After lots and lots of surprises, lots of hope, many disappointments and a lot of spectacular football (not so sure about the refereeing though), the world cup is finally coming to an end.  Many have labelled this tournament as the ‘World Cup of Firsts’ or ‘The World Cup of Surprises’, however, one thing is certain….both Spain and Holland deserve to be where they are.

Another phenomenon associated with this world cup is ‘Paul the Octopus’, dubbed as ‘the psychic octopus.’  This English-born octopus, which is found at the Aquarium Sea Life in the western city of Oberhausen, has captured the attention of football fans and non-fans alike, by succeeding in predicting all of Germany’s World Cup results.  His owners simply put muscles or other treats in two different jars in his aquarium, and apart from the treat each jar would also contain the flag of the two teams that will be playing against each other.  Mysteriously, Paul has always chosen the treat from the jar which contained the flag of the winning team of the following match.

So before deciding who to side with on Sunday…..I think I’ll just wait for Paul!!

Good luck to all the Dutch and Spanish reading this article!!!

May the best team win!

As promised last Friday, today I shall take you on a quick trip down memory lane to highlight the main Elanguest moments of the first 6 months of 2009!

Two of the main events took place in April. As you can probably imagine the first few months of the year are normally very quiet, since the number of students normally begins to increase round about Easter time.

I had told you all about the lovely group of English teachers from Brasov, in Romania who had come to Malta with the intention of exposing themselves to different teaching methods. They were such a great group …. and I’m still in touch with them until this very day!  They recently wrote to me to tell me about their lovely city and how it’s all covered in snow….I’m so jealous!!!!

During the same week we also celebrated the Dutch Queen’s Day…well, in our case we changed it slightly and celebrated Queen’s NIGHT as opposed to DAY   That was also very orange and a LOT of fun!

Some of the Romanians enjoying the Maltese sun in Valletta

It is here….the last month of 2009! Now’s the time when we all start looking back at the past 11 months to recall the highlights of a year that’s coming to an end…

Do you have any nice 2009 memories that you’d like to share with the rest of us?

Having said that, I have two more weeks to remind you of all the nice moments we’ve shared at Elanguest this past year …so today I’d like to dedicate this page to one of our students who will be taking her FCE exam in 4 days…Ilonka Ravenshorst

Ilonka has been with us for the past 15 weeks, and as is the case with all our long-stays, it will be strange not having her around! On behalf of everybody else at Elanguest I’d like to wish her the best of luck for her exam….even though I’m sure she will be just fine!

As promised earlier, next week I will be back with some of the highlights of the first half of 2009.

In the meantime….take care…and have a great weekend

How many of you were aware of the fact that teachers all over the world have a day which is specifically dedicated to them? I’ve personally been in this business for over 7 years and I had no idea!! I also did not know that different countries have different days throughout the year on which they celebrate Teachers’ Day.  Normally the days are chosen depending on particular political or historical events which took place on a specific day.

Different countries also have different ways to celebrate this day.  In some countries, such as Croatia and El Salvador, Teachers’ Day is considered to be a holiday and schools are closed.

All the teachers at Elanguest were surprised when our Turkish students walked into the cafeteria with a beautiful and delicious-looking cake on Tuesday morning.  The 24^th of November is Teachers’ Day in Turkey and since all of them happen to be lecturers and Professors, they are normally on the receiving end of gifts, however, this year they happened to be playing the role of students on Teachers’ Day so they wanted to share this special day with all of their teachers over here!

Apart from it being a lovely gesture, I must admit that the cake was amazing……:)

On Wednesday morning we all woke up to a power cut all round the island, which meant that for a few hours until everything  got back to normal we were isolated from the rest of the world.  For some strange reason (and I’m using the adjective strange on purpose since the sun is still as bright as it would be in June!) I was overwhelmed by Christmas spirit.  This feeling lead to an early decision to start decorating the school for Christmas…

Out came the decorations, the lights, the tree…and within moments we were all busy bouncing from one side of the cafeteria to the other!

Luckily the lights came back on pretty quickly, meaning that we could finally put on some Christmas Carols and pray for the rain and the cold weather…

We’re still dreaming of a White Christmas…..

We live in a world which is utterly dominated by the idea of money and wealth, and we rarely consider doing something for others without expecting anything in return. The truth is, once you do it, the feeling of fulfillment is more rewarding than any amount of cash!

