I spent my week-long course, starting on the 24th of July, in the friendly environs of the CONVERZUM Language School on the Buda side of Budapest, Hungary just two tram stops away from the famous Lukács Thermal Baths facility. The course was organized by EuroPass Teacher Academy and entitled Refresher Course for Already Practicing Teachers of English and was meant to be an opportunity to share our experiences with other similar folks, learn some tips towards fostering self-care and psychological support in our careers, as well as becoming acquainted, or more acquainted, with some main currents in modern language pedagogy in line with Erasmus’s wider goals of inclusion, project-based learning, student centered learning, and the like.

In my ten years of teaching English as a second language in one capacity or another (both in the private sector and in schools) I had never participated in a course or workshop designed directly for English instructors, so I felt this course would be right for me and offer, minimally, the opportunity to meet others doing the same work.

Part of my desire to choose this site for my mobility was the fact that while I have done quite a bit of traveling in Hungarian for personal reasons, speaking and understanding its language at a very basic level, I had never spent more than a day or two in the country’s renowned capital city. Another reason was that the course was being led by a Hungarian - thus someone conversant with that country’s school system, school culture, and even its historical relationship with English language instruction - so someone I perceived, and still perceive, with plenty to say to my own school and socio-cultural context in the Czech Republic.

Our group was made up of only 7 people, 3 from Spain, 2 from Italy, myself, and the course’s facilitator/leader, the capable and upbeat Monika Demecs, all current teachers of English in some form or another. There was a mix of ages and attitudes, as well as a palpable range of previous experience with modern pedagogical ideas to be dealt with in the course. Seeing that the group was very small, it enabled close contact as well as the necessary time for some sense of camaraderie to form between us all, which given the course’s nature, was essential.

Part of the course was also an optional guided tour with a local, Andrea, also an employee of the language school, of the historical sites of the Buda side of Budapest, as well as a small historical city called Szentendre, thus I was able to finally see the sights, and hear commentary, about this city I´ve long longed to know better.

The course was relatively straightforward in its methodological/content matters: the small group met at the same time and place each day and spent about half the course time discussing various professional topics in a rather informal setting/arrangement, facilitated by Monica in an open and encouraging way. Quite a large amount of this time was spent simply getting to know one another and our professional and cultural backgrounds, thus I learned much about the school systems of other EU-member states, and ones quite different from the Czech Republic in a number of ways. The rest of this informal content was spent discussing ourselves as individuals and professionals from the personal growth perspective, which at times felt a bit like a therapy session or a self-help seminar of the modern type, but this seemed obvious given the background of Monika, herself a proud and loud fitness and finance influencer. This felt perhaps less useful to me personally, but given my regular experience with personal development workshops and activities I used to do in another professional life, it was nothing really new or surprising for me at this stage of life.

The other half of the course, the more formal/organized and methodological activities we engaged with, was meant to put us in various situations, small groups, pairs, and to carry out language class tasks ourselves, from the position of the student. Thus, practically speaking, we were introduced to around a dozen practical activities applicable to our language classrooms, some of which were new to me, and all of which were of quality, in my estimation. Each of these activities was connected theoretically to one or more tenets of modern pedagogy and meant to also build our awareness of what are being called, here and elsewhere, 21st Century Skills, which our school is trying to build up and foster with some of its initiatives currently, so it was directly relevant to me and my work at our school.

This week left me feeling recharged and grateful to have met the other participants, gotten to know Budapest better, and for having made contacts for future potential Erasmus-related exchange activities. I am also grateful to have met Monika, and she also has reached out as a potential contact for any future advice or consultation to us all, which is much appreciated. I recommend taking a “refresher course” to all teachers of any subject, as it is crucial to remember ourselves in this profession, and to overcome that gnawing feeling that occurs during our low points, when we feel that it´s just us and our students, and we are alone in this work!

Finally, a very special and sincere thanks to Mgr. Iva Vrbová and all involved in making Erasmus+ a reality and possibility in our school!

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 Bc. Robert Wright