Annalivia School's Blog

Super, Clare, Super!

2010-08-24T20:48:00.003+01:00

Hello from India!
A bit about the project and how it started
Well many of you may already have heard of our project with SPPD but just in case I’ll give a quick sum up. Just over a year ago two of the esteemed teachers/ managers from Annalivia School made the trip of a life time to Incredible India and while they were there they met up with some people who had started a really worthwhile project here. The project was SPPD, which stands for the society for poor people’s development. They really do a lot of good work looking after very poor kids in their children’s home and in the community. You can check out more information on their webpage,(www.sppd.org). When the boys from Annalivia visited their main area of interest was how could we help? Being an English language school the best we could to do was to help out with the educational work they do, specifically their English classes and that was how it started.
Kevin and Peter taught for two weeks and wrote up a report and decided that continued English classes would be of great benefit to both the staff and the kids so they set up the scholarship programme with our TEFL course. This meant trainee teachers starting out could have a opportunity to do some very rewarding teaching with the support of experience EFL people behind them and the kids and staff could have regular English classes! English is the international language of business and although many Indians speak English very well, many only know the very basics, ‘’hello, how are you?’’ ‘’I’m fine.’’ The children being able to communicate effectively in English would really give them the edge when they want to go to university or need to look for a job.
Our teachers
I was a little jealous of the guys and their exciting new project. Soon we sent our first teacher David. (check out his blog, he was a big fan of the food here!) He worked really hard to give the kids a good base in understanding and using simple English with lots of ‘Simple Simon says’ and ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes,’ and he got stuck into the grammar with the staff. Proper order!
The second teacher to take up the challenge was Derek. He kept up the momentum with lots of games and competitions for the kids and giving his social nature lots of fluency practice for everyone! (for more see his blog entry!)
I couldn’t wait. I volunteered to come and see the project for myself but I couldn’t spare 3 months! The guys were keen to have someone on the ground do a needs anaylsis on what our next steps should be. I could come for two weeks and do some work on the programme and materials to help our teachers out over here. Perfect!
So here I am. It’s my first time to India so lots of things to get used to and I was quite nervous setting out but what an experience! The food is great, especially for me because as a vegetarian I fit right in. I’m also delighted to eat with my hand! The people are so warm and friendly. My only regret is that I don’t speak more Tamil. It is a very difficult language and I am a very slow student but every day the kitchen staff and the kids try to teach me!
The kids are the real reward for the long journey and hard work. It may sound like a cliché but they really have a lot to teach us. Many of them have lost a parent or two and really have very little but they are so generous and grateful for every little thing. They close their eyes and bow their heads to pray before their dinner and the one word I understand is, ‘nan ree’, thank you. It’s a humbling experience being here, even if everything I teach is, ‘’super Clara, super, thank you.’’
Is the program working?
Some visitors to SPPD were delighted with the kids’ ability to quiz them as was I when I arrived. Thanks to the boys they have the confidence and the English to ask lots of questions, ‘’what’s your mother’s name?’’ ‘’do you like cricket? ‘’ ‘’ where are you coming from? ‘’
That last question I haven’t bothered to correct it since everyone here says it and we have lots of other work to do! But yes, it is working, they can ask and answer and for the most part communicate better than the average Indian I met at the train station.
How can I help?
This is the bit where I ain’t too proud to beg!
If you wish to learn more or donate please see www.sppd.org or if are interested in our scholarship program please contact peter@annaliviaschool.com , if you wish to learn more about the programme we are teaching here contact me on clare@annaliviaschool.com

An amazing opportunity...

2010-06-02T14:19:00.001+01:00

Hi all,
Some of you may already be aware of the programme we run in India in conjunction with SPPD. This is normally a scholarship in conjunction with our teacher training courses but as we have been unable to run one this June we have decided to throw the programme open to all former trainees and teachers so please send the following information to everyone you think might be interested.

The programme happens between September and December, which is the most comfortable time of year to visit India.

It takes place in arid plains of rural Tamil Nadu among the tribal villages where they eke out a living from subsistence agriculture. A stunning place at the end of the rainy season when the flat fields stretch all the way to the distant hills that fringe the horizon. There is an allowance for 2 weeks holiday in the programme which would allow you to travel to the ocean, visit the hill stations or do a tour of the magnificient Hindu tenples in Tamil Nadu and nieghbouring states. These are places that very few foreign tourists get to see.

You would be asked to teach small groups of orphan and semi-orphan children who SPPD support through the school system and for whom a command of English is the key not only to social mobility but also to being able to protect themselves from discrimination on the part of the administrative and legal system and when they go to work in non-Tamil speaking parts oft he country.

For more on SPPD check out this link.

You would be provided with:
- Comfortable European Style Accommodation in the SPPD community centre.
- Full board in the centre including plenty of dosai (rice pancakes) and tasty local curries.
- Pocket money of approx 2000 rupees a month, paid on a weekly basis.
- A laptop and internet access.
- A two day induction and weekly academic support for your time there.

In addition!
We will refund up to 800 Euro on your return to cover the cost of your travel.

You do not have to be based in Ireland to apply but would need to be able to come to Dunloaghaire for the induction in September.

