You can too!
Yesterday I was teaching a pre-intermediate class and needed a few general discussion questions on the topic of “Homes”, so I came up with the following. Maybe you will be able to use them in your class too!
You could include them in a lesson based on the “Home” unit in Talk a Lot Elementary Book 1, for example.
1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
2. Which is better – a house or a flat? Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
3. How many different kinds of home can you think of?
4. How will our homes be different in 50 years from now?
5. Which city in the world would be… a) the best, b) the worst, c) [insert other superlatives!] to live in? Why?
6. What are the most important factors in choosing a home?
7. Describe… a) your home, b) your grandparents’ home, c) [insert other!]. Compare them.
8. Who would you like to live with, if you could choose? Why?
This great website has been around for a while, but it’s a fantastic way to test your knowledge of English vocabulary (and other subjects, including Science, Geography, and Humanities). We spent around 10 minutes playing and earned 630 grains of rice, which doesn’t sound that much, but if 30 other people also did the same, we’d have enough grains of rice to feed one person for one day. Why not give it a try? 🙂
If you weren’t able to get to our Q & A session about the English Banana Trust Free Summer School, you can now download an MP3 of the audio and listen to the whole thing! Simply click the link below to open it in your browser, or right-click to download it:
You can still catch a recent interview with EB Trust Chairman Glyn Purland, which took place on Friday 9th March 2012 at BBC Radio Norfolk in Norwich. Click the link below and fast forward to around 37 minutes in:
Glyn spoke about the upcoming Trust concert at Norwich Cathedral and also about the Free Summer School for English teachers, which is planned for August this year. Many thanks to presenter Mark Matthews and all at BBC Radio Norfolk for their kind hospitality.
Have you discovered ESL Basics yet? If you haven’t, you are in for a treat! It’s a remarkable resource site for ESL students and teachers featuring hundreds of short easy-to-watch videos on the following topics:
Vocabulary, US Citizenship, Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Tongue Twisters
If you are studying with Talk a Lot Intermediate, you will find the videos about idioms and phrasal verbs particularly relevant.
ESL Basics is the brainchild of Andrea Giordano, who stars in the short videos, and Josh Michael, who does all the technical wizardry. The site is an absolute boon for any student who is learning new vocabulary (which should be everyone, right?) and for teachers who can dip in and out of the site, for example using a short video to illustrate a new idiom or phrasal verb. You can even request a video on a particular word, phrase, or topic. How cool is that? Here is an example of a video by Andrea about the phrasal verb “to check out”:
I asked Andrea for some comments about the site for this blog post. She told me:
“At ESL Basics, we believe that real-life context is a student’s best friend, not a list of terms to memorize. This is why our language instruction is surrounded by a conversation. ESL Basics fosters an environment where students aren’t just learning one word, they are acquiring language. ESL Basics is structured around a philosophy of context-driven lessons, videos, and usability. We are also committed to equipping English language teachers to host student-centered learning environments. I am an avid traveler, experienced teacher, and dynamic speaker who loves to see students and teachers meet their full potential. As well as at our home page, you can find ESL Basics at: youtube.com/eslbasics and facebook.com/eslbasics. “
If you love picking up new language – as well as new ideas for teaching – I would really recommend following Andrea on Twitter too: http://www.twitter.com/eslbasics
It seems that ESL Basics is one of those rare resourse sites that you don’t see very often – one that exists for the pleasure of being there and helping out other people. The joy of sharing the English language is wonderfully in evidence at ESL Basics! Why not CHECK IT OUT today? 🙂