Kieran Donaghy, an English language teacher based in Barcelona, has won the Innovation in Teacher Resources award at the 2013 ELTons. He describes how his business, Film English, has grown from using film in the classroom to help students learn English, to a fully-fledged online enterprise.

Two-and-a-half years ago, I set up Film English, a website providing...]]>

Kieran Donaghy, an English language teacher based in Barcelona, has won the Innovation in Teacher Resources award at the 2013 ELTons. He describes how his business, Film English, has grown from using film in the classroom to help students learn English, to a fully-fledged online enterprise.

Two-and-a-half years ago, I set up Film English, a website providing free lesson plans for language teachers and promoting cineliteracy (the ability to analyse and interpret moving images). I started the site, because I wanted to share all the ideas and activities I had for using film critically and creatively in the language classroom, and I also saw a gap in the market as there was no other website quite like it.

Film English has won various awards and also became a very popular resource bank. It is visited by more than 30,000 unique users every month. I now have 4,000 subscribers who receive an email message every time there is a new post. Since I’ve added a subscribe pop-up page to the site I’ve been getting 1,000 new subscribers a month.

Kieran Donaghy of Film English (Image courtesy of the author)

My audience is not made up exclusively of teachers – there are also lots of students looking at and subscribing to the blog.

Although the lesson plans are completely free, I don’t accept adverts, as I want readers to have a pleasant and clean experience, so I rely on the generous contributions of readers to maintain the site (it costs me thousands of euros a year just to run – graphic designer, web hosting, back-ups etc. – and that doesn’t include my time).

I think this patronage model is one which will become increasingly important in English language teaching (ELT) publishing.

However, another model I am considering, which I think will become increasingly popular in the ELT publishing market, is a mixed model where some of the teaching and learning materials are free, but a paying premium service also exists which allows subscribers to access all the material for a yearly or monthly payment.

In five years’ time, I see Film English as being one of the leading suppliers of high quality, innovative and creative language teaching materials, with tens of thousands of loyal subscribers. Some of these subscribers will have access to a limited amount of material, while a smaller amount of paying premium subscribers will make a reasonably large profit for the site.

Read about teaching English via videolink.

Read about building a business in English language teaching.

The ELTons are the only international awards that celebrate innovation in English language teaching. Before this year’s award ceremony on 22 May, which will be live-streamed, we asked three entrepreneurs how they built their own English Language Teaching (ELT) businesses.

Amy Lightfoot has built her business as a freelance teaching materials writer and teacher trainer....]]>

The ELTons are the only international awards that celebrate innovation in English language teaching. Before this year’s award ceremony on 22 May, which will be live-streamed, we asked three entrepreneurs how they built their own English Language Teaching (ELT) businesses.

Amy Lightfoot has built her business as a freelance teaching materials writer and teacher trainer. She offers this advice to people considering a freelance career in English language teaching:

First, figure out what you’re good at and what you want to do. Do teachers respond well to you in training sessions? Do you enjoy writing materials? Are you good at planning and executing projects?

Next, get to know people. Speak to people at conferences, get some business cards made, and follow up leads, no matter how small. I’ve learned to just ask. I’ve had quite a lot of work with the BBC, including a nine-month temporary role as an English language teaching writer last year. That all originated from approaching one of the editors at a conference in 2008. The work I did with them also enabled me to specialise in writing digital materials, and I’ve since worked on several really interesting projects, including writing a mobile-phone based animation series for the British Council in India.

Don’t forget your own professional development. I’ve done several courses over the years, and I’ve noticed that all of these investments have paid off: adding a new course to my CV always seems to lead to something new.

Finally, look for links with other fields and industries. The skills you develop when working in English language teaching relate to so much more than just private language schools or global publishers. Being freelance, despite the occasional frustration and unpaid holidays, really is about being free; you’re free to make your own choices and steer your own path.

Rani Rao Innes is managing partner and lead trainer of Link Communicate. She divides her time between the UK and India, where she says there is huge demand for English teaching and training.

I’m in the fortunate position of running workshops for companies, schools and colleges. Having left India for a master’s degree on a British Council scholarship in 1978, I returned three years ago to make Bangalore my second home. I now spend more than six months here, as work has increased beyond my wildest hopes. I have not publicised or seriously marketed my business. I have no agent. It has been mainly word-of-mouth. There is such a demand for experienced and committed trainers both in companies and at schools that in the past two months, I’ve conducted 25 workshops.

I started my business with a few cold calls to companies and schools. My strategy was to offer a sharp price cut for a pilot programme suggesting they try me out and then we could decide how to take it forward. Some were happy to see me right away; others asked me to send emails or come back with appointments. Some of my emails went unanswered. Interestingly, the director of one famous international school who had no time to see me when I called on him, called me a few weeks later asking if I could please spare a few minutes for a chat. He had heard of the training from the principal of another school! The best promotion, I believe, is word of mouth.

Martin Sketchley is an English language teacher and examiner who develops workshops for a range of organisations. He writes about how online resources have helped him to improve his skills and grow his business.

I found that English language teaching-related websites such as Dave’s ESL Café and ESL HQ were really helpful when I first started teaching, particularly the forums to ask for advice. I learnt so much about teaching young learners and was keen to contribute. I’d advise other English language teachers to think about how social networking can strengthen their brand. When I joined Twitter, I initially called myself ‘@msketchley’ but then changed to ‘@ELTExperiences’ after realising that my name was not as important as my brand. It’s also quick and easy to say.

Online networking doesn’t have to be separate from face-to-face networking. I set up my blog during my masters in English language teaching and found that I started gaining more and more interest from other ELT bloggers as well as publishers. The blog also allows me to engage with other teachers. When I spoke at a big English language conference last year, I met many people that I knew already via Twitter or who already knew my website.

Read more about English language teaching via videolink.

Learn how to master teaching regional accents in English.

Find out how observing other English teachers can give your lessons a boost.

Our latest report finds that people who take part in UK cultural activities are more likely to want to do business with the UK, as the British Council’s Anne Bostanci and Paul Howson explain.

Improving trade and business opportunities is a priority for the UK in today’s economy, and to ensure future economic prospects, the...]]>

Our latest report finds that people who take part in UK cultural activities are more likely to want to do business with the UK, as the British Council’s Anne Bostanci and Paul Howson explain.

Improving trade and business opportunities is a priority for the UK in today’s economy, and to ensure future economic prospects, the UK should also look to make the most of cultural opportunities.

Our newest report, ‘Culture Means Business’, finds that potential business leaders around the world are much more likely to pursue trade links with the UK if they have visited the country on an educational exchange, studied for a UK qualification or attended a major UK arts or cultural event.

We commissioned YouGov and Ipsos Mori to survey young, educated, connected people in ten countries about their attitudes towards the UK, likely future business interest in the UK and perceptions of business opportunities offered by the UK – and to find out how participating in cultural activities increases all three. These 16- to 34-year-olds were identified as likely to be future business leaders.

Respondents came from a geographically, demographically and economically diverse sample of countries around the world: Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand and Turkey. These countries are important current and future trading partners of the UK and very likely will be the sources of future economic competition.

How do future business leaders perceive the UK?

People of the UK were widely perceived to be welcoming and tolerant of others by respondents in all the countries surveyed. Half of the young people interviewed are interested in studying in the UK and an even higher number is interested in visiting as tourists – thus potentially contributing to two important sectors in the UK economy.

Without having necessarily even been to the UK, 40 percent of young people already expressed an interest in pursuing business and trade opportunities here, which represents a vast number of potential partners for UK businesses.

DJ Goldierocks brings new UK music to listeners in 33 countries through our radio show, 'The Selector'. (Image credit: Samantha Hall)

How does the UK attract young people from around the world?

In education, the UK strongly appeals to international students, with almost half of young people interviewed naming it as their preferred country of study.

In terms of tourism, the UK’s main competitor amongst the countries surveyed is France – likely due to its rich cultural heritage and strong associations, in Asia in particular, with romance, high fashion and luxury.

When it comes to business interests and perceived opportunities, the US and Germany got the top ratings amongst the young people surveyed. While the UK ranked well ahead of France, it was outstripped by Germany and the US (preferred by 30 percent and 50 percent, respectively, compared to the UK’s 20 percent).

