The language yardstick
The global British Council network is the United Kingdom's agency for cultural and educational relations and has a special responsibility to support the teaching and learning of the English language. It currently boasts representation in 109 countries.
The council first opened its doors for business in the Warsaw in 1938, and has worked from its building at Al. Jerozolimskie since 1948. The organization's website reveals that its Polish program is one of its largest.
The main features of the council's work in Poland include working with the Ministry of National Education to support of the training of teachers and curriculum development, supporting development of nine university language centers, and teaching English at its centers in Warsaw and Kraków.
In a typically understated fashion one senior source at the British Council said: "Without wanting to sound too egotistical we like to think we set the standard in English teaching."
As a second string to its tuition the organization provides information about opportunities to study and learn English in Britain.
The website says the council also offers "an ambitious program in culture and the arts, working with Polish artists, festivals and cultural institutions to present the UK's achievements in music, theatre, dance, the visual arts, fashion and design."
The council has 16 classrooms at its disposal, equipped with TV, video, over-head projectors and cassette recorders. In Warsaw students can use the InfoC@fe where free internet access is provided and a wide selection of current magazines and newspapers from the UK are available.
The organization is involved in a series of language initiatives, such as the Peacekeeping English Project, which cooperates with the Poland's police force and border guards. The program focuses "on assistance with English language training for police liaison officers, trainer development and provision of English language teaching materials." Tutors have further extended this assistance to the design of specialist teaching materials and courses for these services in the light of EU accession.
The center's website claims it is bucking the broader trend within Poland's language teaching industry and still only takes on native speakers, setting the threshold at someone who is professionally qualified and can count a minimum of four years' experience in teaching English as a foreign language.
The council first opened its doors for business in the Warsaw in 1938, and has worked from its building at Al. Jerozolimskie since 1948. The organization's website reveals that its Polish program is one of its largest.
The main features of the council's work in Poland include working with the Ministry of National Education to support of the training of teachers and curriculum development, supporting development of nine university language centers, and teaching English at its centers in Warsaw and Kraków.
In a typically understated fashion one senior source at the British Council said: "Without wanting to sound too egotistical we like to think we set the standard in English teaching."
As a second string to its tuition the organization provides information about opportunities to study and learn English in Britain.
The website says the council also offers "an ambitious program in culture and the arts, working with Polish artists, festivals and cultural institutions to present the UK's achievements in music, theatre, dance, the visual arts, fashion and design."
The council has 16 classrooms at its disposal, equipped with TV, video, over-head projectors and cassette recorders. In Warsaw students can use the InfoC@fe where free internet access is provided and a wide selection of current magazines and newspapers from the UK are available.
The organization is involved in a series of language initiatives, such as the Peacekeeping English Project, which cooperates with the Poland's police force and border guards. The program focuses "on assistance with English language training for police liaison officers, trainer development and provision of English language teaching materials." Tutors have further extended this assistance to the design of specialist teaching materials and courses for these services in the light of EU accession.
The center's website claims it is bucking the broader trend within Poland's language teaching industry and still only takes on native speakers, setting the threshold at someone who is professionally qualified and can count a minimum of four years' experience in teaching English as a foreign language.
