Welcome to pie plus, our magazine with extra learning worksheets - updated weekly

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
August news and
Competition to win free pie membership
We continue to be very hot! How hot? Well, we talk about this in our new podcast for the beginners level: What a scorcher! (The clue is in the name!) But of course there are some problems too, perhaps we are looking forward to the autumn already?!
We have added more Summer podcasts to be found in the sidebar of the levels pages. These include The summer hols for level 1 and Before the internet: travelling for level 2 and A tourist hotspot for level 3.
Of course we have updated our Podcasts of the month. Our next holiday is a beginners level podcast, help us to decide where to go for our next trip. Left or right? asks the question: do you have a problem telling left from right?! This is for level 2. Two other podcasts feature the battle against forest fires which many countries are experiencing right now: The firefighters and Fire! Fire! are both for level 3.
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! Giovanna from Italy was the lucky winner of last month's competition. She correctly said that the answer was: There are 11 lines on the London Tube.
For this month's quiz just answer this question: What is the flavour of the ice cream Jackie makes? Is it a) raspberry, b) cherry, or c) strawberry? The answer is in this level 1 video: Ice cream mmm.
Write your answer on our Contact us page. 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.
Good luck learning or teaching English in 2025.
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)