Welcome to pie plus, our magazine with extra learning worksheets
Competition time why not try and win free membership?
Take a text 30 activities for teachers to use with reading texts
Information sheets to help you make the most of our site
How to find a specific podcast
April news and
Competition to win free pie membership
We have some big news for you this month. First of all, did you see we have put up our 200th podcast for level 1? This time we talk about Plumes, an amazing Man who sings to animals! Listen and find out why he does that, and what the animals think.
That means we now have 200 podcasts for level 1, 2 and 3! Not forgetting we have 100 podcasts for the business level. So with a total of 700 we have decided not to produce any more for these levels. What does that mean? It means that all subscribers can always have access to all the podcasts and worksheets on the site but these will not be added to.
Meanwhile, we have added another podcast, and video, to our beginners level. This time we talk about how the clothes we wear have changed since our parents generation. Watch No jeans, please! and see the difference. Do you wear different clothes to your parents? We will continue adding to our beginners level for the time being.
We have also updated our Podcasts for April. These include Good boy! for level 2. We talk about dogs for International Guide Dogs Day (29 April) and The dancing queen In this level 3 podcast Nora talks about her unusual life as a professional dancer. There are others, have a look at the sidebar of the levels pages!
Remember that while most podcasts are free, podcasts 1 - 99 are for members only. Each podcast has essential transcripts, worksheets and extra materials for teachers and learners and with over 2000 to choose from, Join pie now!
If you are not already a member, one lucky winner in our monthly competition gets free pie membership! Otto from Germany was the lucky winner of last month's competition. He correctly said that the answer was: c) silk.
There's a video for this month's question. When was Life on Earth first shown on TV? Was it a) 1969 b) 1979, or c) 1989? The answer is in this level 3 video: David Attenborough.
Write to us at thepieteam@podcastsinenglish.com. Remember to tell us your name and where you are from. One winner gets free pie membership for 3 months. Good luck! Answers by the end of the month.
Richard and Jackie
The pie team
We have our own facebook page. Please like us and meet us there - and why not write some suggestions for podcasts, we'd love to hear from you!
Take a text
Take a text is a collection of 30 activities that you can do with your course book readings. There are 23 pre-reading activities, and 7 post-reading activities.
Each activity has information on what it practises, its uses, preparation before the class and clear instructions on what to do in class. There are also example texts used from a variety of course books so the activities are super clear.
Who is the book for?
■ It's ideal for new teachers. We remember not knowing what a 'jigsaw' reading was, or a 'dictation race'. We also remember thinking that we could do a lot more with a text in a course book, but not knowing what exactly. Over the years we have collected loads of exciting ideas, and these are what we want to share.
■ It's great for more experienced teachers too. Having so many ideas collected together means that it's a practical, easy reference book and one that should remind teachers of tasks they may have forgotten about. We're sure there are some new ideas included too!
Is it free?
Almost! It's just 9 Euros.
Students' information worksheets
To help you make the most of the site. There are more information worksheets for teachers on the teachers' page.
► Using PayPal (pdf 60KB) How to find your pie log in details and how to cancel your subscription. For everyone.
► Listening to the podcasts (pdf 23KB)Ten top listening tips to help you to listen to and understand real conversations. For members.
► Watching the videos (pdf 23KB)Eight great ideas on how you can watch the videos and understand the podcasts better. For members.
► Using the webquests (pdf 205KB)An explanation of the words and phrases we use on our webquests. For members.
► Natural spoken English 1 (pdf 55KB)Tasks to help you recognise the key features of natural spoken English. For members.
► Natural spoken English 2 (pdf 35KB)This worksheet helps you recognise fillers - and encourages you to use them yourself. For members.
Find a podcast
Over 700 podcasts! There are now three ways to find a podcast. One, go to the extras page where they are listed under topics. Two, type a topic into the search box (top, right). Three, by browsing the new lists of podcasts which we have compiled for each level:
►Level 1 list
►Level 2 list
►Level 3 list
And we have podcasts linked to special days throughout the year: ►Special days list
If you have a school subscription why not copy the lists and put them on the notice board for all your teachers to read.
PS Fill in the blanks as new podcasts come out until we renew the lists. (Lists last updated January 2025)
