A food festival Introduction When students are going to do a listening activity, it is useful to get them thinking about the topic of the listening beforehand. That way they can reactivate and extend their store of vocabulary. In this lesson, students first discuss the topic of food festivals, then they focus on their listening skills in preparation for part 2 of the FCE listening test. Through a series of activities students will become more aware of what to ‘notice’ in a gap fill listening exercise, enabling them to do the Listening part 2 more successfully. Topic Listening skills for FCE Listening part 2 Level Time 75 minutes Aims To encourage students to predict which parts of speech are missing in gapped texts.To familiarise students with part 2 of the Listening test of the FCE exam.To develop students’ listening skills. Materials Lesson plan: download Worksheets (1, 2A, 2B, 3): downloadNote to teachers: worksheet 1 is reproduced twice on the page to reduce paper usage. Audio script: download
American Accents - Test Your Listening Comprehension American Accents - Test Your Listening Comprehension Test your American English comprehension by listening to these videos of various American accents! I urge you - don't just listen, shadow! If you hear an accent had by your client, listen, stop the video and mimic it! Here's another video of a North Carolina accent. Amy Walker on YouTube is really good at changing accents. For me, this collage of accents is not complete without the Boston accent. The Long Island accent. Last, but not least is my accent. Thank you for spending time on my site.
26 Fresh ESL Conversation Starters to Get Students Talking! | Jennifer Teacher 10 Oct I love teaching conversation in the ESL classroom. Part of it must be that because the students able to “converse” in English are better able to demonstrate their personalities, preferences, thoughts… and therefore, I get to know them better. Often it is simply hilarious to see the range of answers students feel free to share in a comfortable environment. If you’re a conversation teacher in an English as a Second Language classroom, there may be times when you feel as though you want fresh ideas, a change in routine or some way to remain slightly unpredictable so your students remain curious as to what tricks you have up your sleeves. Always remember to keep in mind your students’ unique personalities and language learning journey, and never underestimate how engaged they can become with the right activity! Here is a list of 26 fresh ESL Conversation Starters to move your class! Enjoy! Like this: Like Loading... Tags: conversation, Lesson Planning, speaking
Four hats for discussion Introduction In the 1980s Edward de Bono came up with his Six Thinking Hats idea, in which businessmen use a parallel thinking process which helps them become “more productive, focused, and mindfully involved”. A similar process can be used effectively in the English classroom to get learners more involved in discussions. By wearing a coloured hat, learners are given help, guidance and more support when they are taking part in discussions. They are also free of the burden of having to share their own opinions, which can be useful if they have very little to say, or feel shy about giving their views. Topic Any current or relevant discussion topic. Level B2+ (but could be adapted for lower levels) Time 40-50 minutes Aims To encourage learners to use English in a creative way.To develop learners’ speaking skills.To role-play a character type while having a discussion. Materials Teachers' notesThinking hat role cards You can download these below.