Today I’d like to share with you something new that I’ve experienced this week – something which I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time but never actually got round to doing. I’m talking about teaching English to people who are not considered as part of mainstream society, in other words, outcasts. This is a new idea that David and Ursula West, the owners and founders of Elanguest, came up with a few weeks ago. Our school has always been proud of its solid Christian foundations and this is a good opportunity for all of us to practice what we preach!

Whilst anxiously waiting for the first group to arrive, on Wednesday afternoon, Tom and I were talking about how challenging it is to go into a classroom not knowing what to expect, however, it was so pleasant to be in their company and to see how keen they were to improve their English, that the rest just naturally fell into place. The two hours literally flew by…

This week was yet another typically Maltese summer week – in other words, extremely hot!  Sometimes I find myself chatting with some of our ex-students and they nearly always ask about the weather in Malta, which they strangely miss so much!!  When they start talking about the much cooler temperatures in their respective countries….I just turn green with jealousy!! Maybe I should ask a few of them to swap countries for a few weeks

Elanguest also launched its brand new Medical English online course this week, which can be found on http://medicalenglish.coursekey.com/ .  It’s really good, believe me!!

On a more cultural level, this week there was a very interesting thing taking place in Bay Street – a shopping complex in St. Julian’s.  For a few hours, the sounds of traditional Maltese music (which we call Ghana), filled up the corridors of this big and modern building and entertained all those who happened to be in the area…!

I wish all of you a very happy weekend!! See you next week

This week ends on the eve of one of Malta’s most prestigious public holidays – the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (in Maltese ‘Santa Maria’).  Traditional festivities take place in many towns and villages all around the island, however, the most famous celebration is probably held in Mosta due to the renowned dome that this city boasts of.  Many foreigners, including a good number of our students, flock to one of these places to get a real taste of Malta.

The island also has a lot to offer even to those who might not be too keen on such traditional celebrations.  One example is the ‘Creamfields Festival’ which is an open-air festival and is always held on the 15^th of August.   This year the event will host over 60 DJs and live acts set over a main stage as well as three dance arenas.

So for those of you who are going to be in Malta this weekend, I’m sure that the next few days are going to be packed with activities!  Feel free to upload any pictures of your around-Malta experiences on our facebook profile!

Have a great weekend!

It’s 10 o’clock in the morning…the sun is shining through my office window….all the urgent things have been dealt with…my fingers are all warmed up….and the overwhelming sounds of ‘Enya’ are softly being played in the background. All this can only mean one thing….that Friday is here and that it’s time for me to update you on what’s been happening in Malta and specifically at Elanguest.

As most of you probably know, Elanguest is dedicated to Padre Pio of Pietralcina and in order to honour the memory of this great saint, David and Ursula West bought a house in this lovely town. They were there for the feast of Our Lady of Deliverance last week. Here are some of the pictures so that you can see what a lovely atmosphere there was.

Had it not been for these signs it would have been quite difficult to get the idea that yet another week has flown by! It was one of the busiest weeks at school so far this year, so needless to say, we were all too immersed in our daily routines to realize that the weekend is just round the corner

Just to set the scene…the Monday morning welcome meeting felt as if Stephen and myself were important politicians addressing a crowd during a mass meeting!!! (O.K. that’s maybe slightly exaggerated….but you do get the idea, don’t you?!)

Oh and speaking of Stephen…I’d like to take the opportunity to wish him a very Happy Birthday on behalf of all my colleagues!
And on that note, there’s nothing left for me to say apart from ‘HAPPY WEEKEND!!!’ See you all next week!

Time is just flying…the end of July is with us and so is the peak of summer!  This has been one of the busiest weeks at school and it is especially for this reason that we have decided to make the most of it by organizing as many activities as possible.

Yesterday we all went to a chill-out bar by the beach where we spent an amazing evening chatting and getting to know each other.  Big events are nice, but from time to time it is also pleasant to spend some time sitting down and just talking.  We see each other every day at school but we do not get so many opportunities to chat about everyday topics.  Our students also appreciate this quality time a lot because they get to practice more English

For those of you who will be on the island this weekend there is another interesting event taking place – the Annual Beer Festival which is held in Ta’ Qali.  It is the perfect combination of beer and food from all over the world as well as local talent, which will be displayed on either of the two stages.  There will also be many different kinds of competitions, including the traditional beer drinking challenge in which competitors have to drink five bottles of beer in the least possible time.  A finalist is chosen every night and the Grand Finale will be held on the last day of the festival.

So all I have left to say is ‘Happy weekend ‘ and I’ll see you all next week!

Take care!