As I write this, all attention is on Brazil and the World Cup. I’ve tried to brighten up our road by hanging out the Swiss and English flags. My wife and I are particularly interested in seeing all the TV reports from the streets of Rio, Salvador, etc as we are flying to Brazil for a 4-week holiday right after the end of the World Cup. Although we are going after the final, it is football which prompted us to go this year and I am now going to tell you about a piece of footballing history which most people do not know!

I come from near Exeter in the south-west of England and have always supported our local team: Exeter City. They are not particularly good and play in the fourth highest league (League Two). League One is the highest they have reached and not so long ago they were a league lower (Conference) but even the teams in the fifth highest league in England are full-time professionals.  Exeter usually get 3000 to 5000 fans at their home games and, like most teams in the lower leagues, they struggle to make ends meet. Now to the surprising historical fact: Exeter City were the first team to play the

Brazilian national team in Rio back in 1914. If you don’t believe me, have a look at this recent article in the Guardian newspaper (also watch the video!): http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/09/-sp-a-century-of-the-selecao-the-remarkable-story-of-brazilian-football. On 20th July Exeter City are going to play a team from Fluminese  in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the famous match 100 years ago.

By the way, if you want to see my team play, why not book a course at the Globe English Centre in Exeter! We especially recommend this school because the classes are very small (max 6 students) and they also have a junior school so it is ideal for families. I may be a little biased but the surrounding countryside is also terrific with the Devon coastline, the Exe Valley and Dartmoor all very close to the city. See our website for more details! I hope you all have a great summer!

Check our website www.castles.ch for full course information about summer courses and the autumn semester!

In This Issue !Teacher Spotlight:

Heidi Newitt

Adventures Abroad: Daniel Elsener

Important Dates

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FROM THE DESK OF NICK GIBBONS

C A S T L E ’ S E N G L I S H I N S T I T U T E - I H R S P R A C H P R O F I S E I T 1 9 7 9

Castle’s NEWSJ U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 4

Nick Gibbons is the director of Castle’s Zug.

Heidi Newitt has been a teacher with Castle’s for 6 years. She is originally from San Diego, California, although she has Swiss nationality through her mother. She has lived in this country since 2008.

What did you do before you started teaching? I went to university and got my degree in English Literature, but never had a really good plan for what I wanted to do after that. The possibilities in the US are much more open than they are here. After working various secretarial jobs as a temp, I worked for 5 years as a Marketing Assistant at an engineering firm. It was an experience that helps my teaching of business courses nowadays greatly.

How did you get into teaching? After 5 years of marketing, I was ready for a big change. I visited Switzerland with my family in 2006 and decided that it was time to take advantage of being a duel US-Swiss citizen and move here. I thought about what I could do for a job, and teaching seemed like a good option, although I had never considered it before. Fortunately, I soon realised that it was a profession I really enjoyed.

I spent some time in San Diego in a course, learning how to teach and working towards the CELTA teaching qualification. While in that programme, I met Nick and Jean Gibbons. It was a very lucky coincidence—they asked the teaching students if anyone was interested in teaching in Switzerland and

would like to speak to them. Of course, I immediately raised my hand, and the rest is history.

What do you like most about teaching? I like the energy that can develop with a group of

people. It’s amazing how my mood can improve just within a few minutes of a lesson, just by being near people and interacting with them. I also really enjoy getting to know my students, especially the ones who return for a few semesters.

What are the main differences you have noticed between life in Switzerland and life in the US? Mainly I find the lifestyle a lot different. In the US, most people don’t get much time off from work, so

they tend to be more stressed. There is so much fast food around, it’s hard to make good choices for eating, and preparing meals takes time. On the other hand, when Americans do have time off, they really “let their hair down,” which I miss sometimes. But I generally like the lifestyle much better

here in Switzerland.

What do you like to do when you’re not at Castle’s? Well, two things that I have always enjoyed are reading and cooking (but usually not at the same time!). In the last couple of years, however, I have started collecting typewriters, mostly from second-hand shops here in Switzerland. I have 15 now, which seems unbelievable

even to me!

My fiancé, Martin, is a mechanic from England who specialises in repairing and restoring classic British cars (“Oldtimers”), so he and I often go to car club meetings and drive around the countryside in his Triumph TR3. It’s fun and exciting, especially when the weather’s bad and the roof leaks!

However, at the moment, much of my spare time is spent planning for my wedding in October!

Castle’s Teacher Spotlight: Heidi Newitt

Heidi and Martin in the TR3 on a wet weekend (Heidi is waving at the camera).

Heidi and Martin at Lake Louise, Canada

Adventures Abroad: Interview with Daniel ElsenerDaniel Elsener is a 45-year-old print office manager in Zug. He has attended Castle’s English courses for 2 years. “Just for fun,” he says. He likes to travel and loves the land and life of England, Ireland and Scotland. When he saw the advertisement in the Castle’s brochure for “Kulturelle Sprachreise nach Brighton” he immediately booked the trip for one week. This is his experience.

