The Language People

12/09/2026

📚 English for the workplace goes beyond everyday vocabulary.

Engineers, nurses, sales professionals, healthcare workers and people across countless other industries use specialized language every day — and for English learners, mastering that professional vocabulary can present a whole new challenge.

Career Paths by Express Publishing is designed with exactly that in mind.

The series combines English language learning with career-specific vocabulary and communication across a wide range of professions, including Engineering, Nursing, Sales & Marketing, Nutrition & Dietetics and many more.

🔎 In our latest From the Shelf article, Gail Forrer explores the role specialized English resources can play in helping professionals develop the language skills they need in the workplace.

📖 Read the full article here: https://zurl.co/tWqkw

08/09/2026

What makes learning a language stick? 🌎

For Maia Craig, it’s finding ways to bring the language into the things you already enjoy.

She learns Spanish through music and books, practices through travel and immersion, and is now tackling Indonesian with the help of comics and language resources.

Her advice to other learners is simple: “Whatever your hobby is, use that to learn.”

📖 Meet Maia and discover how her love of languages has taken her around the world in our first Our Language People story:

🔗 “Beyond Hola: How Spanish Became a Passport to the World” — https://zurl.co/1eMUJ

03/09/2026

🌏Meet Maia - and welcome to Our Language People!

In this new series, we're sharing the stories of the teachers, learners and language lovers who make up our community.

For Maia, learning Spanish has opened the door to new cultures, countries and ways of seeing the world. And her biggest language-learning tip? Make it personal.

Watch Gail's conversation with Maia, then discover more about her journey in our latest article, via the link in our stories.

25/08/2026

📚 More than 250 languages—and behind every one, generations of knowledge and history.

More than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages were once spoken across Australia and, today, around 177 are spoken or used, including languages undergoing revitalisation.

Among the dictionaries on our shelves at The Language People is one documenting the Gooreng Gooreng language.

First published in 1994, the English–Gooreng/Gooreng–English Dictionary was created through a collaboration between George W. Helon and Gooreng Gooreng Elders.

But how did that collaboration begin? And what does it take to document a language and its cultural knowledge?

📖 Gail Forrer explores the remarkable story behind the dictionary in our latest article, “The Language That Refused to Be Lost.”

Check the link in our stories to read the full story

21/08/2026

📚So many dictionaries, so many languages-and so many stories behind them

While exploring the shelves at The Language People, Carmelina and Gail stopped at one dictionary with a particularly fascinating story: The English- Gooreng Gooreng-Wnglish Dictionary.

First published in 1994, the dictionary was created through a collaboration between George W. Helen and Gooreng Gooreng Elders, bringing together language, cultural knowledge and history.

More than 30 years later, the dictionary continues to help preserve and share the Gooreng Gooreng language with new generations.

📚In our latest article, "The Language that refused to be lost", Gail Forrer explores the people, relationships and story behind its creation.

Discover more via the link in our stories ❤️

14/08/2026

📚 A closer look at what's sitting on The Book Bench...

This time, it's ESL Reads—a collection designed specifically for adolescent and adult English language learners.

The idea behind the series started with a simple problem: beginner-level readers were available, but many were written for young children.

Lauren believed older learners deserved something different—accessible English combined with stories that respected their age, backgrounds, and experiences.

That idea eventually became ESL Reads.

📖 If you haven't read Gail Forrer's article yet, discover how Lauren's experience volunteering in a refugee camp at 18 eventually inspired the books you see sitting on our bench today.

🔗 Read the full story here: https://zurl.co/4HttC

You can also find ESL Reads in-store and online at The Language People.

13/08/2026

📚Welcome to The Bookbench!

This is where we highlight a book to take its place on our bench-and maybe on your bookshelf too!

Today, we're featuring ESL Reads, a collection created specifically for adolescent and adult English language learners.

Want to discover the full story? Head to the link in our stories to read our lastest Behind the Book article.

Would you add ESL Reads to your classroom bookshelf? Let us know below! 👇

10/08/2026

📖 A great conversation—and an even better story to share.

It was wonderful to have Lauren join Carmelina and Gail from The Language People to talk about the experiences that shaped her journey as an English language teacher and eventually led to the creation of ESL Reads.

Lauren first recognised the need for better age-appropriate English reading resources while volunteering in a refugee camp at just 18. Years later, she encountered the same challenge in Australian classrooms: adolescent and adult beginners needed accessible stories that also respected their age, backgrounds, and lived experiences.

That experience inspired her to create the resources she wished she'd had as a teacher.

If you haven't read Gail Forrer's article yet, discover Lauren's full story and the inspiration behind ESL Reads here:

🔗https://zurl.co/5nX8l

08/08/2026

📚Sometimes the right book doesn't just teach a language-it helps someone feel seen.

For English teacher Lauren, that belief grew from her own experiences in the classroom.

That realisation inspired ESL Reads, a collection of stories designed to help older English language learners develop their reading skills while recognising themselves and their experiences in the stories they read.

To read the full article, go to the link in our stories.

05/08/2026

📚 Do you know the story behind The Language People?

Long before The Language People became a trusted destination for English language teaching resources, it began with an unexpected journey.

When Lyndal Reid accepted a teaching position in Zambia, she expected to stay for four years. Instead, she spent a decade teaching, learning, and experiencing another culture before returning to Brisbane, where she helped create a specialist bookstore dedicated to supporting English language teachers and learners.

Today, that same mission continues.

In our latest blog article, Gail Forrer shares Lyndal's inspiring story and the remarkable history behind The Language People.

📖 Read the full article on our website:
🔗 https://zurl.co/RkbXw

If you've been part of The Language People's journey over the years, we'd love to hear your memories below.

Blog, General A Life Shaped by Language Posted by Carmelina Lanza-Volpe July 31, 2026 On July 30, 2026 0 There was no grand plan. But in the blink of an eye, what was meant to be a four-year teaching placement in Zambia quietly stretched into a decade.For eighty-year-old Lyndal Reid, that unexpected...