After a 7 hour train from Prague to the hotel we were shown up to our room with amazing views out over the High Tatras. This was total luxury!
The days at Angloville were pretty long (9am-10pm), but we had so much fun and it wasn’t at all stressful. We were each assigned mentees at the start of the week, and we met with them every day for 45 minutes to help them prepare a presentation to give in front of everyone at the end of the week. By the end of the course you really get to know them and feel pride in their progress.We also had around 3 other one to one speaking sessions each day where we were provided with conversation topics if we wanted to use them. A couple of the participants were shy/unenthusiastic and brought to mind the phrase ‘blood from a stone’, making the 50 minute sessions feel particularly long. However, we were totally impressed by most of their English, and had conversations covering everything from cats to climate change. We could also make use of the hotel facilities during the speaking sessions; the games room with bowling, air hockey, table football, table tennis, and pool table served as a good ice breaker or reward at the end of a session!
We also had group activities and creative time, where groups of Juniors worked together on various projects, such as creating and describing a new invention or country, or performing a play. The Juniors were surprisingly enthusiastic and these sessions were always a good giggle. Not all of the English tutors were needed for the group activities, so on Tuesday I got to head down to the pool and spa while everyone else was busy deciding which celebrities should survive a sinking ship. The spa had about 8 different types of steam room, a sauna, plunge pool, and jacuzzi. It’s a hard life.
After dinner we kept the Juniors occupied with “social time”. These sessions were up to the tutors and consisted of anything and everything we could come up with: dance lessons, yoga sessions, games, and a scavenger hunt. 10pm was the Juniors bed time, and this was normally when we would head back down to the games room with the other English tutors. The native English speakers were a great group and we all got on really well, hopefully we will see at least one or two of them again!
This week food-wise we discovered the sweet dinner: dumplings stuffed with jam and topped with icing sugar or with crushed poppy seeds. Apparently this is a typical Slovakian dish, and was interesting to try. However, after dumplings 3 times in one week (two sweet, one savoury) we aren’t in a rush for dumplings again soon!
As a travel experience we would say it is worth doing at least one Angloville week, as it’s a chance for interesting conversation with local people you might not otherwise meet, all while staying in luxury accommodation that can be few and far between while travelling! They have courses all over Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania etc) and can offer a free TEFL qualification if you do a few. We definitely had a fun week, and my initial concerns that it might be stressful were quickly dispelled. Find out more here: https://angloville.com/home/
Amount spent between two so far: €1456
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