english is an african language

The English language is not confined to England of course:

Jay Doubleyou: "let’s not make english about british culture"

And, of course, English speakers are not only born in England:

Jay Doubleyou: native speakerism

They are also born, for example, in Africa:

Jay Doubleyou: the english-speaking world: west africa

It's considered 'an African language':

English is already becoming the language of the African continent as we speak:

English is an African Language- the Language of Coexistence - Mulosige 

It's complicated of course:

Nigeria’s relationship to the English language, like that of all English-speaking African nations, is a complicated one. Chinua Achebe – one of the legends – wrote of the English language, “we may go on resenting it, because it came as part of a package deal that included many other items of doubtful value, especially the atrocities of racial arrogance and prejudice which may yet set the world on fire … If [English] failed to give them a song it at least gave them a tongue for sighing.”

Africa’s colonisation of the English language continues apace | Afua Hirsch | The Guardian

And there is a healthy debate going on:

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o: English is not an African language - BBC News

But it seems that those outside Africa need to be reminded that Africans speak English:

English is the official language of Nigeria, and both in the country’s colonial era and since independence from Britain in 1960, it has been the country’s standard language of instruction. To be a Nigerian college student typically means to have been studying in English at least since the start of elementary school. And although many U.S. and Canadian universities do exempt students from Nigeria and other Anglophone countries from such tests, not all do.

English Speakers From Africa Face Discrimination in the West

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ban smoking!

At the end of the year, New Zealand did something very radical:

New Zealand has introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those aged 14 and under from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in world-first legislation to outlaw smoking for the next generation. The number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes will be reduced to a tenth of their existing levels – from 6,000 to just 600 nationwide. The laws passed their final reading on Tuesday evening, and will come into force in 2023, as New Zealand attempts to reach its goal of making the country “smoke-free” by 2025.

New Zealand passes world-first tobacco law to ban smoking for next generation | New Zealand | The Guardian

Legislation passed by parliament on Tuesday means that anyone born after 2008 will never be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products. It will mean the number of people able to buy tobacco will shrink each year. By 2050, for example, 40-year-olds will be too young to buy cigarettes.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, who introduced the bill, said it was a step "towards a smoke-free future". "Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be NZ$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking," Dr Verrall said.

New Zealand passes legislation banning cigarettes for future generations - BBC News

Germany, for example, is way behind:

Data from 2020 shows that 23% of adult Germans smoke, which is still considerably higher than in New Zealand. One reason for this may have to do with the country's sluggishness in outlawing cigarette advertisements, which were only banned in print media and online in 2007, owing to EU pressure. It took German lawmakers until 2021 to decide that tobacco ads may be only shown in German movie theaters during screenings aimed exclusively at mature audiences.
And up until late 2021, cigarette billboards remained ubiquitous in German streets and at bus stops. Germany was the last EU members state to introduce a ban on such public cigarette marketing. Moreover, tobacco heater placards will only be banned in Germany from January 2023, whereas the use of E-cigarettes may still be publicly promoted until the end of 2023.

New Zealand's smoking ban — a precedent for others? – DW – 12/16/2022

The same piece points to Sweden:

Conversely, Swedish smoking rates are the lowest out of all EU member states. Yet these figures are somewhat misleading given that snus — a smokeless oral tobacco product — is widely used instead, especially among men. Snus is illegal in all EU states, except Sweden.
"Snus isn't harmless," says Doctor Schaller, "and likely linked to cancer." While potentially less harmful than smoking tobacco products, she says, snus is harmful in its own right and can also cause addiction.

New Zealand's smoking ban — a precedent for others? – DW – 12/16/2022

So, will tobacco companies just change direction?

The approach—focused on the creation of a so-called smoke-free generation—misses an important point, however: Cigarettes are already a waning choice for tobacco consumption. It’s instead smoke-free products such as vapes, e-cigarettes, or heated tobacco, that will create the next generation of nicotine addicts...
Modes of nicotine consumption such as vaping or heating are gaining popularity fast. In the US, for instance, a 2020 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that as many as 20% of 12th graders in the US (typically aged 17 and 18) vaped daily, compared to as little as 12% who smoked.
New Zealand is following the same trend. In 2021, a survey published in the New Zealand Journal of Public Health found that vaping has a higher appeal than smoking among younger people. These aren’t former smokers: 80% of the teenagers who vaped at some point, and 50% of regular vapers had never smoked a cigarette before they began vaping, which voids claims of harm reduction associated with transitioning from cigarettes to smoke-free products...

