Livingstone Magazine - next issue 6.10

Peter Hopwood continues to provide translation and proofreading services for the Croatian lifestyle magazine 'Livingstone'. The next issue is out 6 October and can also be found directly online by visiting livingstone-magazine.com

Hrvatsko Zagorje - u slici i riječi

Stanek publishers recently launched 'Zagorje through pictures and words' to coincide with the Špancirfest street festival held in Varazdin at the end of August.

Peter Hopwood is proud to have contributed to this publication as a translator and proofreader. Peter has also colaborated with Stanek on its previous publication 'Varazdin through pictures and words'.

Špancirfest 2009

As part of Vindija's 50th anniversary celebrations, Peter Hopwood together with Petra Kos presented the International Fashion Star show during Varaždin's Street Festival Špancirfest.

An English/Croatian event to discover who would be crowned Fashion Star Vindiland winner 2009. Lots of fun and a chance to pretend to be top models walking the cat walk (or cakewalk!!!)

Peter Interprets at World Championships

Peter Hopwood, was selected to be the official media translator/interpreter (English and French) for the Press Centre (Varaždin) as Croatia hosted the 21st World Handball Championships from 17 - 22 January 2009. Croatia's largest sporting event to date unfolded in cities throughout Croatia namely, Varaždin, Poreć, Osijek, Split and Zagreb.

Varaždin was host to a variety of teams: Tunisia, Algeria, Macedonia, Russia, world runners-up in 2006 Poland and also the current World Champions Germany. The world's media were present in Varaždin recieving up to date information in English as well as French for journalists from French speaking countries.

Voiceovers u Hrvatskoj

Libris has recently been requested by the Ministry of Culture, once again to provide the English language Voiceover for its forthcoming UNESCO DVD documentaries.

Peter Hopwood, who has worked with the Ministry of Culture on previous projects has provided his voice talents for the English version of various promotional audio video material. Libris has worked with a number of companies and institutions namely The Croatian Conservation Institute, The Croatian Trade and Investment Promotion agency together with local companies such as Vindija and Vaba banka.

Libris komunikacije i VTV.

Leading up to the 'big match' Varazdin Television and Libris thought it was time to put two football experts to the test, one being a Croat - Goran Malis (Chief editor) and the other, an Englishman....Libris' Peter Hopwood.

The concept of supporters of the two nations proved to be an interesting one, creating competitive tension in the studio as they both gave an indepth analitical review of the match ahead! The players, the supporters, the duels - nothing was left undiscussed!

Both Goran and Peter showed the main headlines of newspapers from England and Croatia to reflect a little on what the national media are saying about the opposition. Goran seemed to be over confident regarding Croatia's ability to win the match ahead while Peter, without giving too much away, spoke stategically about Capello's tactics and also the 'ones to watch' within the England squad.

Throughtout the friendly but intense discussion there seemed to be something that was visually 'strange'!?? During the live broadcast, Peter actually changed into 5 different England training shirts but without any mention of it during the course of the live show.

As both 'pundits' were 100% convinced of victory there was only one way to resolve the situation by laying down a bet! A bet that would put the loser in a rather embarrassing position......

The losing supporter would simply have to wear a 'Skarnicl' (brown paper bag) on their head the following day. Return to the studio for a follow up of the match and congratulate the winning supporter.

Peter and Goran shook hands, looked each other in the eye and knew that the best man would win!

That evening England scored 4 goals against Croatia winning the match with a final score of 4-1. Goran, after the second goal, had already begun to prepare the 'Skarnicl' for the following day.

The next day in the Varazdin television studio, Goran and Peter returned to the same place at the same time - the very same spot where the bet was made. The pictures that follow say it all!

Institute of Leadership & Management

Peter Hopwood recently obtained a Pass with Distinction grade concerning a Business Management award provided by the Institute of leadership and management with its main office in the UK. The exam was taken in June and Peter recently was notified of his achievement.

Međunarodni Ispiti

Cambridge ESOL Oral Examiners - Ljubljana at the British Council.

Since the end of May, Cambridge ESOL exams have been taking place throughout the world.
Cambridge Oral Examiner, Peter has been examining candidates in Zagreb, Rijeka and recently in Slovenia for a variety of exams with more and more response for the BEC (Business English Certificates) as Croatian learners are seeing the need and demand for this benchmark of knowledge regarding business English.

Libris communications Trainer, Peter Hopwood is a licensed Cambridge Oral Examiner for 7 Cambrdidge ESOL exams in Croatia and Slovenia (FCE, CAE, CPE) including the specific Cambridge Buisness Certificates (BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage and BEC Higher) together with the International Certificate of Financial English. For further information on any of the above exams please feel free to contact Peter for advice, training and tips. peter@libris-komunikacije.hr

Germans on their knees as Croatia erupts!

For Croatia's second game, the toughest challenge so far, Peter travels to Klagenfurt to be amoung 90,000 Croats outnumbering the 35,000 from Germany. A historic victory winning 2-1 putting the Germans in the shade ready for the next challenge against Poland on Monday! So many 'Varazdinci' and again nice to have met Libris clients in the Fanzone!

Spot the Englishman, the Austrian and the Croat. (Peter's sister-in-law Martina, with her husband Hanse from Klagenfurt and the gentleman in the Croatian shirt, well....on je taj Englez!)

IATEFL Business English Conference in Paris

Libris was proud to have attended the one-day conference on 7 June, bringing together the best speakers in Professional English training from around Europe. A result of joint collaboration between TESOL France and IATEFL BESIG (Business English Special Interest Group) presenting native speakers based in the UK, France, Germany and Italy with considerable ELT experience.

Talks were on topics as diverse as using technology in the training room, developing intercultural awareness and fine tuning negotiating skills. A full day of refreshing ideas and lots of thought provoking content in order for us improve and enhance ourselves.

Congratulations to the TESOL France and IATEFL BEsig who organized the conference providing further ideas and development within the Business English field. Equally, It was an opportunity for Peter to be back on familiar ground as he onced lived in Paris 10 years ago for a few years - a chance to return to his favourite 'spots' and catch up on old friends as well as making new ones at the conference.

Libris komunikacije - Ultimate Pub kviz

More than just a game, more than a 'bit of fun'....the Ultimate mind game took place on 31st May 2008 in Varaždin, the first of it's kind...never been seen before anywhere in Croatia, the UK or on the planet!

The Ultimate challenge....20 teams of companies/institutions playing it out against each other with no less than 100 challengers (5 members per team) to win the Libris komunikacije d.o.o. Ultimate Pub Quiz!

Some said it couldn't be done, some thought 20 teams would be too many and there were even a few party-poopers who complained about the noise (you know who you are!) but, we proved them all wrong by providing a dynamic, up-beat, challenging and original evening's entertainment for our clients, business partners and friends injecting a completely fresh concept to Varazdin's public which lets' face it - it certainly needs!

As the evening unfolded, we began to see and feel who were the strong teams amoung us and who needed to get their thinking caps on. There were a few one-off surprises with many teams deciding to play the joker card - obtaining DOUBLE points for each correct answer. Above we see the 'HNK actors' team feeling confident, or was this just an act?

As we steadily went through the various rounds showing knowledge in areas such as Music, History, General Knowledge and Sport, it was time to add a twist to the challenge....the surpise round of 'FIGARO'. 'Figaro' was simply an opportunity for teams to gain 10 golden points by singing a song. Singing a well-known song.....in operatic style! 1 member of each team was represented and one by one, we heard the extraordinary talent from the 'operatic' balcony. From 'Let it be' to 'Vela Luka'. 'Cesarica' to 'My way'....we had them all.