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Course Evaluation by participants of October 2011 Session:
The LOKUM group!
We had 10 participants of 4 different coutries. We asked them to give us their opinion at the end of the course. Everybody was enthusiastic.

Here some of our new 'magic teachers' comments:

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Julie - France
Theory: very well put across/thaught. Extremely interesting. It is evident that the tutors are extremely knowledgeable in their field. All well prepared. Lots to think about. Thank you!
Practical: Exellent. Lots of super support to improve gestures. Very encouraging. Again, Igor+Antonia were well prepared and familiar/at ease with the formats.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice? YES!! I cannot wait to get back and start working on Hocus + Lotus narrative format with my children. I can see that I won’t need to be a “controlling teacher”; that the elements of this model will draw them in. There is also an added benefit in that I can see that there are elements I can use in my day to day teaching with an International setting.
Opinion about the house, place, food…: The setting/house is beautiful. A lovely place to study. Confortable rooms; discrete but helpful caretakers. The food has been excellent – truly delicious! Good access to Rome for a cultural experience. Possibility to walk nearby. Also accessible with relative ease from Airport!
Cultural aspects?: We took H+L on a tour of Rome to see the amazing sights. We ate out, we saw many sights, we experienced the transport (train+metro) system… In the house, we learned from Traute cultural aspects linked to eating/table manners/food. Also being with such lovely people from other cultures-very valuable!
Suggestions: Perhaps speakers for the laptop and a roll down portable shite screen for projections?
Thank you Traute + team for a wonderful  course. The week has passed very quickly, we have learned so much and now it remains to go away and use it!! I look forward to sending you a video (+notes) on me “in action” delivering the Hocus and Lotus format with my children!
Grazie mille!

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Joanne - France
Theory: I thought the course was excellent. The theoretical part really enabled me to thoroughly understand the narrative format method. It was clearly delivered with many clarifying examples. I am convinced by the efficiency of this method and only the theoretical and practical part delivered as it was could convey this.
Practical: The practical part was also very beneficial, It gave me the necessary confidence and understanding to then deliver in the classroom. It was very enjoyable and fun whilst remaining a clear example of how the acting out should be delivered. A big thank you to Igor and Antonia who helped us in a kind and understanding way.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice?YES, YES, and YES again!! I now fell I have understood and have the necessary confidence to face our lovely little “monsters” J!
Opinion about the house, place, food…: The Villa is gorgeous, the gardens are lovely, the rooms were confortable and well-equipped! The food? What to say? Perfecto!!! Always delicious. Thank you for outstanding service Lubia, Anton, Virginia and Maria.
Cultural aspects?: Rome, city of love, I fell in love with it again! It was lovely to have 2 free afternoons to visit this beautiful city with Hocus and Lotus. J It gave us the real feel of what Italia is like.
Suggestions: No further suggestion. Everything exceeded my expectations. Traute, the biggest thank you goes to you! The course was delivered in a clear way and in a lovely atmosphere. You communicated your love of languages and your conviction with a soft voice, a touch of humor and clear examples. I think we are all adepts of Hocus and Lotus now! It was my best working holiday ever! And how lovely to have a method that will make learn and love languages.

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Eileen –UK
Theory: I found the theoretical side of the course most interesting and was delighted to discover the amazing depth and extensive research that this methodology has. Tutors were very experienced and well prepared in their subject so classes were very professional.
Practical: The practical sessions gave us an opportunity to practice the formats & receive feedback on our performance. We also had the opportunity to see best practice in action from experienced narrative format methodology teachers.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice?Undoubtedly as now I understand more fully the importance of clear consistent gestures, for example so will work to improve my own performance which will in turn benefit the children.
I also am more clear in my own mind what this method offers and more confident to articulate this to teachers and parents.
Opinion about the house, place, food…: Exceptional! The setting and historical Villa was the perfect place to be able to concentrate and study yet was close to Rome and had good access. The housekeepers were very kind and friendly and the food was beautifully cooked and well presented. Thank you.
Cultural aspects?: Culturally I learnt about both Italian culture and a little about the cultures of other participants. It was great to have the opportunity to visit Rome on the two free afternoons. I also greatly enjoyed Traute’s culinary lesson!
Suggestions: It is difficult to say how such a well-prepared course could be improved – a small detail is that it would have helped to have had access to more computers – either provide more or have told us in advance and we could have brought them with us.

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Adeviye - TURKEY
Theory: Generally the course was effective: in term of theoretical aspects, it composed a wide and extensive background based on Psycho-linquistic and Developmental Psychology Studies.
Practical: At first, I mean, the first day I felt lost or alienated from the discussions and when we started practicing the formats on the second day I felt more involved and engaged.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice? Definitely it will help my teaching. I started to forget old unfashionable methods of language teaching and see the world with new, vivid and modern point of view. I would begin using narration in formats as I have appreciated the importance here.
Opinion about the house, place, food…: Il liked here, Villino Volterra is a magnificent setting in terms of architecture, art, design decoration, food and drinks, splendid garden and facilities.
Cultural aspects?: The attitudes of Italian people have been very positive. The waiters in restaurants, shopkeepers, our main and perfect instructor, Mrs Traute Taeschner, Mr Igor, Sabine and Antonia. They were all polite, helpful, enjoyable. Everyone helped me broaden my horizons and have a wide spectrum view of world and life.
Suggestions: The setting is perfect but the train times to Rome are very rare. It could have been more convenient for this gorgeous city but anyway I liked here. During free afternoons, we could have had special guides to take us to Rome and inform us around in the real setting. These are just suggestions coming to my mind. But everything in general has been great. I would miss everything here. Thanks a lot.