There is some more information here. (NB: References to the scholarship do not apply).
http://www.annaliviaschool.com/annaliviaschool/Main/sppd.htm

So if you are interested email kevin@annaliviaschool.com with your name, contact details, a brief outline of your expereince and an explanation of why you are interested in taking on the project.

We look forward to hearing from you.

2010-04-08T16:54:00.003+01:00

Hello, my name is Derek and I travelled to India at the start of the New Year. I left Irelands winter and arrived to an ‘Indian winter’, at the start of January, with temperatures in the high twenties. Arriving in India is always a bit of a shock as the air is heavy with heat and the country operates in a type of organised chaos.

When I first thought about taking on this role I imagined teaching to large classes outside under the shade of a tree with anything up to 100 children, but in fact after talking with Peter from the Annalivia School he informed me that there would be a total of 24 children divided in to 3 separate classes. Locally teachers here can have classes up to 75 students at a time.

After arriving and settling in at the SPPD center, the facilities and location were noticeable different then what I had imagined. The center received large sponsorship aid from the Irish government when built so facilities are really quite impressive when compared to other Indian standards.

The childrens classes I taught were always appreciated by the children and in India they tend to want to grab your attention and always try and tell and explain things which really shows that they are confident in making the effort to communicate. The children are all at varying levels and ages which keeps things interesting and of course a little frustrating at times.

The children have a busy routine here as they go to school outside the center for the main part of the day and then in the evening between some study time, eating and 30 minutes free time, there day is coming to an end.

During my volunteer programme, there was also adult classes run on a routine basis which was a great way to meet some of the staff here at SPPD, who are all really easy going and good company to be with. Indian people are always friendly and trying to help you. Generally between staff and local people there is always a keen interest in your day to day happenings and some amazement with seeing a person of a different nationality.

One thing that I found a little easier about coming to India initially is that English is a ‘second language’ here so it is possible to communicate with people in many circumstances.

Although be aware just because an Indian can ask you your name and where is your native place i.e. Where are you from? It does not mean they can ask you anything else, the equivalent of many Irish people been able to say a few native words in their mother tongue ( e.g. Dia Dhuit, Conas a ta tu? ) And then getting stuck to say anything else.

There is a huge importance for the children to learn English as it can mean the difference between succeeding in jobs at varying levels here in India, as all official

and corporate work is conducted through English.

A big difference in life I find here is that the time between work, social and recreation becomes a bit of a blur and may in fact be mixed in to there day at work, do not tell any Indian that. Indians having an average working week of six days, this gives them one day off to relax.

My teaching experience has been greatly helped here with the constant guidance from the Annalivia School, with help on ideas and steps in making my lesson plans more simple and easy to go though. Also some of the staff from the Annalivia School have experience of been here so it has really helped make me feel more comfortable starting this project in the outset.

I would recommend this to any new or practising teachers. It was also a great help to talk with and ask questions to the previous volunteer that was here. I would be happy to help answer any queries people may have. Contact me at derekb70@hotmail.com

For information on applying for the scholarship, please click here

Patricks Day 2010!!

2010-02-18T19:19:00.005Z

It's THAT time of the year again! for one day only, Ireland will become ultra irish and the world will turn Irish. We'll have green make-up, green Guinness, Green Milkshakes, Green Hair cuts. Ireland will suddenly fill up with tourists for 1 week and, for a few days, we'll celebrate our patron Saint Patrick. This year is a funny one, as St. Patricks' day falls on a Wednesday and so the people that organise these things, have decided to run a 6 day festival, culminating in the parade and party on the 17th.

The wonderful Diane, our social coordinator, will, as usual, be organising a huge day out for the 17th as well as a outings during the whole week leading up to it. There'll be comedy acts, the "skyfest" which is a huge fireworks display, Irish dancing, concerts and lots and lots of Guinness...

Last year, some of our students were in the parade itself, and afterwards, we booked the VIP section of the PURTY KITCHEN in Dublin's famous Temple Bar and had a typical Irish dinner followed dancing and partying...
March is a good time to be an English Student in Ireland! So, where will you be this St. Patricks Day 2010?

Our Man in India...

2009-11-30T11:08:00.005Z

In December 2008, Annalivia School launched a scholarship programme for teacher's willing to teach English for 3 months in a childrens' charity (SPPD) in India. David Purdy was the first teacher to take on this challenge. He left for India in September and is coming towards the end of his time. We asked him to write a few words and here they are:

They told me that if I could get through the CELT course then I could get through anything. I certainly felt that way after successfully completing the course last June 2009, but for all the ups and downs and near failures during the teacher training, nothing could have prepared me for life as an English teacher........in India.
It helps to have been here before but that isn’t to imply that first-timers to India shouldn’t consider applying for this scholarship. It is not only great teaching experience, but also a great life experience.

Everybody here in SPPD is super-friendly and will go out of their way to help you, not that you need much help with anything. It helps if you like Indian food (I do) and despite the repetition, I have grown very fond of staple breakfast favourites like idlis (rice cakes) or dosai (rice pancakes) with their various accompanying chutneys............yummy..........
Sorry, got carried away there thinking about groundnut chutney (my favourite). I am supposed to be writing about English teaching. Well, where can I start? As a rookie English teacher (this is my first ever teaching job), this has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Ever. Even harder than the CELT course.........or maybe not. Can’t decide on that one I’m afraid. But I don’t want to put people off ! It has also been one of the best things I’ve ever done and opened my eyes as to how other people live and what they use English for.
The big hurdle here is the fact that the students have to do quite a lot of ‘unlearning’ of the English they have been taught in school. A lot of their teachers have poor communicative English skills themselves which are inevitably passed onto their pupils. My pupils. So it is a difficult process to explain to grown adults that they are in fact saying something incorrectly, something they may have been saying for years in English-speaking India and being perfectly understood. But it is important to stress to them that the English I am imparting to them is different to what may be accepted in India, and not to dismiss what they may have learnt before as being incorrect. SPPD staff need to improve their English communication skills as a large amount of their necessary fundraising is dependent on foreign English speaking countries.
Aside from that small problem of ‘unlearning’, the students are very keen to learn and everyone really enjoys the various games employed to make their lessons more fun. Children’s classes are divided into teams, each competing to win the ‘English Games League’ for which I still have to decide on a prize. These kids are so competitive that if they are losing by too many points they can get very dejected and upset, akin to throwing in the towel. It calls for another skill altogether to slightly manipulate the scores to keep them on a level pegging. This is done by deducting penalty points if teams speak too much Tamil in class (not allowed!) or if they speak out of turn.
I am tempted to mention the confusion which arises from the often ridiculed unique Indian ‘head-wiggle’, but let’s just say that it doesn’t take very long before you can tell a wiggle (meaning yes), from a rotating shake (meaning no).
Spare time is spent keeping fit. You have to do this in order to counter the inevitable weight gain from a diet of so much rice. You can go cycling or running in the surrounding countryside and some of my jaunts have turned into 'Rocky' moments, with streams of kids chasing the only white man they've probably ever seen. There is even the occasional autograph hunter. Really. Okay, there was only ever one autograph hunter, but it's still a first for me...........
Finally, Annalivia have constantly been at hand to help with lesson planning and advice. I couldn't have done it without them. Like I said, this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done and I am dying to start my holidays in 10 days time, but I would recommend this position to all experienced and newly-trained teachers out there who may be looking for a new challenge.
David Purdy, SPPD, Musiri, Tamil Nadu 01/12/2009.

If you feel you might be up for the challenge, would like to become a qualified English CELT teacher then please check here for more information.

Standing, sitting, rocking or pacing ...

2009-10-13T21:46:00.008+01:00

Do you ever look at your teacher and wonder if they were to stand somewhere else in the classroom would you learn more? Is where they stand in the classroom important? Is how they stand important? If they sit in front of you, behind you, behind a large desk or they give the class their back and you can't see their face? Do these factors affect how the student learns?

Don't get me wrong, if a teacher is a "bad" teacher, i don't think they'll become a good teacher by standing in a different corner of the room, but I do think we've all had the type of teacher that sits behind a desk, with an open book in front of them and essentially lectures the class. An English teacher, teaching students using a communicative approach to teaching, needs to facilitate learning and a lecture style class just doesn't work.

Some teachers have so much energy they hop around a class room, this energy can be contagious and students get completely drawn in. Nice. Although I'm sure some students find it annoying, particularly students that feel the class is moving too fast or students new to that level.

I know a (very good) teacher that, once he has set up a speaking activity, sits in his chair, his back to the class and just takes notes on what he hears. He does this because he found that when students are speaking to each other, they will often be very conscious that a teacher is listening and will periodically stop mid-sentence and look at the teacher to check if the sentence was correct. This wasn't helping their fluency. By sitting this way, he avoided eye contact with the students and he found that they were more likely to speak fluently. He'd note down most of the mistakes they made and tackle them after the speaking task had been completed.

Then there's the teacher who circulates around the students, checks their written work, looking over their shoulders, paying a lot of attention to every student. Sounds good? Maybe not, a lot of cultures don't like you in their personal space. They are not used to it and it makes them uncomfortable.

I strongly believe that if I were to look through a window into a classroom, it should be difficult to differentiate a teacher from a student. If a student feels that the teacher is at their level, they'll be more comfortable. If students are comfortable, they are more likely to learn.

So, what's best? Casually pacing around the class? A mix of all the above? I think it depends on what you are comfortable with (and your level of fitness). If you have a well thought out class, with clear outcomes and objectives, you are relaxed and can put the students at ease, then it probably doesn't matter.

Just as long as you're not sitting behind a desk.

Are women better than men at learning languages?

2009-10-12T21:23:00.003+01:00

Yes. The answer is, unfortunately, yes.

Why? Here are some questions and answers that will show you what I mean...

Why learn a language? To communicate.

What's the best way to learn a language? By communicating.

What are (one of the things) men really bad at? COMMUNICATING.

Ok and there's also lots of neuroscienfic proof in an interesting article here

I'm going to ask the teachers in Annalivia School if they agree and get back to you all...

What are your thoughts?

I wonder if this would work?

2009-09-20T10:26:00.006+01:00

We are thinking about trying something new for 2010...

We think we'd like to try to start an ENGLISH ONLY rule in the school.

The idea is that students are only allowed to speak English while they are in the school building. We will police this and I'm suggesting a small fine (20 cents) every time someone breaks the new rule. The money we take from the fines will go to SPPD The charity in India that we are working with.

During the breaks, and after classes, we'll have someone to walk around and make sure that the only language being used is English...

Please vote on this idea - if there are more YES's than NO's we'll test it for a week...

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Top 10 Visits in Dublin

2009-09-14T22:03:00.002+01:00

So, you are a student in Dublin, studying English in Annalivia School where are the top 10 most likely places you will go visit, on a nice afternoon?

Here's a quick list of a few of the most likely as put together by Diane, our social coordinator:

What are your top 10?

The Facebook Thing...

2009-07-31T18:45:00.002+01:00

This year we've really seen the affect of Facebook on the school...

As you may or may not know, Annalivia School has, as well as the Adult School, 2 Junior centres. In these centres we have students from the age of 10 to 17. In the past 4 weeks, we've seen a HUGE increase in the number of people that have joined our facebook group. These students have then gone on to makesub groups about absolutely EVERYTHING... There's groups about the particular brand of Orange juice we give them, about the cheese and onion crisps, about the funny looking battery bins and on and on and one.

It's great to see that the students are keeping in touch and they are posting all kinds of photos and videos of their stay which is brilliant to see.

On the negative side, it's a little worrying as we've had groups of students arriving that have "met" past students of the school by Googling or "facebooking" the Annalivia name and they've arrived already knowing security codes (for doors etc.). It's not a big issue, as we change the codes every 2 weeks, but still, the internet is a pretty amazing place.

Please feel free to add us as a friend or join our group (search for Annalivaschool inDublin).

In the meantime, here's a sample of one of the videos I found on Youtube:

2009-05-17T13:27:00.001+01:00

BECAS MEC - message for our Spanish students!

This year the Spanish government are giving over 20,000 grants to Spanish university students to come and do an English language course (BECAS MEC).
There is more information here: ANNALIVIA SCHOOL BECAS MEC and you can also contact the school directly and we will explain more to you.

The grant will help you come to Dublin and take a 3 or 6 week English course so... don't wait... apply!

Annalivia School is used in an add!

2009-02-17T12:11:00.002Z

A few weeks ago, we had a film crew in the school shooting for an Irish mobile telephone network (Meteor). It's for what they call a Viral Marketing add. They filmed in our canteen and had included some students as extras for the add but unfortunately (or forunately maybe!) they were not included in the add. I'm not sure what to make of the add. Actually, I do know what I think about the add, but I don't want to influence your opinions of it. Let me know what you think of it in the comments... Here's the add:

Teaching English in India

2009-02-09T22:10:00.003Z

In December 2008, myself and Peter (our academic director) had the opportunity to travel to the state of Tamil Nadu on a “recon mission” to see if we could set up an English programme, sponsored by Annalivia School, for a small charity called SPPD (Society for Poor People Development). The charity is run by Raju who set it up to give the local disadvantaged children a chance of an education, shelter and food.

We had an amazing experience and took a lot from teaching the staff and children. It was unlike anything we have experienced before. The English that the Indian students have been taught is very different to the English that we are used to. We had a problem though…

Should we have corrected their English mistakes?
In a English class in Dun Laoghaire, in front of a group of mixed nationalities, someone who uses the third person singular without an “s” at the end of “eat” will expect and want to be corrected. Does the same rule apply in India, teaching in a very rural area, a group of children, all taught by teachers making the same “mistakes” (I’m having problems with the word “mistake” but for the moment I’ll leave it) as they are making?

Who is to say that standard British English or American English is more correct than Indianised English?

It raises a huge dilemma. By not correcting their issues (a little better than the word “mistake”) they will not be able to send an e-mail, for example, to the States or to the UK without the recipient pre-judging them based on the irregular content (even better than “issues”). One way of looking at this would be to say that it is, in fact, the recipient in the UK that is blinkered and insufficiently travelled to recognise that they are not mistakes, issues or irregularities but more a dialect or adaptation of the English language.

Is it more correct to write “recognized” or “recognised”? Microsoft word’s spell check will accept both as correct. Amercian readers will accept both but recognise that the latter is someone who speaks British English (or has been taught British English). What about the following sentence consider the following “One of my cow died last night in the storm.” Grammatically incorrect? Completely wrong? Whether it be in American or British English, “One of my” implies a plural and so “Cow” should be “Cows”.

I don’t think so. There are 90 million English speakers in India which is a lot more than in the UK. Isn’t there a case to be made that any language (which is constantly evolving anyway) should be ruled by a majority rule? Or what about this “I is going to that party!” Completely wrong? Try saying it with an American accent. Isn’t it just as acceptable as “I am going to a Party”? Same question for the now very common British “He were…”

If your answer is simply, no, it’s completely incorrect then consider the same question but replace incorrect grammar with differing phonetics and accents…

A Dublin Irish person might say “Oim goin to da pub”. If you it’s accepted that “I is” is WRONG then so is the Irish “PUB” vs the UK “PAB”. I think it’s easier to accept that accents are a part of our culture and national identity but more difficult to do the same with grammar.

