Online (And Print) Resource: English Teaching Professional

I’ll be honest. I arrived at the British Council hoping I could find the British editions of Glamour, Cosmo or Marie Claire. No such luck so I picked up English Teaching Professional instead. And actually, it’s not so bad.

This is an online and in print magazine which offers articles, first hand stories, and activities for and by people who teach English.

While many professional magazines or journals get a reputation for being dry and academic, this one in my opinion does the balance well – there are some more academic articles but there are also short, practical examples of fun activities to use in class.

To get a taste of what’s on offer, check out the recent article on Suggestopedia, which is basically a method of increasing knowledge by suggesting that learning is fun and easy (and not complex and boring) and by setting the scene so that people are not reminded of their traditional (and often negative) experiences of learning from grade school, perhaps by playing background music or using engaging games (with a language focus of course).

The issue which I picked up at the British Council (which was relatively ancient hailing from July 2003 but still packed with useful info) has articles on leading lessons on racism, “making the most of a tapescript”, teaching online and two sections, “Scrapbook” and “It works in practice” where teachers share puzzles or unique activities.

My wardrobe and insight into the minds of men may not be any better off, but I got some good practical teaching activities and ideas. My verdict: English Teaching Professional is no Cosmo, but as English language teaching magazines go, it’s not too shabby.