YALS Association of Language Schools of Serbia
Udruženje škola stranih jezika Srbije
N E W S L E T T E R

broj
 issue 
9

Novosti iz YALS-a 

Literarno takmičenje u YALS-u 

Godišnja skupština EAQUALS-a,
Istambul, 23-25.04.09

YALS-ov seminar u organizaciji škola HELLO i OSCAR,
Beograd 04.04.2009

YALS-ov seminar u M-SCHOOL OF ENGLISH,
Leskovac, 18.10.2008 

News from YALS 

Literary Competition in YALS 

EAQUALS AGM,
Istambul, 23-25.04.2009

YALS Seminar Organised by HELLO AND OSCAR,
Belgrade, 04.04.2009

YALS Seminar in M-SCHOOL OF ENGLISH,
Leskovac, 18.10.2008 

Novosti iz YALS-a

Izvestilac: Marija Pejatović, Predsednica Upravnog odbora YALS-a

U periodu od septembra 2008. do juna 2009. YALS je nastavio rad na najvažnijim prioritetima – promocija primena ZEO u Srbiji i poboljšanje kvaliteta jezičkih usluga kroz YALS –ova dešavanja.

Nastavili smo da održavamo kontakte sa EAQUALS-om preko naših predstavnika. Vesna Stakić predstavljala je YALS na EAQUALS-ovom Godišnjem skupu u Istanbulu u aprilu ove godine, a uz to je predstavljala i svoju školu Tom i Ema koja je punopravni član EAQUALS –a. Takođe sa ponosom ističemo da je Vesna Stakić postala novi EAQUALS-ov menadžer za Srbiju.

U toku ove školske godine uspeli smo da završimo našu redovnu reinspekciju škola članica uz korišćenje nove, obimno revidirane inspekcijske šeme. Ova reinspekcija je pokazala značajno poboljšanje na polju menadžmenta i administracije u školama članicama YALS –a i pružila nam je izvanrednu priliku da podelimo iskustva i, na taj način, još više unapredimo kvalitet u našim školama.

Nastavili smo i praksu organizovanja internih seminara i u ovom periodu imali smo dva:
Peti YALS- ov interni seminar “Variety as the Spice of ELT” održan je u školi M school of English, u Leskovcu, oktobra 2008. Tri predavača, profesora  M School-a održala su radionice na teme aktivnosti za razonodu, pisanje diktata, gramatika, spelovanje i vokabular.
Šesti  YALS-ov  interni seminar “Motivated to Motivate” organizovala je škola Hello uz pomoć škole Oscar u Beogradu, 4. aprila 2009.  Teme radionica bile su Motivisan da motiviše, Azbuka motivisanog profesora, Lutke od papira i Pridevi za opisivanje ličnosti.
Seminarima je prisustvovao veliki broj profesora ne samo iz škola članica YALS-a već i mnogo drugih profesora zainteresovanih da unaprede svoj način rada, tako da su ovi interni seminari još jedan doprinos YALS–a poboljšanju kvaliteta podučavanja jezika u Srbiji.
Ovde bih želela da podelim sa Vama komentar jednog od učesnika: ‘Drago mi je da smo razmenili mišljenja i iskustva, sve prezentacije su jako korisne i praktične; prikazane aktivnosti su zabavne, kreativne i izvukle su najbolje iz nas, a sigurna sam i iz naših đaka; prostorije su odlične i dopala mi se prijatna atmosfera!’

Za narednu školsku godinu imamo još dve škole članice YALS-a zainteresovane za organizovanje seminara – Bami Livingston i New English School.

Takođe, kako je deseta godišnjica YALS –a – za sledeću školsku godinu planiramo da organizujemo regionalni događaj u oktobru u Beogradu. Srećni smo što možemo da najavimo da će to biti zajednički događaj YALS – a i EAQUALS-a. Tema će biti ‘Testing, Assessment and Certification’.

Tradicionalno YALS–ovo literarno takmičenje je ove godine podržala izdavačka kuća Pearson Longman te im se zahvaljujemo na knjigama koje su obezbedili za pobednike.

