In response to the many e-mails requesting information and related material to Beyond Babel, I have decided activate the blogging element of this website and to offer occasional posts here.
Since this site was launched back in January 2009, The British Council has adopted Beyond Babel as a teaching tool for India and China. Initially distributed to to participants of China-India ELT event in May 2009, six thousand DVD copies of the series are being distributed in Council offices throughout India and China. This follows in the continued adoption of Beyond Babel as a teaching resource in Universities around the world.
In addition to the video clips available on this website, Beyond Babel now has a Channel on YouTube, which offers a further selection of fourteen clips from the DVD. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the name Babel, the Channel has had to adopt the original series working title, Back To Babel. If the clips are useful and popular then I will post some more.

This website has been created to provide background and support to the television series Beyond Babel, which remains the only programme to have attempted a global survey of the spread of the English language.
The series had considerable success when it was first broadcast and the interest it provoked, led us to go on to produce an enhanced DVD version.  This DVD has continued to be in demand by students of English around the world and this site is now intended to offer a one- stop shop where you can download scripts, explore the content through original sources and for the first time, buy the DVD on-line.
I also hope to use the site to create a user driven on-line directory of websites and other resources which relate to the topic of world English.
If you have comments and suggestions please send them through.