Where did you go to study English? The English school called LTC Brighton.

How many students were in your class? Was it a good mix of international students? It was different. In the morning class we were about 6 students and in the afternoon often more than 10 students. That was quite a lot but it was okay.

Well, Swiss are everywhere but we had an interesting mix in class. There were so many different countries and you can talk together: Brazil, Spain, Kurdistan, Turkey and Switzerland. It was fascinating. In this class as Swiss we always tried to talk in English. It works.

What kinds of activities did you do, outside of school? There is a bus station near the school. After the last lesson at 3 pm we drove by coach to the city centre. There are a lot of nice shops, cafés with delicious sweets (see picture) and museums you can go visit. Often we did our homework on the sunny beach.

A highlight was the trip by train to London, included in the arrangement. We met up at the train station in Brighton at 8 am. A part-time teacher at LTC was our tour guide. He was brilliant and spoke in a very clear English accent. On a boat trip on the River

Thames a crew member on the boat told us some local stories of London. He spoke with a bright working-class accent. Most of our group didn’t understood so much. When I told that to our guide at end of the boat trip by the famous London Tower Bridge, he said that he’d had the same problem and even he hadn’t understood everything!

Can you tell us about your classes and teachers? The teachers were very polite and trustworthy. It was a good and peaceful atmosphere in the class. The

classrooms were useful and functional. The staff members were very helpful and interested that we have a good and pleasant time at school.

How was your experience with your host family? Before I travelled to England I sent my landlady a thoughtful email with a short introduction about me. Her name was

Vivian and she really appreciated hearing about me.

I stayed in a typical small brick house with two floors. She has also an amazing Pharao Hound. He had short hair and smelled of absolutely nothing. I loved him from the

beginning.

Vivian was very kind and helpful. She talked with me about many different things. And the best: She has cooked every day a delicious meal for supper. She loves to cook and likes different dishes from other countries. “My pleasure,”she always said when I gave her a compliment. One day, after a excellent meal ,she served a Zuger Kirsch as a digestive. I was surprised and told her about the “Zuger Kirschtorte”. I promised her that I would send her an original one by post. And I did!

What was your overall impression of the trip? A short, or better a long, trip abroad is the best way to learn and practise English. Brighton with Castle’s was for me a very good experience. I can only recommend and say: It was my pleasure.

The special “Kulturelle Sprachreise” to Brighton is on offer again! The first group will go 9-16 Nov and another group will go 10-17 May. See www.castles.ch for details.

The tour guide in London was very easy to understand

Daniel with Vivian, who made him feel at home.

Delicious treats from a café in Brighton

IMPORTANT DATES FROM CASTLE’S BRANCHES

!End of Semester: 4 July

Summer Intensive Courses: 7 July-15 August

Summer Evening Courses: 7 July-29 August

Autumn Semester Begins: 1 September

!End of Semester: 4 July

Summer Intensive Courses: 7 July-15 August

Summer Evening Courses: 7 July-29 August

Autumn Semester Begins: 1 September

!End of Semester: 11 July

Summer Intensive Courses: 14 July-15 August

Summer Evening Courses: 14 July-29 August

Autumn Semester Begins: 1 September

!End of Semester: 27 June

Autumn Semester Begins: 1 September

CASTLE’S BASELCASTLE’S THALWILCASTLE’S LUZERNCASTLE’S ZUG

ZUG In addition to our summertime intensive English courses, Castle’s Zug is now offering intensive German and French courses, starting Monday, 7th July. Ask about English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, or Portuguese courses and private lessons at info@castles.ch.

THALWIL From the desk of Meryl Gutzwiller:

Castle’s Thalwil hopes to be running summer intensives from Monday, 14th July; you can sign up for either a morning or an evening course, so please contact us at infothalwil@castles.ch if you are interested in knowing more.

We are sad to be saying goodbye to Elisabeth Tanner, known as Liz, who is taking her well-

deserved retirement at the end of the current semester. We will all miss her lovely Welsh accent, her sunny smile, as well as her patience and her great baking. A heart-felt “thank you” to her, from all of us, for the many years of dedicated service to Castle’s. We sincerely wish her all the best and hope she enjoys her new - found freedom.

I would like to inform you, that as of 1st August, 2014, Heidi Newitt, who is a teacher in Zug, will be taking over as Principal of Castle’s Thalwil. After ten and a half very enjoyable years, I am greatly looking forward to being freer to devote my time to other projects, but am also happy to be able to continue teaching at Castle’s. I sincerely wish Heidi all the best as she takes over the helm and know her to be well - supported by a strong team.

News and Important Dates from the Branches

Castle’s Summer courses are starting! Here are the important dates and some important news: