For many members of the Network, teaching digital skills goes alongside teaching English to people for whom it’s not their first language.
In 2014, Good Things Foundation created the English My Way Programme, working in partnership with the British Council, BBC Learning English and the Department for Communities and Local Government to produce resources to help community organisations teach English in their communities.
Although the programme is no longer being funded, you can still benefit from all the resources originally developed for the English My Way website, as well as other sources that we think you'll find useful. You can find these resources below.
BBC Learn English
The BBC Learn English website is a valuable resource for developing English language skills, from basic towards advanced.
Their “English My Way (basic)” section features a collection of 14 “learning circles”. Each learning circle has activities, videos, quizzes and downloadable resources to help you support people improve their English skills. It also has dedicated support for speakers of Bangla, Urdu and Somali.
bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/emw
English My Way
The following selected content was previously available on the English My Way website.
Each topic has content to cover around 6 - 8 hours of learning. Topics are split into a number of sessions, each with detailed teachers notes and resources.
The topics are designed to be delivered over 2 weeks if learners attend 4 hours worth of sessions a week, but you can deliver them at any pace that suits you - for example, over 1 week if learners attend 8 hours a week.
All about me
- Greetings, 'small talk', e.g. weather, transport, directions
Employability
- Jobs, workplaces, Job Centre, job search and at work
Healthcare
- Chemist, doctor, healthy eating, well-being, hospital
Shopping
- Money, food/ household items, clothes
Other websites
The following websites, recommended by members of the Online Centres Network, also support learning English language skills.
BBC Skillswise: English for Adults.
- Free videos and downloadable worksheets to help adult learners improve their reading, writing, spelling and grammar.
- bbc.co.uk/teach/skillswise/english/zjg4scw
ESOL Courses
- Free online course for beginners.
- Esolcourses.com
Waltham Forest ESOL Advice Service
- A list of online ESOL websites.
- wfmigranthub.org/english-esol-classes-for-speakers-of-other-languages
Oxford Owl
- Advice, educational resources and free eBooks to support children's learning at primary school and at home, from Oxford University Press
- Oxfordowl.co.uk
Agenda Web
- English exercises for a range of ability levels.
- agendaweb.org