Kako ljudi u Srbiji počinju da razumeju značaj kvaliteta jezičkih usluga mi smo pojačali naš rad na informisanju škoila o ideji YALS-a i kao rezultat imamo novog pridruženog člana – školu Penguin English iz Jagodine.

Čini se da smo stalnim radom na unapređenju kvaliteta u školama članicama YALS-a uspeli da utičemo na ljude koji uče jezik u Srbiji da traže kvalitet i standardizaciju u školama jezika.

News from YALS

by Marija Pejatovic, Chair of YALS Executive Board

In the period from September 2008 to June 2009 YALS continued to work on our top priorities - the promotion of CEFR application in Serbia and enhancing quality language services through YALS events.

We continue to maintain contacts with EAQUALS through our representatives.  Vesna Stakic represented YALS at EAQUALS AGM in Istanbul  in April 2009, in addition to representing her own school Tom and Emma, which is a full member of EAQUALS. Also we are proud that Vesna Stakic has become a new EAQUALS country manager for Serbia.

During this school year we managed to finish our regular reinspection of member schools using our new extensively revised inspection scheme. This reinspection has shown a significant improvement in YALS schools management and administration and has given us a great opportunity to share experience and thus improve the quality in our schools even more.

Also, we continue the practice of organizing internal seminars and in this period we had two:
The 5th In-house YALS seminar “Variety as the Spice of ELT” was held at M School of English in Leskovac, on 18 October 2008. Three presenters - M School teachers – held sessions on leisure activities, writing dictation, grammar, spelling and vocabulary activities.
The 6th YALS In-house seminar “Motivated to Motivate” was organized by Hello school with the help of Oscar school in Belgrade, on 4 April 2009. The titles of the sessions were Motivated to Motivate,  An Alphabet of a Motivated Teacher, Paper Dolls and Adjectives Describing Characters.
The seminars were well attended not only by teachers working in YALS schools but also by other teachers interested in improving their teaching, so these in-house seminars are yet another contribution of YALS to quality language teaching in Serbia.
Here I would like to share a comment by one of the participants:” I’m glad we’ve exchanged our opinions and experiences; all presentations were highly useful and practical; activities shown were fun, creative and drew the best from us, therefore I’m sure the best from our students; the premises were excellent and I liked the cosy atmosphere!!”

For the next school year we have two more YALS schools interested in organizing seminars – Bami Livingston and New English School.

Also, since it is YALS 10th anniversary - for the next school year, we plan to organize a regional event in October, in Belgrade. We are happy to announce that this will be a joint event of YALS and EAQUALS. The topic will be “Testing, Assessment and Certification”.

The traditional YALS literary competition was this year sponsored by a publishing house Pearson Longman and we thank them for providing books for the winners.

Since people in Serbia are beginning to understand the importance of quality language services we intensified our work on informing schools about the idea of YALS and as a result we have a new associate member school Penguin English from Jagodina.

It seems that by continuously trying to improve the quality in YALS members schools we have managed to influence language students in Serbia to ask for quality and standardisation in language schools.

YALS literarno takmičenje 2009

Izvestilac: Zdenka Trbović, Oxford School, Leskovac

Ovogodišnje YALS literarno takmičenje je donelo nove i maštovite radove, koji su istakli kreativnost i inventivnost đaka. Inspirisani različitim iskustvima i divnim idejama, naši učesnici su pokazali izuzetne rezultate na svim nivoima takmičenja. Ponosni smo i srecni što na ovaj način upoznajemo nove đake i pozdravljamo one koji su već učestvovali. Opšti utisak je da su radovi na svim nivoima bili odlični i da je komisija uživala u njima.

Teme prema nivoima su bile:

A1 – My special day                                         (60 do 80 reči)

A2 – My town/city   - tourist brochure                (do 100 reči)

B1 – Short story with the finishing sentece:
... It was the strangest experience of my life       (120 do 150 reči)

B2 – Write an article
You are never alone in this country                       (120 do180 reči)
(Describe your country and its people. Say what you like and don’t like about your country.)

