English in Action

03/10/2026

Communication Challenges

Being able to complete an English exercise successfully does not always translate into being able to communicate confidently in real time.

Learners may hesitate when asked a simple question, struggle to keep a conversation going, lose track when listening to natural speech or find it difficult to make themselves understood. Communication requires them to listen, think, select language, respond and adapt, often simultaneously.

Our new Communication Challenges: Practice Activities & Learner Strategies booklet has been developed to help teachers address these challenges in the classroom.

Across eight sections, it explores getting learners talking, building conversations, dealing with communication breakdowns, developing listening skills, using pair and group work effectively, encouraging improvisation, recognising progress and speaking effectively.

Each area includes practical teaching strategies, quick classroom ideas and more substantial activities and resources that can be incorporated into regular English lessons.

The focus throughout is not on achieving perfect English, but on helping learners develop the strategies and confidence to become more flexible and independent communicators.

💬 Which aspects of real communication do your students find most challenging? We’d be interested to hear teachers’ experiences.

👉 You can find the new booklet in the EiA Shop. Link in the comments.

02/10/2026

A glimpse of an English in Action week! 🇬🇧
This video from a recent course captures some of the students taking part in their end of course show, bringing together everything they have worked on during the week.
A lovely way to finish the week, and a big thank you to the school for sharing the video with us!

28/09/2026

How well do expressions survive translation?

International Translation Day takes place on 30 September, celebrating the work of translators, interpreters and other language professionals who help people communicate across languages.
This year’s theme is “Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights”, with a focus on the power of being understood.

💡 Classroom idea: Ask students to choose an expression or idiom from their own language and translate it directly into English.
Does the literal translation make sense? Is there an English expression with a similar meaning? Or is there no direct equivalent at all?

We’d love to hear the strangest or funniest literal translations your class discovers. Share your favourites below! 👇

24/09/2026

How much of the English we teach can students confidently use outside the classroom?

Our latest blog, Real-World English: Teaching the Language Learners Can Actually Use, looks at how we can help students bridge the gap between learning English and using it to communicate.

From high-frequency words and useful phrases to natural spoken English and strategies for dealing with misunderstandings, the article explores practical ways to make classroom learning more relevant to the situations students may actually encounter.

It also looks at how small adaptations to existing lessons and course books can help students recognise the real-world value of the English they are learning.

Read the full blog via the link in the comments ⬇

20/09/2026

Did you know there are more than 300 different sign languages used around the world?

On 23 September, International Day of Sign Languages celebrates sign languages and their importance to Deaf people and communities worldwide.

It’s an interesting opportunity to get students thinking about just how much communication happens beyond spoken words.

💡 Classroom idea: Try a No Words Challenge. Give one student a word, action or simple situation to communicate without speaking. Their classmates have to work out the message before discussing which gestures, expressions and other clues helped them understand.

Then take it a step further: what can we do when we don’t know the English word we need?

How many different ways of communicating can your students come up with?

16/09/2026

💬 The answer is... Get your wires crossed!

To get your wires crossed means to misunderstand each other or become confused about what was said.

For example:
“We got our wires crossed. I thought we were meeting at the school, but you were waiting at the station.”

A useful idiom for those moments when communication does not quite go to plan!

Did you guess it correctly? Let us know in the comments.

15/09/2026

Sometimes the best feedback finds you when you least expect it. ❤️

After a recent English in Action course in Slovenia, one of our teachers was checking out of his hotel when the receptionist realised he worked for EiA.

She told him that she had taken part in an English in Action course four years earlier and remembered it as a really great experience. It had helped build her confidence to speak English and, even better, inspired her to go on to study English at university.

It was a chance conversation, but one we were very glad our teacher shared with us.

We often see the difference an EiA week can make while we’re in a school. Hearing about the impact it can still have years later makes it even more special.

13/09/2026

💬 How well do you know your English idioms?

Communication does not always go quite as planned, and English has plenty of idioms to describe those moments.

Can you work out this idiom from our literal illustration?
Leave your guess in the comments and we’ll reveal the answer soon.⬇

12/09/2026

🎥 English in Action on Macedonian TV!

We were delighted to see the English summer camp organised by Verbion Edu in North Macedonia featured on Kanal 5.

The camp gives young people the chance to really use their English through games, activities and plenty of communication, creating an immersive experience without having to travel to the UK.

Our Director, Mike, joined the conversation to share the story behind English in Action, from how it all began over 35 years ago to the work we now do with schools across Europe. At the heart of it is a simple idea: helping students realise they often know more English than they think they do and giving them the confidence to put it into practice.

A huge thank you to Verbion for organising the camp, SOL - Sharing One Language for their support, and Kanal 5 for sharing the story.

Watch the full feature here:

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11/09/2026

Looking for a little classroom inspiration?

Roald Dahl Story Day on the 13th Sepetmber celebrates the stories, characters and wonderfully imaginative language of one of Britain’s best-known children’s authors. It’s also a great excuse to get your students creating!

💡 Classroom idea: Give students three unusual character traits, an unexpected location and a strange object. In pairs or small groups, challenge them to create their own character and a short story featuring all three.
For lower levels, provide some useful vocabulary or sentence starters to help them get going.

Know an English teacher who might enjoy this one? Pass the idea on! 📚