12 Newsletter Content Ideas for Language Teachers

So, you’ve decided that you should start an email newsletter for your language teaching business. 

You’ve learnt exactly what steps you need to take to set it up, but now you’re wondering what to write in your emails and whether you really have anything valuable to say… 

Let me tell you teacher, you do. 

You may just need a little inspiration to get you started. Because once you know the kind of topics you can fill your emails with, it gets a whole lot easier to write them. 

We’ll get to the content ideas soon. First, I want to answer a few common email-newsletter-related questions.

How do I decide what to talk about in my newsletter?

Your newsletter is not a standalone piece of content that has nothing to do with the rest of your marketing channels. It should align with your content plan and support your overarching marketing goals. 

This doesn’t make your job easier as you juggle teaching, planning, marketing, copywriting and everything else. It also ensures you send a clear, aligned message that’s clear for your audience. 

The easiest way to do this is to choose one channel that guides everything else. For me, that’s my blog. I write my weekly posts before making anything else, so I know exactly what I’m talking about on every channel each week, including my emails.

If you don’t have a blog or a podcast, you can use your emails to determine the rest of your plan. Just make sure there’s a bigger strategy behind it that reflects what you want to promote and when.

How often should I send my newsletter?

It’s totally up to you! The beauty of email is that YOU set the rules – not some unpredictable algorithm. Think about how much time you realistically have to spend on planning and creating content and choose a frequency that feels manageable and sustainable. Because disappearing every couple of months is not a good look.

As a general rule, I suggest starting with once or twice a month while you find your rhythm and build your list. Then, if you’re enjoying it and you want to increase, try for once per week. But again, don’t feel pressured to do anything. Your list, your rules.

Should I make a fancy design for my newsletter?

If you ask me, no.

There’s no point wasting your valuable time creating fancy designs because designs don’t deliver value; words do.

Don’t believe me? Email experts suggest that plain text emails are less likely to go to spam and more likely to encourage clicks. 

So, for the love of productivity, get out of Canva and just write. 

Now we’ve cleared that up, here are 12 newsletter content ideas for language teachers.

1. Tell stories 

Stories sell. And email is hands down the best place to tell them. 

Because email is a more direct and private form of marketing, you may feel like you can get a bit more personal with your subscribers. I’m not suggesting you spill all your secrets, but sharing excerpts from your life and your own language learning journey can be a great way to build trust with your people. 

Of course, these experiences should relate in some way to what you teach. For example, you could use the story of a time you took a much-needed break from work and came back feeling refreshed to remind your subscribers that taking time off studying a new language won’t cause them to forget everything they’ve learnt. 

2. Share your honest opinions

Is there an Instagram trend you hate? A word or phrase that winds you up? A discriminatory practice you’re sick of seeing in the language world? Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion — this type of newsletter content almost always boosts engagement and sparks valuable conversations with your ideal students. 

It can feel scary to share your thoughts, especially if they go against the grain. But often, you’ll find that your students feel the same. They may even appreciate hearing someone in your position — a teacher — say it. 

And if they don’t agree, does it matter? This can still be a great way to encourage people to reply to and connect with you. 

3. Include a student case study 

People love to see results. Share a success story from one of your recent students to showcase their transformation and inspire your subscribers that they can do the same.

Note that this should be short, sweet and to the point. No one needs to know that Irene grew up in rural Spain and studied in Barcelona ten years before she stumbled upon your course. Cherry pick the most relevant information so it’s engaging and informative.

Case studies work particularly well when you’re promoting a specific course or offer. You may want to include these in your regular emails during a launch.

4. Create a quiz 

What language learner doesn’t love a quiz!? 

Test your subscribers with a lighthearted grammar or vocab question and encourage them to hit reply. You could even announce the results in your next newsletter to incentivise people to open your next email. 

This kind of content works really well for driving engagement and delivering an extra something to the people on your list that they won’t find on any of your other channels. 

5. Share study tools 

What language learning tools can’t you live without? Which language blogs do you love reading or podcasts do you always listen to? 

Your newsletters don’t always have to be about you and your offers. Sharing links to other teachers’ content is a great way to show you care about your student’s progress — and that you know your stuff.

I’m not suggesting you dedicate an entire newsletter to someone else’s resources. Instead, try including the odd link where it’s relevant. Your subscribers will appreciate it, and it may lead to a collaboration with a fellow teacher.

6. Start a conversation

Try introducing a topic you’ve discussed in class with your current students and ask your readers their opinion. You can tailor this to any language learning level, but it’s especially good for lower levels or people who lack the confidence to verbally share their opinions. 

Often, just writing about a topic that interests them and asking them to reply is enough to spark engagement. This is also a great way to indirectly promote your classes. By hinting at what happens in your classes, you can show the value you offer and create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out).

I like to call this ‘name-dropping’ your offers. When you mention the program name naturally in a sentence, link to it. It’s cool, casual and the furthest thing from salesy.

7. Share other content 

Do you write a blog? Value-packed IG posts worth reading? Or perhaps you host a language learning podcast? 

Redirect your subscribers to your other content from your emails so they can connect with you on other platforms, too. Remember: your email doesn’t exist in isolation. You want your most engaged audience to follow you on other platforms to increase the chances of them eventually signing up with you.

8. Share a glimpse of what’s coming

Treat your mailing list like the VIPs they are by making sure they’re the first to know when something new is coming — or giving them a cheeky discount.

Although your newsletter should mostly be valuable content that helps your audience improve their language skills in some way, you can still sell to them. Just make sure it’s not all the time. If you’re always asking people to enquire or sign up to your classes, there’s a high chance they’ll unsubscribe.

Try an 80/20 split: 80% value, 20% sales.

9. Include a word of the week 

I’ll be the first to support the idea that you shouldn’t just teach vocabulary, but we all know that students like to see this content. Instead of simply including a new word, you could choose one your people always get confused with and show how it works in context. 

Or if you’re a cheeky brand who wants to use your newsletter for fun, use this chance to teach words they won’t find on IG — I’m talking swear words, slang, colloquialisms, whatever fits your brand. The key is to put a unique twist on this so it’s specific to YOU. That’s how you’ll stand out and become known for your newsletters.

10. Student wins

As well as (or instead of) dedicating entire emails to student case studies, you could reserve a small section of each newsletter to celebrate your students by showing what they’ve achieved. 

This will subtly remind your subscribers week after week that they can get there too. It’s also a great way to create a sense of community and recognise the achievements of your wonderful students.

11. Guest appearance links 

Been invited to speak on a podcast? Attended an event? 

Telling your audience about public appearances you’ve made is a super useful way to a) deliver value to them and b) reinforce how brilliant you are. 

12. Q&A 

Finally, your ideal students will have questions… a LOT of questions. 

Whether they’ve asked them via DMs, emails or during live classes, don’t just answer them and move on. They almost certainly won’t be the only people wondering the same thing. 

Instead, start thinking of these questions as content inspiration and answer them in your emails — be it in a dedicated section or a full Q&A email. Your job’s about to get so much easier.  

Coming up with newsletter content ideas doesn’t have to be hard.

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below. Or if you need a hand getting started or want more advice on how to start or grow an email list as a language teacher, here’s how I can help: 

1. Join my mailing list to stalk what I write about in my newsletters (and learn all about marketing your language business, ofc). 
2. Join the waitlist for Email Fluent, my email marketing course for language teachers (run with my biz buddy Ola Kowalska).
3. Ask me to plan and write your newsletters for you.