Examinations dates & venues for May, June, July

We are very excited to announce that we are offering ALL adult levels of Cambridge ESOL examinations in the first half of 2013.

Any and all enquiries should be made to Yukari, our Centre Examinations Manager here
All entries can be made online here , where you will also find schedules, fees etc

May 11th: Certificate of Proficiency in English (C.P.E./"Proficiency") at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

• Deadline for CPE entries is March 31st 

May 18th: morning. Preliminary English Test (P.E.T.) in Tokyo (map) and at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

and

May 18th: afternoon. Key English Test (K.E.T.) in Tokyo (map) and at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

•  Deadline for KET & PET entries is April 13th 

  June 8th: First Certificate in English (F.C.E./"First") in Tokyo (map) and in Nagoya (map)

•  Deadline for FCE entries is April 21st

 July 13th: Certificate in Advanced English (C.A.E./"Advanced") in Tokyo (map)

• Deadline for CAE entries is June 9th

 We are very grateful to our friends at King's Road School of English for their help and support.

Proudly sitting Cambridge YLE

We were very proud to hold our annual Cambridge ESOL Young Learners (YLE) exams today, at Luna.

We have been doing this since 2000, and consider this the day when our students can comprehensively demonstrate what they are capable of...of course, nerves can have an adverse impact, but basically our children are in a familiar environment and 'business as usual' doing stuff in English...just sitting in different seats!

Obviously I have a vested interest in my own students, as well as my own school's students, and am nervous for them to do well; that we had students from two other schools made this session feel 'bigger'. Thank you Magnus and Rico, for your help on the day as well.

Extra nerves for me personally today though, as my own daughter was one of the candidates...just what will this show of our efforts running the pre-school at Luna (her little friend Hinata also sat - not very still - the Starters level. She had to ask mummy what a test was yesterday! In my honest opinion, YLE Starters is about as a gentle a test as you can hope for. Should we test children? Argue yourselves in circles on that one. Let children show off what they can do and reward them with an internationally recognised certificate? Absolutely!!!

Reactions afterwards were 95% positive - one little lad had a melt down, but such is life! Well done children - proud of you all for trying; can't ask any more than that! Looking forward to handing out certificates :)

We would also like to say 'well done' to all the children in Sapporo who took their YLE exams today at EFL Club. Thank you Laura for your hard work organising the seeion & preparing your students, and to Peter & Mary for examining.

Nanako's dad & KET Certificates

This is a slideshow of an event Jim organised with Shinshu JALT last Saturday evening. One of Luna's dads was a speaker...and he was also one of our ex-student's surgeons, which is why this promise to present was made about six years ago!




Among the audience was the current National JALT President - I think the first time that this has ever happened...so while he was here, Jim asked him to present Yanissa with her Cambridge ESOL Certificate for K.E.T. (she passed "with Merit") and we are all very proud of her achievement. Unfortunately, Hokuto & Tomoro had other plans and were unable to attend the short ceremony. We gave them their certificates last week, and as you can see they also look very pleased - well done boys!

Cambridge Advanced (CAE) - What is it good for?

Examining CAE - thoughts and materials

I had the pleasure of examining some candidates for C.A.E. (Cambridge Advanced) on Sunday, down in Tokyo at our regular venue King's Road in Akasaka. As usual, the examination was under very good control with Chie in charge.

CAE is a tough day for candidates - four sitting/writing papers without much chance to recharge brains in between. It really is very intense, and hats off to all candidates who are brave enough to try. Obviously, our candidates in Tokyo were not alone - the same exam was held worldwide. What I enjoyed about our session was the broad mix of nationalities besides Japanese (Peruvian, Brazilian, Russian) which reminded me just how important it is for my learners to make sure they can make themselves understood outside my classroom...pretty pointless if I am the only person that understand them!

If you are considering taking CAE, then when not have a rummage in this Livebinder, which I am adding to as/when I find relevant material (bookmark it & by all means leave comments).

• Next CAE exam session will be December 2 with Luna, likely in Tokyo and Nagoya. Contact us if you are interested (details not up on our website yet - shortly!)

A busy weekend - ESOL

Yukari & I were not looking forward to driving half way across the country with our little children last Friday; the fact that it snowed all that day and into the night as we prepared to leave didn't help us relax. However, despite the dangerous conditions and heavy Friday night truck traffic around Nagoya, we needn't have worried - kids fast asleep as the miles swept by.

