Help your students hit a home run with sports idioms

sports idiomsIdioms! Perhaps they are one of the most colourful aspects of language to teach, conjuring up amusing imagery or teaching our students about culture. I had a lot of fun with them in my advanced classes, though found I had to guard against overuse! But a question here for teachers is: which ones to teach? One tends to come across many a student of English who knows the expression “It’s raining cats and dogs,” but I am racking my brains to think of a single time in my life I have heard that idiom in natural conversation.

Continue reading

Ideas for Christmas Classes!

‘Twas the class before Christmas and all through the school all the teachers were searching for something to do!  Xmas Pearson

Sound like a familiar situation?  Your students have their work completed and exams taken.  Holidays are just around the corner and you need one more lesson to send them off on a positive note.  Well look no further.

In the true spirit of giving and the holiday season the Pearson Teacher Training Team for Spain and Portugal have come up with a few ideas that will put a smile on your students’ faces and save you some time so you can maybe get in a just a little more holiday shopping to boot.

These varied and enjoyable Christmas activities designed for adult and teen learners of English are the focus of our Christmas Webinars (slides available herewhich are taking place this week.  They can be easily adapted for different levels or mixed, matched and changed to your liking or particular needs.  So have a look at the menu below, click on each title, download what you like and go into class ready to get your students into the holiday spirit!

Continue reading

Halloween: great teaching ideas for teens

Halloween: great teaching ideas for teensGhosts, witches, black cats, haunted houses… Despite the creepy flavour of these terms, I’ve always liked Halloween: 31st of October, the spookiest day of the year, as it is said to be. As teachers, many of us celebrate this autumn festivity by decorating our classrooms with spider-webs, skeletons, bats, etc., and by asking our students to dress up as ghosts, witches or werewolves.

We have already talked about some Halloween activities that your primary students will love, but there is also a wealth of activities out there for teenagers. Just type “Halloween activities for teens” in your internet browser and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Is this just another blog post with a compilation of links? No, it isn’t. Here you will find practical teaching ideas, which require little preparation time. Continue reading

More than 6.000 people enjoyed the European Day of Languages sponsored by Pearson & ACEIA

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

More than 6.000 people took part in the celebration of the European Day of Languages​​ on Saturday 24 September in the event that Pearson, the learning company, sponsored in Seville to celebrate linguistic diversity in collaboration with ACEIA, the Association of Language Schools of Andalusia, under the motto “Learn a Language, cross borders”, which reflects our mission of helping people to improve their lives through learning.

We had a great day along with a total of 350 teachers from all across Andalusia representing 119 schools and academies associated with ACEIA, who organized an Open House to bring language learning closer to people in an entertaining way.

Pearson and the Association of Language Schools of Andalusia joined together for the European Day of Languages, which is celebrated in 45 countries all around the world to emphasize the importance of learning a language, to promote linguistic diversity and to encourage people to learn languages.

Continue reading

Pearson celebrates the European Day of Languages in Seville

European Day of Languages - ACEIA - Pearson - SevillaPearson will participate in the celebration of the European Day of Languages​​ on Saturday 24 September in a variety of events throughout Europe. Specifically, we will sponsor an event in Seville to celebrate linguistic diversity in collaboration with ACEIA, the Association of Language Schools of Andalusia, under the motto “Learn a Language, cross borders”, which reflects our mission of helping people make more of their lives through learning.

Coinciding with the 400th anniversary of their deaths, 2016 is the Year of Cervantes and Shakespeare, the main literary figures in Spanish and English, and ACEIA would like to bring together both authors as well as their respective languages. As a sponsor of the event organized by ACEIA, Pearson will give away a total of 50 graded readers of two titles from our Pearson English Readers (available here): Marcel and the Shakespeare Letters and Stories from Shakespeare during the literary flashmob activity. Continue reading

Celebrate Roald Dahl’s centenary with Pearson English Readers

‘‘You have to believe in magic to find it’’, Roald Dahl.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl - Pearson English ReadersRoald Dahl was without doubt one of the most magical of children’s writers working in the twentieth century. Today his magic still infuses our popular culture and his stories have been translated into scores of languages and adapted into blockbuster films. Our English language students can also experience the Dahl magic via the Pearson English Readers.

Roald Dahl was born 100 years ago in Llandaff, Wales on the 13th of September and this year marks his centenary. His writing career started in the United States with short stories and magazine articles for adults. Roald’s first venture into children’s fiction was the short-story Gremlins, which he wrote for Walt Disney in 1942. Gremlins wasn’t a success, so he returned to writing for adults producing the best-selling short story collection Someone like you in 1953. Continue reading

Top 20 books for learning English during the summertime

Pearson English ReadersWhether you’ll be spending the summer at the beach or simply lazing around on the grass at home, why not take the time to practice your English and enjoy some great books in the language? We’ve put together a list of the top 20 books for learning English during the summertime, a mix of comedy and drama, horror and history, sci-fi and romance, plus a whole lot more. You’ll find something for young and old alike, and, with our graded and active readers, something to suit you perfectly, no matter what your level of English.

Top 20 books for learning English during the summertime

1.- The Beach (Alex Garland) – One night, while travelling in Thailand, Richard is given a map with directions to a mysterious beach, part of a beautiful lagoon hidden far off the beaten track. He sets off in search of this paradise, meeting other travellers along the way. Not long after finding the beach, however, the hard reality behind the idyll soon becomes apparent. Find out what happens with our graded reader. Continue reading

35 common English proverbs

English languageIf vocabulary and grammar are the meat and bones of a language, then proverbs are its blood. Not only are these short, pithy, well-known expressions great for giving warnings and advice or for expressing simple truths about life, they also tell you a lot about the cultural context of the language. Each and every language has hundreds of such sayings, but as English is the language at hand, here are 35 common English proverbs for you to enjoy, learn – and hopefully use. Next time you get the chance to throw one into conversation, make sure you strike while the iron is hot!  Continue reading

Popular Christmas traditions in the English-speaking world

Christmas traditions‘Tis the season to be jolly, friends – think holly and mistletoe, presents beneath the tree, nativity plays, midnight mass and advent calendars.

With Christmas just around the corner and decorations already up and sparkling in town and cities across the globe, from London to Sydney, Baltimore to Banff, today we look at some of the most popular Christmas traditions in the English-speaking world.

Continue reading

Fun Halloween activities and materials for English classes

HalloweenDear teachers, we hope you are having a fantastic school year and that you and your pupils are enjoying working with Islands and Our discovery Island. One main celebration during this term is Halloween next week and many of you will be preparing special activities in your English classes now and over the next days for this.

We have prepared lots of fun Hallowe’en activities related to the characters in Islands and Our Discovery Island and materials that we are sure you’ll be interested in: Continue reading