The Latvian Association of Teachers of English
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The Late Resource Centre
LATE: Celebrating 20 years

LATE is the professional association for English language teachers working in Latvia.

It is open to all teachers.

This year is LATE's 20th Anniversary.

Annual Conference

The Annual Conference will be held from the 22nd to the 23rd August at the Education and Information Centre of Riga city. More information and registration forms here.

 

 

Join LATE

 

Announcements

Tolerance Academy Application Deadline Extended to 28th May.

Teaching Tolerance through English Academy

Parnu, Estonia. August 12 - 18

For the last 2 years, we have held this event in Latvia and it has been a very rewarding and challenging experience both professionally and emotionally for all involved: the students, the teachers and the organisers. This year, the venue has shifted to Estonia.

If you have any further questions regarding the programme, then please contact the LATE office - 67821073 - during opening hours - Mon-Wed-Fri 2 - 6pm.

Information and Application Form.

Deadline Extended to 28th May.

 

 

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

LAKMA and IATEFL LMCS SIG JOINT CONFERENCE: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

11-12 October, 2013, Hotel Panorama, Vilnius, Lithuania

The conference seeks to explore aspects of the competences necessary for learners to interact successfully in English with speakers of other languages and from other cultures. This is a vital aspect of their linguistic abilities in the second decade of the 21st century. We are looking for presentations which deal with all aspects of this topic, for example: what English(es) to teach and learn, what methodologies to adopt in order to teach and practise such competences, how to test students in these competences, and the implications of such approaches for teacher training, curriculum planning and materials development.

Plenary Speakers: John Corbett, David A. Hill, Alan Pulverness, Daryl McCarthy, Marlene Wall et al.

We are looking for Workshops (45 minutes) and Poster Presentations

For More Information e-mail:

Coordinator of the IATEFL LMCS SIG

LAKMA President

A Case for Online English Language Teacher Education

Monterey, CA: TIRF – The International Research Foundation for English Language Education - released a report regarding online English language teacher education at the TESOL Convention in Dallas, Texas on March 21, 2013. The commissioned study, entitled A Case for Online English Language Teacher Education, investigates a range of online professional development opportunities offered by institutions around the world.

Download the report here.

 

International House Riga Cambridge Celta Course

August 2013

International House Riga offers an intensive 4 week course for the University of Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Adults: the essential, internationally recognised teaching qualification. More information from www.ihriga.lv

The U.S. Embassy Riga

is pleased to announce the Study of the United States Institutes for Secondary School Educators Program.

This program will take place in June 2013, and offers a multinational groups of 30 secondary educators each (classroom teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, Ministry of Education officials, etc.) a deeper understanding of U.S. society, education, and culture, past and present.

The programs will be organized around a central theme or themes in U.S. studies and will have a strong contemporary component. Through a combination of traditional, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary approaches, the programs will elucidate the history and evolution of U.S. educational institutions and values.

The ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in secondary schools and other academic institutions abroad. More details here.

Annual Conference

Photos and abstracts from the annual conference are here. The streamed presentations can be viewed on-line on the British Council Latvia YouTube channel.

Tolerance Academy 2012

Report from the Second Tolerance Academy

Crazy Animals- Young Learners Activity Book

Downloadable online for free on the British Council TeachingEnglish site here.

This is a book for primary school teachers of English written by primary school teachers of English. It brings together the experience and expertise of teachers from around the world to provide a range of stimulating and exciting classroom activities for the primary classroom.

There are 50 tried and trusted activities which have been refined and improved over the years by teachers working in diverse contexts and environments. Children will enjoy practising their English through these stimulating and motivating activities.

This book grew out of an Aston University - British Council research project called 'Investigating Global Practices in Teaching English to Young Learners'.

Over 1,000 teachers were contacted and asked to send their favourite activities for teaching English to young learners. The most original and creative activities received were selected for this book.

The National English Olympiad

The National English Olympiad is open to 11th and 12th class students throughout Latvia who are studying English.This exciting competition is organised by LATE, the University of Latvia, The British Council Latvia and Oxford University Press.

Details [in Latvian] here.

The 2011-12 National English Olympiad was won by Māris Rutkis - congratulations. More details here.

About LATE

LATE has been representing teachers of English in Latvia since it was founded in 1992.

LATE is an Associate Member of IATEFL.

What LATE does

Late runs the best resource centre in Latvia. It has over 10,000 books, tapes, videos and magazines.

It organises an annual conference in August in Riga and takes part in special language projects.

Membership Benefits

As a member of LATE you can borrow books etc from the Resource Centre, attend the Annual Conference at a reduced rate and take part in LATE projects, training events and special promotions.

The LATE Board 2011-2013

Silvija Andernovics, an Australian/ Latvian, who has now been involved in ELT in Latvia for 20 years, is the LATE President. She has been educated in Australia, the US, Germany and the UK, and received her MA TESOL from the University of Birmingham.

This will be Silvija's last year as LATE President.

Beāte Kuapasa, [Mg.sc.educ] is a Vice Principal and English teacher at the Grammar School of Nordic Languages. She has been teaching English since 1994. She is also a certified mentor and course book reviewer, as well as an off-site methodologist with the Ministry of Education, National Curriculum Board. She is an alumni of Teaching Excellence and Achievement Programme (TEA), USA.
Ilona Ustinova has been teaching English for 24 years. She works in Rainis Daugavpils Secondary School No.6; at Daugavpils city Education Department, in the Prince of Wales Language Centre as the English language Methodologist; and for the Ministry of Education and Science as a teacher-trainer. Since 2005 she has been involved in CLIL program (teaching different subjects in English). She has a Diploma in English language and MA in English Philology. Baiba Svenča, teacher at Aizkraukle Regional Gymnasium; Method Group leader for Aizkraukle Region; British Council e-moderator and teacher trainer. She has a great Blog.
Gaida Haritone has been an English teacher at Zvejniekciems Secondary School for 15 years and all these years she's been a member of LATE. She has taken part in the Fulbright exchange programme and all the courses offered by LATE. Ilgars Ciprus is a teacher/ instructor of General and Military English at the National Armed Forces (NAF) Language School. He also does course design for NAF (National Armed Forces) and MOD (Ministry of Defense) personnel: Website

Ginta Mākulēna [Mg.sc.educ] is an English teacher at Riga State Gymnasium No 3 and a mentor. She has been teaching English 5 years now.

Nora Kalnača has been teaching English since 1998 both for schoolchildren and adults. For the last six years she has concentrated on teaching adults. She has a Bachelor's degree in English and a Masters Degree in Education Management.

Indra Odiņa works for the University of Latvia, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art, Teacher Education Department. She a certified mentor trainer and the president of LAPSA/ LACE (Latvian Association for Cooperation in Education). Ingūna Melne is a student at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art; Education Department; professional Master's degree program. She is also a teacher at Riga State Gymnasium No. 1.
Robert Buckmaster, MEd in E-Learning [Distinction], Director of Studies at International House Riga. He is a teacher, trainer, British Council e-moderator and website designer.

His websites are here and here.

Vita Caice, English teacher at the Laimite Children and Youth Centre.
© LATE 2011