A call for teacher trainers and teachers familiar with Mario’s books, ideas and humanistic approach to language teaching

Some teachers change the way we teach a lesson. Others change the way we understand teaching itself. Mario Rinvolucri was one of those teachers.

For many English language teachers and teacher trainers, Mario’s name is connected with creativity, stories, grammar games, dictation, the mother tongue, classroom relationships, and the belief that language teaching is never only about language. It is about people. Mario’s books and ideas are still full of life. Titles such as Grammar Games, Once Upon a Time, Dictation, The Confidence Book, Humanising Your Coursebook and Using the Mother Tongue continue to offer practical, surprising and deeply human ways into language learning.

And yet, many teachers today prepare lessons by searching online, not by browsing staffroom libraries. Some of Mario’s work is well known to experienced teachers, but much of it is less visible to a new generation who would benefit from it enormously.

HLT.digital began from conversations between Mario Rinvolucri and Klaudia Bednárová from The Bridge. What started as discussions, visits, notes and shared concerns became a digital space where the knowledge of humanistic language teaching practitioners could be preserved and shared with teachers today. Mario is no longer with us, but his legacy continues through his books, articles, workshops, stories, colleagues, students and the many teachers inspired by his work. Klaudia is now continuing the work of keeping that legacy alive through HLT.digital, workshops, webinars and teacher development events at The Bridge.

Perhaps Mario’s work matters now more than ever. In a world shaped by technology, instant answers and the growing idea of AI tutors, humanistic teaching reminds us that learning is not only about access to information. It is also about attention, timing, presence and trust. A humanistic teacher knows when to ask a challenging question. But just as importantly, they know when to be quiet and let the student think.

That silence — the space in which a learner searches, struggles, connects and finds their own words — is something deeply human. Mario’s work helps us protect that space.

The Bridge would like to hear from teacher trainers, experienced teachers, materials writers and ELT professionals who are familiar with Mario Rinvolucri’s work and would be interested in running an online webinar inspired by his ideas. You might have used one of his books for years. You might have attended one of his workshops. You might have worked with him, trained with him, learned from him, or simply found an activity in one of his books that changed the atmosphere in your classroom. Your webinar could introduce Mario’s work to teachers who have never heard of him. It could focus on one of his books, one classroom principle, one activity, or one aspect of humanistic teaching that still matters today: storytelling, grammar, creativity, feedback, the use of the mother tongue, learner confidence, teacher presence or relationships.

The aim is not to create a museum of Mario’s work. The aim is to bring it back into classrooms.

By signing up, you are simply telling us that you are interested. You do not need to send us a complete webinar plan immediately. Once we receive your details, we will get in touch, talk about your connection with Mario’s work, and plan a webinar together.

Mario’s work deserves to be found not only in libraries, old conference folders and teachers’ private bookshelves, but also online, where today’s teachers are looking for inspiration.

Let’s keep Mario’s work moving — from teacher to teacher, from book to webinar, from memory to classroom practice.