Anyway, all that aside, we are offering 2 scholarships per year on our teacher training courses (CELT). Annalivia School will give you a free place on a course in exchange for 4 months of teacher training in SPPD in India. Please click through here for the link.

There’s also a nice article that Peter wrote for the UCD tribune here.

Wow - It's cold...

2009-01-15T14:37:00.003Z

A very cold month, this one... We've been having to work very hard to keep warm. So what have we been doing?

We've put together lots of new courses for 2009, English + surfing, horse riding, scuba diving, moutain climbing, hill walking, cooking, windsurfing and on and on and on and on. Ok, I'm lying it wasn't THAT much hard work. What we did was to contact local people around Dun Laoghaire that offer these services and we asked them to look after Annalivia Students. The said yes and we stuck them up on the website. Easy!

We've also been working hard on our social programme and Diane has put together a 6 month calendar, which, we've put online and that did take some time to organise and work out. Great programme though!

We've also put a calender up pf our free classes and workshops so that you can decide in advance which classes you'd like to attend. BUT WAIT! Before we start getting inundated with e-mails of enquiries - these classes are only for students that are registered in the school as full or part time students. Unfortunately these classes fill up VERY fast and we have to give preference to our current students.

We're also got our TEFL/CELT Scholarship up and running in association with SPPD who do amazing work in Tamil Nadu, India. We're VERY happy to be able to support them and have organised an English programme for them. Now we just need the Volunteer English Teachers. Do you have what it takes? CLICK HERE

What else? We've taken down the Christmas decorations, got rid of the horrible sweet machine that keeps stealing students money, got a new Coffee Machine, sent out some newsletters, watered the plants and went for a hair cut.

Not a bad start to the year...

Winter is here again...

2008-10-11T21:46:00.002+01:00

Yep, the sun seems to have set again for another 8 months, we've had alot of wind, rain and very very changeable weather. Things in the school are starting to slow down as the number of students is reduced. For anyone considering coming to the schoo lin the next few weeks, have a good look for some special offers by clicking here.

2 other quick things:

Please feel free to add photos, comments etc to our Facebook page. Add Annalivia SchoolinDublin as your friend!
I found this great video of Barry, one of our talented teachers... Click here to see it

Sorry!

2008-08-29T09:42:00.005+01:00

I've been a very busy bee over the past few months and so I haven't had a chance to update the Blog in a while. So what's been happening in the school? Lots!

The Annalivia Lions Rugby team!
After a very difficult season, we finished second in the league. ALthough it was a great result, it was a very frustrating season. We beat all the teams we played, except one! And although we played them 3 times (including in the final) they destroyed us everytime. They wer ein the wrong league and in their first 3 games, they scored 84 tries. Diaster! It was very disheartening as we were trying to have a positive attitude, but all of us knew we stood no chance in the final. Still though, it was great fun and we celebrated with a party. I have lots and lots of photos of the 10 games we played, but this photo is the best... David and his "Photoshopping" skills strikes again!

The School:
We've been working hard to try to make improvements to the school and we've finally managed to fix our Wireless problems! Jennifer has spent alo of time painting, redorating and refurnishing the student common area and has put in a nice vending
machine. It looks great and really adds a comfortable, relaxing place for students to spend time when they are not in class studying...

Other bits and pieces:

Our June TEFL (teacher training) course was a great success and many of the newly qualified teachers worked with Claire in our Junior Summer centre. A Baptism of fire! but they were great and seemed to enjoy it. We're running 2 more courses this year and you can click here to find out more info.

Our Facebook page is working really well, lots of students have posted photos and it's a real little community of past and present students. It's great to see everyone keeping in touch and to hear how students are getting on since leaving Ireland. Please feel free to add us as your friend. Look us up under Annalivia SchoolInDublin.

I was surfing the net a few weeks ago and happened on this video! It was great to see it! One of our French Student put up a little film of his friends during his time in our Summer Camp.

There are a few other videos up there too.. but this was the best one!If you have other photos or videos, please send them onto us!

Promise I'll update more soon!

Rupert.

Winning isn't everything... IT'S THE ONLY THING!

2008-05-29T21:47:00.009+01:00

It was a warm, Summers evening and there, sitting at the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, The Annalivia Lions gathered in the prairie and lay in wait. Julie, a lion with a thorn in her paw, was sick and bruised but sitting side by side with Michelle, an Annalivia Lion with a heart (A heart for ripping tags off anyone that gets in her way). Skulking in the background were Aitor and David, 2 huge beasts from Spain. It is said of them that they once chased their lunch with such speed that they accidentally caught breakfast! Then there was the stylish Elena lion, sitting with her head perked with enthusiasm waiting anxiously for her next victim to claw to death. Ryo, a cunning, stocky, Japanese feline who plays rugby with an atomic switch in his pocket. Once he flicks the switch, an explosion of speed an passion fires him up the pitch like a rocket. Jordan, a French Lion was composed and calm. She knew the battle that was around the corner and was visualising her right kicking paw striking the ball with pin-point pressure, cleverly placing it just behind the weakest victim of the other team. Jennifer, our Teacher Lion, has been coordinating and motivating from the outset. She sat overlooking her lion cubs with authority and mastery whilst quietly focused on getting the ball across the line. Laurine, who is not actually a lion, but a gazelle, sat by the battlefield, with a grin that said "Something special is going to happen". Kevin, the head lion, sat behind the pride with confidence that the training and preparation was about to pay off. The Annalivia Lions could smell blood.

