28.11.15

The Big Project

I use this Directory to find Worldwide  news in English  and read them with my students,




but as they say, The Big Project is a directory of the most useful websites, where you can find sports,travels, holidays, music, fashion, properties , food and recipes... or even a job in the UK




Click here to go to The Big Project .co.uk

10.3.15

25 maps that explain the English language

Libby Nelson offers us a great work about the origin and the evolution of the English language  from the Vikings to the 21st century explained in 25 maps
Published by Vox, it's a clear and easy way to understand the evolution of the language from the indo european languages to modern dialects spoken all over the world


30.11.14

ENGAMES.EU.- GAMES TO LEARN ENGLISH

ENGAMES.EU  is a website where you can find lots of games to learn English.
 Nearly one hundred posts in a website with a top bar with Grammar, vocabulary and  listening  activities for elementary and intermediate levels


I specially like the story the author has invented to teach how to build questions in present and past simple tenses, you can read it here "Questions in present and past tenses"



21.12.13

THE LONDON STORY

Visit London, the official visitor's guide, offers us The London Story, a collection of videos where Londoners tell us their stories about the city.

 Visit London


They all have subtitles in English and some of them also have subtitles in Spanish, French,German or Italian.This is a good way to practise English and at the same time, if you are lucky, you can win a trip to London.
They say there are 126 videos, so enjoy the videos and enjoy this marvelous city
Here you have a link to their YouTube account


3.12.13

TOP 100 FREE EDUCATION SITES



Help Teaching offers us a compilation of free sites to be used teaching or learning English. As they say:

"Need some new inspiration for the classroom? These 100 sites cover a range of grade-levels, subject areas, and uses. Some may work directly with students, while others may be more useful to teachers during the planning process. All will help engage students and improve learning in the classroom – that’s why they’re the best. Oh, and did we mention that they’re all free?"


Click here to go to  TOP 100 FREE EDUCATION WEBSITES

25.10.13

TWITTEEN'S NEWS



Let me introduce you a new blog where you can practice reading and listening comprehension activities through real tweets.
 The blog is still under construction and it's the last idea I 've had to help my students to improve their English.
You can find activities to be used as ice breakers or simply to get some information about the world of football, moto GP, formula 1 and all kind of interesting news for teenagers.
Weekly renovated with the latest news of sport, science, or amazing events.
It will be linked with a Facebook page with the answers to the questions in a near future.
Have a look at TWITTEEN'S NEWS by clicking here

7.3.13

Play & create video trivia with friends


A great way to practice English while having fun alone or with friends.
You can challenge your friends with the existing trivia or you can create your own trivia.
There are a lot of categories: Movies, music, celebrities, education, sports, etc.

Click here to go to Blubbr

1.3.13

Free English video lessons




Engvid offers more than 490 free English video lessons for beginners, intermediate and advance students.
There are a lot of topics, from English for business, to English for exams, including vocabulary, grammar, writing , speaking and even slang. 8 teachers to help you and everything for free.

Click here to go to engVid 

5.12.12

Cambridge English TV


Some of you are preparing the PET, the  First Certificate, the Advance or the Proficiency Tests of Cambridge University. These series of videos can help you to achieve your aims.
As they say:" Welcome to Cambridge English TV, where you will find useful tips and information about teaching, learning and researching the English language. Around 4 million people choose to take University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations every year in 130 countries"

Click here to go to Cambridge English TV

29.11.12

Twominuteenglish


 At the airport, taking a taxi, ordering a pizza, greeting people or saying goodbye, you can listen, practice and learn English with these videos about daily activities.
As they say:" Welcome to twominuteenglish.com Teaching you English in two minutes or less"
15 videos and growing
Click here to go to twominuteenglish.com

12.10.12

Tools for teachers



The British Council and the BBC offer this place for teachers.As they say: " This is the place to come for tools to help you inside and outside the classroom - from software to help you prepare classes to a glossary of ELT terms."
Click here to go to Tools for teachers.

