{"id":336,"date":"2019-07-19T11:54:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T09:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336"},"modified":"2019-07-19T20:39:19","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T18:39:19","slug":"336","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As\nI enter Kasia and Marek\u2019s office to begin the interview on my last day of work,\na glance out of the window makes me notice that it\u2019s raining on Plac\nBernandy\u0144ski. Polish weather has been ruthless with me during my three-month\ninternship in Kontakt, but nonetheless the colorful rooms of this language\nschool soothed the nostalgia about Mediterranean sun, typical of an Italian\ngirl living abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CJO\nKontakt has its 26 classrooms in a yellow building of the 1900s, a few steps\naway from Park Chopina, and shows with pride its international context in the\nflags sticking out beneath its windows. In perfect harmony with the\nlively-painted small houses in Stary Rynek, not only its corridors but also\nevery single classroom display a wide range of colours in the most uncommon\nshapes. If you were to have a treasure hunt around Kontakt, you\u2019d discover a\ndifferent mosaic in each room. \u00abIt was entertaining to decorate and to furnish\nthe school when we bought these apartments\u00bb, relates Kasia. \u00abWe had this idea\nwith our friend Isa, who was an interior designer. We wanted our students to\nfeel like home, to give a cosy and colorful impression. An alternative to the\ndull shades people usually associate with higher education\u00bb. In some cases,\neven the curtains\u2019 patterns match the decoration on the walls, and it amazes me\nto find out they were part of a plan to improve acoustics during teaching\nhours: \u00abWe had to deal with very long classrooms characterized by a disturbing\necho. Using cotton curtains helped in reducing this physical phenomenon, in\naddition to giving a homely feeling\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just\nas different-shaped tiles form altogether a wonderful and colorful mosaic,\nstudents and staff from all over the world contribute to the unique and\nirreplaceable vibe which one may feel in Kontakt. In the last week of my\ntraineeship, the interns\u2019 team has reached a quite impressive international\nlevel: students from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Zambia cooperate in\nthe backstage to give their best in this experience and to make the language school\na very special place. This is precisely what Kasia considers a fundamental\nfeature for Plac Bernandy\u0144ski\u2019s language school: \u00abThe international environment\nis something I couldn\u2019t really do without. Teachers and students from different\ncountries make you understand and learn a lot about diverse perceptions of the\nsame situation, especially when it comes to time and punctuality! To work in\nsuch a context is definetely stimulating.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nbed of roses though, since Kasia and Marek also experienced many ups and downs\nthroughout the years which witnessed the growth of Kontakt as a very important\nlinguistic centre in Pozna\u0144. It was August, 2000, both of them were graduating\nfrom universities; Kasia was focusing on the end of her career in languages and\nMarek was writing his thesis about quality management in language schools, then\nthe idea came: \u00abWe chose the name of the school looking for a word which could\nbe understood in several languages\u2026 and of course which didn\u2019t include any\nPolish letters, since they\u2019re so difficult to write and pronounce!\u00bb Their\nproject consisted in creating an educational centre in which different\nlanguages could be taught, offering a unique product on the competitive Pozna\u0144\nmarket. Starting up wasn\u2019t easy: Kasia and Marek\u2019s house became the first\nKontakt office, classrooms were rented everywhere around the city, in different\nschools and buildings, and were used only for short teaching hours. It took\nmany years to be completely independent, but the first step was taken in 2004,\nwhen they moved to Plac Bernandy\u0144ski and laid the basis for CJO as we know it\ntoday. \u00abA great achievement was doubtlessly becoming an open ETS TOEIC centre:\no we were allowed to give anybody the chance to enrol for examinations, so that\nthe access is free not only to our students but also to everyone who wants to\ntry.\u00bb In 2013, Kontakt entered the Erasmus+ programme, which opened the school\nto interns from EU and with them, to new impulses; then, in 2015 it was\nselected for an Erasmus+ grant, together with other 12 schools in Poland: 25\nCJO employees left for Spain and Malta to take part in a two-year training\nproject, which prompted their professional and personal growth. Since that time\nErasmus+ or PO WER grants have been realised regularly in different countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nhard to sum up the multiple aspects of such experiences in just three words,\nbut Kasia gives in gladly to my request: \u00abIf I had to choose 3 words to\ndescribe Kontakt, they would probably be Atmosphere, Flexibility and Culture.