25 years of Middlesmoor courses

01_CV AND PERSONAL BACKGROUND
02_COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK
03_EUROPEAN PORTFOLIO OF LANGUAGES
04_A RADICAL ALTERNATIVE
95_25 YEARS MIDDLESMOOR COURSES -
06_COURSES IN ITALIAN SCHOOLS
07_SCHEME: TEENAGE THINKING
08_TEACHERS KALEIDOSCOPE RESOURCES
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COMMENTS OF MIDDLESMOOR PUPILS

05.1 25 YEARS OF SUMMER COURSES AT MIDDLESMOOR

05.2 Comments of children who have been to Middlesmoor

 

1997 FRANCESCA DOLZANI (9 VISITS) I'm one of the family now!

1991 CAMILLA MAFFEI (6 visits) I like Middlesmoor

1995 ARIANNA LASORSA (4 visits) Everything in Middlesmoor is small but here there's more fun than in Los Angeles (or New York ).

1990 - 98 ILARIA DOLZANI (9 visits) I think Middlesmoor is WONDERFUL, wonderful. This is my 4 th time. I'll be back next year.1994

1990 -97 GHINGA DI CAPUA (9 visits) I love Middlesmoor. It's the most beautiful place in the world. I always enjoy myself here.

1999 ALESSIA Scrivo per augurare buon anno e per ringraziarvi per i bellissimi momenti di quest'estate. Penso che siano state le 3 settemane piu' belle della mia vita (e non esagero!) Faro' provare l'ebrezza di una vacanza a Middlesmoor ad una mia amica. Lo sai che da quest'estate il mio inglese è migliorato notevolmente?! (la mia media a scuola è di 9). Questo risultato l'ho raggiunto garzie anche alla tua Grammatica che mi è stata molto utile!
Un saluto affettusissimo a tutti quanti,

1992 SERENA TOMMASINI DEGNA Memories of Middlesmoor: I remember lying on the floor, my eyes closed, and listening to a tape of a man's deep voice reciting an ancient poem. I remember a swimming pool which could become a stage and a dining room that could become a pottery work-room. That house was always moving, always turning into something new, like in one of the fairy tales. I remember studying in a little church- in a rocky cave- in a hay-loft, in a tent! I remember the most astonishing and incredible teachers I've ever met. These are the sort of things that I'm sure I will never forget.

1985 ILARIA TRENTINI. It was fantastic, I enjoyed myself very much.

1996 JULIA FEHEREGYHAZY. (Austria. 3 visits) I love Middlesmoor.

1996. ANNA VALAND(Norway/Austria/Italy) (2 visits) I've fallen in love with Middlesmoor, I don't want to go away. Our English has become much better and the way we learned it wasn't hard at all. One comes to Middlesmoor for the first time for the usual reason explained in a brochure. The reason why one is almost forced to return is that behind these usual things on offer there is something bigger and more important.at Middlesmoor there's a sort of harmony and happiness that it would be difficult to find anywhere else. Even the lessons are not boring and then there are the walks up the river, the jump from the cliff at Burnsall, the meals at the big table and above all the kindness and dedication of the helpers. The brochure speaks of the "The school that is a large family". That's just what it is. The very particular thing about Middlesmoor is the relationship between the helpers and the students. There is no other place where it is possible to develop such a friendship with people that are either in their 20s or much older than you, and you can really learn from those people. They are creative, fun and kind. They always look happy and you can talk about anything you like to them. The landscape is so beautiful that you could sit down anywhere and watch the fields and automatically start to dream. The activities are great fun. The best thing in Middlesmoor is the camping; it is great fun.

1995/6 STEFFI ( Vienna ) I've never been to such a place. I mean it seems perfect. It is never boring, not even the lessons because we always have to do some creative things and we also do things here that are really crazy. Like yesterday, at the fair , in the "egg throwing" competition and at the end when we threw jelly and the left over eggs.. What makes Middlesmoor special is the "helpers". I was so pleased that they tried to understand me. I have never met people like Pelly and Julius or Anthony who are so creative and happy all the time. What makes this place so special too is the landscape; the river, the camping places and the long walks and all the other activities. Even acting pieces of Shakespeare was fun! and the performance of "Middlesmoor Rocks". When I came last year I think I got a bit changed in a more positive way.

1985 EVA MARIA HORALEK ( Vienna ) I can remember those holidays very well. I think that I will send my child to Middlesmoor because I have such good memories. the landscape was so beautiful and I enjoyed it very much to live in a family, so I didn't feel homesick. Thank you very much for that wonderful summer in 1989: my regards from Vienna .

1995 TAKA KAWANA ( Tokyo ) It has been three years since I left Middlesmoor with such wonderful memories and I remember them so clearly. The place that impressed me most was the North sea . It was totally different to the sea around Japan . It was cold and "grandioso" (an Italian music word!). In the night there were countless stars all over the sky which we never see in Tokyo .

•  CLAUDIA NOWOTNY. ( Vienna ) (4 visits) I've spent 4 summers in Middlesmoor and although my last holidays there were 5 years ago I still can't forget this small village, the very nice people and the fun I had there. There were so many experiences I never would have made without Middlesmoor. I think that my holidays in there helped me a lot to find myself and to know what was happening to me. Although I had quite a lot of friends in Austria I was always felt very sad when I came back from Middlesmoor.

•  ANDREA JACOMETTI (written in 1999) I still remember very well the holiday at Middlesmoor and not just for the beauty of the place and everyone's friendliness but also for the English I learnt. That year before going to Middlesmoor I had been failed at English but after the 3 weeks there I had very good marks at school. Thanks!

