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Feedback to completed English language course
Related to completed project "Civic English for Bulgarian Mayors"
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
Kind words from past course participants
David and Thomas have conducted teacher training courses all over the planet, in a variety of contexts. One thing that has been consistent in every course we've trained on has been the valuable professional development experienced by our trainees. Here is a small selection of the feedback we have received in recent years:
"What I found particularly helpful in the learning process was your approach to the learners -- the individual assessement you conducted of each participant's level, the expressed supportiveness and openness you showed, the amount of visualisation tools used in the activities, the gradual and step-by-step acquisition of skills as well as the effective way of giving feedback. This approach has lead us to successful learning. I am therefore grateful and convinced that these assets will lead the Modern Institute to becoming a competitive and desired partner of municipalities, non-government and other organisations in Bulgaria. Your work in this country will strengthen the impact of training programs in the area of increasing the administrative capacity of human resources."
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Detelina Nikolova, Mayor, Dobrich Municipality.
"Personally, I am very grateful for the time spent with you during the teacher course. It has helped me enormously, particularly with overcoming my apprehension of speaking English. The course gave me numerous new ideas about teaching. Also, I befriended new and interesting people."
- Emilia Hristova, Sofia course participant, Spring 2008.
"What I felt about the Quilt course, why I found it useful? I am so grateful Ihad a great chance to be part of such course because I really needed to learn how to teach in new methodology different from the teaching methodology in Bulgaria, especially whenwe speak about teaching in a foreign language. I have a Bachelor degree in the field of pedagogy and I now the learning process in Bulgaria is deductive but during this course I met inductive learning which is more appropriate for student's needs. I understood there is no need to give everything atones to Ss but to lead them step-by-step to your objectives.
I will not forget the friendly environment, the readiness for help, the great fun, the reflective teachersand how to apply the obtained skills in my Roma community. The best for me was I had chance to apply the knowledge and the new methodology in my Romany Teaching Course to Bulgarians."
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Angel Ivanov
, Sofia course participant, Spring 2008.
"I like the philosophy of the methodology. In particular, the fact that it is based on communicative language learning, based on interactive training methods. Input sessions areparticularly interesting: they demonstrate how to deal with all the visual materials and thedynamic application of interactive methods in class... DavidRead is an exceptional professional!"
- Anelia Tellaleva, Sofia course participant (from Sliven), Spring 2008.
"My name is Krasimaira and I am one from the people that had the good fortune to reach the course. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the classroom, I came across environment, where the different cultures were crossed themselves in an incredible way. During the course I had the opportunity to meet wonderful people, which now I call friends. Because the course you are receiving something more than language knowledge. There you can get the bottom of the words Tolerance and Goodness, you can get the bottom of the word Human."
- Krasimaira Nikolova, Sofia course participant, Spring 2008.
"I can tell my trainers that I become as result of "summer 2007" a "modern" teacher who students don'thate. With my bare hand I have taught four groups and now I am exploiting eight new groups of adults who don'tsuspect how excellent English speakers they will be. Without hesitation I can say that my students study with pleasure and I have full classrooms. So, come to see us!! Your coming back is one of the best news I have heard this year!"
- Svetlana Hristova, Sofia course participant (from Varna), Summer 2007.
"Of course, I'm still involved in teaching and I want to thank you again that you've made me feel more confident and progressive as a teacher. Last school year was successful for me, my students and a lot of colleagues. I used and showed most of the techniques and methods I've learnt during the course. This way of teaching is obviously very interesting and effective and I managed to involve some other teachers (about 50 people). All of them were very impressed and thankful to experience this interactive way to teach. So… I'm going to continue to propagate this vision of teaching."
- Daniela Petkova, Sofia course participant (from Plovdiv), Summer 2007.
"My course with Thomas changed my whole career path. I took the certificate course at first more out of curiosity rather than a serious career change. However, by the time I completed the challenging yet rewarding course it gave me the skills and confidence to believe I can teach anywhere. Not only did I just believe it, a month after I completed the course, I landed a great job in South Korea because of my time there. The certificate paid for itself within my first week working at my current job. I recommend anyone to take this course from new people to seasoned veterans."
- Hollis Lima, SIT TESOL Course participant (from USA), 2007.
"I'd like to point out that my participating in the course has changed all my vision and attitude to my teaching. The experience I got by participating in the course is very crucial. Besides working as a university teacher, I have been involved in one of the teacher trainingprojects in Azerbaijan. While preparing for this training sessions and providing them, I always think about you, Tom and David, and take into consideration all your recommendations and feedbacks, and even the way you behave in class. You are the best examples of the trainers who are devoted to their profession."
- Amaliya Musayeva, Bishkek course participant (from Azerbaijan), 2004.
"Thomas Topham and David Read were my trainers in a number of courses and I am very thankful for having been instructed and supervised by them, both of them are not only understanding, sociable, kind, and humane human beings, but also professionals in what they do...They trained us to be not only professionals taking into account each detail, but also to be committed to what you do, and if you do something, do it well, otherwisedon't do it at all. They taught me to be punctual and accurate, respect my job, my colleagues and my students. Before I met them I thought teaching was boring and effort and time consuming, but they changed my attitude towards teaching, they taught me that imagination, lateral thinking, love to your students and understanding of their needs can make your class a place where your students and you can enjoy and learn together."
-Cholpon Musaeva, Bishkek course participant (from Kyrgyzstan), 2004.