\nWe\u2019ve always striven for a friendly and cosy place, in which our students could\nfeel comfortable and at ease. We like to meet our customers\u2019 needs without\nbeing too strict, and we want to give chances to everyone, even when it\nwouldn\u2019t result in a concrete profit. Last but not least, we are strongly\nconvinced that a cultural approach (including workshops, presentations, and\ninteractions with native speakers) is the first and best way to be in touch\nwith a language: you must feel it if you want to learn it!\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aussie\nis sleeping in his kennel under the desk covered with papers, letters and\nhighlighters, and I wonder if he\u2019s able to hear me when I ask Kasia about his\nrole in the school: \u00abHe\u2019s PR and marketing director!\u00bb, she chuckles, tongue in\ncheek. \u00abPeople are glad to see him everyday, sometimes some students just come\nover to say hello to our labrador. I believe he spreads cheerfulness around\u00bb.\nMarek appears on the door when the interview is almost over, but he\u2019s on time\nto confirm: \u00abAussie sweetens the heart of everyone.\u00bb Marek\u2019s probably the\ntallest person I\u2019ve met in my whole life, and a rather good laugh when he has\nto pull my leg, giving me wrong information just a few minutes before the\nworking hours. This is why I turn to him to learn more about the funniest\nmoments in Kontakt\u2019s history: \u00abThere are so many it\u2019s impossible to remember,\nbut if anybody wants to know, they should ask Gerard. He experienced the most.\u00bb\nThen he mentions an English course for children and a misunderstanding in which\nthe English word \u201cham\u201d and the Polish \u201ccham\u201d were involved, but that\u2019s another\nstory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays\nan average of 60 staff members, including interns, teachers, PRs and secretary\noperators, work in Kontakt every day, and the language courses are attended by\napproximately 2000 students a year. English, German, Spanish, Portuguese,\nItalian, French, Russian, and of course, Polish, are taught and spoken daily in\nthis colorful, joyful and welcoming environment, which makes both the\nexperience of teaching and learning unique and enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nmy last day of work it\u2019s still raining over Pozna\u0144, but in the end it doesn\u2019t\neven matter. Truth has it, some wonderful, joyful and irreplaceable people have\nmade my moments in Kontakt one of the best experiences of my life, and they\nhave taught me that colours shine not only through decorative mosaics on the\nwalls of a place, but also and especially through the\nattitude of every single person which is ready to share something with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S.:\na special thanks goes to Agata (PR), a Polish mom to me; to Olympia, a very\nbrave and hardworking French Philology student; to Agata (secretary), for her\npatience, constance and availability; to Gerard, for his unbelievable madness;\nto Marta, for being a true friend in times of trouble; to Ola, the coolest\nErasmus coordinator ever; to Aussie, for making my day, constantly trying to\nsteal my food; and to all my beloved interns, no need to write your names, you\nalready know it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autor<\/strong>: Cristina Iorno, the Italian intern at KONTAKT in 2017\/ blog.cjo.pl
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I enter Kasia and Marek\u2019s office to begin the interview on my last day of work, a glance out of the window makes me notice that it\u2019s raining on Plac Bernandy\u0144ski. Polish weather has been ruthless with me during my three-month internship in Kontakt, but nonetheless the colorful rooms of this language school soothed the nostalgia about Mediterranean sun, typical of an Italian girl living abroad. CJO Kontakt has its 26 classrooms in a yellow building of the 1900s, a few steps away from Park Chopina, and shows with pride its international context in the flags sticking out beneath its windows. In perfect harmony with the lively-painted small houses in Stary Rynek, not only its corridors but also every single classroom display a wide range of colours in the most uncommon shapes. If you were to have a treasure hunt around Kontakt, you\u2019d discover a different mosaic in each room. \u00abIt was entertaining to decorate and to furnish the school when we bought these apartments\u00bb, relates Kasia. \u00abWe had this idea with our friend Isa, who was an interior designer. We wanted our students to feel like home, to give a cosy and colorful impression. An alternative to the dull shades people usually associate with higher education\u00bb. In some cases, even the curtains\u2019 patterns match the