Glen: The man behind 'W'
My name's Glen and I'm the owner of 'W'. I was born in Lambeth, London, and I'm the son of a famous fireman. My love affair with language teaching started at secondary school where I was inspired by both my English and French teachers (I even had a Polish-born T.D. teacher, Mr Kulka!). But English won through and, after university, I decided to spend some time abroad. Of particular note was a brief spell living in Los Angeles, USA, which gave me valuable insights into American culture and American English. I also spent a year in New Zealand, exploring the fascinating culture there and enriching my vocabulary with Kiwi and Australian words.
My first taste of Poland came back in 1998 when I came to Poland on holiday. I liked Poland so much that I decided to return and I completed my CELTA qualification in Poznań in the summer of 2000. By the end of the course, I couldn't face the prospect of leaving Poland and so I took a job at the International House school in the city.
I eventually moved to Szczecin where I spent several years working for Bell. It was during this time that I first visited Warmia & Mazury: I found the lakes and forests spell-binding and vowed to move to Olsztyn as soon as an opportunity arose. Finally it did in the summer of 2006 although it didn't work out quite as planned. I was left penniless after the school I was working for went bankrupt. Not even this could make me give up on my dream and 'W' was born in March 2007.
Since then I haven't looked back and 'W' is going from strength to strength. And believe me when I say that 'W' will be in Olsztyn for many years to come, providing the quality English that the people of Warmia & Mazury deserve.
(C) W 2008