Hi everyone,
Welcome to the second of my PLN “Who’s next…? Challenge (thanks to Brad Patterson for this Blog Challenge) Interviews. This week I interviewed Nina Hanakova from Brno in the Czech Republic. I have not known Nina for very long, so it’s nice to get the chance to discover a little more about someone who, I can see from Facebook, is an incredibly learner centred, innovative teacher, who combines a love of technology with a truly caring attitude towards her students. If you have never visited her blog you can find her here. English Brno greets you with what looks like a really comfortable sofa for you to relax on as Nina shares her teaching ideas with you and at the same time opens a window for you to take a peek at her learners and some of their work so… here goes:
THE ORIGINAL QUESTIONS PLUS A FREE CHOICE OF TWO THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ASKED
1) If your students were to label you with 3 adjectives, what might they be?
– talkative, fun, supportive
2) What would we find in your refrigerator right now?
– lots of veggies, different kinds of Czech, Slovak and Greek cheese, Greek olives, ouzo (we had Greek family friends visiting us last week), Moravian white wine, two bottles of local beer, strawberry jam, marinated chicken breasts, trout (fish), apple juice, milk.
3) If you weren’t a teacher, what might your profession be?
– intercultural consultant
4) What do you find most difficult about working in teaching, or What has been your most difficult moment in class?
– most difficult in teaching: class time management – sometimes I could spend all day with my students
5) What was the last book/movie you read/saw, and what have you seen/read way too many times?
– last movie I saw was “Life in a Day”, the Youtube movie, last book I read “ScreemFree Parenting”, I have seen “The Family Stone” too many times
6) Do you like working as a freelance teacher?
– I love it! I am a big fan of freelancing. I wish everyone on this planet could work for themselves/in small private companies, following their true passions. I love what I do and the fact that I am my own boss gives me complete freedom to choose when, where, how, with whom and if at all I will work today.
7) How do you juggle work and parenting?
– it’s an everyday challenge. especially because I have to plan my working time very carefully. which doesn’t always work the best for me as I like to work in “creative waves”. but my partner and my mom are very helpful. I find it important to feel balanced both personally and professionally.
The passion and enthusiasm for teaching and communicating shines through these asnwers! So I’ll just finish with one of Nina’s favourite quotes from her Facebook page. I like it because it is both brave and liberating, and in tune with the essence of Nina EnglishBrno:
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter don’t mind and those that mind don’t matter!” ~ Dr. Suess
If you want to read more interviews that bloggers have done in response to this challenge follow this link to Dave Dodgson’s Scoop.It page
English learning in Our World 
What fun this challenge has been !
I’ve learned so much more about our little ELT community that’s actually HUGE ! Thanks Sharon for sharing now twice ! 😉
Nina, I am an intercultural consultant and love the work I do with American, European and Chinese organizations. A lot of what I have learned has come from the classrooms in these different countries, and I’m sure you’d love it and it sound like you’d be great. Shoot me an email anytime and we can chat more. Cheers, brad
Yes, it is huge, and it’s a lot of fun doing the interviews too. 🙂