decoration on the walls, and it amazes me to find out they were part of a plan to improve acoustics during teaching hours: \u00abWe had to deal with very long classrooms characterized by a disturbing echo. Using cotton curtains helped in reducing this physical phenomenon, in addition to giving a homely feeling\u00bb. Just as different-shaped tiles form altogether a wonderful and colorful mosaic, students and staff from all over the world contribute to the unique and irreplaceable vibe which one may feel in Kontakt. In the last week of my traineeship, the interns\u2019 team has reached a quite impressive international level: students from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Zambia cooperate in the backstage to give their best in this experience and to make the language school a very special place. This is precisely what Kasia considers a fundamental feature for Plac Bernandy\u0144ski\u2019s language school: \u00abThe international environment is something I couldn\u2019t really do without. Teachers and students from different countries make you understand and learn a lot about diverse perceptions of the same situation, especially when it comes to time and punctuality! To work in such a context is definetely stimulating.\u00bb No bed of roses though, since Kasia and Marek also experienced many ups and downs throughout the years which witnessed the growth of Kontakt as a very important linguistic centre in Pozna\u0144. It was August, 2000, both of them were graduating from universities; Kasia was focusing on the end of her career in languages and Marek was writing his thesis about quality management in language schools, then the idea came: \u00abWe chose the name of the school looking for a word which could be understood in several languages\u2026 and of course which didn\u2019t include any Polish letters, since they\u2019re so difficult to write and pronounce!\u00bb Their project consisted in creating an educational centre in which different languages could be taught, offering a unique product on the competitive Pozna\u0144 market. Starting up wasn\u2019t easy: Kasia and Marek\u2019s house became the first Kontakt office, classrooms were rented everywhere around the city, in different schools and buildings, and were used only for short teaching hours. It took many years to be completely independent, but the first step was taken in 2004, when they moved to Plac Bernandy\u0144ski and laid the basis for CJO as we know it today. \u00abA great achievement was doubtlessly becoming an open ETS TOEIC centre: o we were allowed to give anybody the chance to enrol for examinations, so that the access is free not only to our students but also to everyone who wants to try.\u00bb In 2013, Kontakt entered the Erasmus+ programme, which opened the school to interns from EU and with them, to new impulses; then, in 2015 it was selected for an Erasmus+ grant, together with other 12 schools in Poland: 25 CJO employees left for Spain and Malta to take part in a two-year training project, which prompted their professional and personal growth. Since that time Erasmus+ or PO WER grants have been realised regularly in different countries. It\u2019s hard to sum up the multiple aspects of such experiences in just three words, but Kasia gives in gladly to my request: \u00abIf I had to choose 3 words to describe Kontakt, they would probably be Atmosphere, Flexibility and Culture. We\u2019ve always striven for a friendly and cosy place, in which our students could feel comfortable and at ease. We like to meet our customers\u2019 needs without being too strict, and we want to give chances to everyone, even when it wouldn\u2019t result in a concrete profit. Last but not least, we are strongly convinced that a cultural approach (including workshops, presentations, and interactions with native speakers) is the first and best way to be in touch with a language: you must feel it if you want to learn it!\u00bb Aussie is sleeping in his kennel under the desk covered with papers, letters and highlighters, and I wonder if he\u2019s able to hear me when I ask Kasia about his role in the school: \u00abHe\u2019s PR and marketing director!\u00bb, she chuckles, tongue in cheek. \u00abPeople are glad to see him everyday, sometimes some students just come over to say hello to our labrador. I believe he spreads cheerfulness around\u00bb. Marek appears on the door when the interview is almost over, but he\u2019s on time to confirm: \u00abAussie sweetens the heart of everyone.