MacMillan English Campus

Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new-style news item!

We are now publishing a weekly news item that includes interactive activities, in response to feedback from MEC customers.

These activities have been graded to suit each of the three language levels: Easy, Average and Difficult. The activities focus on

Graded Readers are one of the most motivating ways of encouraging learners to practise their English – there’s no better way of persuading learners of whatever age that they need the language than making them want to turn the page because they have to know what happens next.

There’s a long history

There’s a whole world of English out there. And you can explore it with your students using the web projects in MEC. There are 62 projects covering a wide range of subjects – sports, arts, travel and finance to name just a few. We check each project twice a year to

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, but what if you can add the whole slideshow, words, sentences and accompany it with music?

Your students regularly post pictures on Facebook or Twitter and comment on them, so why not take their witty commenting skills into the English class. PhotoPeach.com is

As Valentine’s approaches it’s time to resurrect our Blended MEC Valentine’s poetry competition. Last year we asked you to get your students to write variations on the ‘Roses are red, Violets are blue…’ poem format, using it to deliver some untimely bad news. You can build on this by

In a few short days, the biggest day of the romantic calendar will be with us. Whether Valentine’s day is a convenient reminder to pick up some flowers for your loved one or just a depressing reminder of singledom, it’s an opportunity to do something a bit different in the ELT

The Chinese New Year was celebrated this Monday, with millions of people in China, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma ringing in this auspicious occasion by stringing red lanterns around their houses and letting off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits.

Due to the Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese New Year is celebrated much later

I know that a lot of people think that Halloween is a very commercial holiday; however I personally really like it maybe because it is so different from All Saints Day on the 1st of November which I am so familiar with. I see Halloween as a day of amazing pumpkin

The Mona Lisa image is probably one of the most popular and recognizable in the history of art. For centuries the heist of the Mona Lisa painting has been shrouded in mystery. However, it seems that now 100 years after the crime we have found out the truth about the man

Well, in the northern hemisphere, anyway! It is holiday (or vacation) time and there are loads of exercises and games you can use on MEC to help your students brush up on their language skills should they be holidaying in an English-speaking country.

First off – have some fun and try these

As Eva wrote last week, the English love to queue. A fortnight ago it was for Wimbledon; last week it was for the best-selling book and film franchise, Harry Potter. Last Thursday, London’s Trafalgar Square was awash with children and adults of all ages, queuing to see the première

Zoos are for children only? Rubbish. A recent late night at the London Zoo took me back in time to one of my favourite childhood activities, and reminded me of how entertaining it is to look at animals (and at adults looking at animals).

Why not get your students to

For the 125th time tennis fans join the world’s top tennis players at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, to witness the world’s most prestigious grass tennis tournament. Not only is Wimbledon a major sports event for tennis fans from all over the planet (go Federer!!),

Winnie the Pooh, the bear loved the world over, turns 90 this year which is a great excuse for a light-hearted lesson on Pooh, comics and children’s literature.  For a fun warm-up why not introduce them to the Pooh theme song.  Are you students brave enough to

This summer we have got an invasion of films based on comic books. First was Thor and we didn’t have to wait long for the new XMan. Next in line are Green Lantern and Captain America. Take some superpower back to class and get your students to transfer into super heroes