Bringing English language learning resources to a wider audience
The British Council Algeria, in partnership with the Echorouk newspaper, is helping to bring Learn English resources to a wide audience across Algeria.
Learn English Print is a collection of entertaining and educational articles and exercises for people who are learning English at different levels and with different interests. The articles and activities appear as inserts in the Echorouk newspaper and on their website.
The collaboration started back in 2011 and is still going strong. In fact it is one of the key partnerships in the region. Together we are helping to bring English language learning resources to a very wide audience.
Making an impact: 'How English changed my life'
In August 2013, the British Council Algeria collaborated with the Echorouk newspaper to develop a competition entitled 'How English Changed my Life' to discover the remarkable impact that English language has on learners. The number of entries exceeded 3000. They were short-listed until 10 stories were chosen, based on the selection criteria. The competition was sponsored by the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in Algeria.
Earlier this year, the British Council and Echorouk newspaper succeeded in reaching 6000 participants with a competition entitled 'Learn English Teens'. The competition was launched in both the Echorouk newspaper and website, and on the British Council Facebook page. The competition ran for 12 weeks, with a winner being announced each week. As the UK’s principal cultural relations organisation the British Council is strongly committed to equal opportunity and diversity, and selection was carried out accordingly.
The competitions and indeed the whole partnership with Echorouk is extremely successful and impactful, reinforcing the British Council’s position in the Middle East and North Africa region as the English language expert. Deirdre Nicholas, English Project Manager at the British Council Algeria stated:
“It was highly successful and our co-funders Anadarko were equally delighted with the impact of the project.”
The relationship between the British Council Algeria and Echorouk is continually developing, with a new agreement in place to publish more inserts and launch a new web competition.
In a survey run by the newspaper to assess the impact of the English learning resources, 85 percent of the surveyed readers said they visited British Council learning websites after reading the inserts and 90 percent said they would recommend that people participate in similar British Council competitions.