\u00bb Marek\u2019s probably the tallest person I\u2019ve met in my whole life, and a rather good laugh when he has to pull my leg, giving me wrong information just a few minutes before the working hours. This is why I turn to him to learn more about the funniest moments in Kontakt\u2019s history: \u00abThere are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,18],"yoast_head":"\n-<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"-\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I enter Kasia and Marek\u2019s office to begin the interview on my last day of work, a glance out of the window makes me notice that it\u2019s raining on Plac Bernandy\u0144ski. Polish weather has been ruthless with me during my three-month internship in Kontakt, but nonetheless the colorful rooms of this language school soothed the nostalgia about Mediterranean sun, typical of an Italian girl living abroad. CJO Kontakt has its 26 classrooms in a yellow building of the 1900s, a few steps away from Park Chopina, and shows with pride its international context in the flags sticking out beneath its windows. In perfect harmony with the lively-painted small houses in Stary Rynek, not only its corridors but also every single classroom display a wide range of colours in the most uncommon shapes. If you were to have a treasure hunt around Kontakt, you\u2019d discover a different mosaic in each room. \u00abIt was entertaining to decorate and to furnish the school when we bought these apartments\u00bb, relates Kasia. \u00abWe had this idea with our friend Isa, who was an interior designer. We wanted our students to feel like home, to give a cosy and colorful impression. An alternative to the dull shades people usually associate with higher education\u00bb. In some cases, even the curtains\u2019 patterns match the decoration on the walls, and it amazes me to find out they were part of a plan to improve acoustics during teaching hours: \u00abWe had to deal with very long classrooms characterized by a disturbing echo. Using cotton curtains helped in reducing this physical phenomenon, in addition to giving a homely feeling\u00bb. Just as different-shaped tiles form altogether a wonderful and colorful mosaic, students and staff from all over the world contribute to the unique and irreplaceable vibe which one may feel in Kontakt. In the last week of my traineeship, the interns\u2019 team has reached a quite impressive international level: students from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Zambia cooperate in the backstage to give their best in this experience and to make the language school a very special place. This is precisely what Kasia considers a fundamental feature for Plac Bernandy\u0144ski\u2019s language school: \u00abThe international environment is something I couldn\u2019t really do without. Teachers and students from different countries make you understand and learn a lot about diverse perceptions of the same situation, especially when it comes to time and punctuality! To work in such a context is definetely stimulating.\u00bb No bed of roses though, since Kasia and Marek also experienced many ups and downs throughout the years which witnessed the growth of Kontakt as a very important linguistic centre in Pozna\u0144. It was August, 2000, both of them were graduating from universities; Kasia was focusing on the end of her career in languages and Marek was writing his thesis about quality management in language schools, then the idea came: \u00abWe chose the name of the school looking for a word which could be understood in several languages\u2026 and of course which didn\u2019t include any Polish letters, since they\u2019re so difficult to write and pronounce!\u00bb Their project consisted in creating an educational centre in which different languages could be taught, offering a unique product on the competitive Pozna\u0144 market. Starting up wasn\u2019t easy: Kasia and Marek\u2019s house became the first Kontakt office, classrooms were rented everywhere around the city, in different schools and buildings, and were used only for short teaching hours. It took many years to be completely independent, but the first step was taken in 2004, when they moved to Plac Bernandy\u0144ski and laid the basis for CJO as we know it today. \u00abA great achievement was doubtlessly becoming an open ETS TOEIC centre: o we were allowed to give anybody the chance to enrol for examinations, so that the access is free not only to our students but also to everyone who wants to try.\u00bb In 2013, Kontakt entered the Erasmus+ programme, which opened the school to interns from EU and with them, to new impulses; then, in 2015 it was selected for an Erasmus+ grant, together with other 12 schools in Poland: 25 CJO employees left for Spain and Malta to take part in a two-year training project, which prompted their professional and personal growth. Since that time Erasmus+ or PO WER grants have been realised regularly in different countries. It\u2019s hard to sum up the multiple aspects of such experiences in just three words, but Kasia gives in gladly to my request: \u00abIf I had to choose 3 words to describe Kontakt, they would probably be Atmosphere, Flexibility and Culture. We\u2019ve always striven for a friendly and cosy place, in which our students could feel comfortable and at ease. We like to meet our customers\u2019 needs without being too strict, and we want to give chances to everyone, even when it wouldn\u2019t result in a concrete profit. Last but not least, we are strongly convinced that a cultural approach (including workshops, presentations, and interactions with native speakers) is the first and best way to be in touch with a language: you must feel it if you want to learn it!