Greetings everyone!
August is my favorite month of the summer. Here in Massachusetts, U.S.A., it's still hot in the daytime but starting to get chilly at night. I know it's not like that for everyone around the world—I hope the weather where you are becomes this beautiful soon!
We have decided to post news once a month now rather than once a week. So here is your first monthly update from The English Farm.
TEFtalk update
We launched a beta version of our new video conferencing platform, TEFtalk, at the beginning of June. Thank you to everyone so far who has helped us with testing. The system has been unstable, and we identified a problem with authentication. This had effects across the site. Some of the issues have been resolved. However, we are still working on solving the stability issues with TEFtalk. We have introduced better logging so we can debug this and other issues that may arise. We hope that before too long, we can make the switch away from Skype. We'll keep you updated.
Farewell, Yumi!
Yumi is leaving The English Farm so she can focus on some personal projects. As a founding member of TEF, Yumi has been an invaluable part of our team since the beginning. We will miss her, as will many of her students, I’m sure, but we wish her all the best as she steps out in new directions.
If anyone would like help finding a teacher to take Yumi’s place, please contact us at support@theenglishfarm.com.
Diane supports dementia care
August’s TEF Employee of the Month award goes to someone who is a great teacher and an integral part of our community—Diane! Her teaching schedule is full of loyal students, and she's an active participant in our internal meetings and workshops. Be sure to check out her terrific blog post: “The musical secret of intonation”.
Diane has chosen to contribute her award money to Dementia UK, which offers information and comfort for both those with the disease and their families. In Diane's words:
I would like to donate to this charity because it does a fantastic job of supporting families at a really difficult time. The research they are doing is vital to help improve people's lives in the future.
Thank you, Diane, for being part of our team! You bring warmth and light to everything you do.
Kind regards,
Di