Listening comprehension and note taking

A few weeks ago The Prom Room informed about UEFAP, Using English for Academic Purposes, a site run by Andy Gillet.

As you can see  from the screenshot, all the language skills are dealt with on the site, together with vocabulary, reference materials and links for further study.

The site is primarily intended for university students who are planning to spend some time in an English-speaking university. However, all English students at an intermediate level and above can benefit from the tons of activities the site offers.

I especially like the listening and speaking sections, as they provide strategies that may come in really handy for learners to make headway in these skills.

Academic English Online from Queen Mary, University of London

It's been quite a while since we published a post from English for University, by Patrick McMahon, a lecturer in the UK teaching on a variety of Academic English courses and teacher training courses at Plymouth University. English for University is meant for international students who want to improve their English while studying in the UK.

A few weeks ago Patrick informed about a new academic English website which has come online from Queen Mary, University of London. The site is open to everyone.

One of the pages that drew Patrick's attention was the one which focuses on seminar speaking skills. He explains why:
"Participating in seminars is one area of university study that international students find particularly challenging for a number of reasons and this page highlights useful language that students can use to perform a range of important functions, such as disagreeing politely and giving an opinion. The good thing about the Queen Mary site is that it doesn’t just list the phrases for you. Instead there are interactive exercises  in which you have to listen and identify the function of the phrases so there is a good chance that you’ll remember the phrases and you can use them in your own seminars."

So if you are planning to study a degree abroad where English is the language of communication, or simply you want to practise your English in a more formal and structured environment and practise your reading, writing, speaking skills along with your grammar, Academic English Online from Queen Mary looks like a good place to do so.