English for Mayors and Civic Officials

This course was run in cooperation with the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.

It was held in the village of Gergini in central Bulgaria in July 2008. Participants included mayors, deputy mayors and other high ranking municipal officials.

The project's goal was to increase the level of English ability in local government throughout Bulgaria in order to increase the potential for international cooperation, access to European programs and initiatives, etc.

The project was considered of great value to the NAMRB, as indicated in this letter of thanks and recognition we recieved from them:

In July 2008 the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria held a specialised course in English for mayors, deputy-mayors and Municipal Council Chairs. Our partner in this initiative was the MODERN Institute, and the trainers were the highly-qualified EFL teachers Thomas Topham and David Read, both with many years of experience in teaching English to adults. The syllabus they developed was flexible and unconventional with its interactive teaching approach. The informal atmosphere thus set allowed the participants to acquire some spoken English in the area of local governance.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the partners at the MODERN Institute for the effective, high-quality and memorable training they provided for our members. And I also wish them to preserve the dynamic and variety of teaching styles in their future work which is bound to be successful!

Ginka Tchavdarova, Executive Director, NAMRB