C1 – Write a 250-word discursive essay
Young people should never emigrate to other countries

C2- You have recently visited a city or an area as a tourist and found that there are a number of aspects of your visit which you wish to comment on. Write a 300-350 word letter to the head of the tourist office for that area, describing the positve and/or negative aspects of your visit and making any suggestions you feel appropriate.

Ovogodišnji pobednici su:

A1 NIVO

1. mesto – ANDJELA KANTAR, ANGLIAN

2. mesto – ALEKSANDRA CVETKOVIĆ, OXFORD SCHOOL

3. mesto – NIKOLA DAMJANOVIĆ, HELLO

A2 NIVO

1. mesto – MILENA JEREMIĆ, ANGLIAN
                 IVANA DAMJANOVIĆ, LINGVA
                VERA TASIĆ, OXFORD SCHOOL

B1 NIVO

1. mesto – ZLATA GOVEDARICA, HELLO
                 JELENA JEREMIĆ, LINGVA

B2 NIVO

1. mesto – VOJISLAV MIHAJLOVIĆ, LINGVA
                  ALEKSANDAR CVETANOVIĆ, OXFORD SCHOOL

2. mesto – IVANA JAKOVLJEVIĆ, LINGVA

C2 NIVO

1. mesto - ANA VIDENOVIĆ, OXFORD SCHOOL

Nagrade će biti dodeljene na svečanostima dodele sertifikata. Čestitamo pobednicima i zahvaljujemo Longman-u na fantastičnim knjigama, koje je obezbedio našim učesnicima.

YALS Literary Competition 2009

by Zdenka Trbovic, Oxford School, Leskovac

This year’s YALS literary competition has brought in new and imaginative pieces of writing, which have highlighted the image of students’ creativity and innovations. Inspired by different experiences and marvelous ideas, our participants have showed exceptional results at all levels of the competition. We are proud and happy to meet new students as well as to welcome those who have already taken part in our writing activity. The general impression is that from A1 to C2 level, all competition entries were excellent and the board enjoyed them.

According to the levels, the following topics were given:

A1 – My special day                                         (60 to 80 words)

A2 – My town/city   - tourist brochure           (up to 100 words)

B1 – Short story with the finishing sentece:
... It was the strangest experience of my life       (120 to 150 words)

B2 – Write an article
You are never alone in this country                       (120 to 180 words)
(Describe your country and its people. Say what you like and don’t like about your country.)

C1 – Write a 250-word discursive essay
Young people should never emigrate to other countries

C2- You have recently visited a city or an area as a tourist and found that there are a number of aspects of your visit which you wish to comment on. Write a 300-350 word letter to the head of the tourist office for that area, describing the positve and/or negative aspects of your visit and making any suggestions you feel appropriate.

This year’s winners are:

A1 LEVEL

1st place – ANDJELA KANTAR, ANGLIAN

2ND place – ALEKSANDRA CVETKOVIC, OXFORD SCHOOL

3rd place – NIKOLA DAMJANOVIC, HELLO

A2 LEVEL

1st place – MILENA JEREMIC, ANGLIAN
                 IVANA DAMJANOVIC, LINGVA
                VERA TASIC, OXFORD SCHOOL

B1 LEVEL

1st place – ZLATA GOVEDARICA, HELLO
                 JELENA JEREMIC, LINGVA

B2 LEVEL

1st place – VOJISLAV MIHAJLOVIC, LINGVA
                  ALEKSANDAR CVETANOVIC, OXFORD SCHOOL

2nd place – IVANA JAKOVLJEVIC, LINGVA

C2 LEVEL

1st place - ANA VIDENOVIC, OXFORD SCHOOL

The awards will be given at the certificate awarding ceremonies. We congratulate all the winners and express our warmest thanks to Longman for providing fantastic readers for our participants.

Izveštaj o Godišnjoj konferenciji EAQUALS-a
Istambul, od 23. do 25. aprila 2008 godine.