While smoke-free tobacco products are likely less harmful than cigarettes, they are not shown to help quit tobacco use, and still carry health risks including lung disease, potential exposure to toxic substances, and harm to brain development and fetal health, not to mention the lifestyle and economic consequences of a highly addictive product. Further, smoke-free tobacco products are relatively young, and lack the long-term research that established the harmful impacts of smoking.

How does New Zealand's cigarette ban work?

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the english teaching industry is evolving

Back in pre-Covid days, there was a lot of talk about how the ELT industry was changing - and it was all going digital even back then:

Three trends in foreign-language teaching that are here to stay:
1. ESL students are getting younger and younger.

2. Technology will continue to disrupt and innovate English language teaching strategies.

3. English language learners are moving online.

The global English language job market is changing: what this means for ESL teachers | by Brett Montrose | AcceleratEd | Medium

These trends accelerated hugely since then:

The New Frontier of Teaching English: Interactive, Global, Virtual and Innovative! - BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

During lockdown a couple of years ago, ELT consultant Beatrice Segura Harvey "embarked on a research project that focused on teacher development, particularly teacher competencies, with an aim at answering a difficult question: What constitutes an effective teacher, post-pandemic?":

1. The English language is changing.

This linguistic and behavioural change brings sociocultural implications. ‘Global English’, as we know it, is becoming more blurred and so starts a new chapter with more people meeting online and the geographical barriers becoming even less finite.

2. Modes of teaching are expanding.

Online learning, in its many forms, has been steadily growing over the years, but since the global crisis, it has been catapulted into the lap of almost every student around the world. Students have more options than ever before and more is expected of our teachers as a consequence.

In response to these new demands, there has been a noticeable shift in the attitudes from teachers, who are more ‘flexible’, ‘adaptable’ and ‘willing’ to try new things. But are we asking too much of our teachers?

3. Digital competency needs integrating.

Digital competency is now completely intertwined within the role and identity of the teacher, and this needs to be reflected in the framework.

4. Mental health awareness is growing.

One of the emerging topics from my research was mental health, particularly with a focus on online fatigue, and issues resulting from learners and colleagues not being in the same physical space. These included feelings of anxiety, loneliness and alienation.

5. Teacher education is changing fast.

Does the top-down teacher education model need to change? This approach has its uses and needs to exist in certain areas, but now the current cohort of teachers has had considerably more hours of online teaching than their trainers. Could this be an opportunity to look at new models for teacher education? Something that is co-constructed, peer-to-peer and bottom-up?

The changing world of English teaching | E L Gazette

But it is much more than just 'digital'.

Here's an excellent overview from writer and teacher, Chia Suan Chong writing from the British Council's annual ELTon awards last November:

The often-asked question in the English language teaching industry is 'where are we going'? With the increase in online and blended lessons, the rise of language learning apps, and the fine-tuning of digital translation programmes, there is no doubt that English language learning and teaching is changing rapidly. So what does the future hold for English language educators?

To sum up!

We are no longer simply in the business of helping students understand the different uses of the Present Perfect.
We are in the business of preparing students to communicate internationally and connect with others in English.
We are in the business of helping students build relationships with people from different cultures.
And we are in the business of helping students to develop the necessary skills to prepare for conversations they will have out there in the real world.

Ten statements about the Future of ELT - the hidden messages from this year’s ELTons finalists | British Council

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brits wish they'd learnt another language

Mark Herbert of the British Council spoke back in 2015 about the Brits being 'bad at languages' - but regretting that they were:

"We're a nation full of regret when it comes to losing our language skills, but will we ever change" 

Do you have regrets from your school days?