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Lucille – UK
Theory: I enjoyed finding out more about the theory and research underlying the Hocus and Lotus method. I now realize the depth of the method and how powerful it is.
Practical: Practicing the narrative format was initially an awkward experience but it quickly became a lot of fun. While I was preparing and performing the formats, I often thought of how enjoyable this experience would be for children. This motivated me to give my best go at telling and acting the story.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice?Definitely and more than anything else I have come across so far. I will put it in practice as early as next Monday!
Opinion about the house, place, food…: Great! The place was convenient (near Rome) and the house beautiful. The food was delicious.
Cultural aspects?: It was a great experience to meet people coming from different countries, all with a strong interest in teaching languages to young children in an effective way.

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Bettina – Turkey
Theory: The theoretical part was very interesting and clearly presented.
Practical: It was fun doing the practical part. But I would have been happier not doing first format so often. In general I believe that the course was useful and “enlightening”. All of our questions and problems are solved.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice?Yes, of course. We’ve been using Hocus and Lotus for about 4 years and we achieved and developed ourselves a lot. Still there are some details that we learnt during the course and will help us become even better!
Opinion about the house, place, food…: I did’nt like Albano Laziale, BUT I loved the Villa and the food (especially the Lasagne with zucchini e limoni)
Cultural aspects?: It was bad that during our lunch break all the shops were closed! The historical part of Rome is amazing and I am happy I had the chance to see some of them. Also Traute told us about some typical Italian manners and gestures and that was interesting too.
Suggestions: Loudspeakers for the laptop.

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Daniela - Bulgaria
Theory: The course is very useful for me, because I am Kindergarten teacher and me and my pupils are learning English as a foreign language. I had some difficulties when I started to look for an appropriate Program for my pupils and when I found that my National Agency will give me a chance to be a participant in this wonderful course. I decided to wait until the course finished and now I am 100% sure that I am going to work with this program with the children.I found that the theory was very easy to understand. The theory is difficult but Prof. Taeschner and Sabine Pirchio make everything easy to be understand.
Practical: The practical part was very interesting for me. That is something I have never seen before. The people who introduce the practical part are very well trained and makes me feel the magic of the model “Hocus and Lotus”.
Do you think the course will help you in your school practice?I think my pupils will love Hocus and Lotus and their adventures and the process of learning introduced with this model will be much easy.
Opinion about the house, place, food…: The place, the Villa is wonderful, very close to Rome, which gives us the chance to travel around the eternal city. And the food is absolutely delicious. Luba makes the most tasty food!
Cultural aspects?: I have never been in Italy before and I am happy that I have had a chance to meet Rome¡s most important monuments.

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Course Evaluation by participants of May 2010 Session
We had 14 participants of 6 different coutries, one also from Guatemala!
We asked them to give us their opinion at the end of the course. Everybody was enthusiastic.

Here some part of our new 'magic teachers and trainers' comments:

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Liz Kagi – UK
The whole week has been a remarkable experience and will be reflected in my practice in all subjects not just languages. Grazie Mille!

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Madalina Scorus - Romania
I think that the course really helped me to understand why the Hocus and Lotus method works so well with children. I am very happy that I had the chance to receive all this information from the mother of Hocus and Lotus J, because it is always important to have first hand information. I am very happy that I had the occasion to do several formats and to lead one. I can hardly wait to be a MAGIC TEACHER!

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Karen – UK
The course was great just as it was. I have enjoyed it and in some way it is life changing. Many thanks

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Nicolas Scorus – Romania
This training was an extraordinary experience, I liked very much the structure: how you related the theory and the practical exercises… I appreciated a lot the scientifical approach and the link with the H&L method, or how H&L responds to scientifically based and demonstrated perspectives.

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Liz Griggs - UK
The location was stunning, the accommodation was very confortable, the food was delicious! The lectures were stimulating, the acting out of formats outside was fun and very memorable, the course trainers were patient, friendly and encouraging. Mille Grazie!

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Stefanie Todd – Uk
The practical sessions which were undertaken in languages I do not understand allowed me to participate as a child would, having spoken no other languages than their native tongue. This was invaluable to me and has proved that even after just one session, a child/person can retain some foreign words using the narrative format.

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Florence- UK
I really enjoyed the training this week. The group bonded very well from the start. I really enjoyed learning about the theory behind Hocus and Lotus. I feel that I have now a good understanding of the approach and of the principles behind it.

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Tania Sanders – UK
A well balanced course combining theory and practice

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Zeliha Celme – Turkey
Honestly the course was fantastic. I had thought about new ideas before attending the course but the course was over my feelings and thoughts.

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Oksana Osokina – Latvia
It was the first time that I attended a course and I can tell that it was a very successful experience.

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Nicola Chapman – UK
I have learnt a lot of things this week! When I came to Italy I wanted to improve my understanding of the theory that supports this method and to improve my own teaching using the formats. I found the explanations about the psychological background and their effects fascinating. It helped me to understand how and why people learn to communicate and provided a clear explanation of why the Magic Teacher and the World that they create is so important.

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