I met my husband, Louis Rogers, back in 2002 when we were both teaching English for the same language school in Cologne, Germany. We were teaching business English there, and this mostly involved travelling around to various offices in both Cologne and Bonn. We then taught General English in Lisbon, Portugal. This was a very different experience as most of our students were teenagers, rather than adults. We moved back to the UK in 2005 to do a Masters Degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and we both started teaching EAP (English for Academic Purposes) at this time. Most of our students were undergraduates from China or the Middle East, so this was another entirely different teaching experience. Throughout our teaching years, we both recognised the need for engaging materials. Most teachers have busy timetables, so being able to use reliable and stimulating published materials can help enormously with workload and job satisfaction. Following our time teaching EAP, we both moved into materials development and writing, and our passion for good quality coursebooks intensified.

Louis moved into writing sooner than I did, and back in 2018 he suggested that we wrote together. Delta wanted a new General English coursebook and took us both on as the authors. We wanted the course to have a clear structure and a solid grammar syllabus. We wanted to avoid teaching new vocabulary and structures in isolation – our aim was to present all new language in context, either in reading texts or audio. We decided that the structure for On Point would be for each unit to have two initial lessons presenting grammar and vocabulary in context, followed by a reading lesson, and ending with speaking and writing. Listening would be practised as part of the first two lessons, and video content would be exploited after every two units. We took care to choose topics that could be explored in many directions, to enable the units to maintain the interest of both students and teachers. We were also determined to ensure that we pitched the levels accurately, especially A1, so that there could be confidence in the start and end point for each book. Students have plenty of opportunities to consolidate their learning through the Workbook and online practice, and we also have digital versions of the books to facilitate online learning. We’re hoping that with On Point we have produced a well-structured and stimulating set of coursebooks that make teachers’ lives easier and give students the opportunity to improve their English whilst also having fun.

You can find more information here.

Please check the Pilgrims f2f courses at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Pilgrims online courses at Pilgrims website.