I’m sure the answer is 'yes, of course'. What it may not be is 'oui, bien sûr', 'ja, natürlich' or 'sí, ciertamente', because despite a new survey from the British Council revealing that more than half of us in the UK regret losing languages learnt during our school days, the same study highlights that most of us have seen those skills vanish within just one year of finishing education.

Brits ever bother with language learning?'

It was the same news in 2020:

Two in three (66 per cent) adults in the UK say they did not fully appreciate the benefits of studying a foreign language when they were at school, a new survey from the British Council has revealed. Just nine per cent of UK adults said they had kept up the foreign language they studied at school, with more than six in ten (64 per cent) wishing that they had done so.

Six in ten UK adults wish they’d kept up the foreign language they studied at school | British Council

Another report in 2021 showed the same:

New research shows that just 6% of Brits say they can speak a second language proficiently, despite a third (33%) of UK adults having grown up in a bilingual household. The British Council estimates that over 300 languages are spoken in London alone, and yet Brits are still recognised as the ‘worst language learners in Europe’. The research from Duolingo also revealed that one in five (21%) UK adults admit they believed ‘everyone abroad spoke English’ when they were school age.

When quizzed about their experience of language learning at school, 81% admitted they wish they’d paid more attention in language classes. Respondents said they had not focused at the time because they didn’t think learning a language would be useful (41%) and that the classes were too difficult (40%).

However, it now appears bilingualism could be on the up. Committed to highlighting the importance of families learning languages together outside the classroom, Duolingo’s research paints a far more promising picture when it comes to the next generation of language learners. Set to broaden their language horizons, over three quarters of parents (77%) said that their child is learning to speak a second language, despite the fact a third of adults (33%) admitted they hadn’t taken a language at school themselves.

Just 6% of us are proficient in a second language, research shows - Wales Online

And this month, the latest from the British Council is saying the same:

One in four UK adults regret not speaking a second language | E L Gazette

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improve your speaking by listening to excellent english-learning podcasts

There are lots and lots of videos and podcasts out there promising to help you with your speaking skills. 

Here are a couple of quality places to go, with interesting subjects and good ideas to help you with your pronunciation and speaking.

One of the best out there is Luke's English podcast - with years of fun episodes on every subject to stimulate and entertain and learn:

Luke’s ENGLISH Podcast | Learn British English with Luke Thompson

Sharpening your exam skills is a great way to focus on specific areas - and Keith's Speaking Academy offers lots of free resources to help:

IELTS Speaking Resources, E-books, PDFs - Keith Speaking Academy

But the granddaddy of them all has to be BBC Learning English - and its 6 Minute English programme which has been running for years:

BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English

Here are some lists - all of which include Luke and the BBC!

Top 10 podcasts to help you improve your English | IELTS Australia

10 podcasts to improve your English | Sprachcaffe

22 English Podcasts Every English Learner Should Listen To | FluentU English

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what's the point of british council accreditation?

Most English language schools in the UK are accredited by the British Council:

How we monitor accredited centres | British Council

And the schools who are accredited think it's a good thing:

British Council Summer School

The BC also provides the ELTon awards every year:

"You are vital" Michael Rosen tells ELT sector

There has been some difficulty over hiring teachers, though:

“The British Council should stop hiding behind agencies and take full responsibility for all teachers’ working conditions and well-being. Teachers love their jobs and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” ELT teacher claims compensation from British Council

The BC is not keeping a clear eye on so-called 'zombie schools'

Can UK accreditors see off the zombie schools? | E L Gazette

And meanwhile, more schools are closing in the UK:

More UK language centres gone | E L Gazette

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there is no such thing as a 'pure language'

Peter Trudgill writes in the New European that 'modern Welsh' is a living language spoken by real young people:

Pan dach chi’n defnyddio wide-angle lenses dach chi’n emphasise-io’r foreground (When you use wide-angle lenses you emphasise the foreground), and Oedd hi’n edrych yn stunning (She looked stunning).
Any suggestions that this kind of language use represents “bad Welsh” is incorrect; but, more than that, it is potentially dangerous, because there is a risk that, in the face of this sort of hostility and negativity, young speakers might just give up on speaking Welsh altogether and turn into monolingual English speakers. This is certainly what has happened in the case of other minority language communities, such as those of speakers of some forms of Hungarian in Romania.
The idea of “linguistic purity” is in any case misguided. There is no such thing as a “pure” language. The language this newspaper is written in is full of words borrowed from languages other than English.

