Say hello to Sanja Čonjagić, our Coordinator in Serbia.

Tell us about your work/role with SOL:  

I have been a coordinator since 2009. For over five years, I have been organising SOuL camp which includes many organizational phases and activities .

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What, or who, was your first encounter with SOL?

I first met Grenville in 2008 at the IATEFL Hungary conference. At that time, I was the International coordinator of ELTA Serbia, so we kept in touch, I invited them to come to our annual conference, which they did. After the conference, Grenville invited me to visit SOL and asked me to represent SOL in Serbia which I gladly accepted since establishing contacts and spreading the network with the other ELT associations and similar organisations was one of the duties I had already been doing as the ELTA International coordinator. I initiated signing a contract between ELTA and SOL.

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‍What do you love about SOL?    

I love the people and your devotion to provide unique experience for everyone coming to you.

Our students get a real insight into the culture, way of living, experience being a part of a family, expend their knowledge and gain confidence in communicating in English. For students coming from the Balkan, a very important aspect of these open courses is being mixed with some children from the neighbouring countries (having in mind all the notorious happenings in the region throughout the nineties, media presentations, prejudices), so they can meet each other and realise there are more similarities than differences among us! Overcoming the prejudices and enhancing friendships is the highlight of SOL.  

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Where and what direction would you like to see SOL take in the future?

I am not sure what the future will bring. I hope SOL will continue spreading its mission and being present in this part of Europe. Besides these links with the ELT associations, in my opinion SOL should try to establish cooperation and partnerships with some other institutions – the ones experienced in providing programmes through Erasmus, so that more teachers could come to SOL!  

When you’re not supporting SOL, what do you do? 

I run an Educational Centre (www.premier-centar.com), we deliver language courses for children and adults. Besides teaching, I manage the centre, organise some additional activities, trainings, promotions, etc. This school year, we have got around 400 students (50 groups) learning English, German, Italian and French. Besides this, I am also a regional ELTA coordinator, so I organise and facilitate seminars for English teachers.  

Tell us something interesting about your country we may not know?

Each country is worth visiting and exploring, so do come to Serbia.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDHpcAFSMr0&t=100s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9‍ArNLVTn9x0&t=15s

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If you would like more information on bringing a group from Serbia please visit our Serbian page or email Sanja at info@premier-centar.com

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