Yukari attended a meeting of Centre Exams Managers - the people responsible for the administration of Cambridge Centres (remember, Luna is one?) and all the exams we offer. This is a lot of work, with a lot of important little details that have to be done accurately and be well planned out. Eg our 2012 exam dates have already been set & venues set up; new software has been installed and new materials sourced. It was a good opportunity for CEMs from across the country to be briefed on new developments, security issues, announcements etc - and to meet each other.

Jim attended a meeting with QC line managers from Korea & Taiwan, and peer Team Leaders (TLs) based in Hyogo & Kyushu. This was an excellent opportunity for two-way discussion of examiner performance, monitoring, and statistical analysis. It also meant we were put on the spot to submit marks as all our speaking examiners are in training & certification meetings. I was wrong, and I know why. All part of the learning curve.

Our children slept at odd angles in the car as we drove home on Sunday night, Yukari & I chatted about our experiences. She is new to the CEM job, clearly, after Yuki's ten-year occupancy. She is reassured to have met the rest (mostly) of ESOL in Japan. It is an enormous job which in other countries is a job on its own.

We hope in future we can all reduce the travel, time, cost & family burdens if such meetings - of course face to face meetings are irreplaceable...but we both feel a monthly Skype or webinar much more useful long-term. So, the weekend a regular step in the right direction; let's hope my kids won't have to cope with another 10 hours/2 nights in the car when tech can do the job.

End of term report - exams finished

Last Saturday saw Luna JP004 hold its last Cambridge ESOL exam session of the year, with FCE in two venues (Tokyo and Nagoya). We sincerely hope all our candidates will be happy with their results and that all your teachers were able to prepare you for a very hard day?

The previous weekend we also held CAE in Tokyo. The added stress for us on the day was introducing new facial recognition software to our venue & staff at King's Road. Althought the installation of the software went OK when we tried at Luna, Jim did not anticipate being stumped by Macs! In the end having to resort to an older Windows running Japanese XP, everything worked out. Sort of.

The aim of the new tech is to assure candidates of the safety of their results, and enable authorised parties such as potential employers, visa authorities & academic institutions to check an applicants' learning portfolio against their image collected on the day of the exam. Very important stuff, then, and identity checks vital. All our candidates understood the importance of this extra security step, but did not appreciate having their photos taken after hours of exam hell!

Image by ijiwaru jimbo via Flickr

Thank you to all our professional examiners up and down the country. You are the face of the exams and we really appreciate the work you do to prepare for the speaking tests and the travelling you undertake.

Thank you to our venues for your adherence to the strict guidelines required of you, and for getting things right.

We would like to thank Trevor, Chie, and Chizuru for their assistance with these sessions, and especially thank Yukari for her hard work at Luna as Centre Exams Manager this year. She was totally new to the job a year ago, and had big Yuki-sized shoes to fill. It is a very challenging job and one we are proud of her doing so well.

Please check our exams website www.luna-jp004.jp in the new year for 2012 exam availability. we will be offering 'for schools' as well as 'regular' sessions for KET, PET, & FCE. Of course, Young Learners (YLE), CAE, CPE will be available too.

If you are a teacher interested in entering candidates, or a student yourself, please contact us. Schools interested in hosting the exams should do likewise.To keep up to date with ESOL & exam related things on the internet, follow Jim's "Scoop it" topic.

Fingers crossed over the Christmas/New Year break for good results!

Young Learners at Luna

 A big round of applause to our stand up young learners today, who wanted to show how much they are improving in English class.

Always a proud day for us at Luna, and also a worry - children can freeze on their big day...and there's nothing we can do! Cambridge ESOL Young Learners Exams (YLE) Day.  The children are taking exactly the same test today as their counterparts in Sapporo at EFL Club, and many hundreds of others at venues worldwide.

We are so proud we can offer this to our students - and we need to thank Yukari for her hard work in preparing everything meticulously, sourcing the papers from the UK, and making sure everybody knew what they were doing. Thank you Rico for being our speaking test examiner, and Kat for helping invigilate. Every little bit helps.

Our students always enjoy the 'tests' more than they expect, because they get to colour things in; all the answers are somewhere on the page; the pictures are really colourful and should know pretty much all the words anyway - and if we don't know we can still read them/have a good guess!

We are hoping to get our certificates back before Christmas now, so we can make a big fuss over them in front of all the parents. Papers have already been sent to the UK for marking. Fingers crossed everyone gets the kind of result they expect - and even if you don't, you still get a lovely certificate to put on your wall!