Mix and match to keep Welsh alive - The New European

As his colleague Peredur Webb-Davies of Bangor University says:

If the government’s ambition of a million Welsh speakers is to succeed, then we will need not just those people who speak “pure Welsh”, but people that speak Welsh however they wish – even if that means switching in and out of English while doing so.

'Still here': Welsh world cup song Yma o Hyd and how the language is adapting to survive

Chomsky has said it:

Chomsky, linguistics, and justice: No “pure” language – Loving Language

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"let’s not make english about british culture"

Do we need to be taught by 'native speaker' English teachers?

Jay Doubleyou: native speakerism

Do we need to learn about double-decker busses and tea time at 5 o'clock?

There's certainly the idea that teaching English has been about teaching how to be English:

Is English a form of linguistic imperialism? | British Council

But as the language is now very much a world language or lingua franca, do we really need to learn the language through British culture?

Here's Meri Maroutian:

Let’s not make English about British culture

Recently someone suggested that I teach countable and uncountable nouns to children in the primary using British Pounds, in Italy. The lesson would have included a little “market” where children would role play and ask “how much is it?” and then reply “£1.50 please”. You get the idea.

The conversation started something like this: “do you have any pounds at home?”

I liked the idea of bringing more context into the lesson, but I genuinely wondered how children would benefit from the introduction of the a currency that was new to them, the British pound sterling, instead of using one they were more familiar with, the euro.

“Why would you use pounds and not euro?”, I asked my colleague. “Well, they ARE studying English, so it’s good that they learn more about British culture along with it”...

Let’s not make English about British culture – The Non Native Speaker

(19) Meri Maroutian (@MeriMaroutian) / Twitter

There is an absolute ton of stuff on 'British culture' out there for the English language classroom:

British Culture, British Customs and British Traditions

Teenagers and UK culture | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

British Culture Lesson Plans Archives - Man Writes

Of course language and culture are linked:

What learning a new language can teach us about our own culture | The Foreign Rational

The importance of culture in language learning - The Gymglish blog

Learning About Culture is Essential to Learning a Language

English is a native language in Nigeria - so why don't students of the English language learn about life in West Africa?

Nigeria’s official language is English. Why do its citizens have to prove it?  | African Arguments

Nigeria Making Its Mark on the English Language

But don't students who are learning English want to be able to talk about their own culture and those of the people they interact with?

So, why don't students of the English language learn about life anywhere in the world?!

7 Simple Ways for You to Learn About a Different Culture

Make your English language lesson work for learners from a different culture | British Council

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native speakerism

Do you want only a 'native speaker' of English to teach you the language?

Well, it might not be the best way to learn:

Robert Phillipson (1992) formulated "native speaker fallacy", which suggests that the ideal teacher of English is a native speaking teacher.[9] NNEST - Wikipedia

Native-speakerism is a pervasive ideology within ELT, characterized by the belief that ‘native-speaker’ teachers represent a ‘Western culture’ from which spring the ideals both of the English language and of English language teaching methodology (Holliday 2005). Native-speakerism | ELT Journal | Oxford Academic

Though the term NATIVE SPEAKER/SIGNER is frequently used in language research, it is inconsistently conceptualized. The Problematic Concept of Native Speaker in Psycholinguistics: Replacing Vague and Harmful Terminology With Inclusive and Accurate Measures - PMC

This is from an excellent piece by Meri Maroutian in the latest E L Gazette: 

Native speakerism: hiding behind privilege

The Italian Ministry of Education claims that English as a mother tongue can only be claimed by a person who has completed secondary education in an English-speaking country, and this is a requirement that many public and private schools adopt when hiring an English teacher to join their institution...

The issue of native speakerism perpetuated by governments is often swept under the rug and not just in Italy. The South Korean Language Assistant scheme acknowledges native speakers only; while in Spain, holders of a Spanish passport are not eligible. As stated on the British Council website, “UK undergraduates required to take a year abroad as part of their studies are prioritised for posts”..

