Your trainers
We are honoured to work with internationally renowned experts in English language teaching, coordinated by our director Chiara Bruzzano:
Expert Teacher Trainer André Hedlund
André is an experienced teacher trainer, materials writer and English teacher. He is a Chevening Alumnus and has an MSc Psychology of Education (University of Bristol).
He is an Educational Consultant and Lecturer on Bilingualism and Cognition at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná. He is also a board member of BRAZ-TESOL’s Mind, Brain, and Education SIG and Academic Director at EdYOUFest.
He has worked extensively as a materials writer for organisations including National Geographic Learning and The Content Station. Our teachers describe him as “always with a smile on his face; he has the rare ability of teaching you without making it feel like effort”.
Expert Teacher Trainer Emma Meade-Flynn
Emma Meade-Flynn is a teacher, teacher trainer and course designer based in Ireland. Over her 20 years in the profession, Emma has gained a wide range of experience teaching and training across the private and public sectors in the UK and Ireland, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She is currently runs a Trinity DipTESOL programme at DublinTEFL and is passionate about teacher development. Our teachers describe her as "such a competent and encouraging teacher trainer, who will help you achieve your goals".
Expert Teacher Trainer Rachel Tsateri
Rachel is a CELTA and DELTA qualified teacher and a certified trainer (Cambridge Train the Trainer).
She works as a teacher trainer at Notting Hill College UK and DELTA tutor at ALS Athens. In both these roles, she supports teachers as they develop their teaching skills and gain advanced teaching qualifications, such as the Cambridge DELTA.
Rachel is also an IATEFL PronSIG Committee member and a prolific writer of 180+ articles. Our teachers describe her as "wonderfully innovative and able to deliver and explain constructive feedback kindly, even in the most difficult situations".
10 topics for your conversations
Each lesson will cover a specific topic from the programma concorsuale.
You can book however many lessons you like on different topics: just make sure you study the topic at least a little before joining!
The classes end on 7 June
Join now so you don't miss the opportunity
-
00 Days
-
00 Hours
-
00 Minutes
-
00 Seconds
Choose your topic, book your class and get a Zoom link in your inbox straightaway:
How do the conversation lessons work?
They serve a double purpose: improving your speaking and testing your conoscenze disciplinari
-
Your trainer will ask you questions about the topic of the class
-
You will answer the questions as if you were at the exam
-
You will get detailed individual and group feedback to improve your speaking and enhance your knowledge
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read the following detailed answers as they may contain the answer to your question!
-
What will I do in the conversation classes?
In the conversation classes, you will pursue two goals: improving your speaking fluency and accuracy and enhancing your knowledge of the materie disciplinari. You will grow your confidence in a friendly environment with supportive trainers. This will help you with all aspects of your oral exam.
-
Can I book more than one class?
Yes, absolutely. There are 10 topics with various time slots available. You can book however many you like. Just remember that if you book two classes on the same topic (e.g. a lesson on Wednesday and a lesson on Friday both on Second Language Acquisition), you will answer similar questions. Also, some classes on different topics may run at the same time: please make sure you're not double-booking yourself before you register for a class.
-
Are the classes on Zoom? How can I get the Zoom link?
The classes all take place on Zoom. You will receive a Zoom link in your confirmation email as soon as you register.
-
How can I book a class?
To book a class, just click on the green button of the topic you want to book. This will take you to a booking page where you will be able to select your preferred time slots. Booking is automatic: as soon as you complete your payment, you will be registered and good to go! You will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link immediately and then a reminder email 24 hours before your class.
-
I'm a bit nervous/I'm not sure my level of speaking is good enough: can I still join?
You are absolutely welcome to join. As a team, we cannot stress enough how inclusive and encouraging we want the classes to be. Teachers naturally have different levels of proficiency and knowledge of the topics: that is fine and a positive element of the classes, as you will be able to learn both from your trainer and from your colleagues. You will also be asked to speak both in breakout rooms and to the whole group, so you can decide how much you want to contribute. Finally, we will send you the first questions that will be covered in each class, so you can prepare your answers beforehand and feel more confident.
-
Will the classes be recorded?
In line with our aim of creating the safest and friendliest environment possible, we want to remove any possible barriers that could intimidate teachers and make them less willing to speak freely. Video recording is one such barrier, therefore the classes will not be recorded. This is also because a recording would have little value: the aim of the class is to speak, so watching a recording would only accomplish some listening practice, but watching the videos in the self-study courses is a much better option for that.
-
Will my trainer teach me about the topic of the class? Should I prepare in advance?
If you can, you should definitely prepare in advance. The primary aim of the class is for you to speak as freely and as much as possible to develop your speaking. Therefore, your trainers are trained in minimising their TTT (teacher talking time) and maximising STT (student talking time). Of course your trainer will give you feedback on the content of your answers and clarify anything that is unclear on the topics of the lesson; however, they won't lecture you, so the more you study the topic before the class, the more you will gain from the class. Open the booking pages of the lessons to find references to where you can study each topic in our courses.
-
Who are the trainers and the other participants?
Your trainers will be André Hedlund, Chiara Bruzzano, Emma Meade-Flynn and Rachel Tsateri. You can read their bios above or just google them to realise how vast their experience is. We are extremely proud and honoured to have an internationally renowned team of trainers and authors working with us. Incidentally, they are also all extremely nice and friendly people, who will go the extra mile to make you feel comfortable. As for the other participants, each class has a maximum of 6 participants. They will most likely be other teachers studying for the concorso, so you'll all be in the same boat.
-
What is the price and can I get a discount?
The price for a class is only €15 with VAT already included. We have kept the price low to allow as many people as possible to participate. Therefore, there are no discounts available on these classes. This is also because one of LanguagEd's founding values is that trainers be paid fair rates for their work. We pay our trainers more than double the average rate in ELT in Italy (source: payscale.com). In an industry that undervalues, deskills and underpays teachers and teacher trainers, this is something we pride ourselves on and will continue to do because it guarantees the high quality of our work.
Do you need to study the topics a little before your conversation class?
Explore our courses on the materie disciplinari:
.png)