At 18H55, the "PayZone Panthers" trundled like an army of black warriors onto the rugby pitch and glared at the Lions, who were basking in the sun, with a sense of what was to come... A carnage.

19H00 eventually came and as the referee blew his whistle. Things moved fast then, Jordan received the ball and passed with precision accuracy, then another pass, and another. The Panthers defended well but the Annalivia Lions came alive and burst up the field. 1 tag, then another tag, then the ball came left wing and a beautiful pass to Kevin resulted in the first try of the tournament. The Panthers were hurt but the Lions were only warming up.

The next try came from The Panthers as they scored a clever little try as a result of the Lions over-zealousness (or being offside). The Panthers celebrated and the lions snarled. David decided to show his teeth and used his massive height to steal the ball out of the air and with lightening speed ripped up the field. The Panthers trotted up behind him but were never going to catch him. Julie, as if on train tracks and roller blades followed David up the line. David passed to Julie at the last minute to score a girl try (worth 3 points) but, just as she as about to put the ball down, 2 male Panthers closed in and sandwiched Julie sending her tumbling into the next pitch. Elena, who was on the sidelines, was up to Julies defence in 3 seconds. Julie brushed herself down glared at the Panthers and went back into her position on the wing. The referee awarded a penalty try to the Lions and a Panther was sent off for 10 minutes.

The Panthers knew it was finished at that point. For the remaining of the first half, David and Aitor fed balls to the team and the team feds balls to each other resulting in a total of 7 trys. After half time, the Panthers limped back onto the pitch as the Lions stretched and flexed. More Trys for the Lions: our Spanish Lions twirled and skipped around the Panthers. Ryo charged at them with such ferocity that they were only making half efforts to stop him. Jordan got through with another girl try. A beautiful pass to Jennifer in the last minute got her to the line but an overly aggressive tag and trip sent her 3 feet into the air and a penalty was awarded where the team got the ball from the right side of the pitch all the way left found it’s way to the Kevin who got a sly try just on the line.

Elena’s motivation, Michelle’s tagging, Jordan’s runs and kicks, David and Aitor’s Matador style and salsa like movements, Jens’ ownership of the right wing, Ryo’s aggression, Julie’s sporting intelligence and Laurine’s sideline support resulted in the final score of16 - 8 to the Lions... It was only the first match and there is still alot of training to do. But what a start…

Click here to see the league table.

The Annalivia Tag Rugby Team!

2008-04-08T14:45:00.002+01:00

• We are putting together a tag rugby team for this coming season of TAG RUGBY (non-contact rugby: it’s a fun version of real rugby)

• It’s a mixed team (Boys and Girls): we have to have at least 3 girls on the pitch all the time.

• You do not need any experience but you do need to be available every Friday for matches (in Ballsbridge) and to be available for training 1 day per week (in Dun Laoghaire)

• We will be playing teams from all over Dublin, so we’ll need lots of training.

• Dates: from the 19th May (first match) to the 25th July (last match) (You should be available for most of the time)

• We need a squad of about 12 players of which at least 7 will be here for the duration of the league.

• YOU DO NOT NEED ANY EXPERIENCE IN PLAYING RUGBY… you just need to be able to run and catch a ball!

Any questions check out www.tagrugby.ie or ask contact kevin@annaliviaschool.com

Rupert Makes National Headlines

2008-03-05T14:35:00.003Z

I've only been working here for a few weeks and I'm already a National Superstar! the Irish Times newspaper did a piece about Annalivia School.

That's me on the right on top of Andreas' shoulders.

If you want to read the full article ou can see a scanned version online by clicking here.

All the best for now!

Rupert

Hello Everyone!

2008-03-02T12:03:00.003Z

My name is Rupert and I work in Annalivia School. Kevin asked me to look after keeping the blog up-to-date because he has been very busy recently and hasn't had a chance to spend too much time on it.

So I think this Blog should just be a little introduction to me. I've got lots of ideas about topics I'd like to write about but for the moment, I'll keep it short. So, a little about me:

As I said, my name is Rupert and I've been working in Annalivia since before Christmas. Clare (clare@annaliviaschool.com) found me one evening, interviewed me and decided that I'd fit in quite well in the school I'm 31 years of age and I'm from Ireland. I'm an English teacher but am not teaching too much at the moment. I've spent the last few years, travelling the world and learning languages, I speak English, Spanish, French and Italian. I live in Clarinda Park and hang out in the main entrance. My hobbies are sports and eating! I love food, especially Italian food! My favorite is TagliaTEDDY!

So, I think I'll leave it at that for the moment. Please post a comment or, if you would like to contact me, you can get me on info@annaliviaschool.com.

Happy Christmas to everyone!

2007-12-21T14:26:00.000Z

Thats' it! We're finished! Goodbye 2007!

It was an interesting year for the school with alot of new things happening; Online classes, new programmes, lots of new students, new members joing the team but we got there and now we're all ready to close the door behind us and take a bit of a break to recharge our batteries and brace ourselves for 2008.

