Dear HLT Readers,

Welcome to the June issue of HLT. At Pilgrims we are busy getting ready for our teacher training summer courses in Segovia and also for our summer programmes for children and teenagers in Harrow school and Bradfield college, UK. Your can read more about them in 

Pilgrims Practises What It Preaches by Till Gins, Lead Officer at Pilgrims.

Pilgrims trainers have been busy attending conferences and teaching events. You can read their reports in: Reflections on learning with Pilgrims and Learn & Lead Innovation by Mercedes Pérez Berbain, The 48th Annual Conference of TESOL Spain by Judit Fehér, TESOL Greece Annual International Convention 2025: A Photo Diary by Hanna Kryszewska, and IATEFL Slovenia 2025 – A Perfect Blend of Learning, Culture, and Relaxation! by Marta Bujakowska.

From these conferences we bring new contacts and ideas we want to share with you. For example, at TESOL France I harvested the following articles by the plenary speakers: Thank You Mrs. McLean by Terry Small, Transforming Educators into High Quality Connections – HQCs by Rachel Paling, and Empowering Minds: Integrating Positive Education and Mental Health Literacy into Language Teaching by Alicja Gałązka.

In ELT News you can read about upcoming events which you might want to attend. Also, don’t miss a  Special Event: Mario Day: Celebrate Humanistic Teaching – In Memory of Mario Rinvolucri. It will be held on Mario’s birthday.

In The April issue we said good-bye to Mario Rinvolucri. Sadly, in this issue we are saying good-bye to Luke Prodromou in Obituary: Luke Prodromou (1950-2025) by Alan Maley, and Luke by Ken Wilson.

In this issue we also remember Jerzy Limon, who just like Luke Prodromou, was a ‘Shakespeare man’. Who was he and what was the event end of May 2025? And why the article in HLT?

Professor  Jerzy Limon( 1950-2021) was a Shakespearian  scholar whose unprecedented  vision and creativity have inspired the rise and fame of The Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre. He was born on May 24th  1950.  To mark the occasion, the Gdańsk Shakespeare Foundation  invited the celestial  constellation of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major, the Great Bear ) to answer questions from the audience in  the theatre with the help of  Artificial Intelligence. What followed was a special evening full  of  astral  energy and…. jazz, as a tribute to Jerzy Limon as the creator of the Gdańsk  Theatre and his canon of literary works. (M.S)

 

What has been the special HLT connection with Jurek Limon and the Theatre? We have been friends with Jurek, a true humanist, and his project for years. So, we are happy to celebrate what-would-have-been-his-75th birthday and present this special person as well as his ideas and initiatives through a ready to use project. In the article Celebrating the Man, Celebrating English: Jerzy Limon and the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre  we are reprinting a whole package to be used in class. (The whole project was sponsored by Theatrum Gedanense Foundation and is reprinted by permission.) 

Magdalena Zawadzka  generously shares her ideas and her two Jurek Limon projects with HLT Readers to be used with your B1 or B2 learners. It is a wealth of ideas and resources to be used in class. I am sure you could also get inspired and create similar projects around people worth celebrating in your country or the area where you live. 

Our regular columns are doing really well. The Creativity Group have contributed: Creative Writing for CPD, and Ruby’s Story, Eco Issues have contributed: Nurturing Young Minds and Hearts with Ecojustice, and No Project have contributed Addressing the Crime of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery: The Undeniable Power of Education.

There are also articles on teaching young learners: The Exploration of a Play and Creative Puppetry-Based Approach to Teach Modern Languages at Early Years Primary Level by Tania Czajka, The Joys and Challenges of Tutoring Preschoolers: Personal Observations and Reflections by Saman Hassan, and From Cat Tales to Classroom: Empowering Children Through Storytelling by Sezgi Yalın, articles on AI in education: From Fear to Innovation:  Harnessing AI to Transform Education by Jolanta Lesiak, and The Need for a New School Experience by Roy Andersen, and articles on approaches and methods: The Positive Language Teaching Approach by Selami Aydın, Balancing Focus on Form and Meaning with Input Enhancement by Waqas Ahmad, and Increasing the Motivation Levels of ESL Students by Mark Stoneburgh and Anthony Page.

Don’t miss the Publications section presenting and reviewing new exciting titles.

Enjoy this jam-packed issue of HLT.

Hanna (Hania) Kryszewska

HLT Editor

Email: hania.kryszewska@pilgrimsteachertraining.eu