28.5.12

Project Britain


British Life, Symbols, Culture, Events, Customs and traditions, Education, History, Tourist information, hundreds of facts and figures, etc......
As Mandy Barrow, the webmaster and author says: " Our Project Britain website contains fascinating facts and information about England, Scotland and Wales (Britain), in a way that is easy to read and to understand for people of all ages and cultures.
Click here to go to Project Britain.

11.5.12

Tiching- The global educational network



A great site, dedicated to learning and totally free for teachers, students and families.

Their slogan is :"Where the learning community meets"

As they say :" Tiching gives you access to 80.158 learning contents via its search engine. If you sign up, you can also enjoy lots of other opportunities: meeting new people, comment on contents, get recommendations..."
 It is also available in Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician.
 Click here to go to Tiching

10.3.12

LEARN ENGLISH WHILE HELPING THE WORLD

Let's learn English watching a film while helping the International Justice  to catch one of the world's worst war criminals. Joseph Kony
Help Invisible Children's campaign to show who is  Joseph kony and what's he doing in Central Africa for more than 20 years. Help them to support the international effort to arrest him, disarm the LRA and bring the child soldiers  home

Click on the logo to watch the film and, by the way, you could sign the pledge, be sure you'll feel better.

5.2.12

Adult learning activities


This website is part of the California Distance Learning Project and the project has been sponsored by  the California Department of Education.
As they say:
"The purpose of this site is to help adults improve basic skills like reading and spelling using real-life stories on topics of interest to adults" And I would add that some of them are also interesting for young learners . There is a section for teachers and adult educators too.


It has lots of listening and reading comprehension activities, matching and spelling exercises,  and a section I specially like, " What did you learn?" where you can check your understanding of what you have read.  The stories are based on real life situations and the original TV news story is included for some of them in video.


It's very easy to use and a great help for both, adults and teenagers, who want to learn English.


Click here to go to the site Adult Learning Activities

10.12.11

Word on the street

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street


The BBC and the British Council have co-produced this new English Language teaching programme.
10 episodes filmed in different places in the United Kingdom

As they say:
"Word on the Street looks at how English works in everyday life and presents lively aspects of young British culture. Each half hour episode is filmed in a different place in the UK and features drama, interviews and reports to help you improve your English language skills".

Click here to go to Word on the street

8.9.11

Resources for English as a Second Language

 

As they say : "UsingEnglish.com provides a large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools & resources for students, teachers, learners and academics. Browse the grammar glossary and references of irregular verbs, phrasal verbs and idioms, ESL forums, articles, teacher handouts and printables, and find useful links and information on English. Topics cover the spectrum of ESL, EFL, ESOL, and EAP subject areas"
Click here to go to "Using English.com".

30.7.11

Going away this summer?

BBC offers "Quick Fix phrases in 40 languages". You can learn and take essential holiday phrases in 40 languages with you on your mp3 player and as a print-out.
You can also learn all UK languages, Gaelic, Welsh, Irish and of course English
By the way, have a look at the section " Don't try this abroad" about common language mistakes, it's really funny
 
Click below to go to the site

BBC Quick fix phrases

12.6.11

Breaking News English

Learn English with the latest news from all over the World. More than 1.400 lessons based on Business , Environment, Health, Lifestyle, Technology , Famous people, World News, etc...
Warm ups, before, while and after reading/listening exercises, speaking activities, writings and even homework .

Click below to go to the site
Breaking News English

8.4.11

MEMIDEX, free on line dictionary, thesaurus and more

This is the best free on line dictionary and thesaurus I have ever seen. 


Try it, it's great!!

