foreign language this way when I was my students' age. Students in Pitesti have a great advantage, and most of them are not even aware of it.
Holding a
Cambridge Certificate is vital in the 21 century,
it is the proof that you master English at a very high level. During the 4 years of my undergraduate study
CAMBRIDGE was
NEVER mentioned. Can you possibly believe that I graduated from an English University without once being encouraged to sit such an examination? At the end of the day, holding a
Cambridge Certificate is more relevant than holding a Bachelor's Degree. As I had the opportunity to travel and live abroad, my
Cambridge Certificate is what helped me land a good job wherever I decided to go. More so than my Bachelor's Degree for which I had prepared for 4 years.
CAMBRIDGE is a MUST for any English teacher and for anybody who wants to work, live or study abroad.
CAMBRIDGE hasn't had its fair share of advertisement in Romania. Until now. I do hope from the bottom of my heart that authorised Cambridge centers will proliferate further more, and students all over the country will have this great advantage, of doing a course and sitting an exam and getting certified. As it is much easier now than before to study abroad or to do an internship or work placement or to apply for a scholarship or a
year abroad, Cambridge will definitely come in handy.
That's what we believe in and what we do here, at
EUROGNOSI. The school wishes to introduce professional English teaching for students who are looking to sit a
Cambridge examination, even from a very early age.
There is no need to stress the importance of holding a
Cambridge Certificate. In the fast-paced world we live in, hit by recession, with massive job losses and in a society driven by cut-throat competition, the thorough knowledge of the English language is, undoubtedly, a MUST! Mastering English at an advanced level means a better chance to get a better-paid job, enhance your prospect of studying abroad or take a work placement in an international company. The benefits are countless! I strongly believe what I'm writing here, as I myself have had great benefits from holding a Certificate of Proficiency in English. And I am very disappointed that I was not informed and this opportunity was not presented to me while I was in university and not even one single professor or lecturer showed any initiative to promote this international examination. I am mad with anger as I did all the research
and learning and acted on my own initiative, and that makes me feel proud and at the same time outraged at our tutors' total lack of professionalism and guidance. But I am proud to be the promoter of this examination and it is my turn now to advise teenagers to sit such an examination, which will count so greatly towards getting a good job or a place in an university abroad.
As in all other things, Romania is slow to acknowledge
CAMBRIDGE Certificates as a must-have in the nowadays' competitive job market. Is such a certificate indispensable? Yes, I believe it most certainly is! And I am here to promote it and I'm here to encourage students eager to get the hell out of this country to do a course, take the exam and get this internationally recognised certificate.
Sorry for sounding bitter when it comes to my university years, but my memories from university are BLEAK. I'm back in Pitesti to change things. To show that education is something fun, coming to school is fun and studying is fun. I despise the way I was taught and the people who taught me throughout my university
years. Where the educational system worked against the student, not for the student. Where you were constantly told that you were dumb and stupid and didn't know a thing, where you were afraid to speak up and utter an opinion because Mr. Clontea would call you names and make you feel pathetic and downright stupid. Having this outright hostility towards my former English teachers and professors, and especially their teaching methods and way of behaving with us in class, I wish to be exactly the opposite in my teaching career. Going to school should by no means be a burden, but a pleasure. Teachers should be the students'friends, ready and eager to offer guidance and support. This is what education should be in Romania. This is definitely what education is to me.
This is what I personally believe in, this is what I do, here, at
Eurognosi. If you've had the patience to read this entire entry, thanks a lot! Truly hope I did not bore you to death! 😊
Hugs xx
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