PENGUIN ENGLISH

Founded: in 1993 Courses: English for children and adults, business courses, preparation for Cambridge exams (KET, PET, FCE, CAE, CPE, IELTS, BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage, BEC Higher) “Penguin English” was founded in 1993. We started teaching in a small classroom with only three different age groups. It was soon clear that we needed more space. We moved to the new premises, worked there successfully for a few years, gained our reputation and became one of the most important schools in the region. Since our beginnings we have been using the programmes of the most important British publishers (Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Longman...) As a result, our children are not bored during the lessons and gladly come to our school. When computers were introduced in learning process in Serbia, our school adapted very easily to the new methods of teaching. One of the three classrooms was converted into a computer room, with full internet access. Along with the modern equipment, our school has a library with books, newspapers and magazines needed for further development of our students and teachers. We pay special attention to selection of teachers in our school. They have to be well-educated, professional, ready to accept and implement new methods of teaching and to be of service to our students. As for their professional development, we make sure that they attend seminars regularly in order to keep their teaching up-to-date. We have had a good cooperation with many companies in Jagodina and Paracin where we organised various business courses and offered our translation services. Since 2003 our students have been very successful at Cambridge exams. Our school was awarded ‘The Big Breakthrough 07’ by the British Council in 2007. Penguin English organises summer language courses in England. Many of our students have visited London, Bristol, Southampton, Maidenhead, Reading and Henley-on-Thames so far. We also organise trips to Greece during summer holidays. Our younger students have the opportunity of spending ten days in a very well-equipped camp in Halkidiki where they can enjoy meeting new friends from all over the world, taking part in many sports activities and attending English classes with teachers who are native speakers. Today’s school location in Milana Mijalkovica street, a place where students bond with each other even when they do not have classes, has also been intended as a meeting place of many private language schools in Serbia. Our aim is to achieve the balance in the teaching process and to have coherent levels of foreign language knowledge in different schools in Serbia.