Erasmus+ Interview: Halina Mzyk’s Journey in Dublin

In March, we had the privilege of welcoming Halina Mzyk from John Paul II School in Koszęcin, Poland (pictured below on the right), for our Language, Methodology, and Culture course at Atlas School in Dublin, Ireland. Halina’s journey encapsulated the essence of exploration and discovery as she delved into the realms of language teaching methodologies and Irish culture. Join us as we uncover the highlights of Halina’s transformative experience with Atlas Dublin.

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Why did you decide to take a course with Atlas?

I decided to take part in the course in order to refresh my methodological knowledge. I also wanted to share teaching experience with other teachers. As I had never been to Ireland before I was curious about Irish English and the country in general. All these expectations that I had before my arrival to Atlas School in Dublin were fulfilled very positively.

What will you take from the course and use in your own classroom?

We had classes about using different apps while teaching young people. Not only what the apps are but how to use them effectively in the classroom. 

I will definitely take advantage of what we learned about task-based language teaching, for example, problem-solving approaches, finding similarities and differences, and matching texts to some pictures.

What did you think of the cultural part of the course?

I was lucky to have a very interesting and enthusiastic teacher who not only gave us lots of interesting facts about Irish culture, but was very eager to answer more detailed questions. We also managed to organize a little guitar and singing session during our class. What did we sing? Of course, some Irish songs. What’s more, we were able to give some different examples of music from participating teachers’ countries.

What was your favourite excursion and why?

I would definitely put number one next to the visit to the EPIC (Irish Emigration) Museum. It is quite new and very modern. There is plenty of information given in an understandable way about the history of Ireland, its heritage and its problems. 

Another interesting excursion was the one that was actually organised by us – teachers attending the course supervised by the course instructors. During the class we looked for information about some places in Dublin with the use of QR codes. Our task was to prepare a speech about one of the places. After that we went into the town and presented them to each other one after another.

What would you say is the greatest benefit of doing an Erasmus+ training course?

For me it was a great experience – getting to know teachers from other countries, studying new methodological skills, learning some Irish expressions, sightseeing in Dublin, chatting with our host family, and more.

How were the teachers and staff at Atlas?

Teachers were fantastic – with a friendly approach, very helpful and flexible. They really tried to give us as much knowledge as possible during the week.

Was there anything that surprised you about Dublin (people, places, traditions)?

I was surprised with Irish English. I didn’t expect there to be so many differences in both the expressions and pronunciation. 

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