The Moldavian Association of Teachers of English (MATE)

MATE is a legal entity founded in 1991 out of the most natural desire of laying the basis of a professional association for the teachers of English from the Iasi county and the surrounding region, an association that would give equal chances to all teachers to make their activity known to the others, to share experience with the others, to take active part in professional events meant to enhance their expertise.
At present MATE has a membership of about 200 teachers from the counties of Iasi, Bacau, Botosani, Suceava, and Vrancea.

The association's board includes: Camelia Arhip (president, email cameliaarhip@yahoo.com), Victoria Sechelea (vice-president, email victoria_sechelea@yahoo.com), Dana Aftene (secretary, email danaaftene@yahoo.com), Ana Maria Placinschi (treasurer, email aplacinschi@yahoo.com), Ovidiu Aniculaese (content manager, email teacherovi@yahoo.com), Mihaela Ardeleanu (PR manager, email ardeleanu_mihaela@yahoo.com), Bogdan Lazanu (IT expert, email bc_lzu_76@yahoo.com).

As part of RATE, MATE shares the same Mission, which is to help the development of a network of professionals responding to the needs of the Romanian society for quality education and flexibility, having as its goals:
To create a powerful nucleus of specialists interested in upgrading their teaching and in further development in the teacher training area;
To raise the credibility and status of English teachers as professionals
To represent the interests of teachers of English and to make our voices heard in the wider community
To promote self development in order to meet higher standards in our profession
To disseminate best ELT practices
To create an awareness of shared human values
To meet European standards in education
To provide access to information, expertise and materials connected to teaching
To publish the newsletter Romance (now on-line) where to include both issues of methodology and feedback from the events organized by the regional associations;
To offer an English teachers' club where teachers belonging to different generations may exchange ideas and where English and American specialists may be invited for round table and workshop activities
To motivate students of all ages to learn English and to stimulate their interest in the Anglo-American culture and civilization;
To organize students' performances in English and to publish a students' magazine in order to encourage their creativity and their freedom of expression;
To organize clubs, summer courses and camps for studentys of English, either local or national, with the support of native speakers.
To be active within projects at national and international level meant to promote the place and role of language teaching and help establish professional relationships between various associations and organizations involved in this process.

MATE Annual Calendar of Events.

Each year MATE organizes a series of events which have become traditional for our organization:
The Spoken English Contest, with more than 800 participants in four sections as follows: Impromptu Speech, Prepared Speech, Creative Writing and Drama.
English Summer Courses, organized in cooperation with SCROLL (Scottish - Romanian Links) and the University of St Andrews, Great Britain.
The annual MATE Conference (and every four years the RATE Conference), with participation of EFL specialists and guest teachers from abroad and participants from all over the country.
Professional Development Courses in cooperation with British Council, ISJ and CCD Iasi and other professional events in collaboration with ELT publishers.
Participation in projects and events at European level - currently MATE is partner in the European project REAL , a network of associations of teachers of foreign languages.