1986 MORYA LONGO (2 visits) I came twice 12 years ago and though the years have passed I still remember with great affection my experience in Middlesmoor. I was a child of 9 and it was my first vacation alone. I remember everything like it was yesterday: the little mysterious and also scary village with the horses in the meadow, the small church and the narrow streets. The river, the red-brown water, the hide and seek in the woods. It was a great holiday and a fantastic adventure.

1986 SABATINI MALFATTI Time is very strange and in front of the photo of the house and the surrounding places the memories just come back as if it were yesterday when I got to know that beautiful part of England . (1997)

1997 VIRGINIA I hope to come back and have the same fun that I had this year; the lovely walks in the river and the caves, and playing hide and seek in the woods.

1995. IRENE LUCIANI (2 visits) I think I'll come back another time. At Middlesmoor everything is wonderful.

1988 TIZIANA LORANZI Ten years ago!..,,it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Sometimes I still dream of those green hills....and the English learnt in the lessons has always been useful to me.

1989 NADIA FARESCA I won't forget the beautiful holiday.

1990 FRANCESCA BALDAZZI I went to Middlesmoor when I was 15 and now I am 23. I still remember the kind and friendly atmosphere I found there. I think it was really interesting to learn English by playing games, acting, and singing and all the many things that I did with other students.

1990 We are Martina Guarin, Francesca Hugony e Riccardo Sai . We have a beautiful memory of the summer of 1990 among the green fields of Yorkshire :. the painting in the open, the long games of baseball, of helping the farmer who was clipping the sheep. We remember too the atmosphere of togetherness and familiarity that reigned in the house. 1997.

1991 FRANCESCA ASTESANI After returning to Middlesmoor after so many years, memories of my stay in 1991 as a child come back to me and I see myself in my young sister here with me. What strikes me is the way it does really seem like a big family with a rhythm of a group and not just individuals. The children too bring an important contribution to this "family".(1998)

1992 NATALIA CANCELLIERI (3 visits) I'm going to miss Middlesmoor.

1993 GEORG WILKENS. ( Dusseldorf ) I love Middlesmoor.

1993. BETTA CRAVERO Middlesmoor, I'm going to miss you.

1994 MARILENA (3 visits: written in 1998 ) The only English I learnt is the one I learnt in Middlesmoor, because I think that in Italy it is impossible to learn it: the most you can speak is a sentence or two, three times a week.

1995 MARIA MARASCHI. (2 visits) Thank you very much. I'll never forget.

1995 MARTA COSTA. I liked a lot being here because for me it was like a big family.

1995/ 96 ALEX ( Vienna ) Middlesmoor was one of the nicest places that I have known... I remember best sleeping under the stars.

1995 VALENTINA RUSSA. (3 visits) Thank you all for all the beautiful moments that I spent here. See you next summer.

1995 CLAUDIA NOVOTNY (Vienna. 4 visits) Middlesmoor is a very, very, very nice place with a lot of nice happy people. But we don't like going to bed early.

1996 ELISA LAINO (3 visits) In my mind Middlesmoor is a synonym for a creative style of life. I hope that nothing has changed.

1996 VALENTINA CORIONI. Middlesmoor is the most beautiful place in the world

1996 THERESA KONICEK ( Vienna ) Hier in Middlesmoor war es echt super. I hope you all enjoy yourself as much as I did.

1996 BARBARA ALTOBELLO (3 visits) I really enjoyed my time here. It was really great. Thank you. Lots of kisses.

1997 GIULIETTA I remember a quarter of an hour of my life as something almost mystic; late one Saturday evening you made us run down a hill: the soft grass came to our knees and the moon lit up everything in its surreal light.

1997 ALICE RAVA EVERYTHING about my stay in Middlesmoor was fun.

1998 JULIA ELSER ( Vienna ) (2 visits) I'll try and explain why I came again. There are many reasons but first because you really are in a big family. When I came back again and started to talk to the helpers in Middlesmoor it was as if I had only been away for a few weeks..Another thing is that I can get to know people from other countries. In the lessons we really learn a lot and they aren't boring, sometimes we really had great fun.

2000. Ellen Hello Anthony!! Thank you for the best vacation ever. Hope to see you and all the others next year!! (one of the Norwegians)

2002 Vicky ( Munich ) Meine tochter Vicky war so begeistert mit Middlesmoor.

2003 Antonio Somaini (email 23 years later!) Dear Anthony Bamber,  I am writing to this address after coming across your website by absolute chance while surfing on the internet I spent two summer periods at your house in Middlesmoor in 1980 and 1981, I believe. I just wanted to tell you that I still have great memories of those periods, and that I enjoyed very very much spending the time there and painting in the countryside. Now I have three children who are still too small to come there (the oldest is 7 years old), but I hope to be able to send them there when the time comes. A ll the best Antonio. Somaini 2003 Email received 8 years later from

Received in 2003, 8 years later from KATHARINA , Vienna.

Dear you all at Middlesmoor,
I've just "absorbed" your website and thought of all the wonderful days I spent in Middlesmoor in 1995 (where has all the time gone??) I just wanted to say (after such a long time): I still thank you for the time I was able to spend with you - nothing better came afterwards...
Thanks for showing me how easy and adorable life can be with the right perspective, thanks for having found best friends I'm still in contact with, thanks for making my English such as to pass my A-Levels excellently, thanks for memories I still keep and smile about, thanks for all the stories, moments, days, thanks for putting a twinkle into everybody's eyes, when they talk about Middlesmoor... THANK YOU!
Besides: I still remember all my lines from Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST (I acted Prospero)!! I will be recruting people for Middlesmoor forever! With much love and greeting and hugs and wishes, Katharina , Vienna

 

 

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