Students are always interested in finding more about English speaking countries, none more so than good ol’ blighty. Most of my students here in Qatar have only ever visited London. They enjoy the shopping, fancy restaurants, tourist sites, palaces and museums; so why not teach them about the subterranean sewage system!? Something different and not likely to be found in the old fashioned textbook. Being serious, this story is interesting and has lots of short accessible written texts, sound effects and authentic native speech which is sure to engage and interest them.
(This could have helped us in our last pub quiz: Which city was the largest city in the world during the middle of the 19th century? We chose Istanbul.)
Language Learning and Digital Technology 