AWL Cards have arrived! * Fun and Games Campaign: a free new game! * Interview with Lindsay Clandfield * Jeremy Harmer on Memory and Language * Free Upcoming Webinars * Industry News

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Welcome to Your
February eNewsletter!

Serious Fun for Mastering Academic Vocabulary!

We are thrilled to announce that our Academic Word List Cards are published and ready to change lives (well, as far as learning academic vocabulary goes)!

This great learning tool is a deck of 60 cards, one card for each word from sublist 1 of the Academic Word List. Each card has the target word along with a definition and word forms on one side (a more frequent form is marked by a little red star). On the flip side of each card, the word is contextualized in both a quote and a conversation question.

There are countless ways that the Academic Word List Cards can be used in the classroom or for self-study to help learners master this essential vocabulary. Find the cards on our website and, under the resources & links tab, find some ideas, activities and worksheets to use with the cards.

Recommended:
1 deck per learner for self-study; 1 deck for every 4 students for classroom use. The cards are very reasonably priced, so there is no reason to hold back!

Buy Now

Campaign

We may specialize in ESL materials for adult learners, but we know as well as you do that fun can be seriously good for learning!

This year we are launching our Fun and Games Campaign, which entails us giving away free games. Do you want free games to use in your classroom? Of course you do! And it is a good thing you are reading this because our first free game is now available: The Open Mind Board Game.

This game helps inspire conversation in the classroom. Played as a class or in small groups (game instructions can be downloaded from our website), it offers students the opportunity to discuss interesting and engaging topics while practicing useful functions that go hand in hand with effective soft skills development.

Functions practiced include those for encouraging the speaker, summarizing an opinion, introducing a contrasting opinion/disadvantage and talking about goals (the “How to say it reference sheet” is a free download that we encourage you to distribute to your students for playing the game and general reference).

Are you wondering how you get one? There are a few ways:

1. Visit our booth at a conference (such as TESOL Baltimore) this spring and get one for free if you are on or sign up for our newsletter.

2. This might seem counterintuitive, but if you are going to a conference this spring that we are not attending, there is a chance that a copy of the game will mysteriously end up in your hands (or conference bag). Check the events section of our website the month of your conference to see if we will have a booth or will be attending virtually at your conference.

3. Buy something! All individual web orders or purchases made in our Toronto showroom of $50 or more will receive a free game (limit one per customer while quantities last).

4. Buy one! If you want many copies or just want one and don't want to buy any books, then buy one from our website for a measly $5 (shipping fees will be waived when we process the order).

More Details / Buy Now

It's all fun and games until...

An interview with Lindsay Clandfield

Lindsay Clandfield is an award-winning writer, teacher, teacher trainer and international speaker in the field of English language teaching. He has written more than ten coursebooks for language learners including Global and Skillful, which are both published by Macmillan and distributed by English Central. He is also the co-author of various methodology books for teachers and the co-editor of the Delta Teacher Development Series. You can find out more about him at his website www.lindsayclandfield.com

Lindsay Clandfield has kindly agreed to speak to English Central on the subject of fun and games in the classroom. Our interview with him is posted on our blog.

Read the Interview

Talking Points with Jeremy Harmer:

Memory and Language

Geez, with all the time we spend talking to people, it is a wonder we get any work done! We continue our series of video interviews with methodology man and Jetstream author Jeremy Harmer. This month, Jeremy speaks on the subject of the role that memory has in language learning.

Free webinars from DELTA Publishing

This month DELTA Publishing is offering two free webinars. On February 10th, award-winning authors Nicky Hockly and Gavin Dudeney will be presenting Going Mobile: Teaching and Learning with Mobile Devices. The title pretty much says it all, but for more information and for a link to sign up, click here.

On February 24th, Julie Pratten will present Engaging Busy People! In this webinar, Julie Pratten shares ideas on how to engage business English students in a variety of activities; projects, and presentations, quizzes and challenges. As well as providing practical tips, she also explores how using a few simple strategies and tricks can lead to more sophisticated learning outcomes. Read more and sign up!

Industry News

Praying for visas, pretty girls get better marks (proof if you needed some), ethical questions for selling education overseas and the unstoppable growth of international students in the US. Check out our blog for all the news we saw fit to print!

The ITBE Conference (Chicago area) is also coming up this month... attendees should check their bags for a little something special from English Central!

Welcome to Your February eNewsletter!