We finished off the year with a table quiz and a few drinks for the students which was alot of fun! in between rounds of testing the students general knowledge, grammar knowledge, geographical knowledge etc.. the student had do to games; such as getting drseed up as a reindeer or a Santa Clause. I'm not sure how impressed Father Christmas would have been with the standard of the imitations.

So, look forward to seeing everyone in 2008 and of course, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a peaceful, fun, friendly New Year!

Kevin

Who are we?

2007-12-12T16:54:00.000Z

Last week, we had Brian, a local photographer out to take a few shots of the school and of the staff.

The idea is that, becuase we are all so good looking, we'll attract lots of students Dublin and to the school.

However since putting up the photos, no students have registered, Google won't list our website anymore and all the Pc's in the school have stopped working.

No-one can understand why!

Is "bad" language really "bad"?

2007-11-28T21:29:00.000Z

I wanted to write about something that comes up quite a bit in the Annalivia staff room when teaching adult students. It usually goes something like this:

Teacher A: "Oh god! Guess what Student X asked me today?"
Teacher B: "What?"
Teacher A: "He asked me what does (insert bad language here) mean?"
Teacher B: "So what did you say?"

And so starts the debate on teaching "bad" language...

I think we all agree that language is a tool used to communicate. It is the means we use to express our thoughts, desires, emotions, hopes and frustrations. Swearing is part of expressive language and so if you are learning a language, you presumably want to improve your communication skills. The reality is that people DO use bad language (also known as to swear, to curse, to cuss, to blaspheme).

Swear words are everywhere they are used in films, books (Shakespeare used curse words!), on the street, everywhere! They are in dictionares and in school playgrounds. But why do we swear?

Well, let's face it, swearing is an outlet for emotions, it allows you to intensify what you are saying. Also, it supposedly relieves pain! When you curse after hitting your head and it hurts, apparently is it the adult equivalent of crying. There are lots of others reasons too... but for the sake of brevity i'll let you Google those reasons for yourself!

So the question is why would you put a language learner at a disadvantage by not teaching them bad language? The obvious answer is that by teaching bad language, you, as a teacher, run the risk of offending another student. As a teacher you have to take into consideration ALL the students in your class. More often than not, you will have different nationalities, different cultures, different ages and different religions in your class. See the problem?

As a teacher you think to yourself "I'm telling these students to go out and use the language I am teaching them in class in the real world, to practise the English I am teaching them." and so there is a contradiction in not teaching them the bad language. See the dilemma?

So what do we do in Annalivia? Answer: We let the teacher decide. Teachers know the class and have a sense of how to handle the situation. I think it would be inappropriate to put "bad language" on the sylabus, but then it would be equally wrong to pretend it doesn't exist!

Thoughts?

A cold busy, winter week!

2007-11-19T23:07:00.000Z

It seems like the mild weather has left us and replaced us with an icy, windy winter! It's not all bad as it means we can start using the fireplace again and there is more of a Christmas feel to the place!

The cold weather aside, we had a computer genius from a fellow Tandem school in Bremen (http://www.casa-bremen.de) who was setting up a new computer system for us.

We then went over to London for the annual Tandem conference - you can check out some pictures on Stuart's website (englishschoollondon.blogspot.com)

In other news, Diane (our social coordinator) is gone off and holidays leaving her friend Kim to look after our lovely students. As I type they are all in the Wishing Well pub listening to Irish music. Barry (one of our teachers) is taking a group of them out to a surprise visit. Diane is back at the weekend and I'm sure will be fully charged and ready to go!

I've got some nice photos of the Christmas lights in Dun Laoghaire but unfortunately there's something wrong with my laptop and I can't paste any of them into the blog. I'll try it again tomorrow!

A new Arrival!!!!

2007-11-06T17:16:00.000Z

"Old arrival” may be more apt, but at least I have arrived! Some of you may remember me from my days at Bluefeather in Monkstown (1983-2006). Annalivia has now taken up the Tandem International member school baton where Bluefeather left off. You can see more about TI at http://www.tandem-school.com/
Kevin has kindly presented me with the honour of being Annalivia’s Director of Studies and I hope to be able to do all I can to live up to everybody’s expectations of me. I’m at my desk here in the main office at Annalivia from 09.00 -13.00.
From the outset, I would like to reassure the reader that Annalivia continues to enhance its reputation as one of the best schools for adults in Ireland. To date, the feedback I am receiving is that a course at Annalivia has proven to be a hugely rewarding, enjoyable, and one of the most memorable experiences of students’ lives. I hope to be part of this success in the future and to do whatever I can to ensure that students can reap the maximum benefit from their stay.
You can contact me at greg@annaliviaschool.com if you are a student who might like to know more about us or if you have already been with us and would like to stay in touch with the target language after you have returned home, or if you are a teacher who would like to work in the one of the best schools in these islands, or if you are an agent who would like to know how your students are getting on, or if you need some more info on what we do here for prospective students you would like to send us!

A Rainy Rainy July!