To give yet another blatant example, the British Council itself has an English Assistants programme, all set up and ready, where all you would need to do is self-assess your English productive and receptive skills to a C2 on the CEFR. The ad for this programme is clearly directed towards 18-year-old undergraduates with UK passports who are willing to travel overseas to gain life experience and discover their career paths... 

This programme has been running for over a century and is the epitome of the privileged status that some, definitely not all, native speakers still hide behind when they advertise themselves as skilled professionals of the language they have been speaking since childhood and therefore consider themselves better at than anyone, including those who have achieved a degree in English literature, language or linguistics..

Because not all native speakers are equal – in East Asia, job adverts for language teachers often state ‘Caucasians only’, directing our attention to how race is perceived in ELT. Language schools consider white teachers ‘more native’ than, say, a black candidate from the US, and this is the same reason why teacher candidates are often asked impertinent questions such as, “Where are you really from?”, or “Where are you originally from?”, as though we were still looking at nationalities through the lens of colour...

... if we want to change the industry of education and people’s mindset towards the importance of the role of an English teacher, as opposed to someone coming from an Inner Circle country as defined by Braj Kachru (1985), ie, the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Kachru’s concentric circles represent the distribution of English across the globe. The Inner Circle represents those countries where English is the primary language, while the Outer Circle and Expanding Circle depict those countries with British colonial ties and those where English is taught as a foreign language in education, respectively.

We must understand that the Inner Circle countries are not the sole providers of the correctness of the English language and we must stop them from advertising themselves as the sole providers of English services. To quote Widdowson, “How English develops in the world is no business whatever of native speakers in the United States, United Kingdom or anywhere else. It is not a possession which they lease out to others, while still retaining the freehold. Other people actually own it”...

Even though I am as glad as the next person to see minor shifts and inclusivity in student textbooks, I still do not see how a talk on how English is now a global language or a reading text on English as a lingua franca can mend what has been perpetuated for so long and is still preventing us from actual growth on a human level.

Native speakerism: hiding behind privilege | E L Gazette

Meri Maroutian is a DELTA qualified teacher based in Parma, Italy. As an Armenian who has lived and studied mostly in Malaysia, America and Italy, Meri has become increasingly aware of the social injustices reserved for those who are forever perceived as foreigners or non-native speakers of any given language. At the age of 14, she spoke four languages and was illiterate in her own mother-tongue, and is now a bilingual speaker of Italian and English.

Meri Maroutian - Parma, Emilia Romagna, Italia | Profilo professionale | LinkedIn

Native and Non-native speakers teaching English: The Morning Break with Jane Ritter | Teachers Talk Radio

Meri Maroutian_What the future looks like for non-native teachers.pdf

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immersive theatre

Immersive theater differentiates itself from traditional theater by removing the stage and immersing audiences within the performance itself. Often, this is accomplished by using a specific location (site-specific), allowing audiences to converse with the actors and interact with their surroundings (interactive), thereby breaking the fourth wall. (Immersive theater and interactive theater are not necessarily synonymous; immersive theater may not have interactive elements in it at all, and interactive theater may not be immersive in the core sense.)

Immersive theater - Wikipedia

It started in Exeter, UK:

Immersive Theatre an Explanation - YouTube

These are the leading theatre people:

Punchdrunk 'The world's leading immersive theatre company' – GQ Magazine

Punchdrunk: The Burnt City review – spectacle eclipses story in siege of Troy epic | Theatre | The Guardian

‘Adrenaline-fuelled’: Punchdrunk return with the horrifically timely siege of Troy | Theatre | The Guardian

Wow, or...

Punchdrunk: Behind The Mask Documentary Trailer - YouTube

Here's their latest:

Punchdrunk's The Burnt City | Trailer - YouTube

Punchdrunk's The Burnt City in London | Opening Night - YouTube

Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City on Channel 4 News 14/04/22 - YouTube

The Burnt City - Punchdrunk - YouTube

A Secret Guide to The Burnt City - with review and photos - YouTube

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