Jackie McAvoy has been working in the field of education since the 1980s, but not always as a teacher. Having graduated as a graphic designer, she worked for the National Union of Teachers in the UK and for the Malawi Institute of Education in Africa. However, with the advancement of new technology she was reluctant to swap the drawing board for a computer so instead of learning how to use desktop publishing, she decided to become a teacher of English as a foreign language and never looked back. Jackie got the DELTA (Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults) in 1999. Jackie has been teaching for almost 20 years now in a variety of countries (including France, Spain, Vietnam, Tunisia, Thailand and Jordan) mostly with the British Council. In 2001 she began to focus on teacher training which meant working with local teachers and trainers and often working with the local Ministry of Education providing support during workshops. For Macmillan Education Jackie has written a number of books. The first one was Essential Reading, a skills book aimed at Asian university students. Another was co-written with Kate Pickering, which was the beginner level of Global, a general English course book for adults. She is now based in Portugal. Along with teaching and writing she also produces listening material for both learners and teachers of English in the form of podcasts and worksheets for podcastsinenglish.com.