Listening Tasks: BBC Express English/ Spice up your classes with a short video clip

 BBC offers the possibility of listening to a series of short texts on a wide range of topics.
The texts are about one minute long, that's the reason for the series name,  and the script is included. 

I think this can be a good starting point (prompt, warm-up)  for some of your classes as many of the topics are part of the curriculum. Some examples are:  trips, colours, relationships, food choices, shopping, phobias, honesty, new year resolutions... you name it.

The videos can be downloaded from the Express English site or be watched on line.

To access the Express English site click HERE

I have embedded some of the videos below with the link to the page where the script is, but please, browse around. There are  more than 30 choices for you at the Express series site. 

See these examples:Jealousy, Freedom and Fashion. 

 JEALOUSY: Download the scrip from the site HERE

 

When do you feel free? Download the script HERE

What's in fashion at the moment. Download the script   HERE 

Linguee on-line dictionary. Find words in context

Linguee is an on-line dictionary that contains a search engine that enables users to look for bilingual texts.

The available languages are English to/from: Spanish, German, French and Portuguese.

Click HERE to access Linguee

•  How does it work?

Capaz de = Able to = Capable of

Let's  say that, as a Spanish speaker, you want to know  the  preposition that   follows the expression "ser capaz" , which in Spanish is followed by the preposition "de".

You enter the text "capaz de" in the engine  and Linguee offers many parallel texts with that expression. As you can see in the displayed image, the English preposition is "to"  after "able"( not "of")  and "of" after "capable". 

• Advantages

The parallel texts have been checked by Linguee editors. If the translation of the word has not been verified the parallel texts is preceded by a warining sign (a triangle). 
Linguee is NOT an automatic translator. Use your head and in the long run you will see this as an advantage.

Click HERE to access Linguee 

Pronunciation: How do you pronounce...?

"How you say" is an on-line tool that will help you to learn how to pronounce words.
Aim: students introduce words they do not know how to pronounce in order to learn them with the sound Suggested procedure if you want to use this tool in your class

•  make a list of the words students mispronounce.
  
• group students in teams
• write the words on the board
• ask teams (in turns)  how a word is pronounced
• check the pronunciation by introducing the  in How j say
• give a point to the team that pronounces the word correctly

Access the HOWJSAY page by clicking HERE 

IF your students are Spanish speakers, you may start with some (or all) of these words:

• Problems with "I" or "AI" sound:  to determine, idea, opposite, to  examine, horizon, since, microphone,  to print, tiger.
• Problems with stress pattern:  successful,  component (stress in "po"), foreigner (FO), surface, insurance, hotel, interesting, invalid (IN)
• Words with two stress patterns: to present/ a present, to report/a report, to progress/ the progress, to address/ an address...
• The "able" words: vegetable, suitable (the "i" does not sound), able, comfortable, table, capable, removable, printable 
• Letter B  does not sound: debt, plumber, doubt
• Letter W does not sound:  sword,  answer, drawer. would
• Other silent letters: mayor (no "y"), heir (no h), guard (no u), shepherd (no second h)
• The -es ending sounding as "iz"or "is". Most student ignore the ending: services, oranges, he fixes/watches, exercises
•  The ones they always get wrong:  biscuit (the "u" does not sound), receipt, recipe, architecture (the K), busy, , key, Pharaoh, choir, aisle,rare, archive (K), corps  /kɔː/ as in Peace Corps vs. corpse.
• The ones that are very similar to Spanish words and students pronounce in the Spanish: fashion: Jamaica, Arkansas, Zanzibar, Ottawa.Lancaster, Asia, Trafalgar (FA), predator (PRE), cigarrette (TT), controversy (TRO), transparent (PA)
• The ones with less syllables than we expect: chocolate, digital, restaurant,  basically
• Teasers (homophones or almost homophones): flour and flower,  guerrilla and gorilla, waist and  waste, pear and pair, heir and hair, write and right, four and for, hear and  here, no and know...  For more homophones in British English go to this page HERE
• -age words: beverages (also stress pattern), village, image, message, usage 
• The - ure words: nature, creature, future, structure, adventure, literature 

Bombay TV - (short) written or spoken texts

Bombay TV  offers the possibility of  creating  short written or spoken texts by subtitling short segments of Indian movies.