Izvestilac: Vesna Stakić

Konferenciji je prisustvovala Vesna Stakić, kao predstavnik YALS-a i Škole ’Tom & Emma’

Konferenciji je prethodio sastanak podkomiteta za marketing sa 'country managers' (osobama zaduženim za promociju EAQUALS'a u pojedinim zemljama), na kojem sam podnela izvestaj o aktivnostima koja sam imala u prethodnom periodu kao 'country manager' za Srbiju.        

U formalnom delu konferencije razmatrana je strategija EAQUALS-a za 2009-2012 kao i neka druga ključna pitanja. Opšti strategijski cilj EAQUALS-a u narednom periodu je da postane najznačajnija međunarodno priznata organizacija za standarde kvaliteta u nastavi jezika. Ovo će se postići kroz kroz rad na širem zvaničnom priznavanju i prihvatanju EAQUALS-a i tako što će EAQUALS izdavati sertifikate o znanju stranih jezika i akreditovati kurseve za obuku nastavnika. Poseban naglasak je stavljen na tešnje veze sa nacionalnim asocijacijama škola jezika. Da bi se podstaklo pruistupanje EAQUALS-u školama koje su članice ovih asocijacija, uvedena je nova kategorija članstva  'kandidat', za šklole koje su u procesu učlanjenja u EAQUALS. Kategorija kandidata međutim nije obavezna, pa škole mogu postati članovi EAQUALS-a da nisu prethodno bile u ovom statusu. Još jedna izmena u dokumentima EAQUALS-a odnosi se na ispekcijusku šemu koja je postala jasnija, transparentnija i lakša za snalaženje. Konačno, EAQUALS će se u narednom periodu još više koncentrisati na promovisanje svojih aktivnosti kroz razvijanje nacionalinh mikro veb sajtova i pripremu standardizovanih informacija i prezantacija.

Tema EAQUALS-ove međunarodne konferencije je bila 'Kvalitet i efikasnost u obuci i profesionalnom usavršavanju nastavnika'. Održan je jedan broj plenarnih i paralelenih prezentacija i radionica sa uglednim govornicima kao što su Jeremy Harmer i Rod Bolitho,  koje se se odnosile na iskustva nastavnika u obuci i profesionalnom razvoju, što uključuje početnu obuku nastavnika, obuku u toku nastave,  organizovanje radionica u jezičkoj ustanovi nastavnika i observaciju nastavnika.

Sledeći EAQUALS sastanak će biti u formi radionica, a,  održaće se u Grazu u novembru 2009. godine.

EAQUALS Annual General meeting and International Conference
Istanbul, 23rd – 25th April 2009

by Vesna Stakić

 The AGM was attended by Vesna Stakić, who represented YALS and 'Tom & Emma School of English

Prior to the AGM, on 23rd April,  a meeting of the Marketing Subcommittee and country managers was held, where EAQUALS marketing priorities were discussed and I presented the report on my activities as country manager for Serbia in the past period.

In the Annual General meeting the EAQUALS strategy for 2009-2012 and other key issues were discussed and voted on. The overall strategic aim is for EAQUALS to become the internationally recognized authority for quality language education. This will be achieved by wider official recognition of EAQUALS through issuing of EAQUALS certificates of achievement and accreditation of teacher training.  Special emphasis was put on closer partnerships with national quality associations. In order to support membership development among national associations, a new category of relationship, called "Candidate' was established for schools which have done tangible work to move towards accredited membership of EAQUALS. However schools can still become members of EAQUALS without being in the status of candidate previously. Also changes to the existing inspection scheme are being introduced to make it clearer, more transparent and user-friendly.  Finally, EAQUALS is focusing more on profile raising activities and marketing priorities by developing national micro-websites and producing standard information texts and presentations.

The theme of the EAQUALS International Conference which followed was 'Quality and Effectiveness in Language Teacher Training and Development'.  A number of plenary and parallel presentations and workshops with prominent speakers such as Jeremy Harmer and Rod Bolitho were organised, which focused on the different kinds of training and development experiences of teachers including observation, initial training, teaching practice and in-service workshops.