Providing for EFL Special Needs - examiner training, Nagoya

Focusing on the small print

My examiners were guinea pigs for a refreshed format of meeting today. I was extremely nervous before hand, as I have relied on tried and tested format & materials which I inherited since becoming a Team Leader. I have realised that this does not make the best of our precious time together, apart from maintaining their ability to assess adequately & practice reading the scripts. Both of these are very important, make no mistake: they are the key aspects of the actual examining job i.e. Deliver the speaking test to script, and assess the candidates accurately.

But, in the broader scheme of things, my examiners are grown ups. They have already shown me in training that they are up to the task. If they did not, they would not have been approved by Cambridge ESOL as examiners, and would not be on Luna's team – it’s very simple!

Kim, Corazon & Bonnie

Nowadays, examiners have access to the most recent videos of candidates to polish their assessment skills on. We can still dip into videos if we need to – in fact we do, but with a much more detailed analysis that is not assessment driven. Instead, we can focus much more on the interlocutor’s role, which impacts on the candidates’ performance/perception so strongly. We can pull the wings off the script and put it back together again, figure out which level it is. We can dissect the assessment criteria and put it back together again, without any ‘spare’ pieces. We can add to our examiners’ teaching toolkits and actually put meaning into another line on their CVs.

I want to thank my Nagoya/Gifu team today for not noticing the change of emphasis today – or at least not making a big deal out of it and asking me eg “Why did Naomi only get a 2 for Pronunciation?”

Instead, we achieved:

Focus on lip-reading

·        Ability to manage the delivery of speaking tests to sight-impaired/blind candidates.

·        Ability to enable hearing-impaired/deaf candidates to take their listening tests through lip reading

·        Monitoring peer performance in detail, fine-tune own performance

·        Tightened timing, material handling, rubric

·        Weaned Jim off over-reliance on videos

 Thank you team for travelling into the teeth of Typhoon Roke and for giving up your National Holiday/World Pirate Day, and for all of your Facebook concern for my missing pint of Guinness! You are all very much legit Cambridge ESOL examiners now, and I am looking forward to you examining soon. Find us some candidates and venues if you can too?!

Exactly the kind of people you want examining Young Learners!

Examiner training dates announced

I am delighted to be able to announce that we have been able to confirm all dates & venues for training at all levels of Cambridge ESOL examinations this autumn. Training will be conducted by Jim, in his capacity as 'Team Leader' for Luna International (JP004).

Young Learners - Starters, Movers and Flyers:

• Okayama - Sept 23
• Osaka - Oct 8
• Tokyo - Oct 16

Lower Main Suite - KET (Key - A2) and PET (Preliminary - B1):

• Okayama - Sept 24
• Osaka - Oct 9
• Tokyo - Oct 15

Upper Main Suite - FCE (First - B2), CAE (Advanced - C1) and CPE (Proficiency - C2)

• Tokyo - Sept 17
• Nagoya - Sept 18

In order to qualify to participate,  experienced English teachers should be in full time employment and be a university graduate/EFL certified. You should be available to examine, be reliable and display sound interpersonal skills. Non-native speakers are welcome to apply, but do need to demonstrate a good working use of English appropriate for the level to be trained for. Anyone interested in taking part should get in touch with Jim by email and request a Nomination form by submitting their CV.

ESOL venues inspected - Tokyo & Tohoku fit for purpose

Image by ijiwaru jimbo via FlickrOn Friday night, after ten and a half hours classroom time and a snatched conversation with my wife, I caught a few hours sleep on the sofa before catching the early bus down to Tokyo. I was standing in for one of our examiners who was unable to change his own schedule this morning. These things happen. I got a really stiff neck sleeping awkwardly on the bus :(  Should have taken the train.

My English friend Tim arrived at King's Road just as I got there, and we found school owner Trevor looking a bit more serious than usual, but professional as ever. It was soon obvious why - an inspector from Cambridge ESOL had turned up to monitor the venue's performance today. These are unannounced spot checks to make sure all the rules &  procedures are being followed. We welcome this quality control, as it is very important that the Cambridge ESOL brand is kept unblemished. It is important for our candidates as well as venues to realise that there are very high standards that have to be maintained. I sometimes think the inspectors could be a little more sensitive to the exams supervisors on what is already a very stressful day, though. Bit of a bull in a china shop.

