Umbrella Newsletter # 40

Dear Colleagues,

On the eve of Thanksgiving we are thinking about you and are full of admiration and gratitude for your passion and dedication to the English language.  We commend you on your inexhaustible efforts to promote innovations in ELT and on building bridges between nations.  You are a role model for younger generations!  Thank you for many years of dedication and service to EFL Associations.

The results of your work are impressive.  While some educators, journalists and politicians reflect ruefully on the fast deterioration of our education standards and the level of knowledge of students, we are confident that this is not the case in ELT circles.  Just recall your and your students’ competence level of 10 years ago? 15 years ago?  The changes are stunning!

The EFL teachers of Russia not only quickly adjust to the challenges of the time but also prepare students for real life by providing them with key “tools” – the ability to communicate, to write, to make oral presentations, to interact properly at a work place, at home and while travelling abroad, and to use IT.

Thank you for being outstanding TEACHERS.  (Svetlana Suchkova suchkova_s@yahoo.com explains that this stands for being Tolerant, Enthusiastic, Artistic, Creative, Honest, Energetic, and Reflective)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

David Fay, Elena Lubnina, Natalia Fomenko