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HANDOUT: Resources for English Learning HalloWorld! Cultural Workshops and Courses Where Can I Find Authentic Materials for English Learning? ANY English website/resource that is NOT designed for English learners - here are some examples: - Google (set your settings into English!) - Youtube - Podcast - Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikileaks, etc. - Amazon, Ebay, etc. - Facebook, MySpace, etc. - BBC News, CNN news, ABC news, NBC news, or simply Google news - Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. - Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. - Newsweek, Times, etc. - live-stream radios (through iTunes, etc.) - songs, movies, TV shows, and TV series (be very careful while selecting!) Then, search for keywords of your interests! Having fun when learning helps learning efficient! Recorded materials are highly recommended for the chance to replay/repeat/re-read! How to Select/Use Authentic Materials That Suit Me? Avoid anything that confuses you. If you are confused, chances are that it is probably confusing itself and may also confuse a native speaker. It may have nothing to do with your English ability! Always choose a material that you can understand 70-90% (depend on your personality) and learn from the rest 10-30%. Listening, Understanding and Speaking (including Vocabulary and Grammar): (a) Avoid learning from children and their cute voices, or people who do not speak clearly. (b) Find videos/movies/TV shows/TV series with rich body language/ facial expressions to help you understand the context. (c) Start from listening to the normal speed. Avoid speed that is too fast for you (e.g. TV series “Friends”). Speed up as your English improves. (d) Watch the lips. (I recommend watching Angelina Jolie’s lips.) (e) Listen to different people saying the same (or similar) words/sentences (f) Materials that allow you to listen, read, and watch at the same time are great for learning! Reading and Writing: (a) Skim through news headlines, and then the first paragraph if the article interests you. News articles are meant for busy people who can only read the beginning of each story. (b) News articles can help you build a large vocabulary, BUT most American newspapers are written in the language level of a 12-year-old American child. Great if you are a beginner/intermediate English student! (c) News articles and song lyrics must not be 100% grammatically correct! (d) News articles are reports, NOT persuasive writings. A news article answers the 5 S’s: WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, HOW. (e) An example of a persuasive writing is an advertisement. A persuasive writing provides evidence and wants to change your mind on a certain topic.
E.V.L. International Consultings Ltd. copyrighted material. Last updated: 2011.01.22
Shining Chen
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Free English Learning Tools: 1. online English-English dictionaries with pronunciation audio clips: - dictionary.com - Merriam-Webster.com (m-w.com) 2. online Thesaurus (find synonyms and antonyms of any word): - thesaurus.com 3. online language learning websites - http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page - About.com - livemocha.com Free E-Books (even comic books)
Google Books http://books.google.com/bkshp?tab=wp Free Language Partners: Many universities have a language partner program. Unfortunately, they are not open to the general public except University of Michigan: http://webservices.itcs.umich.edu/drupal/LRC%20Conversation%20Partners/ Follow a blue link on the page to create a friend account, and then click "Find a Language Partner" to browse the list of people (their emails, the language they offer, the language they want to learn). There are also other private language partner websites online. I found the following: iTalki http://www.italki.com/hl/en-us http://www.language-exchanges.org/ The Mixxer I Want to Speak.net http://www.iwanttospeak.net/en For more, "language partner" or “language exchange” Try to get 2 or more partners and expect some of them to be much less enthusiastic than you are. Now, a little Business English for everyone at school/work as an example of learning from an authentic material J How to Present Effectively (and with less boring PowerPoint slides)? Watch this clip on Youtube about the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” by Carmine Gallo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-zMRPZpvcw Golden Rules of PowerPoint Presentation Slides (a) No more than 7 items/sentences on each slide. Otherwise, it confuses/distracts the audience. (b) Do NOT read from slide to slide! PowerPoint is a tool, not your notes for the presentation! That puts people to sleep. (c) Label your graphics/pictures clearly (title, x-axis, y-axis, annotation, etc.) (d) Keep each slide short, simple and clear. Try to push it to zero redundancy.
E.V.L. International Consultings Ltd. copyrighted material. Last updated: 2011.01.22
Shining Chen