Page for M.A. Bilbrough

Author and writer M. A. Bilbrough

Hi, there! Thanks for visiting my website! On this site I offer complementary published and unpublished works to help you with your English language learning. Also, have a look at my Practising English podcast site and my creation, the English Spanish Link platform for learning English, which helps nearly 2 million students of English every year.

The Tudor Conspiracy

You may have arrived here from my podcast page Practising English. If so, you may be interested in the book below. I have recently published a book to help learners progress from B1 to B2. The book is for teenagers and adults. It's called The Tudor Conspiracy. It is, in fact, a graded reader - a novel for you to enjoy and improve your English at the same time. It is written in an intermediate English (B1) with lots of words and expressions in upper-intermediate English (B2) so you can learn and progress as you read. It also comes with exercises on vocabulary learning that you can do before, during and after reading each chapter. The Tudor Conspiracy is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions on ALL Amazon platforms and countries.

Carlos and his English

Carlos and his English is a book for children who are learning English and are still at primary school (from ages 8 to 11). It is an adventure story about a Spanish boy who visits his Aunt in England and gets into all sorts of trouble because of his poor English. This book is on sale as a full colour paperback on Amazon. I have written a little article about the book and its uses for involving your child in learning English. See Carlos and his English on ALL Amazon platforms and countries...

If you have recently purchased Carlos and his English, you can access the audio file here of the complete story. Right click on this link and select "save link as" for the audio file download.

Spaceship in a Tree

Spaceship in a Tree is also a book for learning English. It is written for Spanish-speaking students of English and comes with help notes and exercise explanations in the Spanish language. It is about an alien who crashes his spaceship on Earth and two children try to help the alien get his spaceship down from a tall tree. However, when the alien speaks, he makes lots of mistakes with his English verbs and their conjugations. The reader must try to correct these mistakes. The whole book is written in English rhyming verse, which makes it appealing for children of primary school age (ages 8 to 11). See Spaceship and the Tree on ALL Amazon platforms and countries...

My Book of Spot the Difference and other Puzzles

Through puzzles and word games, children can improve their English in a fun and interesting way. This book also has jokes and riddles that will amuse children under 11 and allow them to build on their language skills and smile and the same time. On every page there are spot the difference pictures, which, if done with a parent, teacher or peer can be used so that the learner uses English to talk about the differences. Students will need a B1+ level of English or help from their parents or brothers or sisters (who have some knowledge of English).

Encuentra las diferencias para niños

This book is a Spanish version of the book above and can be used for native Spanish-speaking children for fun and as a source of intriguing brain-teasers or by young non-native learners of Spanish. Using the book as a language-learning aid would be similar, in principle, to the techniques I have explained above. A good level of entry Spanish required, for example, B1+. Encuentra las diferencias...

Practising English podcasts

Listening practice for learners of English (intermediate and upper-intermediate, B1, B2). I started this podcast aware that there was a lack of listening materials on the Internet for lower level English students at the pre-intermediate to upper intermediate levels. The podcast comes with episodes of grammar explanations, examples of vocabulary use, phrasal verbs and collocations, pronunciation practice, advice and help for passing B1 and B2 exams such as Cambridge. There are also lots of interesting and short stories in English, fun jokes and anecdotes to listen to and enjoy. Start improving your English listening and speaking level today with these regular podcasts (3 episodes a week). Visit the Practising English website...

English Spanish Link

English Spanish Link website is a bilingual English learning platform for learners of English I set up nearly 20 years ago primarily for Spanish learners of English. It contains pages of multiple skills practice such as English grammar study, grammar exercises, English correspondence by email, how to write CVs and cover letters and language for telephoning and giving presentations at work. Furthermore, the platform also offers the learner of English specific exam study such as instructions and help pages for passing Cambridge First Certificate exams. Most of the site offers instructions for grammar study in both English and Spanish and all the examples of English correspondence are presented bilingually for reference and comparison. Visit English Spanish Link...

My life in English language acquisition research

To find out about my specialist subjects in the study of language acquisition research I have been involved in at university and beyond, I invite you to peruse the following pages. These contain articles, a link to my doctoral thesis, videos of students in the classroom during research periods and audios of young learners using English under research conditions. Be my guest to have a look and I'd love to hear from you if you have been or plan to be involved in similar work. Using gesture in language teaching...

You can contact me directly for any queries you may have via email:

Get in touch here:

All for now,

Mike Bilbrough, PhD.