Podcasts to help English learners practise listening Do your students want more listening practice? Aoife McLoughlin, blogger with ELT-Connect.com and latest winner of the British Council's Teaching English blog award, recommends five podcasts to get them started. Do you spend enough time working on listening skills with your students? Is there ever enough time? Often, when we ask students what part of their English they most want to improve, they will say listening and speaking. But we often give less attention to the receptive skill of listening, perhaps in the belief that 'if you can do it alone, you can do it at home'. Podcasts are a great way for students to improve their listening on the go. With such a huge selection available, students are bound to find a podcast they are interested in that suits their needs. Here are my top five podcasts for learners of English: Englishclass101.com This is much more than a podcast. TED audio podcasts Podcastsinenglish.com IELTSpodcast.com Downtobusinessenglish.com
IELTS for FREE.com 45 ways to avoid using the word 'very' Writers Write is your one-stop resource for writers. Use these 45 ways to avoid using the word ‘very’ to improve your writing. Good writers avoid peppering their writing with qualifiers like ‘very’ and ‘really’. They are known as padding or filler words and generally add little to your writing. According to Collins Dictionary: ‘Padding is unnecessary words or information used to make a piece of writing or a speech longer. Adding modifiers, qualifiers, and unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, weakens your writing. This post gives you 45 ways to avoid using the padding word ‘very’. Three Telling Quotes About ‘Very’ “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. If you enjoyed this, you will love: Top Tip: If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course. by Amanda Patterson © Amanda Patterson
Draw a story Introduction This lesson uses a wonderful idea from Chris Riddell, currently the 'children's laureate', of turning children into illustrators. Learners will listen to a story and imagine each scene. Note: If you choose to play the audio of the story at LearnEnglish Kids, you will have to become a member. This activity works with most stories and can be adapted to use with other ages and levels. Topic Stories, picture books Level Time
Some interesting resources for listening at basic levels | English in Soria VOA news: News in easy American English, with transcripts.ESL Lab: An interesting site with a lot of listening exercises.YouTube SpeakOut videos, e.g. The videos are useful and interesting, but don’t have transcripts or activities (though watching and trying to understand is an activity!). Search YouTube for “Pearson ELT Speakout Beginner” or “Pearson ELT Speakout Elementary”.lyricstraining.com. Enjoy them, and please tell me if I could add any to this list! Like this: Like Loading...
Collocation:Meaning and List of Collocations A collocation is a combination of words that are commonly used together; the simplest way of describing collocations is to say that they ‘just sound right’ to native English speakers. Other combinations that may mean the same thing would seem ‘ unnatural’. Collocations include noun phrases like ‘ stiff wind’ and‘weapons of mass destruction’, phrasal verbs such as‘to get together’ and other stock phrases such as‘the rich and famous’ It is important to learn collocations, because they are important for the naturalisation of one’s speech. Besides, they broaden one’s scope for expression. Here is a list of collocations to help you get started: Collocations starting with the verb ‘do’ Do me a favour Do the cooking Do the housework Do the shopping Do the washing up Do your best Do your hair Collocations with the verb ‘have’ Have a good time Have a bath Have a drink Have a haircut Have a holiday Have a problem Have a relationship Have lunch Have sympathy Collocations with the verb ‘break’ Take a break
Words that have literally changed meaning through the years When it comes to expressing ourselves, the world has been getting it wrong for hundreds of years... literally. The word “literally” means “in a literal way or sense” but, to the fury of language purists, many people now use it simply to stress a point. Football pundit Jamie Redknapp once told us Wayne Rooney was playing so well he was “literally on fire”, while Deputy PM Nick Clegg said low-rate taxpayers were “literally living in a different galaxy”. But our misuse has become so common the Oxford English Dictionary has altered its definition to say it can be “used for emphasis rather than being actually true, such as, ‘We were literally killing ourselves laughing’.” Senior OED editor Fiona McPherson said: “Our job is to describe the language people are using. "Words have changed their meaning ever since the first word was uttered. "Meat used to mean all food, but now its sense has narrowed.” So which other words have we got wrong for so long they are now right?
“You’re Lying”: a Game to Practise Present Perfect Simple and Past Simple Today I’m really happy to introduce a guest writer to you. Angeles Jimenez is a friend and fellow teacher from EOI Oviedo and, in this blog post, she will be sharing with us an excellent communicative game to consolidate the use of present perfect simple and past simple. Ready for a lot of fun! Do you want your students to keep their noses in the course book? Going into a new class on the first day can be a little bit stressful both for teachers and students. Games for getting to know one another can be an excellent way to establish a stress-free environment in the classroom. The “You’re lying “game lives up to its name. It’s a fun game which works very well at the start of the term as a ‘getting to know you’ kind of game. It’s also a great way to consolidate the use of the present perfect tense to talk about experiences and the use of simple past to ask follow-up questions. For B2 students some warming up may be necessary. I’ve been to many countries in my life. How to play