Letter 1

Hi Hania

I hope all is going well. I wanted to update you again.

We rolled out the HLT content with a number of database scalability updates and had few hitches along the way with out other updates, but all resolved now.

We pulled a bunch of files from the site and ran the indexer. As with every source if the indexer has problems with structure or encoding it skips the file. Of the 93 we indexed 75 were added to our database and are available on the site. These are from the short and major articles sections.

We've created a HLT source and a 'Professional Development' category. Currently the content is accessible only by search or via the HLT category.

There is still some minor tweaking to be done - adding the copyright notice, the date of the actual publication and a link back to the HLT magazine site.

We have adhoc character issues with the " and ' being replaced by the ?. It's not consistent across all files so seems to be as a result of the formats and encodings.

When you have time do take a look and let us know if you have any specific feedback so we can add it to the list.

But the good news is - there are 75 Articles you can access, analyze and create exercises/resources with.

thanks
Ian

Ian T. Butler
CEO | LingleOnline | PH: +353 1 895 8978 | M: +353 86 609 0384

Sign up for your FREE TRIAL @ www.lingleonline.com

Letter 2

Dear Hania,

We would like to thank you once more for supporting the Disabled Access Friendly campaign by publishing articles about our work in HLT, and generally helping us to network and promote our work.

Over 100 people including you have helped us develop what started as a tiny idea into an important campaign with global impact, and we hope you are proud to be part of this effort. Everybody is a volunteer, everyone’s contribution is significant, and as part of the team, we thought you would like to know where we are now, and give you a brief summary of our milestones and achievements.

2010

• Following the publication of an article in the Athens News “A day in the life of a disabled person” a campaign is born as a Facebook page and quickly has 800+ followers
• Knowing that the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) can be an effective tool for raising social awareness, the campaign evolves to focus on encouraging EFL teachers to combine teaching English with raising awareness about mobility disability.
• We begin work on a website with free teaching material that will help teachers do this.
• We network to find
  a. people involved in EFL who will spread the word about our campaign through their own networks and at EFL events worldwide. We call these people ambassadors.
  b. EFL professionals (this includes teachers) who are willing to support us by contributing lesson plans that raise awareness about mobility disability, which we will upload to our site when it is ready.
• We promote the campaign at 5 EFL events in our home country, Greece, and 15 articles are published, either by us or about us in the EFL press.

2011

• We look beyond our home country of Greece and promote the campaign at 26 EFL events in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Turkey and U.K. Thirty articles are published either by us or about us in the EFL press.
• In December we launch our site with free teaching material and graded reading texts and in the first month alone have 869 visitors and 4,272 page hits. Word is starting to get around.
• We get responses such as this: “Keep inspiring teachers and students!”

Jan – Sep 2012

• We continue to promote our work at 34 EFL events worldwide in Austria, Brazil, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, and UK. Fifteen articles are published either by us or about us in the EFL press.
• The Disabled Access Friendly campaign is awarded the Julia Tanner memorial scholarship by TESOL Macedonia Thrace, which will allow us to present our work at the IATEFL conference in Liverpool in 2013.
• Our mailing list is expanded little by little, and over 3,000 people are regularly kept up to date with our activities.
• Our Facebook page is improved.
• The content of the site is increased and now provides 60 EFL free lesson plans and 40 free graded reading texts at all levels, as well as a specially produced video clip on Wheelchair Etiquette.

To date the site has received over 9,000 visitors from over 100 different countries, who collectively have made more than 45,000 page hits. When you think of the fact that most of these people are teachers with access to classrooms of students with whom they can use our material, you will appreciate the enormity of what we, collectively, have achieved, and all as a voluntary initiative.

Disabled Access Friendly helps teachers to

• Teach EFL, but do more than just prepare students for tests
• Teach values
• Raise social awareness

Disabled Access Friendly helps students to

• Learn about issues related to mobility disability
• Put themselves into someone else’s shoes
• Think critically, become more sensitive, initiate changes

You helped us to

MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The effectiveness of a campaign lies in its sustainability, and we hope you will continue to support us in whatever way you can.

With many thanks!
Kind regards,
The Disabled Access Friendly team

Letter 3

Hi Hania

ELTmag 2 is online now! Lots of good stuff including articles by Jamie Keddie, Marjorie Rosenberg, Charlie Hadfield, Nicky Hockly, and Russell Stannard. Issue 1 also viewable.

Anyway you could publicise it - e.g. Twitter/blog/ among colleagues/ students would be very helpful.

www.ELTmag.com

I have started new feature - weblinks . I did the MET/ETP site this time but in the next couple will do the Teacher Trainer Journal and HLT

(…)
Thanks
Jill Hadfield

Letter 4

New IELTS Skills mobile apps released

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3rd September 2012

LONDON, England – Macmillan Education today announced the release of six brand-new mobile apps in its growing digital portfolio. The IELTS Skills series of apps are designed to be invaluable tools for IELTS exam practice and teaching. The apps, which consist of exercises and interactive tasks, exam practice and extensive hints and tips, are available for use on Apple iPhones and iPads, with Android versions available soon.

“The brand-new IELTS Skills apps are the perfect tools for fitting IELTS practice and study into people’s busy days,” said Matt Kay, Digital Marketing Manager for Macmillan Education. “And because they’re mobile you can learn wherever you are. Written by acclaimed IELTS expert and author Sam McCarter (Ready for IELTS, Tips for IELTS, Improve your IELTS Skills) the apps contain everything you need to take the exam with confidence. We think students and teachers alike are going to love these apps”.

The apps are designed for students preparing for the Cambridge IELTS exam. IELTS is accepted as proof of English language competency worldwide, with over 1.4 million candidates sitting the exam each year. The apps feature the following:

• A wide range of innovative and interactive exercises that help students work on the essential skills needed for the IELTS exam
• Detailed overview of the IELTS exam sections
• A complete listening exam with audio script, created specially for the app
• Oral exam practice: you can record yourself as you answer questions from an examiner
• The best strategies for answering the full range of exam questions, including skimming and scanning practice
• Fluency, rhythm and intonation practice exercises
• An interactive self-scoring system

Pricing & Availability

IELTS Skills is available for purchase for £9.99/$13.99 in iTunes and on the iPhone App Store

at: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ielts-skills-complete/id545947805?ls=1&mt=8

Users can alternatively purchase each individual skill (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) as separate apps for just £3.99/$5.99. There is also a FREE version, with samples of all 4 skills.

Additional Information

For additional information about IELTS Skills, including screenshots, a demo video, and more, please visit www.macmillaneducationapps.com/ieltsskills

For further information please contact:
Matt Kay | Digital Marketing Manager
International Group | Macmillan Education
Tel: +44 207 7014 4210 | Email: m.kay@macmillan.com

Letter 5

The Call of the Wild is a Finalist in the LLL Award 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10th September 2012

Macmillan Education’s Reader The Call of the Wild has become a finalist in the Language Learner Literature Award Adolescents and Adults – Intermediate category.

The awards, which are held annually by the Extensive Reading Foundation (ERF), were announced at the Independent Learning Association Conference in Wellington, New Zealand on 2 September.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London as retold by Rachel Bladon was praised by one of the judges as a book that would "appeal to young readers". Commenting on Rachel Bladon’s version, the judge remarked that

“the author does well to keep the language relatively simple without sacrificing the feel of the story. [It’s] full of action from start to finish”

On winning the award, Rachel Bladon said:

“Of all the readers I have written for Macmillan, The Call of the Wild was one of the ones that I enjoyed most. It’s a gripping and very moving story, and I was delighted to hear that it was a finalist in the LLL Awards. The LLL Awards are a real benchmark for ELT readers, so it’s a great thrill to have one of my titles selected as a finalist.”

Alison Millar, Commissioning Editor Graded Readers at Macmillan Education added:

“It’s a great honour to have a book selected as a finalist. It confirms what we know: that students do “love to read” Macmillan Readers, particularly classic stories like The Call of the Wild.”

It is not the first time that Macmillan Education’s Readers and Explorers series has been recognised ERF. Last year, Macmillan Education’s children’s reader Aladdin won the LLL Award in the Young Learners category, and The Call of the Wild's companion piece, White Fang, won the award in the category Adolescent & Adult – Elementary in 2009.

Notes to Editors

The Call of the Wild by Jack London as retold by Rachel Bladon and illustrated by John Dillow. Macmillan Education’s carefully graded Reader series are retold versions of popular classics and contemporary titles.