Anyway, everything was very much under control. Tim and I conducted speaking tests for candidates at PET and then KET levels,as we had done together back in November (although then I'd lost my voice & was unable to interlocute!). He is very warm with the candidates which I think is important, as it helps them relax - something I need to remember.

An equally early start to Sunday, as I had to pick up Disco Paul to drive up to Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture (about 100km west of Fukushima city). We made good time and could have a well-earned breakfast in Denny's before finding Stephen Holland's lovely little school up the hill. He already had the kettle on when we arrived, and he gave us a guided tour of Cambridge ESOL's newest venue in Japan; Windmill English Centre is the first to offer Cambridge ESOL examinations in the whole Tohoku region. Coming so soon after the uncertainty wrought on the region by events March 11th & subsequently by TEPCO, I think this is a marvelous example of commitment. Stephen's description of how strong the earthquake had been made Paul & I shudder - and we were still 2 hours+ drive away from the coast. So, hats off to all the school owners who have stuck it out,  the often under-appreciated, unheralded 'local' foreigners a who are going about business as usual without any fanfare. Paul & I felt the very least we could do was be there on time and show Stephen's students that they could expect the very same standard of assessment here as anywhere else in the world - London, Buenos Aires or Athens.
Image via Wikipedia
Annoyingly, Paul knew that Olivia Newton John was No.1 in Perth (WA, Australia) in December 1981. Don't ask how he knows - he just does! We were listening to a radio station from Perth on my iPhone as we drove back, trying to predict what the Top 30 would be. Disco Pants is rarely wrong! Good company for the 737km round trip today - 1,200 for the weekend.

Last word for all the candidates who took KET & PET this weekend - wish you the best with your results, which will be available online soon. Please remember to check your log in details.

Questionaire - where would you like your exam?

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One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

The ridiculous irony of the previous blog posting about a really hopeless learning environment for teens, is that the delightful Sayaka (with some old guy pictured left) was a graduate of the very same school earlier this year. However, the inane reality was that she was obliged to go back to the school for the grad certificate even though she had already graduated high school in Canada.

Sayaka is the (charming) worm that turned. All on her own, she realised there was more to education than the sterile offerings up the road, and applied for a scholarship to escape to BC. I helped her home room teacher write the letter, as I have known her since she was three and applauded her 'get me outta here' chutzpah. And go she did, extending her year into a second. End product, an FCE from Cambridge ESOL and an invitation to study at Waseda from next week. A very well-rounded young lady indeed, and not at all your average uni intake.

(However, this is the second successful FCE candidate we have produced from young learners - Saya took her fisrt YLE Starters exam in 2000 - that has gone on to Waseda. I currently have three more 'on the go'). Anyone in the Matsumoto/Shinshu area want to get a powerful leg up, look no further.

So, anyway, whinge whinge about a derelict school system, and the contradiction which proves the rule.
It also proves that HS kids are not to be underestimated - they can see through "I've been teaching here for 24 years you know" in 10 minutes. And it is about the kids, isn't it?

Personally, I'm really hoping the Tohoku earthquake and the dreadful tsunami will eventually have an effect here in the hills of Nagano too. As they rebuild 'over there', will they be able to do so with a broader vision than just the bricks and mortar (OK, wood & tatami) & inspire the rest of this country to stop dragging its heels - for me, particularly in education?

I'll have to try to remember that each of the 26 victims in the writing class at the HS next Wednesday could be a Sayaka II...which means I have 26 reasons to get bolshy.

Of low tech presentations and high expectations - Indonesia

I was delighted to be asked by my friends at OUP if I could help them out; so many times I have asked them to help us at Luna with presenters, events, materials etc that I was actually relieved I could return a well-overdue favour.

So I said “Yes, of course” before they explained what the favour was. Oli is a friend of mine, so he won’t be asking for anything too outrageous…

I write this from a bar (surprise!) in the departures area of Soekharno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. I arrived here about 16 hours ago, having left home at 3am on Wednesday and flying via Singapore from Centrair in Nagoya. I love Singapore Airlines! Brilliant service, lovely food, gorgeous uniforms.

So what was the favour? They needed someone to come here and present about Cambridge ESOL examinations. All of the exams, and all of the papers. Their original presenter was no longer available ( I know what that is like) and they were stuck. So this morning I was picked up from my hotel before 6am (and breakfast) and driven an hour or so out of Jakarta-proper, to a very large school and a nice air-conditioned room where 43+ teachers were registered to hear FOUR presentations, back to back.

I had only finished writing the last one a few hours before having to leave; I hadn’t had time to practice with the Power Point I had hastily cobbled together. I had also had to prep and pack all the materials I need over the weekend in Osaka for two full days of examiner training. I was extremely unimpressed to get a call at the last minute trying to postpone that event, as I had spent the late nights after prepping my Indonesia presentations by working through my examiner updates online (being in a hurry seems to concentrate the mind nicely, as all my assessments were on the money).

On the flight I watched The King’s Speech, and sharing a name with our stuttering monarch I also understood his sense of dread about his forthcoming public performance.

I checked into the hotel after a nightmare drive through the ridiculous video game that is Jakarta traffic. Truly bonkers, near misses and polite toots of the horn the default setting. I’d missed dinner, but was tired enough duah Bintang = sleep. Bintang? Shares a trademark image with Sapporo Beer. Our first Bahasa word then: bintang = star.

Actually, Indonesian is a dead simple language, and I was remembering words from 20+ years ago all day. The guy driving me back to the airport said I had a very natural accent (think he was being very polite!). Signs everywhere I could read (unlike Japan) and start to understand. The city is a mass of humanity, people carrying on their daily lives literally everywhere. And a lot of people not apparently doing anything at all, lolling around in the shade or wearing uniforms and also lolling around in the shade!

I love Indonesia, and I always have (apart from the crass excuse that is Kuta Beach in Bali). The people are so genuinely cheerful and chatty, open and fun, I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to visit even if it is for such a short visit. I met some very nice teachers – and I hope they weren’t too critical of my pitch (I forgot where I was in my script, missed slides; forgot to review bits I really needed to highlight; I’d forgotten to attach speakers to my laptop for the speaking test; I misplaced my CD of one song I wanted to check the lyrics with; I couldn’t access the internet/only had one channel on the projector; I ended up having to sing a Frank Sinatra song as there was no cassette player available; my handout was too big for the recipient’s inbox and was not available to attendees until the very end; my ‘end’ was 10 minutes short and I had to waffle dreadfully….). I think OUP has some very nice staff here and that their distributor Limma is very professional. Good luck to both operations here, and if you’ll have me back, next time I hope I will be better prepared and less last-minute.

So I chance planes in Singapore at about 1am, and arrive in Osaka hours too early to do anything useful. “But I like it, how about you?” (Frank Sinatra still in my head!)

Raising the bar

Nothing like a spot of jealousy to get the students motivated!

In 2009, Takumi took Young Learners (Starters level) and did a really good job. He was the only one in his class brave enough to try...after wards he said it was fun and not scary at all! Of course not - the exams are very child-friendly and invite the children to normal classroom things like match pictures to words, colouring in, answering simple questions about everyday things. Everything very familiar.

Who's a clever Mover, then?

Fast forward to late last year, and Momoko this time took Young Learners - but the Movers level (next one up). On Tuesday evening after class she was presented with her certificate and the very first thing Takumi said was 'Right, I'm doing it next time!' Momo-chan got very good results in listening and speaking, and as good as we expected in Reading/Writing...

Come October 30th 2011, can guarantee the first name on the list of candidates will be Takumi! Question is though, will he match Momoko and do very well in Movers, or up the ante again and go for Flyers? Ideally, they'll both achieve knock out results.

For now, Momoko has the bragging rights - well done you!

Teacher's PETs (and KETs)

Double success - Misaki & Misaki

Our two Misakis are now proud owners of shiny Cambridge ESOL Certificates, for the exams they successfully took in November. Very big congratulations to you both!

'Younger' Misaki announced she has also passed Eiken 2, so her success is no fluke. Passing KET at first attempt is something she should be especially proud of.

It is a bittersweet swansong for 'older' Misaki, as she is leaving us next month - spreading her wings and flying away (not literally, she will probably go on the train). Life as a university student beckons. We are sure she will flourish, as she has been a super student with us...first taking Young Learners (Starters) in 2006.

We are now recruiting students to join this class - must be smart, hard-working and enjoy English. Places are limited!

Inspiring First Cert lady

I am not often able to spend a whole day in the company of a single woman, but Sunday was an exception.

In June I spent a shorter day with the same lady; she came back and requested more time - duly granted.

To say this lady is determined, brave and inspiring is not to over-egg the mixture. First train out of Tokyo to get to Luna for nine hours of an English exam. The journey with a white stick and the test with her fingertips.