Aim: students write or record their voices creating a short text.
Level: any
Procedure.  Students:

• enter the  provided Bombay TV link
• choose a segment of a film
• prepare a dialogue
• record or write their dialogue 
• send the video segment to your e-mail
• open e-mail and share your video with the class  

Click HERE to access BOMBAY TV

 See an  example below

Personalize funny videos at Bombay TV by Graphéine - Graphiste independant
 

Thanks to Ricard Garcia, speaker at the April 2013 teacher training sessions at the British Council, for providing me with this link.

Phonemic Chart with Examples.

Listen to Adrian Underhill's talk (1hour) on how to teach pronunciation and use his chart (posted below) to teach your students how to recognize phonemic symbols and improve their pronunciation.
 

If you have Flashplayer and sound you can use:

•  the MacMillan interactive chart with sounds and examples of words  HERE  
• the  Onestop English,with sound and model words HERE
• the video  by the English Language Club I have embedded below. 

If sound or flash-player are not available, you can  project this chart:

 

If you need help to transcribe a word, I suggest you use this tool HERE 

English Language Club video

Thanks to Julian Jahanpour, speaker at the Barcelona 2012 British Council Workshops for providing me with these materials. 

Text to Phonetics

Text  to Phonetics is an online application that transcribes small English texts into broad phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Click HERE to go to the Text to Phonetics page.

ESL teacher toolbox. Glogster

The label ESL teacher toolbox contains a list of on-line tools that facilitate the teachers' task.

• Use Glogster to create digital posters. Apart from photos and texts, students can upload videos, sound and images from their computer.
• The service is free although you must create an account. 
• The range of styles is pretty wide. This tool can be useful for both children and adults. 
• If Internet is slow ask your students to produce their poster at home and present it in class. 
•  See my very simple glogster underneath. It took me 10 minutes. 

  Thanks to Xavi  Gumà for providing us with the link to this resource. Course 77 at the British Council Summer 2012.

ESL teacher toolbox. Teleprompter

The label ESL teacher toolbox contains a list of on-line tools that facilitate the teachers' task.

A teleprompter is a device used in television and moviemaking to project a speaker's script out of sight of the audience.

Procedure:

Teleprompter

• Open the teleprompter (see link underneath)
• Copy and paste a text
• Choose speed, font size, etc.

 Use a teleprompter for;

• Speed reading 
• Speed note-taking
• Lyric learning 
• Poetry reading 
• Guess what comes next

Access the teleprompter HERE

Thanks to our teacher trainer Mike O'Neill for providing us with the link to this resource. Course 77 at the British Council Summer 2012.

ESL Toolbox: find the script of a film

The label ESL teacher toolbox contains a list of on-line tools that facilitate the teachers' task.

Do you need  the script of a film? 

• Go to the script-o-rama page and find out if the script is available (see link underneath).
• Once you have found the script,  look for the except you need by going to EDIT (top tool bar) or by using the shortcut Ctrl +F. This will open a small window at the bottom of your page. Type a word/sentence that you know that appears in the except you need. 
• Copy and paste the excerpt in Word (or similar).

Access the link HERE

Thanks to our teacher trainer Mike O'Neill for providing us with the link to this resource. Course 77 at the British Council Summer 2012.

How to transform a PowerPoint into a video

In order to convert a Power Point into video, all you need is a small free program such a as E.M. Free PowerPoint Video Converter V2.80 (Freeware)
You can download it HERE
You will be converting your powerpoint online and therefore you need internet connection.
You may have to close all your programs for your converter to work.
Open the converter, select NEW TASK and choose the desired FORMAT (AVI , for example).
Make sure you tell the program where (what file) you want the result (the video) to be downloaded. This way you can locate your new file easily at the end of the process.

How to download videos from YOU TUBE

How to download videos from youtube: 
In order to download videos from youtbe you will need a small program. 

• 

  This is what Free YOutube Donwloader looks like when you open it

• Go to any trustworthy free downloading site. I recommended softonics. You can access this site by clicking here.
• Use the softonic's search engine to find "Free Youtube Downloader".YOu can also use "Freestudio"
  
• Download the program and install it in your computer 
• Open the "Free Youtube Downloader" (or free studio) and paste the URL of the video you want to download.
• TIP! Make sure you tell the program WHERE to download the video 

If you need instructions on how to use the Free Youtube Downloader program, watch this video