The „English Active Week“ again at our school. It took place between 16. 2. 2026 and 20. 2. 2026 and it was an opportunity for 15 students to improve their English with a professional English language lecturer from London. The week full of various speaking activities, entertaining educational excercises, talking, role-playing and pushing the English language skills to the edge resulted in the following interview with Thomas:
The interview with the English lecturer
How are you enjoying your time at our school? And in Slovakia, overall?
I'm enjoying. I've enjoyed working at this school very much. I've met some lovely students and teachers and everyone has been very friendly and it has been a pleasure to be here, in Slovakia. Generally, I like it very much. I've travelled here for a few years now to lots of different places. It's a very beautiful country with golden hearted people.
How many countries have you taught in so far during your career?
How many countries have I taught in? So, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Albania, Serbia and England so you can count them.
How do you like living here? Is there anything that still surprises you about Slovakia?
Every day.
So you like living here.
Well, I don't know my home is England so, you know, I obviously think about it, but I think for the moment my home is England but yeah, it would be the second place maybe.
What are the main differences between the way English is taught in the UK and the way it is taught here?
I don't really know, because I haven't observed or seen a lesson taught like an English lesson taught by someone else here. If you know what I mean – with an English teacher, like a normal English teacher in a school – the way I teach it here compared to the way I teach it in England is different. Here, I guess we do more kind of activity-based learning around different activities and games, but also some writing. And I think sometimes I've been told that here, English is a lot more kind of dictation-based, like where the teacher is writing on the board and you are copying it.
So whereas the way we are teaching it here is through speaking, through creative writing, through games, through lots of different conversations – and I think that's the main difference.
How would you describe the Slovak nation in one sentence?
I need to think about that one.
We have some time ...
Let me think. It's a wonderful soup of different personalities.
Okay, that's interesting haha.
You mentioned that you studied at Oxford. What exactly did you study, and what was life at Oxford like?
So I studied in Oxford at a school that specializes in teaching language teachers. So people who are going to teach English as a foreign language. I was there for a time. I've been there before, just like socially and things and yeah it's a very nice place to be and learn because, you know, there's lots of history about education there. There's very good teachers and yeah, obviously it's well-known around the world so yeah, I like it very much.
It's got some really nice pubs and food and history.
And was the pressure at Oxford as intense as people say?
Well, no, because I was doing this language teaching course like it's not as pressurized as they say. If you do mathematics at Oxford or like science, or you know, one of these subjects, it was a different kind of environment. I wasn't there for the whole like for the whole period and where it's all of this serious Oxford University kind of stuff. I was there in a more relaxed capacity. So, it wasn't like as stressful as I think, I imagine for the people doing mathematics or philosophy or something like this. It's very tough, yeah.
Oh that’s great then.
What is the most valuable life lesson you brought home from your university years?
Hm, interesting.
I would say, spending time in nature is very important. Okay, I would say my foot came to mind yeah.
That’s all?
Yeah..I would say my foot came to mind.
Okay, but, you’re right. It’s very important.
Did you always want to be a teacher?
I didn't want to be a teacher. My father was a teacher and my mother was a teacher at one point. So, I was kind of like, no I don't want to be a teacher, but maybe I just have the genes for it or whatever. Yeah, so, but not always, no. I mean, originally, I went to art school, but I never thought I was going to be an artist really. But yeah, I didn't always want to be a teacher. I don't think, but I really love it, so I'm happy.
Do you speak any other languages?
No, not particularly not well. A little bit of Slovak, I understand like a bit of Serbian, and I know a couple of words in Albanian, but that's about it.
I think that's a good starting point.
So, it is clear from our lessons that you are a very well-read person. If you had to pick two books that are "essential" for everyone, especially for our generation, which ones would they be?
This is a big response. I would say a compendium of the 19th to 20th century history and for pleasure Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring. It’s a good one.
More than 50% of Slovaks struggle with English, which often causes them to miss out on job opportunities or experiences abroad. As a teacher, could you share with us what you consider to be the most effective way to improve one's English?
It's practice. Yeah, practice yeah, and don't be afraid to get it wrong.
It is not any special hack?
No, I don't think like you can use some of the techniques that we've done this week. But no, there is no special hack. I think most of it is about confidence and about practice.
Right that is clear.
What is the most interesting or funniest cultural misunderstanding you've experienced thanks to a language barrier?
Yeah, I think for a long time when I thought I was saying “I know” I was saying “I don't believe” yeah. So I wanted to say “neviem” and instead I said “neverím” to people.
So I was telling lots of people that I didn't believe them when I probably did.
With all the travelling you do for work as a teacher, do you still find enough time for yourself?
Yes, absolutely yeah, it's very important.
So do you have a good life-work balance?
Yeah, I would say so. Very good.
If you could give us just one final piece of advice for our future careers or life, what would it be?
Yeah, it’s hard. I don’t mean the cliché of just ‘following your dreams.’ You should really think things through carefully. But in the end, choose what truly lights up your life.
That’s beautiful on the end. Thank you very much for being here and teaching us. You’re welcome. Thank you.
: