A war of words

900 teenagers from around the world participated in The New York Times' latest 15-Second Vocabulary Video Contest.

The New York Times invited teenagers to create a short video that defines or teaches any of the words in their Word of the Day collection, which has now over 1,600 words.

Drop by The New York Times to have a look at the winners listed in alphabetical order as well as a list of runners-up.

The videos were chosen on the grounds of their originality and how well each video showed an understanding of the word and its use in a specific context.

101 English idioms

A few days ago, Jeffrey Hill posted 101 English idioms on his The English Blog.

101 English idioms is a slideshow of idiomatic expressions that he has put together using the idioms that have been appearing on the BBC Learning English twitter feed.

Each idiom is presented with a visually engaging picture and comes together with its definition and example sentences.

If you download the presentation, you can use it to study and revise English idioms by guessing the meaning of the idiom before displaying the definition.

Idiomic: A site to learn idioms

A few weeks ago Jeffrey Hill informed on Idiomic on The English Blog. Idiomic is a site to learn idioms through illustrations.

Here's the way the site describes itself:

Idiomic? Never heard that word before….
Don’t look ‘idiomic’ up in the dictionary. It won’t be there. Iddy just made it up. It’s part idiom, part comic.

Idiomic hopes to explore the world of idioms with a bit of humour, a bit of colour, and a bit of useless information.

In each post, our host, Iddy, will try his best to understand each idiom, illustrated in lavish technicolor. Below his attempts we will explore the phrase with a definition, an example, and finally, an attempt to find its origin.

Iddy’s not a linguist, so he’s approaching this on a purely amateur level. He invites you to correct any errors he’s made or theories you may have heard.

He’s also happy to take suggestions of idioms to explore, so please, drop him a line. After all, it’s lonely being a big green ball.

Phraseup

phraseup* is a useful online tool that may be of assitance with writing by finding and filling up the words we can't remember or we don't know the right collocation for.

So if we type the beginning of the saying The early bird... in the phraseup* search box, a number of options will come up:
catches the worm.
gets the worm.
rate.

We just have to choose the right one or the sentence ending that best fits for our purposes.

phraseup* can be a useful tool for English students when writing compositions if they want to make sure they are using the right combinations of words in their sentences.

English with Jo

English with Jo is a site where English learners, especially those at intermediate and advanced levels, will have the opportunity to gain access to a large number of speaking and vocabulary resources.

By clicking on the Conversation Lessons tag students will find a trove of over 100 self-contained lessons around general interest topics which usually come up in both English exams and in the classroom (toys and games, homes, censorship, singlehood, parenting, artificial intelligence, household chores, and so on).

All the lessons keep to the same layout:
a short video to introduce the topic
some basic vocabulary to talk about the topic
a comprehensive questionnaire to talk about the topic

Other sections of the site are 'Word of the Day', 'Idiom of the Day', 'Phrasal verbs', Useful vocabulary'.

All in all Australian teacher Jo has put together an invaluable resource that might come in handy for both teachers and students.

BBC Learning English: Towards Advanced

In ealry July BBC Learning English started the latest of their online courses for English students, Towards Advanced.

As the name of the course suggests, Towards Advanced is aimed at students who want to climb up the ladder from an upper-intermediate level to C1.

As the other BBC Learning English courses (Lower-intermediate, Intermediate and Upper-intermediate), Towards Advanced consists of 30 units. As a unit goes online on a weekly basis, the course will fully be available at the beginning of 2017.

Each unit is divided into five sections: English Masterclass (grammar), News Review (where an outstanding news story is thoroughly dealt with), Lingohack (headlines of the week's main stories), Vocabulary (idiomatic expressions) and Tim's Pronunciation Workshop.

Oxford Dictionaries Spelling challenge

Oxford Dictionaries Spelling challenge is a feature of Oxford Dictionaries which combines our grasp of spelling with our vocabulary and listening skills.

Oxford Dictionaries Spelling challenge  presents students in the intermediate-to-advanced bracket with three levels of difficulty, ranging from tricky to fiendish.

The student will hear 15 words that they will have to write in the given box in either American or British English, depending on the student's choice before playing. The student can listen to a word as often as necessary by clicking on the 'listen again' tag.

Instant feedback on the spelling of an individual word is given through a system of ticks and crosses. At the end of the challenge, students can check the correct spelling and meaning of the fifteen words used in the challenge.

ESL Culips

Esl Cupids is a site where English learners in the intermediate-to-advanced level will find a trove of podcasts on everyday topics spoken in real current English.

There are two kinds of podcasts in ESL Cupids: Chatterbox episodes, in which we can listen to interviews with guests, and Catch Word episodes, with a focus on vocabulary.

Optionally, there are learning materials for learners to further delve into the vocabulary and specific cultural aspects of the podcasts.

ESL News New Zealand

ESL News New Zealand is a site to listen to news, spoken slowly and clearly, using easy vocabulary. The news mainly revolves around what is happening in New Zealand and in that part of the world. The audio file is downloadable and there is always an accompanying transcription of each news item.

In ESL News New Zealand lower level English students can read and listen at the same time, or just listen to practise listening comprehension, or listen then read and listen again.

There is also a glossary which helps with some difficult words, expressions and cultural references. 

Bangkok Post: Developing listening and vocabulary through the latest news

At the turn of the year Jeffrey Hill (who else?) posted about Bangkok Post in The English Blog.

The newspaper from the Thai capital sports a more than interesting section for English language learners which we can find by clicking on  the heading "learning" after displaying the menu.

Here we will find a wide choice of updated news for English students at advanced, intermediate and elementary (easy) level.

Most of the news items come together with an audio file and can be listened to and downloaded. In addition, a detailed glossary for vocabulary development is included.

Lingua.ly

Lingua.ly is a site that allows you to build up your reading skills and vocabulary in a language of your choice (there are 17 languages to choose from, English included). You can use the desktop version of Lingua.ly or its app.

To start using Lingua.ly, first you have to log in through your Facebook account or through your Google account, then you choose the language you want to study and your level (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and off you go.

You are given a selection of articles from the international press and once you have made your choice, you start reading it. You can build up your own personalised dictionary by selecting individual words that you want to learn. Lingua.ly will store them for you and will show you how to pronounce them. You can use these words for revision purposes later on.

This short video will show you how Lingua.ly works.

Test your vocab

TestYourVocab is part of an independent American-Brazilian research project to measure vocabulary sizes according to age and education, and particularly to compare native learning rates with foreign language classroom learning rates.

TestYourVocab functions by means of a quick three-part test: the first part with a handful of words to determine the general vocabulary level, a second part with a larger but narrower selection of words to determine the vocabulary level with greater precision, and a final (optional) survey to collect statistical information.

TestYourVocab provides accurate results for virtually everyone, from very small children (with answers input by parents) to professional linguists. It can calculate vocabulary sizes from less than 100 words to more than 40,000 words.

Knoword

As far back as February 2011 we informed on Knoword, an online vocabulary game based on definitions.

The players is given the definition of a word and the first letter of the given word. The player has one minute to work out the word the definition refers to.

To help the player, a colour code is activated automatically as he/she types the letters of the word, the green colour indicating that the chosen letter is correct, whereas the pink colour shows that it is wrong.

If the players don't know the answer, he/she should press the x-shaped skip button.

The game is geared to intermediate-to-advanced students.

Deep English

Learn English with interesting stories at an intermediate level while listening to a weekly lesson at three different speeds with Deep English. Full transcript provided.

Pragmatics: a useful life skill

In the last few months, Macmillan English has been publishing a number of resources for teachers of English under the general term ‘MacMillan Life Skills’. Here’s the way the publishers describe the series:

“Life skills (sometimes also referred to as 21st century skills) provide students with the ‘soft skills’ that, along with their educational qualifications, help them stand out as the preferred candidate for educational and employment opportunities. (…) Each month you’ll find great information; including lesson ideas, an infographic or poster and motivational quotes to bring life skills into your lessons."

However, part of the material Macmillan English publishes is also suitable for students, especially those in the intermediate-to-advanced level. I would like to draw your attention to one of the components of the MacMillan Life Skills: pragmatics.