The next EAQUALS meeting will be a workshop to continue work on special interest projects and will be held in Graz in November 2009

MOTIVATED TO MOTIVATE
YALS-ov seminar u organizaciji škola HELLO I OSCAR
04.04.2009, Škola Oscar, Beograd

Izvestilac: Milada Ševa

Škola Hello je organizovala seminar pod naslovom Motivated to Motivate uz svesrdnu i veliku pomoć škole Oskar koja je pored učešća ustupila i  pripremila prostor u kojem su svi učesnici uživali. Radionice su obuhvatile sledeće teme:

Na seminaru su bila prisutna 24 nastavnika iz sledećih škola:

New English School - 2 nastavnika
Oxford school - 1 nastavnik
Oskar - 4 nastavnika
Bami - 3 nastavnika
Tom i Ema - 3 nastavnika
Lingva Valjevo - 3 nastavnika
M school - 1 nastavnik
Hello - 5 nastavnika
Institut za strane jezike, Maja Aleksić gost
i Stuart Linder gost

Na kraju seminara svi su dobili sertifikate o učešću na seminaru.
Seminar je u potpunosti uspeo što se vidi I iz upitnika učesnika. Evo nekih od komentara:

“The seminar mi je pomogao u vezi …neophodnih karateristika dobrog nastavnika; rešavanjem najčešćih probelma u učionici; fanstastičnih materijala za decu (papirne lutke); interesantnih materijala za odrasle polaznike (ličnost).”   

“… nalaženja nekih novih interesantnih metoda I ideja za podsticanje veće motivisanosti na času, a pomogao mi je I da se setim izvesnih stvari koje sam zaboravila, zato MNOGO HVALA, bilo je VEOMA KORISNO!!! I NEOBIČNO!!”

“Drago mi je da smo razmenili mišljenja i iskustva, sve prezentacije su jako korisne i praktične; prikazane aktivnosti su zabavne, kreativne i izvukle su najbolje iz nas, a sigurna sam i iz naših đaka; prostorije su odlične i dopala mi se prijatna atmosfera!’

Zahvaljujemo svim učesnicima na prisustvu kao i svima koji su doprineli uspešnosti ishoda ovog događaja.

YALS SEMINAR  “MOTIVATED TO MOTIVATE”
New Belgrade, April, 4 2009

By Milada Ševa

School Hello organized the seminar for Yals schools and guests with the help of school Oskar. The workshops included the following topics:

There were 24 teachers from:

New English School
Oxford School
Oskar
Bami
Tom i Ema
Lingva Valjevo
M School
Hello
and two guests Stuart Linder and Maja Aleksic

After the seminar all participants were awarded the certificates of attendance.
Seminar was a big success according to the answers to the questionnaire at the end of sessions. Here are some of the comments:

‘The seminar helped me with … the necessary characteristics for a good teacher; dealing with most frequent problems in classes; fantastic recourses for young learners (paper dolls) ; interesting recourses for adult learners (personality).’

‘ … finding some new interesting ways and ideas how to bring more motivation and satisfaction in my classroom and also helped me remember certain things that I forgot, so THANK YOU A LOT,
it was VERY USEFUL!!! AND UNUSUAL!’

‘I’m glad we’ve exchanged our opinions and experiences; all presentations were highly useful and practical; activities shown were fun, creative and drew the best from us, therefore I’m sure the best from our students; the premises were excellent and I liked the cosy atmosphere!!’

We would like to thank all participants and those who contributed to organizing such an event.

Presenters Ivona and Biljana from M-School of English
Edukatori Ivona i Biljana iz M-School of English 

“Raznovrsnost kao začin za nastavu engleskog”
YALS-ov Seminar u M-SCHOOL OF ENGLISH ,
Leskovac 18. oktobar 2008

Izvestilac: Marija Cakić

Ko se drzne da predaje, taj nikada ne sme prestati da uci. (nepoznati autor)
Ovo je bio glavni pokretac organizovanja ovog seminara. Medjutim, ne i jedini. Ako je raznovrsnost zacin zivota, zasto to ne bi bio i zacin predavanja engleskog jezika? Ovaj seminar je imao nameru da provede polaznike kroz ovu interesantnu i izazovnu ideju.

