Trnava language school HARMONY ACADEMY celebrates its 20th birthday in 2020. On this occasion, we have prepared an interview for you, in which we interviewed its founder and current director and lecturer Jana Chynoradská.
In this interview, you will learn about what 2019 has brought her as well as HARMONY, as well as their expectations and plans for 2020. Finally, we offer an invitation to free demonstrations of professional English workshops in the month of February 2020.
You could say that together with HARMONY you are celebrating a "porcelain" anniversary. What has changed in that time? What are the main differences between the then HA and today's?
That's a nice comparison! Yes, I lived every single day of her life with her, and I can proudly say that Harmony today is a "young lady" who knows exactly who she is and what she expects from life. As some may remember, it was born at the instigation of a student, Martin Březina, who in my classes got to know something special that appealed to him so much that he offered me the idea to open a language school. I was delighted with this feedback and seized the opportunity. I started teaching English to him and his colleagues from VUJE and with my lessons I gave the basis of life to a new language school in Trnava. In her first months, I was joined by young, talented and now exceptionally gifted foreign language teachers who helped me build my foundations. We started with English, later Slovak for foreigners, in 2005 French and German were added, and later Russian.
Each year of her life left its mark in the form of many new faces both in the ranks of students and her teachers or lecturers. We went through our "childhood diseases", created a number of job opportunities for modern-minded teachers and created a modern language school. Today, we stand firmly on our feet and, in addition to services for foreign language learners, whether individuals or companies, we offer accredited programs for foreign language teachers. As part of our development strategy, we have established partnerships with schools and educational organisations across Europe, in which we have been working on the Learn&Lead development concept for a long time and consistently.
How do you evaluate your work at HARMONY in the previous year? What made this year special?
2019 was a special year for HARMONY in several respects.
In cooperation with a Croatian partner, we managed to complete the development of a management software tool for managing the operation of a modern language school, which opens a career path for the development of a lecturer.
We have obtained new accreditations of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic for innovative educational programs for foreign language teachers, we have consolidated our position with our key business partners and customers, we have carried out several foreign trips and studies as well as the Learn&Lead 2019 conference within our current EU project HAPPY SCHOOL 2020 (KA1, Erasmusplus).
As for the internal HARMONY team, we managed to strengthen the team of key lecturers and leaders, as well as to get an exceptional personality in the field of language education – Ms. Andrea Rohuna – on a permanent basis. She is one of the first lecturers of HARMONY, when she started teaching with us during her studies at the University in 2001.
Today, Andrea Rohuna holds one of the key positions in my team and with her dedication, personal approach as well as unwavering perseverance and diplomacy, she helps to successfully "settle" the innovative Learn&Lead solution into our ranks.
I personally managed to successfully complete a two-year study at the Business University under the leadership of Ján Košturiak from IPA Slovakia. As part of it, I got to know a considerable number of honest and hard-working Slovak and Czech entrepreneurs, with whom we have formed stimulating friendships.
What are your expectations for 2020?
In 2020, we plan to make several business trips abroad, develop and deepen cooperation with two universities at home in Slovakia as well as in the Czech Republic. In particular, it is a partnership with the Faculty of Education of the Catholic University in Ružomberok in the forthcoming KA2 strategic partnership of the Erasmusplus programme and the Faculty of Management and Economics of the Tomáš Bata University in Zlín. With its deputy, Vice-Dean Doc. With Boris Popesk, we are launching a professional language training in the field of financial management for managers of companies and organizations doing business in the field of services.
This year, we are also targeting children. After a short break, since January of this year, we have relaunched cooperation with primary schools in our region. We have opened additional language courses at primary school in Majcichov and already in February we are bringing a new English course to our market in the field of pre-primary English called TEDDY EDDIE for children aged 2 to 6 years.
A significant part of our work this year remains corporate clients, for whom we offer both classical language courses in English, German, French or Slovak for foreigners, as well as thematically focused professional language workshops and development programs in a foreign language.
Since we have accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge in the quality management and development of the language school environment in almost 20 years of our existence, the fourth area that we will purposefully address in 2020 is teachers, Trainers and managers in language schools at home and abroad. We are open to sharing our knowledge with them and developing cooperation for sustainable growth and development of both the quality and variety of language school services and the development of key competences of teachers and school managers for the needs of a successful life in the 21st century.
HARMONY is known for its innovativeness and originality. What news have you prepared for your clients in the new year?
An absolute novelty for our clients is the AMBER service, which reveals everything that is registered, evaluated or otherwise recorded during courses. We offer both individual and corporate accounts, so clients have the opportunity to have full control over the spending of their lessons, records of the content page of the lessons as well as graphically represented data on participation or % evaluation of the success of their studies with us.
As far as education is concerned, this year we are launching new professional language trainings that are aimed at adults – whether teachers, lecturers, heads of various departments, a team of leaders, managers or entrepreneurs. All of them are based on the workshop of our Learn&Lead Innovation Center and are original inspiring realizations that "kick-start" a person in the area of his work.
Nowadays, more than ever, it is necessary to master at least one foreign language – and this at an excellent level. As can be seen from this interview, learning a foreign language in combination with a topic or professional profiling is a trend that is captured by those language schools that are really serious about the expertise and quality of their services and tutors. The fact that they do this in HARMONY is really excellently confirmed by the words of one of the participants of the professional English workshop at the Trnava automaker GROUPE PSA:
"After attending the workshop with Mrs. Chynoradskaya, I was in awe of how the time in the English class passes incredibly quickly. The workshop was really well prepared. I feel that during this one morning I have learned more than in the whole past English course. Now that I have something to compare, it is definitely better to take a few workshops than classic courses. "
If you feel like you've been tinkering with your English in one place for a while, maybe it's time to open up to just this form of study.
In the month of FEBRUARY 2020, you have the opportunity to come and try to participate in an English professional workshop directly to HARMONA on Halenárská 7 in the center of Trnava. Every Tuesday from 09.00 to 12.00, free demonstrations are held under the leadership of Jana Chynoradska.
All you have to do is keep your English at the minimum intermediate level (A2) and book your seat in advance at marketing@harmony.sk . You will have the opportunity to experience for yourself the charge, dedication and dedication of a professional whose heart has been beating for quality education since 1992, when she entered her first English class.
