I am a teacher of English, I have been using Headway course book since 1995 and I really enjoy it, that’s why when I heard about Headway Competition I took part in it without any hesitation. It was a great honour to participate because my favourite authors John and Liz Soars were giving a scholarship for a teachers’ course in Oxford. I didn’t win the first prize, but I won a short course and was invited to attend the Oxford Teachers’ Academy course at Oxford University Press in Oxford!

The course was from 24th July to 28th July and all expenses were fully covered by OUP. The course was called “Teaching English to Adults” and consisted of 18 hours of intensive teacher training aimed at helping English teachers working with adults to develop their professional skills. The course tutor was Tim Ward, an experienced teacher trainer and materials writer working in Sofia, Bulgaria. There were 36 members of the course – the teachers from different countries: the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Denmark, Oman, Kuwait, Poland, etc. I was the only person from Ukraine! All the participants were not just teachers of English, but real professionals who love their job, the best teachers in their countries. Some of them were the authors of course books, Directors of Studies, etc.

We all lived at Keble College which is a part of the University of Oxford (there are 43 colleges at the University). It is a magnificent Victorian building which was built in 1870 and has a Chapel, comfortable modern rooms, a “Harry Potter-style” dining hall, a library and a big lawn in the middle. At first I couldn’t get used to living in the “castle” and I took photos non-stop.

The course was intensive, but really interesting and informative. We took part in different activities, met the editors of the Adult course books, learned more about editing and publishing process and in the evening we had some free time to do some sightseeing, to explore the centre of Oxford, to go to pubs and socialize with the colleagues. By the end of the course we all were tired but happy!

I was really lucky to have the opportunity to see Oxford, to contribute to the course and meet so many interesting people. I came home full of new creative ideas and inspiration. The course was very important for my personal development as a teacher. Now I understand the famous English phrase that you can see nowadays on T-shirts, mugs and other souvenirs in England: “Keep calm and carry on!” There is no end for your development, carry on and you will be inevitably rewarded one day by your students’ results and may be by Oxford University Press!

Viktoriya Delyukina, Kharkiv.

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