Discussions Generator

Once again EFL Classroom provides us with a really interesting and funny conversation game that we can play in class or with friends or even on our own, if we don't mind talking out loud and the people around us thinking that we are going a bit round the bend.

Click on the dice on the Discussion Generator and a random conversation topic will come up. You can set a minimum period of time, let's say a minute, you have to talk about the given topic non-stop.

After that, the people you are working with can react to what you said, or can note down some of the mistakes (if any!) you made and let you know afterwards.

Discussion Generator is great fun and will generate lots of conversation practice.

Indian School Lunch Programme

Self-study activity:
Watch this report from PBS on a programme from the Indian government with an aim to provide Indian school children with a meal.

It's a bit lengthy, around 7 minutes, and you might not be used to an Indian accent. But don't be discouraged and give the activity a try.

1 What do the three R's refer to at the beginning of the clip?
2 What does the following refer to?

300
a third to 40%
a decade ago
120 million
50 years of age
28 or 30 years old
1.3 million
11%
2,500

Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

You can check the answers by reading the trancript here.

Months of the year

Linguaspectrum YouTube channel is really interesting for the English student, especially for the lower level ones (Básico 1 and Básico 2).

On this video they revise and teach the months of the year, while giving us background information about the history of each month.

The video comes complete with subtitles, so understanding is not problem, and we can focus on pronunciation or vocabulary matters.

If you wish to test your listening ability, try listening to the video without seeing the screen, so that you can hear the sound but can't read the subtitles.

Talking point: Do you keep a diary or journal?

Keeping a detailed account of one’s life–whether the writing is meant for the writer only, posted on a blog for all to see, or shared with someone close to you- is common practice.

Do you take part in it?
Do you write or have you ever written for an audience or just yourself? Why?
Have you become more–or less–active in chronicling your life and times as you get older?

This our latest talking point, inspired in a similar post from The New York Times Learning Network.

If you wish to find out some background information about the topic, you can also read Dominique Browning's article Burning the Diaries, where she reflects on the role keeping a diary has played in her life.

Do you identify with Ms. Browning’s description of writing a personal account of her days?
If you write or blog about your life, why do you do it?
Does writing help you? If so, how?
Do you protect your writing from others, or do you want people to read it?
Has your personal writing ever caused you trouble with other people?
Even if you don't keep a diary or a personal blog you may know someone who does, and perhaps you can answer the same questions about that person.

When you get together with your conversation group, you may be surprised at some of your friends' opinions or experiences. You can use some of the expressions below to show surprise:

Really?
It can’t be!
I can’t believe you / it! / my ears!
Reply questions: Did you? Have you? Is she?
Exclamation: Oh dear! Oh my God! (That’s) incredible / Amazing!

Posters in English

All Posters is a French site I discovered through Chestnut ESL.

The posters are mainly humorous and can help us develop our reading skill and vocabulary while we spread a smile over our face.

We are also given the choice of selecting different categories of posters.

Why not eat insects?

Have you ever eaten insects?
If not, would you be willing to give insects a try?
What would the advantages of eating insects be for you, for the economy, for the environment?

Marcel Dicke makes an appetizing case for adding insects to everyone's diet in this TED talk. His message to squeamish chefs and foodies: delicacies like locusts and caterpillars compete with meat in flavor, nutrition and eco-friendliness.



Remember that you can activate the English subtitles if you wish to do so.

A great resource for elementary students

Larry Ferlazzo posted about Web-ESL in late September. This is the way he described the site:

Web-ESL has lots of great resources. It links to other sites, but has many of its own exercises, and they are excellent. Their literacy exercises stand-out in particular.

Web-ESL combines reading, vocabulary, listening and speaking activities about the topics you can see on the picture below. Elementary (Básico 1 and Básico 2) will mainly benefit from the site, but students of all levels can drop by to get to know what Web-ESL has in store for them.