IATEFL 2013 – Liverpool! (March 2013)

This was originally posted on March 31, 2013 at https://higorcavalcante.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/iatefl-2013-liverpool/

It’s time! 

It’s time to panic about flying across the Atlantic and back. It’s time to pack for the coldest spring I’ve ever heard of in Europe. It’s time to see friends from all over, an incredibly vast array of cultures, languages, customs and traditions, all coming together for a common purpose. It’s time to revel in the opportunity to see some two thousand teachers from every corner of the planet gather in Liverpool, to share knowledge in the firm belief that in dividing we’re multiplying.

This will be my third IATEFL, and it’s truly amazing to know, beyond any doubt, that I’ll know so much more than I know now in a bit over a week. When I thankfully get off the plane back in São Paulo on April 15, I’ll be a changed professional, more complete, better. I’ll have seen – yes, I’ve already chosen all the talks I’ll attend – 31 talks on topics ranging from Listening to Writing, Assessment to getting published, teaching Business English to becoming a businessman in ELT. And so much more.

In a bit over a week, I’ll have seen talks by most of the ELT ‘bigwigs’: Jeremy Harmer, Penny Ur, Jim Scrivener, Adrian Underhill, Hugh Dellar, Ken Wilson, to name but a few. But I’m honestly just excited about seeing the presentations given by the teachers like you and me, those teachers who are going to be sharing ideas and activities they’ve come up with and have tested in their real classrooms, with real students; the people who are probably just as excited as I am to be taking part in the IATEFL this year, and who maybe are, like I was last year, blissfully terrified for presenting in an international conference for the first time.

If you won’t be there this year, stay tuned for I’ll be sharing pictures and stories straight from Liverpool here on the blog from April 9. But it’s not the same! Make sure you start planning and preparing today for Harrogate 2014, the 48th IATEFL conference. It’ll blow your mind!