About...

... the Concept BabelNet is designed for teachers of English as a foreign language who care about our world. It may be a cliché, but who can argue with the idea that education can change the world? The injustices caused by mankind on other humans can only exist in a world where greed and hate are commonplace and, most importantly, where indifference and apathy are the norm. All those working in education have a priviliged position from which to encourage their students, young and old, to consider their values and what they can do to hold to them. As a language teacher, you have an even more priviliged position in that you have much more freedom about the content of your lessons than, say a physics teacher. And, if you are working in a private academy, or teaching privately, you have even more freedom still. This website is for teachers who have such freedom, but don't have the time to trawl through NGO websites looking for interesting lesson plans on important issues than can be used in an english class, or to sit down and prepare them themselves. Here, you will find various materials, some drawn from other resources, some designed by myself, but all adapted to language teaching. The idea is that, if you want to do a lesson on conditionals about the environment, you only have to type the two words into the search engine, the age and level of your students, and bingo! A lesson plan. ... the Website The website is brand new, and still quite bare. There aren't many materials on here yet, so I would advise you to simply browse the contents (not forgetting the Toolbox of useful games and warm-ups) rather than doing searches for specific topics. This will change rapidly. Here's what you can expect in the near future on this website: More materials More links A forum to interact with other users Possibility to submit materials directly Advice on using global and social issues in class Preparations for a training seminar, hopefully taking place this summer And pictures on this page! ... and, of course, anything else recommended by the users. So, if you are disappointed by the limited usefulness of the website at the moment, make some suggestions, offer to help if you can, or simply come back in a month or two. ... the Designer That's me. My name is Saamah Abdallah, I'm 26, currently live in London and, aside from developing this website, am a student (MSc. in Democracy and Democratisation) and educator (TEFL and maths for children). I have been teaching English on and off since 2000, which is where the idea of the website came from. I wanted to talk about serious issues with my students but didn't have the time to prepare materials, nor the know-how. From Sep 2004 to June 2005, I worked in Angelus Silesius House in Wroclaw, Poland, running workshops and youth exchanges on issues such as human rights and immigration. ... the Funding Comes from the European Commission Youth Programme's Future Capital system, which supports individual projects created by young people who have previously been part of the European Voluntary Service programme (which I did in Poland). And what is that? It's an excellent programme, currently for people aged 25 and under, allowing you to spend 3-12 months in another country (mostly in and around the EU) working in an NGO or similar organisation. Unlike most voluntary programmes, you don't pay for it - in fact you receive pocket money, accommodation, language tuition, etc. ... the Law The design and idea of the website (i.e. a database of global and social issue materials for language teachers) is copyrighted. If you wish to make a similar website, please contact me first. You are given permission to print out and duplicate the ideas and resources to be used by your own students or for study purposes by students. For any other use, please contact the original author of the materials, who can be traced using the website. Thanks to... A mixed bag. To the British Council (especially Josie McAlpine) and Youth Programme for funding the project, to Ania K, Ania H, Kazik S and everyone at Angelus Silesius House for supporting my application, training me in the field and providing materials, to all the organisations and people who have and will supply more materials, to Barcelona Voluntaria for their advice and hopefully support in organising the training seminar, to Vic & Chris at EF Brighton for allowing me to scour their library for information, to Alan C and Jennifer W for their help in the design, to Kate Critchley, Vicky Cuthill and Lucy Stephens at Oxfam, Margaret Burr at the HEC, Chris Williams at the DEA, and Sean Banville at Breaking News English, to Arthur Fernandes for legal advice, to Artisans du Monde for an inspiring seminar on Fair Trade Education, to Cynthia Hansen for all her advice and leads, to Mark, my brother Samer and for programming advise, and to my mum for living with me. Also to users hcgtv and mediatech at opensourceCMS, users Ritchie, Kaotik, phppp, davidthomas1, tjnemez on the Xoops forum, and jaredc on the etomite forum, for responding to my pathetic computer-illiterate pleas for help. Also to the designers of Xoops open source software, to MWSnap> for screen captures, and the various modules I have used (Archcontact, Articles, Worldware). To my laptop, for only dying once during the development of the website. And of course to Magda, my light at the end of the tunnel, for putting up with having a ridiculously busy boyfriend.