Week 0727 - How can the internet be used to improve your English?

The internet is an amazing resource full of examples of authentic English... This week's question is simple: How can we make the most of it and use it to improve reading, writing, listening etc. If you go back through some of my older posts there are a few websites which are good to visit, but I'll mention a few that I think are good here.

http://www.tv-links.co.uk/ - You can watch nearly any British or American TV show from the past 50 years here, or on a similar site http://www.alluc.org/.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ - particularly useful are the archives of radio shows. There is also an excellent 'learning english' section.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.htm Not quite as good as the bbc, but has useful stuff on it.

http://www.facebook.com/ - social networking site, many EF students already use it!

http://www.lastfm.com/ - Find new English music, and sing along for pronunciation!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/ - The best English language newspaper, all articles available online.

I'm sure I'll think of some more this afternoon! Are these websites useful to you? Do you know of any others that students might be interested in? Leave a comment below...

Week 0725 - Online Debate

Hello everyone, welcome to my online blog thing. I will try and put something on here every week to help add to the unit we are doing and give you something extra to do in i-lab class.

If you start a blog of your own it is an excellent way to practice your writing, spelling and reading. I can also read and correct it for you and show you areas of grammar you need to work on. The website for creating a blog is http://www.blogger.com/ and you can see an example page from an old student at EF here http://mexicanjourney.blogspot.com/

This week I will put a statement up for debate:

What makes up a family? Does every family need a father/mother figure plus 2.4 children to function? (note: there was a famous survey conducted in the 1980s which concluded that the average family in the US had 2.4 children and the phrase has become very widely used since)

0720 - Everything you always wanted to know about grammar...

This week: grammar and vocabulary questions...

Is there something you just don't understand or that seems really strange? You have a week to ask as many hard questions as you like and I will answer them as best I can!

What a good website!

If you haven't already, please go and look at this website...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

The 'Ask About English' section is particularly excellent!

Online Debate 0719 - Listening In

This week's statement for debate is this:

Due to growing danger from international terrorism it is important that governments monitor what people are doing closely in order to maintain a safe society. Things like CCTV, ID cards, microphones and telephone bugs are vital to let them do this.

articles to help you...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,,1542336,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance

0718 You Are The Jury...

Susan Polk - Guilty or Not Guilty?
On Trial For Murdering Her Husband, Frank Polk.

Susan Polk is facing trial on first-degree murder charges in the death of her 70-year-old wealthy husband, Frank (Felix) Polk. The prominent Berkeley psychologist was found with five stab wounds in the pool house at the couple's upscale San Francisco home in 2002. Polk claims she stabbed him in self-defense.

All the details of the case can be found here:

http://crime.about.com/od/issues/ig/jury1/polk.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Polk

This is a real life court case currently being contested in America.

Questions for you...

Do you think Susan Polk is guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity of 1st degree murder. If she is guilty what do you think would be an appropriate sentence? In this case it is important to recognise the difference between 1st and 2nd degree murder...