AGM 2009

There was a lively debate about the club's finances at the ELTAF AGM on Saturday February 9th. The figures presented by Treasurer Emma showed that outgoings exceeded income by nearly seven thousand Euro in 2008. Although a loss had been planned to reduce the accumulated surplus, it turned out to be higher than expected due to an overrun on the catering costs at the conference and higher room rental costs for workshops. To bring the finances back into balance, the committee put forward an increase in membership fee from 35 to 40 Euro, which was finally approved by a large majority. The committee is also proposing to introduce charges for all workshops - mainly to discourage people from registering and not turning up - leading to increased costs through booking a bigger room than necessary. The picture shows the newly elected committee (from left to right) Bill (Advertising), Tricia (Vice Chair), Suzanne (Events), Liz (Chair), Deborah (Recording Secretary) and Emma (Treasurer).

Chair to Chair

After a very successful conference year, Helen handed over the baton to Liz as Chair of ELTAF at the agm on Saturday February 3rd.
After the agm, Helen and Marina conducted a very informative KSS (knowledge share session) on Podcasts, which judging by the reaction, sent everyone rushing to Saturn Hansa to invest in an ipod. Fun was had by all as usual.

Present Perfect

The present game compered by Barbara has found a regular place at the ELTAF Christmas party. Some members got perfect presents and wanted to keep them, but others found their presents imperfect and wanted to swap them, and that was when the fun began. Warm woolly socks were found to be lacking, whereas the macadonia nuts were in such demand that they changed hands several times. The mysterious tape dispenser from last year tried to repeat it's success but was pushed aside by the rush for the plastic drawers! Thanks to all the organisers for a very enjoyable evening. 

K*ss and Tell

Imagine the scene, a room full of experienced English trainers admitting to each other that they sometimes have prob.., sorry, challenges in the classroom.
This was the latest Knowledge Share Session on Saturday November 18th, and once again the format proved it's worth. The difference this time was that the knowledge was brought to the workshop in the heads of the participants, and everyone contributed under the guidance of Julia H. who facilitated the workshop. Well done to everyone involved, let's have more of this! 

Mario Magic?

You can love him or hate him but you can't ignore him! Organised together with Provadis and with lunch sponsored by Cambridge, Mario Rinvolucri gave an entertaining workshop on "The Silent Way" of teaching grammar and techniques to get students laughing.
It is easy to see why Mario is such a popular presenter - he involves his audience, treats them with respect, encourages discussion and gives you food for thought and lots of useful tips.
Seeing Mario for the first time, I very much enoyed it and took a lot away with me, but more seasoned Mario watchers saw little new in today's workshop. I'll leave the final verdict to Barbara who is doing a write up for the Newsletter

No more double decker buses

Participants at the ELTAF conference on Saturday were treated to thought provoking keynote speech by Penny Ur. With over a third of the world's population speaking English, mainly as a foreign or second language, English has become a "lingua franca" detatched from the cultural roots of mother toungue countries and used primarily as a tool for international communication.
The implications are huge: Penny told us about the developing world standard English that is neither British nor American and forces us to rethink our ideas about what is "correct". In future we have to concentrate on a culturally neutral model of English with an emphasis on comprehensibility in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. 

Intercultural Communication at ELTAF Conference

Intercultural communication was a hot topic at the ELTAF conference, with a track of workshops running through the day that I and many of my fellow attendees followed. These were enriched not only by the excellent speakers, but also through the participation of colleagues from many different cultures. The discussion group in the photo represented at least 5 different countries! 

Cool Catering at the Conference

Participants at the ELTAF conference were treated to a cornucopia of wonderful food from breakfast through coffee, lunch and afternoon tea and cakes. Maybe this is the real reason for the popularity of the conference. I was often to be seen hovering at the entrance to the workshops trying to finish my coffee/roll/cake before rushing to catch the start of the workshop. 

Top Speakers at ELTAF conference

The ELTAF conference on Saturday attracted top speakers from far and wide including Penny Ur, Bob Dignen (photo) Adrian Pilbeam and James Chamberlain as well as many well know authors from the ELT field such as Paul Emmerson, James Schofield and Mark Fletcher. The high quality of the speakers is undoubtably the main reason for the popularity of the biannual conference with participants who came not only from our own Rhein-Main area but also from other parts of Germany.

Critical Moments Workshop

How do you get learners to use important language chunks essential in business situations such as small talk before a meeting or an unexpected visitor? Tom Smith and Stephanie Ashford of ELTAS showed us how trainers could set up short simulations based on information gaps, and harvest the language used to feed back to the participants. Apart from the quality of the presentation, there was a stimulating discussion. Congratulations to the organising team for bringing this gem to Frankfurt.
 

Summer fun

Ulrike and Suzanne certainly enjoyed the ELTAF Summer Party at Kuffler & Bucher after the Critical Moments workshop. Everyone agreed that the food, atmosphere and company made for an enjoyable evening undisturbed by the thunderstorm going on outside.