Visit North Devon - Experience England


Some people would say that all the important things in life happen by chance; others claim that perfect timing is essential – to be in the right place at the right time; there are those who think that explanation lies in happiness, destiny or God`s will,...

It all started last October at the IATEFL Hungary Conference when, attracted by the name Serbia at my name tag, a gentleman, Britishman, sat by me. We started chatting, exchanging impressions about the conference, then talked about school system in our country, experience in teaching English, etc. He told me his name was Grenville Yeo and that he was an executive director of a language centre SOL (Sharing One Language) in Barnstaple, North Devon. For the last twenty years, they have been organising students courses and teacher development courses and have had cooperation with more than one dozen countries from Southeast and Central Europe.
Although he often travelled and attended IATEFL conferences, he added, he had never met anyone from Serbia before. He was curious to find out as much as possible about us because, as he admitted, his notion of Serbia was based on media presentation in the 90ies. I realised that my `diplomatic mission` had been successful when he expressed his willingness to come and visit us! And, indeed, after he had met and talked at lenght with Ms Marijana Culic, the ELTA president and Mr Andrew Glass, the director of British Council, delighted by everything he heard and saw in Belgrade, he invited me to visit SOL...
While I am writing this report, I am still overwhelmed by impressions because I have just returned home after a week spent in Devon: first of all, forget about all the stereotypes you might have regarding British people as being reserved and cold – the reality is completely different! Much to my surprise, even the weather was not rainy nor gloomy, but pleasantly warm and sunny, so I could enjoy in the beautiful town of Barnstaple whose thirty thousand inhabitants are proud of because they won several awards including the prestigious Britain in Bloom National Winner Best Town in Britain and the World in Bloom competition!
During my stay, there were also groups of students from Hungary and Belorussia and everybody was devoted to them: great team of friendly SOL teachers, caring host families who would walk the children to and from school, excellent programme which included everyday excursions to nearby picturesque places, the final performance,...
Besides improving the speaking skills and boosting self confidence, the aim of the course is, as they put it, to get to know the British culture and the way of life. According to the students`evaluation and positive feedback and their experience all these years, they have been doing a great job!
As always, the best comes at the end: SOL is not a commercial school, they are registered as a charity which means their prices are much cheaper in comparison with other language courses in Britain. Their policy is to enable teachers and students from this part of Europe to experience Britain! Furthermore, a teacher who takes a group of eight students – goes gratis!
Mr Grenville Yeo and his colleague Simon Parker will be present at our 7th ELTA  Conference in Novi Sad (22-24 May), so you will have the opportunity to hear all the details from them and, even more, if you are lucky enough – you can win the first prize at raffle party: the teacher course at SOL!
Until then – visit the web site: www.sol.org.uk