“Learning about pragmatics and how to express yourself successfully is a useful life skill, said Michael Rundell in January [2014] when he introduced the new pragmatics series on Macmillan Dictionary. The series is part of the Macmillan Life Skills campaign, offering free resources for English language students and teachers each month.”

A number of tips have been published so far about pragmatics in English, which are relevant to students of English:

ways of persuading someone to do something

ways of giving advice

ways of using understatement

ways of saying goodbye

ways of saying hello

ways of expressing you are unsure about something

ways of saying you are sure about something

ways of expressing your personal opinion in writing

ways of giving your opinion

ways of saying something politely

ways of expressing agreement or disagreement

ways of thanking someone

ways of apologizing

ways of offering something to someone

ways of suggesting something

ways of expressing uncertainty

ways of saying 'I don't know'

In these posts students will find formulas to confidently express the above-mentioned ideas, sound more-English like and improve their English.

Driving tests

The DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico) is the government department that is responsible for the Spanish transport network.

The DGT's official website gives prospective drivers the opportunity to prepare for the theoretical test they have to pass before being allowed to do the practical test. Learners can do online mock exams in preparation for the real exams. The practice questions are taken from the DGT's database and are exactly the same as those candidates will have to answer the day they sit the exam.

For us, as English students, the DGT's online tests give us the opportunity to develop our reading skills while getting acquainted with and revising everyday and traffic-related vocabulary.

To gain access to the tests, just click on the link here or on the picture below, and click on the link of 'Permiso B' "Consultar".

 

You will get to the page below. Just select the option "Inglés". It is not necessary to introduce your ID number or any other identificacion. Then click on "Entrar".

You will be redirected to a 30-question test which is pretty similar to the one candidates will have to do on the exam day. Just three mistakes are allowed. You can self-correct the test at any time.

Meals and Meal Times in English-Speaking Countries

What's the difference between the words breakfast, brunch, lunch, luncheon, tea, dinner and supper?
What articles and prepositions do we use with meals?

Tanja Batista, a graduate in English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has compiled a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the terminology and customs that accompany eating in English-speaking countries together with a historical explanation of the terms.

Drop by Tanja's blog and find it out for yourself.

 

Photo: Tanja Batista Blog

Learn English with photos: Second collection

In September last year we posted about Jeffrey Hill's collection Learn English with photos, a ten-installment video series for intermediate students with the aim of developing their vocabulary and listening skills.

Jeffrey Hill, whose extraordinary The English Blog should be a must for both teachers and students of English alike, has launched a second collection of video lessons.

There are two videos so far in the new collection, The Car Boot Sale and Chicago, but keep track of The English Blog to find out when any new videos come out.

The videos come complete with transcript, glossary and activities.

Thank you, Jeffrey.

Reading, vocabulary and grammar development in ELC Study Zone

A few months ago Leonardo Links informed about ELC Study Zone.

ELC Study Zone is a project run by the University of Victoria's English Language Centre (Canada).
It offers lessons and interactive activities in five levels (Upper Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced).

There are four or five reading exercises per level and a grammar index about the most important points of English grammar.

The site has been designed for adult learners.

My American Friend: Podcasts for English learners

I discovered My American Friend a few months back, and I feel I should have let you know way earlier.

As it is stated in the About section of My American Friend, “my American friend” blog and podcast was born with a view of "learning English by using it to explore the American and European cultures, habits and lifestyle."

The Italian singer/songwriter Marta Innocenti and her American friend Cindy help us improve the language "while taking you into a pleasant journey on both sides of the Atlantic ocean."

My American Friend is the right podcast to improve your English and to learn something new about America and Europe. Listen to Marta Innocenti's conversations with her American friend Cindy. Every episode includes new words and expressions about a new subject.

Marta and Cindy have published 48 podcasts so far. The podcasts are just perfect, as they come together with transcription and detailed vocabulary notes. On top of that, they are manageable time-wise, under ten minutes each episode.

If your English level is intermediate or above, My American Friend is a good way of improving your listening and vocabulary skills in a stress-free way.