The second HUPE Osijek branch meeting in the school year 2024-2025
The second HUPE Osijek branch meeting in the school year 2024-2025 was held on Saturday, 29 March 2025 at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. 23 HUPE members attended the meeting which lasted for four hours.
The agenda included:
- Mary Dimitrov: American accents and dialects
- Ivana Borozni: Serious Fun! Unlocking the Magic of Humor in Teaching
- Mirta Kos Kolobarić: Digitalize your stories
- HUPE news
The first workshop, titled American accents and dialects, was held by Mary Dimitrov, a Fulbright scholar and an English Teaching Assistant at the English Language Studies Department at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. Mary presented regional dialect and accent differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar across the USA, as well as demonstrated how geography, social class, and history shape these variations. African American Vernacular English (AAVE), Southern, California “Valley girl”/”Frat boy” and New York dialects and accents were discussed in more detail along with social attitudes toward these accents, which can sometimes be linked to stereotypes or biases. The session was very informative as participants learned new expressions and took a New York Times quiz to determine which American region most closely matches their own speech patterns.
The second workshop, titled Serious Fun! Unlocking the Magic of Humor in Teaching, was held by HUPE Slavonski Brod branch president Ivana Borozni from Dragutin Tadijanović Primary School in Slavonski Brod. Ivana presented many different ways teachers can incorporate humour in their EFL classrooms as an effective teaching tool that reduces anxiety, boosts engagement, and improves language retention. Some of the practical and ready-to-use activities that create a more dynamic and enjoyable classroom atmosphere include wordplay, situational jokes, visual humor, puns, memes, anecdotes, and storytelling.
The third workshop, titled Digitalize your storieswas held by Mirta Kos Kolobarić from Secondary School of Economics from Slavonski Brod. Mirta presented some tips and tricks for making and using digital stories in the classroom as a way to engage students in reading and creative writing while incorporating digital tools. Participants learned practical strategies to help students analyse story elements, create their own narratives, and transform them into digital versions, integrating writing, reading, and speaking skills. Examples of student-created digital stories from regular English lessons and an eTwinning project were also showcased.
The participants were also informed about the latest news in HUPE including the new HUPE Board members elected during the AGM at the HUPE Day on 15 March 2025, the winners of the 5th National Writing Competition – HUPE in Storyland, teacher training courses in New York and Bath planned for July and September, Languages United and HUPE cultural bake-alongs, student and teacher courses provided by our partners from SOL – Sharing One Language, and future professional development events and conferences by our partner associations.
Members were also encouraged to take an active role in HUPE and apply as volunteers for the position of the HUPE Osijek branch president, as the application process is open until 10 May 2025, and the elections will take place at the next branch meeting planned for the second half of May.
At the end of the meeting, the branch president organized a short raffle to give away six conference goody bags filled with useful ELT materials.
HUPE Osijek is grateful to the speakers and all the members who were able to attend the meeting on Saturday morning and create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for chatting and sharing ideas. Hopefully, we will see you at our next meeting in May.
Adrijana Roždijevac
HUPE Osijek Branch President
