Following a good tradition English Language specialists meet every June in different corners of Russia.
This year the participants and guests of the XVII NATE-Russia International Annual Conference “NEW TIMES-NEW SONGS: ELT AFTER 2010” were warmly hosted by the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad.

Official Opening

More than 140 guests from all over Russia spent 3 sunny and fruitful days in the most western part of the country. Representatives of regional ELT associations from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad had an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience in the field of English language teaching.

Honorary KATE President Prof. Vera Zabotkina announces the Conference open

As Svetlana Ter-Minasova (President of the National Association of Teachers of English) said in her greeting to the participants of the NATE Conference: “We are together again having a chance to meet, to discuss our achievements and problems, to resume old friendships, to make new friends”. Delegates from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Surgut, Perm, Irkutsk, Elista, Smolensk, Vladivostok, Voronezh, Saratov, Vladimir, Tula, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Stavropol, Ufa,  Khasavyurt, Kazan, Salavat, Rostov-on-Don, Syktyvkar, Nizhnevartovsk, Krasnodar, Nakhodka and a lot of other places came to Kaliningrad to collaborate, communicate and discuss new trends and directions for modern ELT community .
More than 250 local teachers of English enjoyed a wonderful chance to participate in more than 50 events: plenary sessions, workshops, various session presentations and a NATE-Business meeting.

The participation of such honorable guests as Christine Coombe (TESOL President), Joan Shin (ELO Specialist), Thomas Santos (English Language Officer), Prof. Marina Sternina (NATE Vice-President, Voronezh State University),  Prof. Elena Solovova (Lomonosov Moscow State University), Prof. Vera Zabotkina (Vice-Rector for International Innovative Projects, Russian State University for the Humanities, Honorary KATE President) added significantly to the discussion of the problem of language policy development in Russia.

TESOL President Christine Coombe gives out certificates to the participants of her on-line course on testing

Special thanks should be granted to English Language Fellows:  John-Mark King (Saint-Petersburg), Robyn Shifrin (Vladivostok), Toni Hull (Moscow), Eric Lundell (Belgorod), John Silver (Novosibirsk), and Prof. Jeffrey Prater invited as a guest lecturer who were warmly welcomed at the conference and shared their best practices with all the Conference participants.

A number of crucial topics were discussed during the Conference, such as: Developing language policy in Russia; New curriculum and new syllabi for secondary and higher education; Developing ELT resources; Teacher training, development and professional assessment; Patterns and models of language assessment; Information technologies in ELT; Raising learners’ autonomy inside and outside the classroom; Bringing linguistic achievements into ELT classroom.
Two video conferences with Prof. Svetlana Ter-Minasova (NATE President) “What to Teach and How” and Prof. Maria Verbitskaya on the problems of the Unified State Exam became the real highlight of the Conference. Moreover, it is remarkable that for the first time in the history of NATE Conferences TESOL President Christine Coombe participated in its work.

Presenters at the XVIIth NATE Conference in Kaliningrad "New Times, New Songs: ELT after 2010" encouraged everyone to sing in English in a new way.

Dr. Joan Shin brought the entire plenary audience to their feet to join her in a round of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Song as a demonstration of the research-based approaches for teaching English to young learners, which were the foundation of her plenary presentation. 
 

NATE Access Satellite Symposium
The Access Satellite Symposium took place on June 30th for all Access teachers and program providers. The Access teachers were developing the curriculum for their program. This framework included an emphasis on the four C’s: connections, collaboration, community, and cooperation among Russian Access providers, Access providers worldwide, U.S. experts in Teaching English to Teens, and the local community.

The success of the NATE Convention was evident to all attendees.  Between the high caliber of presenters and interaction amongst the participants, the resounding positive vibe served to prove the future of ELT is in good hands; and what a bright future it is!

Happy KATE Team: the first day went on without a stitch

Special thanks for this festival of ideas, emotions and enthusiasm should be given to the Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow and the Ministry of Education of the Kaliningrad region, as well as to all the members of the organizing Committee and those organizations, companies and institutions which supported the XVII NATE Russia International Annual Conference “NEW TIMES-NEW SONGS: ELT AFTER 2010”.

Thank you notes from the participants:

Dear Natalia and your team,

I am writing to once again thank you for the conference organization. It was a huge succcess due to your efforts and support of the ELO. 

I had a great chance to see old friends and make new ones,and  an opportunity for professional growth. Thank you for the comfort and care, spirit of community, feeling of friendship, love for the language and strive for professionalism.

With hope to new meetings,

Svetlana Suchkova, Samara

MELTA welcomes all participants of the conference! We are very grateful to the organizers of the conference for warm and creative atmosphere here!

Dear Galina!
You and your team are so warmhearted and helpful people and I am very happy getting to know you all. Now I am at home in Nakhodka,the trip was OK but I am feeling jet lag . I told my colleagues about your great work as super organisers and your wonderful city.Come to Vladivostok next year,we will be very happy to see you in Primprskyi kray. Why not to launch on-line projects between our students?! I think it will be very interesting to know about history of our territories ,culture and pastimes.Think about it) Keep in touch

Tanya Ischenko Nakhodka

Dear Galina,

I would like to thank you, Natalia and your team for all your help and fantastic work in organizing the conference . In my opinion, everything went very smoothly - most sessions started on time, the equipment worked very well, the tours were splendid, coffee breaks were nice and the conference dinner was great . But the best thing about the conference was socializing and networking - you gave us a wonderful chance to meet our 'old' friends as well as to make new ones.

I really appreciate all your time and effort that you all put into organizing such a successful event and  wish you every success in all your endeavors.

If you decide to come to Samara, you will be a most welcome guest)))))

With the warmest regards,

Ludmila Kozhevnikova, Regional consultant
Cambridge University Press

 Dear Galina,
thank you and your colleagues very much for the fabulous conference. We told everyone at our department in Novosibirsk State Technical University how perfectly well everything had been organized in Kaliningrad.
We enjoyed communication with the NATE mates from different places of Russia  and of course highly appreciated the workshops delivered by them and by our American friends.

We were enchanted by Kaliningrad sightseeing and were happy to visit Svetlogorsk and to see theBaltic Sea. In conclusion I would like to invite you to Novosibirsk State Technical University. Annually we arrange our traditional Winter Methodological School. Novosibirsk is far from Kaliningrad, but still, may be you will be able to come. We'll be glad to receive you as warmly and heartily as you have received us.

Thank you very much again:-)
Galina Igonina, NSTU

Dear colleagues,
 
It was a great pleasure to be with you at Immanual Kant Baltic Federal University at  the 17 NATE  Russia International Annual Conference “New Times – New Songs”. 

We are very grateful to Natalia Milyavskaya, Galina Stepanova, Alla Guzeeva and Olga Arykova  for their assistance in planning and executing the program of our stay. All these NATE members  went above and beyond the call of duty in hosting us and helping us all in a number of ways.
 
We were also impressed with the wonderful hospitality provided to us throughout our visit to Kaliningrad.  

We look forward to continuing collaboration with NATE and meeting you all in the city of Yaroslavl and we wish you all the best for continued success throughout the rest of 2011.
 
Very sincerely yours,
 
Svetlana Polyakova
Elena Gritsenko
Elena Sheina
Natalia Kolchanova
Svetlana Mishlanova,

Perm State University, July  2011

"Foreign Languages Today-2010 in Surgut

 “Uniting Teachers of the World” – is the  logo of  the International Conference “Foreign Languages Today – 2010: Tendencies and Perspectives in Russian Education ”  that has been recently held under the sponsorship of the Government of Khanty-Mansyisk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra  and  Department of Education and Youth Policy of KMAO-Ugra  within the celebrations of Teacher’s Year in Russia.
The conference was run by Surgut State University and Surgut-ELTA from  November 29 till December 1 , 2010 where more than 300 professors and teachers from various educational institutions of  Ugra Region, other cities of Russia and some foreign countries ( the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Czech Republic) took part in.
 More than 76 reports were made by the participants and 15 workshops were run by the ELT specialists during the conference: a top-notch specialist American professor  Susan Barduhn, English Language Fellow  Rafel Naseer,  Fulbright  grantee Ken Martinez, English Language teachers  Chris Young (Great Britain) and Hana Styblova ( Czech).  Among Russian honorable conference guests there were three professors from Lomonosov Moscow State University: Elena Solovova, Lyudmila Gorodetskaya and  Svetlana Titova; professor Andrey Chuzhakin from Moscow State  Linguistic University, professor Anatoly Chudinov from Ural State Pedagogical  University,  Vilena Bryleva represented Volgograd State University, Mikhail Brodsky  from the  Institute of International Relations in Ekaterinburg and Julia Buchatskaya from the  Peter The Great Anthropology and Ethnography Museum (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg. 
It is the second big conference held by Yugra- ELTA  in 2010.  The full information about the conference  you may find on its website  www.surguconf.ru  Welcome!