Domacin seminara ‘Variety as the Spice of ELT’ je bila gospodja Marija Cakic-Ivanovic, a sam seminar je odrzan u prijatnoj, udobnoj, ali visoko profesionalnoj atmosferi MSCHOOL-a u Leskovcu. Odrzan je 18 oktobra, 2008. godine i trajao je jedan dan.  Predavaci su  bili  Biljana Pipovic i Ivona Randjelovic. Teme njihovih radionica su bile Writing Dictations & Hot Seat activities, i  Graspellvoc Activities.

Predavaci su pokusali da potvrde izreku da bi ‘poducavanje trebalo da bude ispunjeno idejama, a ne cinjenicama’ i da pokazu da neke, za ucenike dosadne i prilicno suvoparne aktivnosti, mogu da budu zabavne i ne samo interesantne vec i visoko obrazovne. Poducavanje vestini pisanja kao i gramatickim pravilima ne mora da iziskuje mnogo vremena, ne mora da istice nastavnika u prvi plan, ne mora da bude nekomunikativna aktivnost, nekreativna, neefikasna… Naprotiv, moze biti toliko interesantna da pretvori nase pasivne i ne bas motivisane ucenike u revnosne, i verovali ili ne, prilicno aktivne i ukljucene ucesnike. Jednostavno morate da probate neke od predlozenih hot seat aktivnosti, ili mozda otici na pecanje, pretvarati se da ste gluvi, da se grabite…Uzivacete, a sto je jos bitnije, vasi ucenici ce uzivati kao i polaznici ovog seminara. A da ne spominjemo, poboljsanje znanja vasih ucenika kao i njihove komunikativne sposobnosti.

Ovaj seminar je bio jedan u nizu. Nadajmo se da ce biti i drugih i da cete bas vi biti neki od ucesnika i imati priliku da radite sa ovim visoko motivisanim i iskusnim nastavnicma M SCHOOL-a iz Leskovca. Oni vas ocekuju!

‘Variety as the Spice of ELT’
YALS Seminar held at M SCHOOL OF ENGLISH,
Leskovac, 18 October, 2008

by Marija Cakić

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. (author unknown)
This was the main driver for organising this training seminar. However, not the only one. If variety is the spice of life, so why not the spice of ELT? This seminar intended to provide some guidance on this interesting and challenging idea.

‘Variety as the Spice of ELT’ seminar was hosted by Ms Marija Cakic-Ivanovic and took place in a pleasant, comfortable, but highly professional atmosphere of M SCHOOL OF ENGLISH in Leskovac. It was held over a day on 18 October, 2008. The teachers were Ms Biljana Pipovic and Ms Ivona Randjelovic. The topics of their workshops were in turn Writing Dictations & Hot Seat activities, and Graspellvoc Activities.

The teachers  tried to prove the saying that ‘teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts’ and show that some, for students boring and rather dry activities, can bring a lot of fun and be not only interesting but also highly educational. Teaching writing skills as well as grammar rules doesn’t have to be time-consuming, teacher-centred, non-communicative, uncreative, ineffective… On the contrary, it can be so interesting that it can turn our passive and not so motivated students into eager and, believe it or not, pretty active and involved participants. You simply have to try some of the suggested hot seat activities, or perhaps go fishing, play deaf and dumb, grab it…You will enjoy, and which is more your students will enjoy in the same way as the participants of this seminar. Not to mention, improving your students’ knowledge and their communicative competence.

This seminar was only one in a row. Hopefully, others will take place and you will be one of the participants and have a chance to work with these highly motivated and experienced teachers of the M SCHOOL in Leskovac. They will be waiting for you.

Experience Sharing at M-School of English
Razmena iskustava u M-School of English