\u00bb Aussie is sleeping in his kennel under the desk covered with papers, letters and highlighters, and I wonder if he\u2019s able to hear me when I ask Kasia about his role in the school: \u00abHe\u2019s PR and marketing director!\u00bb, she chuckles, tongue in cheek. \u00abPeople are glad to see him everyday, sometimes some students just come over to say hello to our labrador. I believe he spreads cheerfulness around\u00bb. Marek appears on the door when the interview is almost over, but he\u2019s on time to confirm: \u00abAussie sweetens the heart of everyone.\u00bb Marek\u2019s probably the tallest person I\u2019ve met in my whole life, and a rather good laugh when he has to pull my leg, giving me wrong information just a few minutes before the working hours. This is why I turn to him to learn more about the funniest moments in Kontakt\u2019s history: \u00abThere are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-19T09:54:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-19T18:39:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Napisane przez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CJO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Szacowany czas czytania\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minut\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"Blog - Centrum J\\u0119zyk\\u00f3w Obcych KONTAKT\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342.jpg\",\"width\":5184,\"height\":3456},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336\",\"name\":\"-\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-19T09:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-19T18:39:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#\/schema\/person\/26cea28e271442048c432e650ac29615\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Strona g\\u0142\\u00f3wna\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#\/schema\/person\/26cea28e271442048c432e650ac29615\",\"name\":\"CJO\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"-","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336","og_locale":"pl_PL","og_type":"article","og_title":"-","og_description":"As I enter Kasia and Marek\u2019s office to begin the interview on my last day of work, a glance out of the window makes me notice that it\u2019s raining on Plac Bernandy\u0144ski. Polish weather has been ruthless with me during my three-month internship in Kontakt, but nonetheless the colorful rooms of this language school soothed the nostalgia about Mediterranean sun, typical of an Italian girl living abroad. CJO Kontakt has its 26 classrooms in a yellow building of the 1900s, a few steps away from Park Chopina, and shows with pride its international context in the flags sticking out beneath its windows. In perfect harmony with the lively-painted small houses in Stary Rynek, not only its corridors but also every single classroom display a wide range of colours in the most uncommon shapes. If you were to have a treasure hunt around Kontakt, you\u2019d discover a different mosaic in each room. \u00abIt was entertaining to decorate and to furnish the school when we bought these apartments\u00bb, relates Kasia. \u00abWe had this idea with our friend Isa, who was an interior designer. We wanted our students to feel like home, to give a cosy and colorful impression. An alternative to the dull shades people usually associate with higher education\u00bb. In some cases, even the curtains\u2019 patterns match the decoration on the walls, and it amazes me to find out they were part of a plan to improve acoustics during teaching hours: \u00abWe had to deal with very long classrooms characterized by a disturbing echo. Using cotton curtains helped in reducing this physical phenomenon, in addition to giving a homely feeling\u00bb. Just as different-shaped tiles form altogether a wonderful and colorful mosaic, students and staff from all over the world contribute to the unique and irreplaceable vibe which one may feel in Kontakt. In the last week of my traineeship, the interns\u2019 team has reached a quite impressive international level: students from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Zambia cooperate in the backstage to give their best in this experience and to make the language school a very special place. This is precisely what Kasia considers a fundamental feature for Plac Bernandy\u0144ski\u2019s language school: \u00abThe international environment is something I couldn\u2019t really do without. Teachers and students from different countries make you understand and learn a lot about diverse perceptions of the same situation, especially when it comes to time and punctuality! To work in such a context is definetely stimulating.