Ágnes Fabók

Ágnes Fabók

I am an EFL teacher, examiner, mentor and materials writer.

My teaching career started 30 years ago in state education. Apart from teaching, I have been involved in
– in-service teacher training (my tasks included giving demonstration lessons and workshops),
– pre-service teacher training (mentoring trainee teachers during their teaching practice),
– language exams (as an examiner and materials writer).
I am also author of publications designed to help exam preparation.

Teaching teenagers for such a long time has taught me how important it is to constantly adapt to the ever-changing educational environment. To face the challenges of the 21st century, we must accept that the learning environment has become more complex, learners’ attitudes and the teacher’s roles have all changed. Learners have access to a lot of authentic language, so more learning takes place naturally on virtual platforms than in the language classroom. As a result, nowadays we may meet ‘eclectic’ learners, who have acquired high levels of receptive skills by watching Youtube videos, tutorials, and series, but may need more guidance with productive skills. So, the role of the language teacher is to facilitate the individual learning process by shifting to the coaching approach, from instructions to questions, and also to deal with the affective side of learning. I have realized that the language classroom is an excellent platform to facilitate learner autonomy, the acquisition of soft skills like collaboration or communication as well as intrapersonal skills, and in general, skills that tend to get less attention in school curricula.

Gradually I felt the need to shift from a coursebook-based curriculum to a content-based programme – and BGC provides an excellent setting for that. I am responsible for the content in and above 7th grade and I hope the classes will help kids develop language skills and global skills parallelly, besides providing them with valuable study skills such as note taking or summarising.

I am thrilled to be part of the BGC Hungary team.