Dictionary/Thesaurus:

As they say ,
Memidex is a free online dictionary and thesaurus 
Memidex reaches a new total of 12.5 million external reference links, including  over 5.4 million definition references, 5.3 million audio references, and 1.8 million etymology references.
Each audio reference has a button to play the audio directly from the Memidex web page.
Click on this link to go to MEMIDEX

15.2.11

English Speak.com





Englishspeak.com is a free and award winning new system for learning to speak English. The program contains lessons that give special attention to English pronunciation and everyday language. With over 100 lessons, Englishspeak.com provides a large amount of audio content. Users have access to two different speeds of playback for each item.  

Click here to go to:  English Speak.com 

100 Sites to learn about Anything and Everything






This is an alphabetical list of websites which provide information and/or instruction about a wide range of subjects. The websites cover a  wide range of informational and educational topics and include general reference resources, how-to guides, wikis, how-to videos, podcasts, courses, lessons, tutorials (including open courseware), e-books as well as other reference resources and places to ask questions both online and on your mobile.
The resources are suitable for learners of all ages: students as well as workplace learners and lifelong learners - as well as teachers, educators and trainers.

Visit also : 

3.1.11

Book2 : 50 Languages for free

book2 contains 100 lessons that provide beginners with a basic vocabulary. With no prior knowledge, you will learn to fluently speak short sentences in real-world situations in no time. The book2 method successfully combines audio and text for effective language learning
Click on your country or click on your native language 
Click here to go to Book2

25.10.10

Do you need to teach or learn Maths in English? Here's Math TV.

If you need to learn or teach Maths in English (CLIL) you will probably need to know how to say some terminology in English.
Here you have Math TV





Thousands of videos covering Basic Mathematics, Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus
Open your free account  and start listening.
Click here to go to Math TV

7.9.10

SOZO EXCHANGE-VIDEO ENGLISH LESSONS


Video lessons, 6 episodes , origin and meaning of English Idioms,pronunciation practice, on line listening quizzes, how to improve pronunciation and listening skills. Everything's free and it has a forum to share and exchange ideas.

less
 Click here to go to SOZO

31.5.10

Letter Generator.- ReadWriteThink

This website has a lot of free resources for teachers and students , from lesson plans to interactive grammar games and tools. I have chosen one of the lesson plans because is especially useful for my students  worried these days by the Selectivity Exam ( University entry test in Spain)This is the Letter Generator, as they say : "The Letter Generator is a useful tool for students to learn the parts of a business or friendly letter and then compose and print letters for both styles of correspondence."
These resources are provided by ReadWriteThink.org, a website developed by the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, with support from the Verizon Foundation.

 Click here to go to the  Letter Generator

Click here to go to read write think.

13.5.10

Lyrics training

A teacher told me about this site after another talk about "Using blogs in the classroom", and it's great.
As they say, " Lyrics Training is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills like English through the music and lyrics of the songs."
First listen to the song, then fill in the blanks according to the level you have chosen, beginner, intermediate or expert. You can't advance if you don't complete the lyrics properly, but  you can listen to the song as many times as needed  just by clicking  intro.
More than 470 songs from Cat Stevens  to Lady Gaga, or from Metallica to Alicia Keys, all kind of music to choose.
Click here to go to Lyrics Training

9.5.10

English Listening Lounge ELL

As they say: "Listening is a natural way to learn English; it is fun and it works. You can study when you want: anytime, and any place. The passages are real people, speaking real English, talking about what interests them. There are passages for everyone: easy passages for beginners, and more difficult passages for advanced students."
You can choose the domain, the level, the topic, or choose the passage directly .
You can answer the comprehension questions, check the answers and listen to the passages again but reading the transcripts.

Go to English Listening Lounge and start listening

PREZI - The zooming presentation editor

 Prezi is a new tool to create stunning presentations. It's free for teachers and students and it's really easy to use. I have done this one about the Passive Voice in just a few minutes This is just a demo to show you that everybody can create new presentations. have a look and try to use it , it's worth.
You can watch it screen by screen just clicking on the arrow at the bottom or use the auto play in full screen, clicking on "more" at the bottom right corner.
Go to http://prezi.com/ to register and create your own presentation.



