On Saturday 8th February, International House World Organisation hosted an online event for language teachers around the world to engage in CPD, learn about trending topics and network with other teachers in different contexts.

There were five streams of sessions for each of the languages other than English that IH World represents, Arabic, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The sessions were highly engaging, covering topics such as tools and best practices for AI, teaching languages through art, writing poetry for creativity in language learning and much more. The wonderful speakers were knowledgeable and captivated the audience’s attention.

A huge thanks must go to the IH World Languages Coordinator and French Advisor, Estelle Hélouin, and our other language advisors, Wessam Sayed (Arabic), Anette Igel (German), Chiara Passantino (Italian) and David Martínez Barraza (Spanish) for putting together such great programmes and coordinating with all the speakers.

Speakers included directors of studies, teacher trainers, teachers, people sharing their Master’s studies, magazine editors and more.

There were two themes that naturally ran through all the language sessions, one is strategies for listening practice and the second (a theme pervading our industry and the world is AI. Learn more about the sessions for each language.

Arabic Sessions

Wessam Sayed gave the Arabic audience a real treat with a diverse range of topics and highly practical takeaways.

• Unlocking Arabic: A Comparative Exploration of Learning Strategies for Non-Native Speakers by Yomna Chami
• Strategies for Building the Vocabulary of Non-Native Arabic Students by Samah Kamel
• Best Practices for AI in Teaching Arabic (Interactive Session for Sharing Ideas) by Wessam Sayed
• Integrating Language Variation into the Intermediate Classroom Using the Integrated Approach by Jonathan Featherstone

French Sessions

There was a clear cultural theme running through the French sessions with speakers exploring the use of art, cinema and how teaching culture enhances language learning. The stream ended with a session from Estelle Hélouin about qualitative learning over quantitative.

• Culture in the French Class by Emilie Potel
• Teaching French through art by Marian Pérez de Barradas
• Movies: a rich resource to develop interaction in the French class by Marion Reifenrath
• The less we do, the better our students grow by Estelle Hélouin

German Sessions

German sessions were classroom-focused with speakers deep-diving into 5-minute activities to introduce a topic, writing poems to encourage creativity in another language, AI tools to help teachers and students save time and energy and the importance of authentic listening texts.

• “Quick” Activities for Language Teaching by Birthe Beigel
• And another Poem! By Anette Igel
• AI Tools for Language Teachers and Learners by Sylvia Dally
• Why Are Authentic Listening Texts Important in Teaching? by Ekaterina Surkova

Italian Studies

With listening and speaking skills covered, Italian sessions also delved into creating meaningful experiences for students and a useful resource for both teachers and students.

• A Page for Two: a magazine for those who learn and teach Italian by Rita Luzi and Piero Catizone
• Listening Strategies by Valeria Maruggi
• Oral production: Theory and techniques by Susanna Andrei
• Why I'm not an Italian teacher by Chiara Passantino

Spanish Sessions

The topics of the Spanish stream sessions were thought-provoking and all quite different. From classroom management and the pros and cons of the mother tongue to ser y estar and ideas for listening classes, it was a great line-up.

• Ideas for More Effective Listening Comprehension by Vidal Fernando Peregrina Cambero
• To Be or Not to Be? To Be! (That Is the Question!) by Ignacio Grande Ruiz
• Excessive Surveillance and Punishment in the Classroom: A Counterproductive Practice for Learning by Claudia Edurneth Rascón González
• The Dual Nature of the Mother Tongue: Ally and Challenge in Acquiring a New Language by David Martínez Barraza

We are delighted with how well the audience received the Festival and we have plenty of ideas to continue growing in 2026.