Please find below the Resolution of the Conference, prepared by the special working group:

Umbrella - 2010 in Stavropol

Umbrella - 2010 in Stavropol

While Russian people were celebrating a national holiday “The Day of Unity”, about 300 English language teachers from 94 cities, towns and villages enjoyed a 3-day immersion into the English language environment at Stavropol “Umbrella” Conference on November 5-7. Forty-five grantees from all over Russia could come to Stavropol to share their unique experience with the teachers from the South of Russia. Two hundred fifty teachers represented 39 districts of the North Caucasus. According to the participants, the conference was a “turning point and an eye-opener” for them.  Thirty Access teachers were extremely popular, conference participants asked them numerous questions during and after their stellar presentations.  Access program success stories made a great impact on everyone. On the eve of the Conference ten opinion leaders had a brain storming session on language policy. The results of the discussions in a form of three new projects should improve the present situation with teaching English at Universities. Priorities will be given to the development of autonomous learning and use of new media in ELT. You can find these documents in the ESP section

NOVELTA Winter Methodological School

NOVELTA Winter Methodological School
NOVELTA WINTER METHODOLOGY SCHOOL, Novosibirsk, January 18-19, 2011.
THE SEASON FOR LEARNING AUTONOMY.

More than a hundred EL teachers from Novosibirsk and other regions got together in the hospitable halls of the Novosibirsk State Technical University to discuss Autonomy as a concept in education. Among presenters were Senior English Language Fellows John Silver, Novosibirsk; John Mark King, St. Petersburg; Rafeel Naseer, Tyumen. Svetlana Chernoby, Nina Koptyug, Marianna Malinovskaya represented Novosibirsk. The conference was opened by Evgeny Tsoi, pro-rector of NSTU, who addressed the participants in English. American English Language fellows made wonderful plenary presentations discussing various aspects of autonomy. After a lunch break, there were several concurrent workshops dealing with various aspects of EL teaching, conducted at the NSTU Language Center. The whole proceedings were coordinated by NOVELTA president Elena Melekhina and Valentina Afonasova. At the end of the conference, there was the traditional raffle, and every participant got a gift. It was a relatively warm day for Siberia, -20C. Nina Koptyug

Talent Show in Ugra

Talent Show in Ugra

Under the initiative of Yugra-ELTA the first Talent Show was held in Surgut. More than 120 teachers and students from Schools 38 and 46, Gymnasia 3 and 4, Lyceum #1 and Surgut Sate University took part in the first festival  - enthusiastic students were singing, dancing and presented drama in English.  The Yugra-ELTA members – Olga Simonova, Venera Zabirova, Elena Ivanova, Elena Zasypkina, Olga Bakaldina, Galina Chernyakova and Zinaida Pankova - are avid followers of "edutainment" approach, and they encouraged students to be creative in their personal and cultural  development. "Teaching with love for English always brings love for learning English" - was the motto of this event. The teachers are delighted - they are sure that if students want to compose a whole musical “Loving Hearts” themselves, it proves that  English has become an integral part of their life. It is teachers’ mission to give students a chance to express themselves by means of art and culture. 

Mark Twain Treasure Event, TELTA 2010

The year 2010 marked the 175th anniversary of his birth and the 100th anniversary of his death. Although it has been 100 years since he spoke out against bigotry, racism, and hypocrisy, he is still widely read and quoted daily around the world.