6.5.10

IT'S WORTH KEEPING AN EYE ON THAT BLOG



I have received this award from two different blogs "Mis clases" by Ana Concejero and "Anna's blog" by Anna Morales, both teachers of English
I must say it has been an honour to be remembered by colleagues and bloggers when thinking about blogs which are worth visiting.
Thank you very much for considering this blog . I'm sure we are all working  with ICT  with the same objective, to improve our students skills learning English
This award is  part of an initiative called "Vale a pena ficar de olho nesse blog", which means "It's worth keeping an eye on this blog". The chosen blog has to copy the picture, with a link to the blog from which it has received the award . Then write ten more links to the blogs which are well worth a visit.It's difficult to limit the list to ten blogs but I'll do my best
*) Català.cat.
*) Real English
*) Free Technology for teachers
*) Ad Lib English Blog
*) APAC ELT Network
*) Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the day
*) Batxillerat Collaborative Class Blog
*) Gazpacho is not tomato soup
*) Dores e delicícias de ser professor
*) Think and Dream in English

26.4.10

"English Language Listening Library Online (ELLLO)

A colleague from Sitges ( Thanks a lot) told me about this site after one of my talks to teachers on "How to use Blogs in the classroom" and after testing it I must say it's one of the best sites in the net to practice Listening.
Todd Beuckens has created this site with more than 1000 listening activities with accents from all over the world, including  videos, interviews, news, songs, talking points, listening games, etc. with comprehension exercises, quizzes, and lots of different activities. Using naturally spoken English



Take the tour  by clicking here to know how it works and its contents





Click here to go to www.elllo.org

12.3.10

"Learn English while watching videos"


Learn English while watching videos.- A speech recognition platform that allows you to practice SPEAKING with any video you choose and then get INSTANT FEEDBACK on how well you are doing 

20.2.10

ESLJOKES.-The funniest way to learn English

Alison Wooder an ESL/ELT teacher, teacher trainer,  writer and co-founder of  ELTpublishing   has created this great site where you can learn English  while laughing with the jokes.
Each joke is followed by a grammar explanation and exercises on the  grammar and key vocabulary from the jokes.



Click here to go to ESLJOKES.NET

6.2.10

Real English video lessons

A great site done with methodology, with more than 50 video lessons, where you can first watch the video without subtitles as a listening exercise, then you can do the exercises and later you can watch the same video again but this time with subtitles.
With real dialogues, interviews to native speakers, grammar and lots of useful exercises. Wisely directed by Mike and Valérie Marzio and where everything is free and everybody can get free-access.




9.9.09

TED ideas worth spreading


Talks about Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), Business, Science, Culture, Arts and Global issues

Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world
As they say:" On TED.com, we make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 450 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks feature closed captions in English, and many feature subtitles in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted."
Now available in العربية, Deutsch, हिन्दी, ไทย, Русский, and more ….
The TED Open Translation Project brings TEDTalks beyond the English-speaking world by offering subtitles, interactive transcripts and the ability for any talk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

Click on the link bellow.
http://www.ted.com

18.6.09

How to write an essay

Ana Concejero has done a great job to help you to write an essay.

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

Hundreds of Listening Quizzes for all levels

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

And Randall's Video Snapshots: for ESL/EFL students. 30 high-frequency topics video clips in natural unscripted speech




Click here to go to Randall's Video Snapshots

12.6.09

Summercat by Billie the vision & the dancers

A great song from 2004 from the disc " I Was So Unpopular In School and Now They're Giving Me This Beautiful Bicycle" by Billie the vision & the dancers that thanks to this TV advert is going to be very popular this Summer in Spain. Enjoy the Mediterranean sea and the freedom of our islands this Summer but remember that alcohol can't make you more popular, successful or attractive. Happy Holidays
Visit their website, it's worth it, you'll be surprised by the method to get their songs. http://www.billiethevision.com/music.php



Lyrics | Summercat lyrics

2.6.09

English Club

As they say, "Welcome to English Club, a site to help you learn English or teach English as a second language. Access to all pages is free. You'll find everything from lessons for students to jobs for teachers, including interactive pages like forums, games, quizzes, chat, help and friends.

