During the holidays, I spent a week from August 12 to August 18, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland. As part of the Erasmus+ programme, I attended the English Language Course at the Europass Teacher Academy. The course was organised for teachers and education staff. In our class there were teachers from different backgrounds (mathematics, languages, art, economics and chemistry) and different nationalities. The aim of the course was not only to improve language skills, but above all to try out new teaching methods. We were in the role of students and our very sympathetic and patient tutor Michael Farrell guided and motivated us during the lessons.

Lessons were held from Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm. The time passed very quickly, the lessons were modern, interactive, illustrative and often in the field. During one week I tried a lot of warm-up activities, group work, shared presentations and games, so it felt more like a camp than a school. All this was interspersed with ongoing grammar improvement and vocabulary expansion.

 

After school we had a programme which I was also happy to take advantage of - for example, a guided tour of the city, an Irish dance lesson or a day trip to Glendalough by bus. I also visited a local famous whiskey distillery, tasted Irish stew and of course the local Guinness beer and Irish coffee. Dublin is a city of bars and cafes, so there is always an opportunity to take shelter from the rain :)

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In addition to a great amount of language skills, I made new friends during my stay and made contacts with teachers from different parts of Europe. We talked about each other and the cultural customs of the country. The Irish themselves are very nice, friendly and ready to help at any time. Although Irish is compulsory in schools, English is the active language for them, so it was no problem to get along anywhere.

My stay in Dublin was short but intense and very rewarding. It inspired me to try out new teaching methods in my teaching practice and motivated me to develop further, not only personally.