We give learners something worth talking about, and the language to talk about it.

A person at a table propping up their face with one hand and looking aside, the rest of the group beside them.A person at a table propping up their face with one hand and looking aside, the rest of the group beside them.

The start

Where this came from

There is no shortage of English material. The catch is that something usually has to give:

  • Sound teaching, in a file that looks like a photocopy of a photocopy.
  • A handsome layout, with another list of discussion questions underneath it.
  • A good topic, after which nobody can tell what the student actually learned.

Our answer

Big Talk Club started from the belief that you shouldn't have to choose. You can give learners something worth talking about and the language to say it with. Two ways of thinking sit behind every lesson: one hunts for ideas worth arguing over, the other makes sure a good lesson can be built a second time, just as well. We don't take ourselves too seriously. We take the materials very seriously.

This is exactly how I want to teach.
The reaction we're after from a teacher
Oh, that's actually interesting.
The reaction we're after from a student
Rather than a huge library of materials, we're building a recognisable way of teaching.
The thought behind every decision

What we believe

Four rules we hold to

Idea first, language second

A lesson starts from a question or a tension people want to talk about, rather than a broad category out of a coursebook.

Speaking needs a point

Instead of ten discussion questions, your student gets a task: a ranking, a choice, a position to defend or someone to talk round.

The look is part of the material

When a student has to rank something they see a ranking, and when they have to choose they see clear options, because the layout helps the task along instead of decorating it.

Language should come back

A new phrase turns up again in the examples, the practice and the conversation, instead of vanishing after its first outing.

Got a question

We'll write back, whether it's about the materials, the licence or something else entirely.

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