I specially like "The learning English video project". Have a look at it and enjoy.
Click on the link bellow


EnglishClub.com

28.5.09

From Youtube

VIVA LA VIDA
The song that FC Barcelona team manager Josep Guardiola has used to motivate his football players, hope it works with our students too. They have won the Spanish League, the king's Cup and the UEFA Champions League 2009.
Congratulations Barça!!

Click here to listen to the song  with subtitles

English Listening lounge

Welcome to the English Listening Lounge. Listening is a natural way to learn English; it is fun and it works. You can study when you want: anytime, and any place. The passages are real people, speaking real English, talking about what interests them. There are passages for everyone: easy passages for beginners, and more difficult passages for advanced students. The English Listening Lounge is inexpensive and is a very effective way to learn English. If you listen often your English will improve.




http://englishlistening.com/

16.2.09

Interactive English

Aurora Gil has created this interactive website thinking in her students. Hope she doesn't mind to share it with us
Easy, intermediate and advance grammar exercises and games. It also has some very interesting issues to think and work with them, themes like : Child labour, anorexia and bulimia, domestic violence, global warming, clitoridectomy and immigration.

If you understand Spanish there are also guides for students and teachers, anyway you can go directly to the menu page and start working. Enjoy it!

Interactive English

21.1.09

A funny way to learn English

Lots of songs in English with their Lyrics. Some of them even translated into Spanish.
Enjoy them.


Subinglés .com

6.1.09

Acapela.tv game

Acapela.tv has a game where you can listen to your own written messages and send them to your friends in 17 languages and some more varieties of English, French and Spanish. Enjoy it!!



Click here to go to Acapela. TV

5.1.09

British & American Phonetics

Tim Bowyer offers us online pronunciation guides to 9 varieties of the English language and 9 other languages. Instant sound. Pronunciation samples by over 40 native speakers. All 1,000+ pages free. Just click on the links bellow.


British English
American English
FonetiKs.org

27.12.08

EF PodEnglish Channel

As the creators say: "EF podEnglish improves your English with bite-sized 5 minute videos. Perfect for beginners, intermediate and advanced students, these video lessons are as good as having an English teacher in your pocket! Created by EF & Englishtown, the world's largest language school. Enjoy!"

EF podEnglish Channel in YouTube

18.12.08

Learn English with subtitled songs from youtube

You can learn English as
Elton John did, with "Sacrifice"
or as Guns and Roses, "Knocking on heaven's door" or perhaps you prefer to do it as Lionel Richie and Diana Ross with "Endless love" or even as Britney Spears does asking your "Baby , one more time", but don't forget to say: "Thank you for the music" as Abba did, but as James Blunt says, always remember that "You are beautiful"
Enjoy this selection of songs from Youtube
Or, if no one of the links works, try this funny versión that Youtube still allows

7.12.08

University conversation Guide

A University Phrase Book created by the Catalan Language Service at the University of Barcelona to give foreign students a tool in any comunicative situations.
Apart from the English Catalan guide you can also find guides in some languages like Japanesse, Chinesse, German, French, Italian and others


University Conversation Guide

23.11.08

Flow English Podcast

Idioms for your slang English learning or as the Author says: for your slang English curiosity or appetite.
Thanks to Chris Moses for his great job


Flow English Podcast

25.10.08

Better @t English

Better @t English: Free English lessons to help you learn English vocabulary, idioms, slang, grammar, and more!
Real English conversations, interviews,videos, tips and tools for EFL and ESL learners.



Better @t English

Better @t English videos