Senior English Language Specialists form Minsk Schools Participate in Workshops at Minsk Partner Library

Two workshops for continuing education students who attend the Minsk Teachers Retraining Institute, took place at the Minsk Regional Library on November 15 and 29.  About 40 teachers, who have the highest qualifications in teaching English, from Minsk schools, participated in half-day programs organized by the Embassy’s Partner Library in Minsk (Minsk American Corner) and the Information Resource Center. An introduction to the Library’s programs and services as well as American studies resources was a significant element of the workshop program. The IRC staff made presentations on the TESL resources and gave hands-on demonstrations on the virtual resources of the America.gov portal, the Pop Culture Universe database and the Bureau of English Language and Cultural Affairs web site to reinforce teaching English as a foreign language. The teachers also learned about the Embassy’s information tools  and new initiatives including the IRC Facebook page and  the “Embassy Speaker “ program, “English Language Poetry Slam,”  “How We Learn English” video contest,  “Trivia Game” and  the others.  In the end the program, participants asked questions and enthusiastically received supporting information packages. They included latest Forum magazines, the Sketchbook USA publications, selected webliography and IRC promotional materials.