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Yes, we got it!

Valia Metaxa
23/7/2013
"Occupation ……English teacher!”
"Yes, I got it- with honors!”
"2013 – Farewell and Welcome Proficiency Students!”
"Proficiency…. Together this year too!” 



‘Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.’ 
– Flora Lewis



I need the Proficiency as soon as possible…. I don’t know if I’ll make it….

It’s been a while since I last studied any English……Next week we’re sitting the exams…. How soon will the results come out?...We passed! We got the Proficiency!

The above are not just words I hear every year from my students in Proficiency….To me, it is an academic cycle at the Grapsa Educational Group. That’s how I have it in my mind and that’s how it is. Justifiable questions and concerns in the beginning, a lot of well-organized and collaborative work during the year – together – until the end.
Exam day…. I am filled with anxiety about my " children” which I always think I hide well and every time, I hear them tell me: "Don’t worry! We will all pass!” It is very nice to realize that the roles have been reversed, seeing them full of confidence and feeling good about yourself, because you know you’ve given them everything! You have a clear conscience, you feel proud because you did not deceive them even one moment! You made them feel strong and ready! You forget about how tiring the year has been and you draw unlimited strength to go on next year again, and the next, and the one after that.

That’s how I feel as a teacher. As a professional, I feel lucky to belong in the GRAPSA family.
It is not my first job. And so, making inevitable comparisons, I know I am at the Top. I know that I have not become stagnant, nor will I. I know that every year I will retrain with world-famous institutions like the University of Oxford. I know I will enrich my knowledge and will become a better educator. I know that the syllabi and the material which is prepared each year by the Grapsa academic team are unmatched! They are updated and are worked on continuously so that they are always up to date and lead to success! I know that I will have at my disposal the most advanced technology there is, so that my lesson is creative, enjoyable, and meets the needs of each student individually! I feel immeasurable joy when I hear them speak fluently … "it loosens the tongue”, as they themselves tell me, I rejoice together with them when they invite me to the language LAB and I see their scores improve spectacularly. I know quality work is done and that our students who trust in us will leave with a certificate!
I said they will leave… In reality, they never leave! And that is the magic at GRAPSA! Each year, when the lessons come to an end, you inevitably feel a sweet melancholy…you have bonded with your "children”, you have loved them, you have shared in their joys, their success, their difficult moments, their concerns, you have listened to their plans for the future, you want them to succeed and you know you have offered them an invaluable essential qualification for this – substantive knowledge in a foreign language….
You have had a good time together, on trips abroad, at parties, on theme nights…

How could I forget Vicky (occupation: model) rushing into class, all dressed and made up after a shooting, - it was at that point that we did 3-minute concentration exercises for the male population before starting grammar- or how touched we all were when Maria announced she was pregnant….
They are not just yet another ‘batch’, they are part of your life, as an educator and mainly as a human! I feel fortunate and happy therefore when our students do not ever ‘cut us out’! They may have achieved their goal but they will come by again to say ‘hello’, to tell us, glowing with pride, how they are doing in their studies, in their lives! They will recommend us to a friend of theirs, they will consult us for their studies abroad or for their CV in order to seek employment. At GRAPSA, the relationship with the student is built on solid foundations….

I almost forgot, though, the best moment. It is the moment when the teacher feels that they receive their real reward! It is specifically the incomparable moment you pick up the phone and….
Kelly, Konstantina, Marianna, Christopher, Mario, Rosa, Alex, Lino, Stavros, Lia, Matina, Sotiria, Ioanna, Faye, Thanasis, Sergio, Narod, Aphrodite….WE GOT IT! WE GOT THE PROFICIENCY!

This joy can’t be described! Yes, ‘we’ got it! We, the teachers, have ‘gotten’ many proficiencies! As a GRAPSA teacher, I have had the good fortune to feel this way every year! And that is something I wouldn’t change for anything! 

Learn more about the ECPE, CPE and other proficiency certificates. At GRAPSA you will also find online English lessons. These lessons have all the benefits of an in-person class giving emphasis to communication. Thus, wherever you may be located, you can, from your home or your office, with ease and without wasting your time commuting, learn English from a distance quickly and effectively. The GRAPSA intensive online English courses lead very quickly and successfully to English Certificates.