More About Me

 

Technical skills:

The two websites I made some years ago target worldwide learners of Chinese and Bulgarian learners of English. I am currently working on expanding the audience for the latter by switching to an English-language version of itself.

Recently I obtained a certification as MOS Master, passing the Expert level in Word and Excel, as well as the PowerPoint and Outlook exams.

 

Language skills:

Bulgarian is my mother tongue. I am also fluent in English, which I have been teaching since 2000.

Chinese was my university major both in Sofia and in Beijing.

German I studied online while living in Zurich, with my teacher living in the area of Leipzig. Additionally, I took every opportunity to use the language, finished a C1 course at Migros Klubschule in Zurich and in August this year also completed a month-long specialization in Vienna, which was held in German and resulted in my MOS certification.

Russian is a language I am passionate about and I am currently taking online classes once a week.

 

Event organization:

1) Professionally

I won the Quality Award at the AVO-Bell internal annual competition “English Beyond the Classroom” with my Language Exchange Initiative, which was organized for the students of the school. Learners of Bulgarian were invited to exchange languages in an informal environment, which both groups found exciting and really productive.

2) Privately

The German study group I started in Zurich helped a lot of people, including myself, to improve. When I started it in August 2014, I myself was learning German at level A1. We would get together to study and attempt a conversation, go to events or organize our own and help each other learn. Last time I organized a meeting in May 2017, it was for advanced speakers and we had an in-depth discussion of current affairs and of the lecture we had just heard.
 

Chinese New Year 2017 was celebrated by the Chinese Language Meetup, which, I am happy to say, is still going strong and the group still meets every Tuesday afternoon for a chat. Many of the participants are now regulars, who would simply stop by to check how their friends’ life is going, and meet someone new.

What students are saying about me:

On Myngle: myngle.com

On Verbalplanet as an English teacher: www.verbalplanet.com

On Verbalplanet as a Chinese teacher: www.verbalplanet.com

 

What I do besides work:

A few years back I was asked at a language meeting what my hobby is. And in my then-beginner German, I managed to reply, much to the delightful amazement of all listeners: "Mein Leben ist mein Hobby." To this day I stand by it. Work and life outside work are both elements of a life I want to have. So the only way to draw the line is: 1) things I get paid to do and 2) everything else.

Here is a bit of everything else:

I love travelling. Europe is where I have felt best so far, so I have devoted most of my travel time to exploring the continent. Others are to follow.

I enjoy jigsaw puzzles and party games, with preference to the latter as the more social one. But I can spend hours staring at a jigsaw puzzle and then feel extremely satisfied at the accomplishment of completing one corner.

Eating out, trying out new dishes, enjoying a lovely meal with friends or, to be honest, eating in general, is so much a part of what I like to do, that I am really one of those people who live to eat rather than eat to live.

A not-so-unhealthy but still a mania, is reading. I cannot often spare the time to read novels, as I read a lot for work. But when I do, I can read an entire book in one go, stopping only to fetch some food. If you are asking yourself why, check out the previous paragraph :)