My name is Erika Borbély. Yoga instructor, children's yoga instructor, meditation teacher.
I started learning English with an adult head, around 23-24 years old. I didn't have a specific goal with it, I was simply German in high school, but I always wanted to be English. Somehow, I always saw that the world is wider for those who know English. Being a big music fan, I also wanted to understand the lyrics of the songs, but somehow I didn't like them in Hungarian translation. I felt that there was a difference between the original and the translation, even if the translation was faithful to the text. I felt the same way about books.
I can say that learning a language as an adult is at least twice as difficult as learning it as a child.
I went to private tutors, took part in different language courses, because I liked English and I knew I would have something to do with it.
It wasn't easy... with studies, family, and work, but I didn't regret the time, energy, or money to at least maintain my level. That's how it went for years.
Then in 2018, I needed an intermediate language exam for my Human Resources Consultant (HR) diploma. It was difficult to prepare for it with so many exams, but it was then that I became committed to the English language.
At the time, my daughter was in junior high school and had been learning English since first grade, even in kindergarten. I regularly read stories to him in English in the evenings, later we watched the series with English subtitles.
Today, he is 14 years old and attends high school, majoring in English, and speaks fluently, with excellent grammar and pronunciation.
For me, he is a close, living example of how much of a difference it makes if we start learning a foreign language in kindergarten, or even earlier, without thinking of it as learning.
My love for children was definitely evident even as a young person. It started with pestering the many younger cousins, then I graduated with a degree in pedagogy and continued my studies in that direction. In the end, I did not continue my career as a teacher, but the children accompanied me throughout my career. I worked in child welfare centers for decades, then during my child protection work at the guardianship authority I decided that I wanted to see the sunny side of children's lives after that.
This thought and decision led me in the direction of children's yoga. At that time, I was already teaching yoga to adults, and I was interested in how this beneficial form of exercise could be passed on to children as well.
I learned the method and I think it's great. It's been a year and a half now. Since then, they have been regularly invited to various camps, events, and kindergartens to hold children's yoga. I am very happy to accept these invitations.
For some time now, I have also been teaching aerial yoga to children, already in four groups, four hours a week.
There was no question for me when we talked with Gabriella Sőrés, the head of Helen Doron Debrecen - after a hard running training - about the method, the sessions, that this is the work I want to do, which is for me. It has to do with English, movement, and children.
After the conversation, I watched the different episodes, stories, and videos about the classes, and I said, I want to be a part of this world. The approach, the methodology, the philosophy, everything about Helen Doron has only a positive meaning for me.
And after/during the TTC training, I got engaged. The patience, the attitude, the attitude represented by the training trainer Rita Könözsy reflected everything that Helen Doron means, which I also want to represent.