Here we are again, beyond all reasonable deadlines for the publication of the current Newsletter! Apologies for any inconvenience caused to readers and contributors who have generously sent in their texts. In the usual hurly-burly of coping with all it takes to make it come out on schedule, experience hardly tells about being always on time.

Talking about experience features large in this issue: the APPI summer courses held in 2008, as those in the previous years, provided those teachers who, for two weeks in July-August, took in lhe role of students with a significant capital of experience. In actual fact this has ranged from approaches to the latest trends in ELT methodology and teaching materials and experimenting with new activities, to sharing knowledge and emotions and strengthening ties with a multicultural professional context to remember in the days to come. The short but vivid reports on such courses taken both at NILE (Norwich) and Pilgrims (Canterbury), both in the UK, express that those are bound to play a large part in the teachers' professional and personal development.

But other teachers also in this issue tell about their way of doing things in their classrooms and schools at large: Fátima Flores and Paula Moita report on different circumstances of their daily contact with students. Both of them definitely give readers some targets to aim at by helping those walk towards success in two dimensions: scholastic and personal.

Marco Mascarenhas introduces readers to the importance of the teacher's voice as the critical instrument of their profession. By being interviewed by Elisabeth Costa he describes how our 'speech system' works, and makes a few valuable recommendations of how to preserve and make the most of it. An interesting comparison/contrast is also made between the actor and lhe teacher as far as the use of the voice is concerned.

An extensive report on Primary English in state schools is in this issue as well. It unfolds APPI's activity of participating with the usual parties in the assessment of teaching English which, although present in the Primary school, has not been to the Primary curriculum yet - something APPI has been strongly against from the onset as it has made known to the public consistently.

Our APPlforma director sums up the activities carried out in terms of teacher development courses in 2008, and describes the state of the art for the current year. Teachers who are interested in taking any of the courses provided in the APPlforma offer had better access www.appi.pt

Some information on the coming 23rd Annual Conference -'The English Ctassroom Revisited' - to be held in Lisboa on 30th April, 1st and 2nd May is also present in the last pages of this issue. Updates will be available at APPI website till the eve of the Conference.

The final message in this editorial is a big Thank You to contributors to both regular APPI publications, members in general, formandos and formadores, sponsors, publishers and all those who somehow have supported APPI's activity throughout the past year.

The editor naturally looks forward to welcoming your possible contributions over this year.

Do stay in touch with APPI.