She ran out of time taking Cambridge ESOL's CAE exam in the summer. It was our first experience accommodating a blind candidate; we had no idea what exactly the parameters were nor how much or how little assistance ( and of what kind) would be required. Jim learnt what amanuensis meant.

Fast forward to Sunday, and borne of our mutual experiences previously, we were much more able to look after our candidate as she sat FCE. For a start, I knew how much extra time she would need - try reading two pieces of paper at the same time, in a foreign language with the clock ticking with your eyes closed? No, I wouldn't like to try that at all.

I was thrilled that this time I was not crushing her every time I had to tell her there were only "ten minutes left" - and I could see she was nowhere near finished. Her confidence clearly took a hit. This time, she was empowered, able to address every question, and was still cheerful at stumps (I am in cricket mode!).

A big thing I'd learned was that the specially arranged materials were full of potential problems (for us). I'll be sharing these with ESOL; let's just say some of them are jaw-droppingly daft.

One solution is called Teruki; I asked her to take the speaking test with our real candidate in order for there to be a genuine interaction, and to help relax the situation. Thank you very much indeed Teruki - living up to your 'Terrific' reputation again!

So, I escorted a tired but unbowed champion to her train home (this time it didn't leave with me on it). I am extremely proud that Luna JP004 is able to go out of it's way to accept candidates with special requirements, and that ESOL provides the materials & discretion. Thanks Yuki & Yukari for managing that sensitively.

Pass (I predict) or fail, I am delighted to say I got to know a winner.

An inspiring lady

Last weekend we welcomed a candidate to take her Cambridge ESOL CAE examination at Luna. She had travelled up from Tokyo specially, the culmination of six months preparation for Yuki. We'd been waiting for this day nervously for some time.

Usually CAE takes place on a Wednesday, but we were unable to manage the special arrangements necessary to accommodate this candidate on the same day, as she was blind. That required us to source braille editions of the exam materials and to provide separate seating, as she needed to have her answers recorded by her amanuensis (very fancy word for 'note-taker'). She also needed extra time - an obvious necessity even if she could 'read' with both hands - questions on the one, text on the other. It was obvious to me that she needed a very good memory, to be able to remember no just the information she was taking in - but where it was located. Quite a different way of processing language I am sure, and an exhausting one.

CAE is of itself a very challenging level to aspire to, and I am forever disappointed we do not generate more candidates here at Luna - by the time our students are good enough or mature enough they are moving on to something else eg university or studying abroad. We know this examination is intense, and that taking all the papers in one day is draining. I personally would find managing a life sightless inordinately challenging, and something I think would be beyond my mental & emotional capacity. I think I would be frustrated/angry/lost/bruised all the time.

I was proud that we could arrange this exam to be held in special arrangements for this candidate. She did not need any 'help', just the right environment to have a fair chance. I spent the day invigilating/acting as her amanuensis (that is a very tough job for a teacher to do - mark down answers or spell things that I might not necessarily agree with). It was a day I will not forget in a hurry: it was boring watching a blind person take a test in Braille, but it was also a sobering experience to watch a person go for it and not take the easy way out or just give up because it was too hard or she was no longer motivated.

FCE - done & dusted (again)

A certain case of deja-vu today. Second session of First Certificate; today it is Tokyo.

We'd barely started when I could vaguely hear the nutters (left-wing or right-wing?) with their loudspeakers berating the Prime Minister's residence (is Mr. Kan "in" today?) as is their wont. They didn't come too much closer to disturb the candidates, but annoyed me because, if I drove around in a van doing that I am sure I'd be arrested & deported pdq, don't you? I do think it is odd that they are not prevented from such an enormous disturbance of the peace when local laws are utterly anal about when & where to put your rubbish, have your bike registered etc. Don't get it.

Anyway, the deja-vu because of the noise threat, but also that I recognised some of the candidates.  This also means they've heard all my (old) jokes ;-(  Invigilating is very boring, because you cannot do anything else except feel guilty for watching innocent candidates like a hawk. Awfully hard as a teacher to try to not pay any attention to their work or the questions!

Hope all our candidates do well today. Now the nervous wait for results.

First Certificate - afternoon

Candidates look a bit ragged after a busy morning reading & using English! Didn't look especially hungry at lunch time, but watching BBC news kept their brains ticking in English.

Reading, Listening & Speaking this afternoon...deep breath, plan your work & trust your instincts!