Write a letter to your students, explaining who you are and giving details about your background and personality

Dear Student, It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to introduce myself in writing. My name is Galina Gradinarova (but you can call me Ms. Galya) and I am excited to be your teacher as you are embarking on your final year of preparation for the IELTS examination. Having heard high praise for your learning skills and character, I can safely say it is my privilege to try and guide you towards achieving even greater levels of mastery. Since I happen to be the “new guy on the block”, let me start by telling you a little bit about my background. I am a graduate of the English and American Studies programme at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski. Consequently, I went on to study Cognitive Science at NBU. Simply put, this is the science of how people think, learn, perceive and process information about themselves and the world around them. The programme was not only taught in English, but we were also encouraged to conduct research, write articles, and take part in summer schools and conferences, meeting prominent figures in the field. A fun fact is that I got to put electrodes on people’s heads, observing their brainwaves for an EEG (electroencephalogram) experiment. There is no reason to worry, however, I do not have the slightest intention of doing this in our classroom. You are safe. But I would be interested in finding out what unusual activities YOU have had the chance of performing or would like to participate in. Joke aside, for the better part of my education and career I have been in various sorts of academic environment. In 2010 I moved to yet another type of academic setting - the field of Architecture and Engineering. Currently, I am a senior teacher of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy. It is my hope and goal to bring the above experience to our classroom and assist you in becoming more confident in your academic language skills. Moreover, my studies in cognitive science have further strengthened my belief that the most efficient language learning happens when all the senses are engaged, thus allowing us to form flexible and context-relevant neural connections. And contrary to the serious tone of the previous sentence, I do believe that having FUN helps the most. What would you like to share about your experience with English? What fun activities involving English do you enjoy? On a more personal note, I am a mother of a spirited almost-5-year-old boy with unlimited resources of mischief, a semi-professional singer (talking about me, not the boy; he is more into shouting, but who knows what the future will bring), a proud owner of a speleology license claiming that I have the necessary skills to safely explore a cave without getting lost or causing a stalagmite to fall on somebody (I would not believe that blatant lie if I were you), and a philosopher at heart. I am looking forward to getting to know each other better!