Looking just at the UK, more young people showed interest in doing business with the country than they perceived opportunities to do so: 40 percent compared to 21 percent.

How does taking part in cultural activities influence business interests?

Most interestingly, the report shows that, in addition to practical factors such as transport and communications infrastructure, laws and taxes, engaging in UK cultural activities contributes significantly to a positive perception of business and trade opportunities in the UK.

We found that levels of English proficiency have a clear impact both on interest in doing business with the UK and on perceptions of the business opportunities the country offers; higher levels of proficiency were associated with increased interest and improved perceptions.

Why is the English language so influential? Among other things, English proficiency provides:

• increased access to information about the UK;
• increased confidence to travel and engage with people internationally;
• increased ability to understand the broader commercial and legal environment for working with people and organisations from the UK; related to this is the increase in trust that a shared language can help to build (as we observed in our 2012 report, ‘Trust Pays’);
• increased ability to access UK culture and educational opportunities.

High ratings for the UK’s scientific research, innovation and educational system were positively correlated with strong ratings of its business opportunities, too. The same was true among those who looked positively on the UK’s artistic and creative output, social institutions and media.

Thus, judgements about the UK’s business opportunities are influenced by people’s perceptions of other aspects of UK society and culture.

Finally, and most strikingly, cultural engagement with the UK is also associated with a positive change in perceptions of the country’s business prospects. Our research compared levels of interest and perceived business opportunities in the UK among subsets of respondents whose only difference was whether or not they had previously participated in cultural activities with the UK.

Here’s what we found:

• There is a strong positive relationship between involvement in UK cultural activities and interest in opportunities to do business with people or organisations from the UK;
• There is a positive relationship between involvement in UK cultural activities and rating of the opportunities the UK offers for business and trade;
• Involvement in UK cultural activities facilitated by the British Council resulted in greater interest in and rating of UK business opportunities than involvement in cultural activities facilitated by another UK institution.

Just as our earlier research showed that experiencing UK culture increases people’s trust in the UK, this latest report confirms that the UK’s culture is an asset that continues to benefit the country.

However, this does not mean that cultural activities are simply a means to an end. They must have a purpose and a focus in their own right.

But as the simple model above shows, activities that improve cultural skills, increase exposure to UK cultural assets and boost English language abilities start a chain of impact that can lead to increased trade and business activity with the UK in the long term.

Read the full ‘Culture Means Business‘ report.

Check out additional research on how cultural experiences increase trust in the UK, why employers value intercultural skills and more.

UNESCO declared 21 May a day to celebrate diversity and encourage people around the world to learn about other cultures. The British Council is taking part in UNESCO’s campaign to ‘do one thing for diversity’, and our Rabbhi Yahiya suggests five ways you can participate.

In 2001 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...]]>

UNESCO declared 21 May a day to celebrate diversity and encourage people around the world to learn about other cultures. The British Council is taking part in UNESCO’s campaign to ‘do one thing for diversity’, and our Rabbhi Yahiya suggests five ways you can participate.

In 2001 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 21 May ‘World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development’, an ‘opportunity to deepen our understanding of the value of cultural diversity and learn to live together better.’

Arguably, we already have daily opportunities to do this – but that doesn’t mean we make the best use of these opportunities. UNESCO’s campaign today encourages everyone to ‘do one thing for diversity’. As someone who is excited by diversity, I like the fact that this day contributes to raising awareness worldwide about the importance of intercultural dialogue.

Last year, when South Korean pop star Psy’s video ‘Gangnam Style’ went viral, it made me reflect on how what we used to perceive as distant cultures and traditions can so vividly be showcased on television or even smart phones. It was a catalyst for me to learn more about another culture that was unfamiliar to me at the time and to remember that the wonders of current technology can help us embark on our own adventures and make our own small discoveries.

This simple video inspired me to learn more about Korean pop culture by reading about it, listening to some more K-pop and generally looking for the next Korean film to watch. I’m really enjoying this self-education in Korean culture, and on 21 May I am going to share what I’ve learned by watching my favourite Korean film with some of my friends.

