I read a very interesting book a while a go called Bamboo Goalposts by Rowan Simons. It’s a true, unique and entertaining story about the author’s love of football, its universal appeal, and how - as a foreigner - he overcame incredible political and cultural obstacles to set up amateur football in China.

Η Γαλλική γλώσσα μιλιέται από περισσότερους από 220 εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους στον κόσμο. Ταυτόχρονα, είναι η επίσημη γλώσσα σε 32 χώρες σε 5 ηπείρους, η δεύτερη γλώσσα σε διδασκαλία στον κόσμο και η τρίτη γλώσσα που χρησιμοποιείται στο Wikipédia. Μαζί με τα αγγλικά και τα γερμανικά, είναι η επίσημη γλώσσα εργασίας της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και στις τρεις έδρες της : Βρυξέλλες, Λουξεμβούργο και Στρασβούργο.

Whilst teachers and students often feel comfortable with the familiar PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) approach, both may find the more realistic, flexible, and, often, more memorable approaches of Task or Project-Based Learning more beneficial in the long term. Both TBL and PBL require a change of role for both the learner and teacher. The role of the teacher becomes more of a management one, guiding and facilitating the achievement of an end goal.  Learners work more independently of their teacher and co-operate and communicate more with their peers.

From recent and frequent reports on the difficulties facing teachers: from recruitment, workload and pressure to demonstrate results, it could seem that the teaching profession is in a crisis – but is that really the case? Everyone has their own story to tell and we’d like to hear yours. Tell us what it’s really like to be a teacher in the 21st century by completing the World Teacher Survey!

“Stories, great, flapping ribbons of shaped space-time, have been blowing and uncoiling around the universe since the beginning of time. And they have evolved. The weakest have died and the strongest have survived and they have grown fat on the retelling. Stories don’t care who takes part in them. All that matters is that the story gets told, that the story repeats. Or, if you prefer, stories are a parasitical life form, warping lives in the service of only the story itself. Servant girls have to marry the prince. That’s what life is all about.