“It is clear to anyone that ever learnt a foreign language that Elena´s language teaching is based on linguistic academic excellence, professional teaching skills, in-depth intercultural intelligence and a big dose of intelligent humour. Four dimensions that together make learning a language fun and time efficient. I strongly recommend Elena and the Skazalka language school to anyone that considers learning Macedonian”.
Sissa Wallin
Author and marketing consultant
“I was a pupil without much time and never doing any housework but Elena Filipovska made me understand and speak Macedonian!”
Frederique de Man
Former Ambassador of The Kingdom of the Netherlands to Macedonia
“My teacher is a very lovely, friendly and patient person. She knows how to encourage people to learn the language with fun and easiness. I was living in Macedonia for 3 and 1/2 years and in that period I learned the language from scratch to a level where I was able to use it every day. I even made friends with my neighbours who spoke only Macedonian. I recommend my teacher highly!”
Barbara, housewife
“I worked with Elena on Macedonian language training for three years. I was fortunate to be able to speak Serbian before I arrived in Skopje, so had a bit of a headstart. Elena tailored the language program perfectly for me, taking account of what I already knew from a similar, Slavic language, whilst ensuring that I did not skip any of the grammatical basics. Within 3 years, I was able to reach the top exam level for my organisation: this was in large part due to Elena’s coaching. I would highly recommend her.”
CR, British Embassy in Skopje
“I started my language classes shortly after arriving in Macedonia and almost immediately became capable of getting around without resorting to English. Shortly after, I started working on a project in Serbia, and my tutor organized for me a course that combined both Macedonian and Serbian. For me it worked very well, and, even though I am more comfortable speaking in Macedonian, I could converse with my clients in Serbia. A couple of weeks ago, upon entering the UK, I found myself helping a Boarder Agency employee to talk to a Macedonian gentleman who did not speak English. Six stars out of five!”
Alexey Proskuryakov,
International Development Consultant
“Leave it to Elena to teach you Macedonian with her progressive methodology, her rigor as a teacher and her friendliness as a person. Thumbs up.”
B. Gitton
“Elena F. combines high pedagogical skills, adaptability to the student’s needs and cultural background, and commitment to making progress. She will lead you to whatever proficiency you wish to achieve in Macedonian. I started with her one year ago, and in spite of little time to study, I never felt left aside from the learning process and made rewarding progress. I will sign up with her for further learning.”
P. Gitton, IMF Resident representative in Macedonia
“My teacher combined the top personal qualities of friendliness, openness and discipline with a certain necessary strictness towards me as a student and many rewarding incentives for keeping up learning and doing my homework: illustrative examples taken out of real-life Macedonia: it has been a great pleasure to learn the language with my teacher – and now, after four years, still knowing it.”
Henry Bohnet,
former director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Macedonia
“In 2007 a need arose for me to learn Macedonian, in a brief time space. Elena was appointed as my tutor. I had a working knowledge of Serbian. Elena established the extent of my knowledge of Serbian, and briefly outlined the main characteristics of Macedonian. This was followed by detailed oral & grammatical work supported by grammar notes, making use of the local press. The topics of conversation broadened quickly to cover political, social and economic conditions in Macedonia.
Throughout this Elena’s linguistic abilities (faultless explanation of grammar using English), her enthusiasm for her own language and nation, and her pleasure in the process of teaching added notably to the enjoyment of learning.
As a result after three months a 62-year old acquired a sound understanding of a language which has a number of individual characteristics. I commend in particular Elena’s ability to assess rapidly and accurately the needs of the student, and to construct a suitable programme, her excellent preparation, and her ability to explain matters from questions raised without prior notice
Peter Barlow MBE, BA (Oxon)
“Elena delivered language training to me just the way I like it: informal and fun, but with a sound professional knowledge of language and grammar behind it. Elena was experienced enough to be able to adapt to my learning style as well as master the challenges of conversion from another Slavonic language to Macedonian rather than starting from scratch. She was an engaging and encouraging tutor, but firm when necessary. She developed her own materials which helped bring to life the vocabulary and grammar.”
Stuart J., former diplomat at the British Embassy in Skopje
Skazalka Languages 