\u00bb No bed of roses though, since Kasia and Marek also experienced many ups and downs throughout the years which witnessed the growth of Kontakt as a very important linguistic centre in Pozna\u0144. It was August, 2000, both of them were graduating from universities; Kasia was focusing on the end of her career in languages and Marek was writing his thesis about quality management in language schools, then the idea came: \u00abWe chose the name of the school looking for a word which could be understood in several languages\u2026 and of course which didn\u2019t include any Polish letters, since they\u2019re so difficult to write and pronounce!\u00bb Their project consisted in creating an educational centre in which different languages could be taught, offering a unique product on the competitive Pozna\u0144 market. Starting up wasn\u2019t easy: Kasia and Marek\u2019s house became the first Kontakt office, classrooms were rented everywhere around the city, in different schools and buildings, and were used only for short teaching hours. It took many years to be completely independent, but the first step was taken in 2004, when they moved to Plac Bernandy\u0144ski and laid the basis for CJO as we know it today. \u00abA great achievement was doubtlessly becoming an open ETS TOEIC centre: o we were allowed to give anybody the chance to enrol for examinations, so that the access is free not only to our students but also to everyone who wants to try.\u00bb In 2013, Kontakt entered the Erasmus+ programme, which opened the school to interns from EU and with them, to new impulses; then, in 2015 it was selected for an Erasmus+ grant, together with other 12 schools in Poland: 25 CJO employees left for Spain and Malta to take part in a two-year training project, which prompted their professional and personal growth. Since that time Erasmus+ or PO WER grants have been realised regularly in different countries. It\u2019s hard to sum up the multiple aspects of such experiences in just three words, but Kasia gives in gladly to my request: \u00abIf I had to choose 3 words to describe Kontakt, they would probably be Atmosphere, Flexibility and Culture. We\u2019ve always striven for a friendly and cosy place, in which our students could feel comfortable and at ease. We like to meet our customers\u2019 needs without being too strict, and we want to give chances to everyone, even when it wouldn\u2019t result in a concrete profit. Last but not least, we are strongly convinced that a cultural approach (including workshops, presentations, and interactions with native speakers) is the first and best way to be in touch with a language: you must feel it if you want to learn it!\u00bb Aussie is sleeping in his kennel under the desk covered with papers, letters and highlighters, and I wonder if he\u2019s able to hear me when I ask Kasia about his role in the school: \u00abHe\u2019s PR and marketing director!\u00bb, she chuckles, tongue in cheek. \u00abPeople are glad to see him everyday, sometimes some students just come over to say hello to our labrador. I believe he spreads cheerfulness around\u00bb. Marek appears on the door when the interview is almost over, but he\u2019s on time to confirm: \u00abAussie sweetens the heart of everyone.\u00bb Marek\u2019s probably the tallest person I\u2019ve met in my whole life, and a rather good laugh when he has to pull my leg, giving me wrong information just a few minutes before the working hours. This is why I turn to him to learn more about the funniest moments in Kontakt\u2019s history: \u00abThere are […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336","article_published_time":"2019-07-19T09:54:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-19T18:39:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"path":"2019\/07\/MG_1342-1024x683.jpg","url":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342-1024x683.jpg","size":"large","id":337,"alt":"","pixels":699392,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Napisane przez":"CJO","Szacowany czas czytania":"7 minut"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/","name":"","description":"Blog - Centrum J\u0119zyk\u00f3w Obcych KONTAKT","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"pl-PL"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#primaryimage","inLanguage":"pl-PL","url":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#webpage","url":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336","name":"-","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-07-19T09:54:08+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-19T18:39:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#\/schema\/person\/26cea28e271442048c432e650ac29615"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pl-PL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?p=336#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna","item":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":""}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/#\/schema\/person\/26cea28e271442048c432e650ac29615","name":"CJO","url":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MG_1342.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cjo.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}