Gabriela Plamenova Stankova - majored in German Philology, profile "Teacher".

Department of "Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching"

In 2024, I successfully majored in German Philology at Sofia University, and a few months later I received my diploma. Even in my first year, I was sure that I would specialize professionally in teaching German to children, adolescents, and adults. I am currently a German teacher at the 35th Secondary Language School "Dobri Voynikov" in Sofia, teaching at the high school level. I would be happy to share that this has been my dream since the time I first found out about the German language. My first German teacher inspired and motivated me to follow her footsteps and make my dream of returning to school come true.

During my studies at Sofia University, I had the opportunity to acquire professional qualifications, with the preparation being both theoretical and practical. Of particular importance to me is the practice, during which I learnt about different teaching methods, diverse and individual approaches from already experienced teachers, I stood in front of the whiteboard and planned and organized classes myself. During my practice, I learned how to plan my time, how to develop my lessons in order to achieve the goals at the end of each of them. The teachers who were with us have had the role of mentors and have always been ready to help and give advice from their professional experience. Theory should not be underestimated, because in my opinion, this is the foundation without which we cannot enter the classroom and work successfully for the sake of children's development. During the lecture course and the elective subjects, we had the opportunity to thoroughly familiarize ourselves with the curricula, the regulations and norms of the Ministry of Education, to analyze and discuss them. We had the opportunity to organize sample lessons for different age groups and levels with a focus on the basic competences of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, always discussing the advantages and disadvantages and the expected results. It is extremely important for future students to realize the connection between theory and practice in order to always be of benefit to their students. However, we must not forget that a person learns while throughout his/her entire life, so I advise all students to continue their development and build on what they learned in the lecture course of the Department of "Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching".