Tuesday, June 30, 2026
In the immortal words of Alice Cooper’s iconic song, “School’s out… for summer!” - the course is over, exams are done and dusted, and the sun is shining brightly. But what about all the progress made until this point? How do we encourage our students to make the most of summer and not let their hard work fly out the window only to have to be found again as the next course starts?
As all teachers know, the length of the summer holidays is one of the greatest dangers to students’ memories - be it a language, maths or even handwriting. Summer seems to magic student knowledge into thin air without the promise of getting it back. Fortunately, there are a few simple tricks and activities that can be utilised to stave off the decline and ease students into the following year. Of course, some of these ideas/activities can be done throughout the academic year but as so often happens, time flies, so summer really is the ideal moment to finally put it into practice. Read on to discover 8 ways to encourage students to make the most of their summer break.
There is no summer activity more quintessential than lounging at the beach or campground, book in hand gripped in the latest thriller or romance. The only challenge here is to do so in English. Most bookshops stock the latest paperbacks as well as an assortment of classics in the foreign language section so set your students the goal of reading a chapter a day and once immersed in the world of the novel, no doubt they’ll want to keep on reading! Can’t find any English books that suit their tastes? No worries, the local library should have a selection, or nowadays digital audiobooks are also an easy go-to for holiday relaxation.
Speak with tourists – if your students see someone who is lost or overhear a lively conversation going on in a bar there is nothing to lose by helping or joining in. And you never know, besides the free conversation practice they could have an unexpectedly good time and make new friends, so it’s a win-win. The summer months trigger an influx of tourists from all over the world, so there is no shortage of people with whom you can speak English. Don’t be shy!
Advise students to take advantage of the extra time summer offers and use it to discover something new connected with their interests. This could be as simple as following a recipe, choosing a podcast to listen to on a topic they want to know more about or following an account on social media. Regardless of their choice, English then becomes the vehicle for learning but on the journey, they might just learn some new language along the way too. And for those keen to go one step further, commenting on said content without fear of it being marked by a teacher shows that writing also exists outside of the classroom.
Enjoy gazing up at the silver screen, popcorn at hand and the magic unfolding before you all with the unmistakeable voices of the original actors/actresses. That’s right, it’s possible to see the original version of many films at the cinema, completely free from dubbing though subtitles are typically included to aid understanding. What better way to convince your parents to fork out for some movie tickets by telling them you’re working on your English skills over summer!
Growing up naturally creates a lot of connections with people that often wane with time. Think back to the various school exchanges, Erasmus program, random travel contacts, family friends and even family, it’s easy to lose touch but oh so easy to get back in touch again thanks to modern technology. So tell your students to set an objective to reconnect with someone from their past and if that happens to be someone they communicate with in English then their phone call, text chat or whatever becomes an added bonus of English interaction.
Similar to putting yourself out there, except this time you are the one on holiday possibly to an English-speaking country or where English is the lingua franca (the mutual language) but the same principle applies: take advantage of the situations as they present themselves. In other words, tell your students to maximise their speaking opportunities such as giving the taxi driver directions, offering to order in place of your parents or speaking to hotel staff. These casual interactions can really give them that language satisfaction buzz, not only of understanding but also of being understood.
Sometimes the summer months seem to go on forever especially in hotter countries and believe it or not, towards the end teenagers often long for the structure and social environment of school again. Therefore, to counter this restlessness, not to mention getting ahead of the game and committing to improving one’s English, a summer language course can do the trick. Most are intensive, usually 4 weeks long and while there may be some metaphorical biting of the bullet to study when the sun is shining, the pay-off can be huge – knocking off an exam, levelling up and hitting the ground running for the next academic course.
What is summer without music?! Festivals, local concerts, summer hits, campfire singalongs, Spotify algorithms… music is truly hard to avoid and why would you want to when there’s something for everyone? As luck would have it, a lot is produced in English and with its inherently catchy nature it’s another surefire way to learn expressions without even thinking - just remember to tell students to look them up if they’re not sure what the words mean!
And there you have it. Eight ways to exploit summer language wise. Our final piece of advice is to take a moment with your students in class to reflect on what they want to achieve over the summer months and outline the steps needed to get there. The key is to try to maintain a connection with the language, so it becomes a part of their daily rhythm. One thing’s for sure, they will reap the benefits of this practice when they come back to class in September!
