Julia Gisbert

„I was born in Barcelona, Spain, but my family moved out to England shortly after. This gave me the opportunity to learn the English language at a very early stage of my life. Later I returned to Spain, this time to Madrid, where I coursed part of my studies as well as studying French and English as foreign languages. I love languages! Also, since a very young age I travelled frequently to France and got acquainted with its wonderful culture, art and history. Soon the French language came as a second mother tongue to me. I studied Hispanic Philology in Madrid and later I went to the University in Normandy and Paris, France and then Belgium, to study a career in interpretation and translation of French and English language into Spanish language.
After giving birth to my first child and experimenting the joy and amazement of the learning process, the idea of becoming a teacher captivated me. Thanks to the encouragement and help from my husband, I attended several specialized courses for teachers and was able to start working as one. Soon after, I realized that education turned out to be my true vocation!
Having lived in many countries, I have acquired precious understanding of each one of them and when I came to Bulgaria, five years ago, I was amazed by its people and ancient culture; I’m delighted to work with such wonderful and interesting people.
I have acquired solid experience working as a teacher of foreign languages for native Bulgarian speakers at the Instituto Cervantes in Sofia, as well as at several private schools.
I currently teach classes to students from kinder-garden to 12th grade, as well as adults, feeling perfectly comfortable with a diverse array of students of varying ages and abilities.
I take satisfaction on constantly gaining knowledge and developing my teaching skills to effectively suit various learning styles, evolving continuously as an educator as well as cultivating the ability to foster a lively and enthusiastic classroom and a positive learning environment.
I believe in the importance of incorporating cultural and historical components into the lessons in order to diversify and expand the learning material while situating the language into a genuine context. I also enjoy introducing my students’ personal interests and sometimes my own, such as yoga and history of art, which I believe can be successfully integrated in some teaching modalities. When I came to know about the Suggestopedia method I have to admit it was like a dream come true: a teaching process employing a combination or art, drama, music and games seems ideal to me for many reasons.
I do believe, as Professor Lozanov stated, that a relaxed but focused state is the optimum state for learning. Creating conditions in which learners are alert and receptive within a comfortable and relaxing environment can only have a positive effect on motivation and the learning process.
Also, it’s been a very pleasant surprise to learn that one of the principles of Suggestopedia is the loving and caring relationship between teacher and student, something that’s always been extremely important to me. I like to treat my students with dedication and kindness, always encouraging and stimulating them.
So much about the Suggestopedia method philosophy inspires me and it is so closely related to my own teaching methods that it was hard to believe and wonderful to find.“