IATEFL video competition 2022

Since early in the school year, a number of our class groups worked hard on their video project for IATEFL's 2022 competition for second year students across Slovenia.

The purpose of the competition is for young people to demonstrate their skills and creativity when it comes to the English language. Guidelines and instructions are sent out to schools through which it is explained the format the video should take, something special that the video must include, and a set of ten different words which have to appear in the script.

To demonstrate their knowledge and ability, this year's groups had to include potentially difficult words such as invaluably, deluge, abscond, avarice, and kerfuffle. Through their script and performance it had to be clear that they knew the meaning of the words and that they were able to use them in exactly the right context.

In addition, the rules explained how the video should take the form of an advertisement and it had to be based around the concept of “Three easy steps to change the world”.

Our first group based their story around a new type of energy drink that allowed people to develop the ability to use their own natural photosynthesis to power their mobile phones and other devices. They explained how it would help remove society’s dependence on fossil fuels and even made a joke about how any side effects which involved you starting to glow green was actually a bonus.

Our second group used the well-known expression to develop a script around rose-coloured glasses which give the wearer an immediately better perspective on life while providing a whole range of exciting new possibilities for the individual and our society as a whole. They showed the idea of how one small item which makes you think more positively can have a huge effect on how you live your life.

The groups kept busy writing and improving their scripts with help from their mentors Blanka Klobučar and Tim Gallagher to make sure that they had the best chance to show their creativity while also making sure that the full set of guidelines for the competition were followed. Once the scripts were completed, it was time to move to filming and editing. Again, these steps were completed entirely by the groups of students involved.

We are delighted to say that the hard work paid off and both groups were awarded top-level awards for this year’s competition. The first group (energy drink) were awarded one of only two gold prizes for Slovenia and the second group (rose-coloured glasses) were awarded one of the two silver prizes.

Our congratulations go to Maša Bratkovič, Zala Dornik, Zoja Jesih, Nina Felicija Kozamernik, Karla Majdič who won a gold prize and to Rebeka Gril, Ruj Grošelj Simić, Ada Lovenjak, Maja Mivšek, and Lana Stvarnik who made up the group that was given a silver prize.

You can watch the videos prepared for this year's competition by following the links below: