What’s new at ESL Reads? An interview with Lauren Piovesan
How things change! Back in March 2022 I talked to Lauren Piovesan about her new readers. The stories offered terrific cultural and language support for learners with low literacy / refugee background, at four reading levels. She had so many plans and goals for her ESL Reads project, and such a lot has happened since then, including an expansion of her … Continue reading
The Initial EAL Workbook: An interview with author Assunta Crupi-Pogliano
Assunta Crupi-Pogliano has just launched her resource, The Initial EAL Workbook, designed for learners doing the Course in Initial EAL, and coming to grips with learning and with literacy. It’s an amazing 205 page book – that’s 195 pages of worksheets, covering all 67 of the performance criteria in the six units of the Course in Initial EAL. It features charming … Continue reading
PRACE Pageturners: an interview with Anne Dunn
I have my own set of ‘yellow Pageturners’, which I love so much – and of course we have all the colours in our college library. They are genuinely funny, they make me want to keep reading…and yet they’re so simple and accessible. So I was excited to be able to ask Anne Dunn, one of the team, some questions: … Continue reading
Reflections on being a language learner
I wrote last time about my experience of volunteering in Greece; part of the excitement was living in a country with an unfamiliar language AND script. I knew I wouldn’t learn much Greek, but was hoping to put myself in the position of some of my learners, when they encounter the English script for the first time. Of course, in some … Continue reading
Reflections on being an ELT volunteer
I just got home from Greece after a term away: I had three amazing weeks exploring and the rest teaching English as a volunteer in Athens. Other teachers have asked me about this, and I wanted to write about it. However, there are dozens of little agencies helping migrants/displaced people across Europe – all very different, and working in different … Continue reading