2007-07-13T12:03:00.000+01:00

This has been one of the worst weeks for rain in a very long time! It feels as though it has been raining non-stop for 2 weeks. Despite the wet weather, things are stil motoring here... the students went to Riverdance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdance during the week and they managed to find a sunny few hours to go to visit Howth for the fistival out there. Diane was able to convince a lighthouse keeper to let the student visit his lighthouse and there were some pretty stunning photos, taken by Shin (Again - many thanks!)

Also, this is great; a few weeks ago some of the students were out in Sandycove and bumped into Mary Hanafin. So who is Mary Hanafin I can hear you al ask! She's only the current Minister for Education in Ireland. The students had a chat with her, she asked them a few questions about how they found education in Ireland and it all culminated in a group photo, Mary Hanafin is the lady in the middle, theonly one that looks like a politician :-) When i heard about it, I got quite excited but the students didn't seem to care too much. I am sure there is a sarky comment to be made there about students and education and there disinterest - but I won't say a word ;-)

Thats all for now,

Kevin

Quick update

2007-06-29T11:24:00.000+01:00

The busy Summer is upon us at this stage and I am happy to repost that the school is nice and full... Classes are still at a nice number of students, but we're using all the rooms now and there is a really nice buzz of activity around the place...

Diane is organising her usual activities but some of our long term students have also taken on the role as social coordinators! For some reason they are not quite as cultural as Dianes outings, and seem to be centred around house parties, pub outings etc... :-) BUT...as a result, we've had to change the school rules slightly this week and now students are not allowed be more than 5 minutes late for class (it used to be 15 minutes).

Anyone know the expression "to burn the candle at both ends"? http://esl.about.com/library/glossary/bldef_100.htm It was interesting, I went around the class rooms announcing the new (stricter) rule to the students and there was almost a sigh of relief from students. It was as though they now have an excuse to go out LESS often now that they have to be in class at 9am and I think they are happier as a result!

Kevin

What a week!

2007-06-15T12:08:00.001+01:00

This was a funny week... We had roasting hot weather, then really cold windy and wet days - it's completely unpredictable...

So, this week what's been happening;

We had an intersting incident on Tuesday morning with our fire alarm deciding to ring throughout the school. It was being childish and stubborn and wouldn't let anyone reset it! Luckily, Tuesday morning was one of the warmer morning and so the students and teachers all went across the road to "English in the Park". Acutually, we had the alarm silenced by 09H00 but I tink the students were more than happy to be in the park for a few hours.

Nothing to do with the school, but our Taoiseacht (the Irish Prime Minister) was re-elected yesterday for the 3rd time and starts running the country again today. He has been our Taoiseacht for the past 10 years and will quite possibly be here for another 5 years. I'm not going say anything more about that other than there are more important things to be worrying aboout like for example the big nexs of the week which is that

Hari's Leaving! Hari Gupta, our favorite Australian Teacher is leaving us to go to like with his lovely little family in Mexico! Hari has been an absolutely great addition to the Annalivia Family and everyone will be sad to see him leave. Today is his last official day but he'll be in and out of the school for the next few weeks. We took a few pictures of him today which you can check out on http://www.annaliviaschool.com/annaliviaschool/Main/photo.htm (The t-shirt was a present for him)

Last thing that might be of interest is that tomorrow is Blooms Day. which is an annual celebration among Joyce fans throughout the world. It is celebrated in at least sixty countries worldwide, but nowhere so imaginatively, of course, as in Dublin and specifically in Sandycove and Dun laoghaire. There the events of Leopold Bloom's day are reenacted by anyone who cares to participate, and his itinerary is followed all across Dublin. Diane has arranged a social outing to participate in the events and has a BBQ arranged afterways in the beach...

Let's see what the weather has in store for us...

Summer is here!

2007-06-08T18:44:00.000+01:00

The sun is shinning in Dublin and the weather is hot! (well for Dublin anyway...)

The school is nice and full with a really good mix of students at the moment and as I type the students are out with Diane (our social coordinator) visiting an old Georgian house ( http://www.esb.ie/main/about_esb/numbertwentynine/default.htm ) followed by a walking tour of Dublin and (probably) finishing up with a pint or two of Guinness, and practising their English of course ;-)

It was a busy week this week as we said goodbye (for a week or so anyway) to most of all our Cambridge Exam classes who, at this stage have sat the Speaking and listening papers and will be getting ready for the reading, writing and english in use sections. So good luck to you all!

By the by, I found a nice website for anyone interested in a few new words... http://www.word-detective.com the URL is self explanatory but there are some intersting articles, particularly for English students.

I've been keeping an eye on the statistics and there are quite a few people checking out the blog, which is great to see, but please DON'T BE SHY, leave me a little comment, question or suggestion!

All the best,

Kevin

Dear Diary :-)

2007-05-29T10:04:00.000+01:00

So, we've been dragged kicking and screaming into the "Technoage" and we've finally managed to put up an Annalivia Blog!The idea with this is that it will allow students of the past, present and future to, in some way, keep in touch with Annalivia and their time in Dublin.

I'll be posting up little bits of news, interesting stories and maybe even a few photos. I'm hoping to be able to do this at least on a weekly basis, but we'll see how things go!

Please feel free to use this blog to keep in touch and please post do comments, even just to say hello. I will be correcting your mistakes though :-)

Kevin
http://www.annaliviaschool.com