At the British Council, we are in our second year of marking the UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity. Recognising that it is the small but sustained gestures that make a difference to promoting diversity, we are encouraging even the most modest ways of celebrating the spirit of the day.

This year, we are strengthening our ‘living library’ of ‘living books’ – that is, British Council staff. This allows staff to search for colleagues to talk to about specific interests. On 21 May I will be borrowing a ‘living book’: someone in my office who is willing to share aspects of his or her life, background and culture with me. It is a great way to connect with colleagues in an organisation that has offices and staff all over the world.

You don’t need any kind of formal ‘living library’ to celebrate diversity, though. Here are a few simple things you can do for diversity today:

1. Watch a movie with friends about a culture that’s unfamiliar to you.
2. Set out to learn one thing in particular about another culture. For example, you could cook an international dish.
3. Ask someone you know about his or her cultural background.
4. Listen to music from another culture. The British Council’s Selector radio programme showcases a diverse offering of music from the UK, often with international influences.
5. Visit an exhibition or museum dedicated to other cultures.

What one thing will you do today to celebrate diversity in your life?

View a short presentation by the British Council Diversity Unit and join the official campaign page on Facebook or take part in the conversation on Twitter.

Watch the video below to see how one British Council employee experienced diversity in her workplace.

English speakers with regional accents are often judged by how they speak, but is this a good thing? Accent and dialect coach Helen Ashton explains.

Accents define us the moment we meet others. They pass on information about our lives – where we are from, our age and even our parents’ histories – and they...]]>

English speakers with regional accents are often judged by how they speak, but is this a good thing? Accent and dialect coach Helen Ashton explains.

Accents define us the moment we meet others. They pass on information about our lives – where we are from, our age and even our parents’ histories – and they form an identity that gives us immediate membership to an oral tribe. Often this information we are transmitting does nothing other than inform the listener, but what if the way we speak really could change the path of our lives?

Recent research suggests that some judgments made by listeners to an accent are more than simply banter between the borders. Accents can affect how intelligent or attractive you are perceived to be, and can potentially affect results in exams, trials and job interviews.

The UK has a population of around 65 million, most of whom speak English as part of their daily life. For such a small, densely populated land mass full of people sharing a common language, the UK has a huge variety of distinct regional accents, often existing very close to each other – Brummie, Glaswegian, Scouse, Cockney, Multicultural London English (MLE) and Geordie, to name a very few. All of these accents are defined geographically, yet there is one accent that seems to represent us Brits internationally – Received Pronunciation or RP.

Research consistently shows us that RP or the ‘Queen’s English’ gives British speakers the best headstart in life – RP speakers can relax with the knowledge that they will probably earn a few brownie points in that exam/job interview/trial by sounding ‘a bit posh’.

Why? Given that RP has no discernible geography, how did it manage to become the most desired accent on our little group of islands? Well, it’s no secret that power attracts emulation, and it seems that over the last few centuries we have shifted from admiring those ruling the nation to trying to speak like them in the quest to climb the social ladder. As a strategy, this worked in the 1800s, and whilst so much has changed since, this particular mindset remains largely the same.

Accents create variety in speech and form part of our rich cultural heritage, like forms of history and diversity that we can hear. But they are also a form of history in the making. As younger generations discover all that speech has to offer, they claim its expressivity for their own, with new words being created in schools up and down the country.

To some, this just isn’t ‘proper’ speech, the same people who would have ‘standard speech’ – whatever that might be – taught across the UK, and internationally. Supporters of such ‘standard speech’ need to ask themselves this: do you really talk exactly like your parents spoke? Accents evolve across generations; trying to preserve speech is like trying to catch the proverbial wave: impossible.

The question remains for the UK – do we want to waste our energy preserving an accent standard that ultimately does little other than create additional hurdles for our regional, youth and immigrant populations?

Or shall we try to truly embrace the multiculturalism we claim to support and nurture, and start thinking instead about new standards of listening?

Helen Ashton and fellow voice and dialect coach Sarah Shepherd presented yesterday’s webcast, ‘The politics of pronunciation‘, as part of the English Effect exhibition at the British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London, SW1A 2BN.

Find out how English language instructors abroad teach their students about regional accents.