Learning English with self-study websites part two

IH London teacher Caroline's Study Skills class have been looking at the best website for English self-study. Their latest reviews are about TED.

Have you ever heard about TED? I never hesitate for choosing TED.com as the best English learning website.  This website is for everybody who uses English as a mother tongue or a second language. It is a non-profit website which spreads information about every sort of subject. 

Learning English with self-study websites

Many students learning English at IH London also spend time after class improving their language skills. This month, we're sharing some reviews of the best websites for self-study all written by teacher Caroline's Study Skills class.

Let's start with their guide to self-study resources from the BBC.

BBC Learning English website

BBC Learning English is a site dedicated to teaching English language on line. The site is for all people that want improve their English without traditional methods. There are a lot of positive aspects about this kind of self-study.

Your essential introduction to Wikis and more

There's still time to apply for the Blended Cert ICT course at IH London starting on 15 October. Leading up to the course, we're sharing tips and advice to help you use ICT more effectively in the classroom.

One of the many great things about this course is that each week’s tasks, and the tools you are introduced to, are built on the skills you’ve learned in previous sessions.

In our last post about the Blended Cert ICT course we talked about what’s covered in Module One, which takes up the first five sessions of the face-to-face portion of the course.

Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll learn how to do during the first half of Module Two, which is also delivered in the F2F classroom:

• How to supercharge your Internet searching skills, allowing you and your students to find the right resources for what you need more quickly
  
• How to make quick and easy podcasts that add value and fun to your teaching
  
• How to make the most of Web 2.0 tools such as social bookmarking, social networking (even if you’re not already using it, your students probably are!)
  
• How to create WebQuests that will have your students practicing their language skills as well as getting valuable “real world” online experience
  
• How to use various types Blogs and Wikis with your learners
  

All about Wikis

Wikis are a great tool for collaborative and process writing, and are easily one of the most popular “I’m so glad I now know how to use them” tools of the course. Not sure what a wiki is?

Here’s an essential overview …



Wikis are easy to set up, a doddle to administer, and are arguably one of the most versatile tools that you’ll end up with in your ICT toolbox. They end up being a one-stop shopping place where teachers can collaborate with students: delivering information and having learners produce (and hone) their own language, keeping a record of first drafts, edits and corrections (from the teacher and/or peer correction).

How to join the course

Learn more about Blended Cert ICT or contact Colin Paton our head of eLearning, with any questions.

Spaces are filling up for the course starting on 15 October. Book now to get your spot!

Missed our Blended Cert ICT taster session? Here's a quick catch up!

In case you didn't make it along to our session taster this week, here are some of the essential facts we learned about the upcoming Blended Cert ICT course at IH London:

• It's currently the only teaching with technology course certified by Trinity College.
• Teachers who take the course range from recent CELTA grads looking to continue their education to Directors of Studies who want to implement more technology in their schools. There is truly something for everyone on this course.
• You don't need any previous technical knowledge, and even IT wizards who take it have always ended up with some new tricks up their sleeves.
• There are three modules to the course, the first of which is taught completely face-to-face. Module One includes:
• Keeping your computers safe (nobody likes a virus)
• Understanding different kinds of file formats (do you know your MP4s from your WMVs? your JPGs from your GIFs?)
• Working with images (how do you get that high-res picture off your digital camera to fit on a web page?)
• Using audio (hey, that might come in handy for pron practice ... hmmmm)
• Video (can I really use free, low-tech tools to teach in my classroom? -- Yes! See below)

Get your teaching toolbox ready!

The above animation is just one of the many free, easily accessible tools you'll have in your "teaching toolbox" at the end of the course, and that toolbox gets a little more full after every session. One of the best things about the Blended Cert ICT is that it's very practical and very hands on. Every week you'll have new ways to quickly and easily add a little technology to your teaching, whether it be to spice up an existing lesson or keep a running online record with your students of what they've covered over the duration of the course.

More tips and examples from the course coming over the next few weeks.

How to join the next course

Learn more about the Blended Cert ICT course and apply online or contact Colin Paton, our Head of eLearning, with your questions.

The next course starts on 15 October and spaces are filling up. Book now to make sure you don't miss out.

Learn new skills for the classroom with Blended Cert ICT

Our Blended Cert ICT course begins on 15 October and applications are open now. Over the next few weeks we'll be posting tips and advice about using ICT in the classroom to give you an idea of what the course involves.

If you're thinking of applying, don't miss the free taster session tomorrow, Tuesday 6 September at IH London, when you'll have an opportunity to find out more about the Blended Cert ICT course and qualification and ask your questions.

Your introduction to the course

Check out the Voki below to find out some more about the course and what's happening over the next few weeks:



The course will introduce you to blogs, wikis and podcasting while you also learn how to use other simple, easily accessible, and FREE technology tools (eg, WebQuests, electronic assessments, videos, social media) that you will be able to immediately incorporate into your lessons.

The course is designed for both the novices and those with a more technical know-how who want to add to their toolboxes of classroom tips and tricks.

What to do next

Find out more about the taster session on 6 September.

Get full details about the Blended Cert ICT course and how to apply.

From training adults to training teenagers: An interview with English teacher trainer Catriona Duff

Last week IH London teacher and trainer Catriona swapped her normal adult classes to train a group of local teenagers from St Marylebone School in English Language Teaching (ELT).

First of all, why is IH London working with a secondary school?
IH London’s partnership with St Marylebone School is facilitated by the International House Trust, as part of its work in the community.

This particular project came about when a former IH London teacher moved to St Marylebone School to teach English. He found that a lot of the pupils spoke more than one language, but didn’t really understand why this was an advantage. He set up the Interpreters Club to empower these students and show them what a valuable skill being bilingual is!

Why is language teacher training important for the pupils?
Bilingual pupils at St Marylebone School can participate in two voluntary English teaching projects. Some teach primary school children who are learning English as an additional language, and others help Marylebone School’s adult teachers to teach English to parents who need help with their English.

The ELT training day at IH London is a really important preparation for the pupils – to show them useful classroom techniques and build their teaching confidence.

Why did you want to get involved with teaching adolescents?
I’ve worked with teenagers in the past and really enjoyed working with 16-18 age group. I also enjoy designing training sessions for specific groups of people. Designing a course for teenage learners was particularly rewarding because it couldn’t be a straightforward CELTA course – I had to adapt the input sessions to meet the teenagers’ needs instead. It was particularly challenging giving the pupils an introduction to teaching adults AND teaching younger learners in one day!

What was it like training teenagers to teach English?
I noticed that the students were really quick to pick things up and had wonderful ideas about classroom management techniques – probably because they’re in class every day and can draw on experiences with their own teachers.

They knew what doesn’t work in terms of classroom management – for example shouting or being too serious. They were very prepared to experiment with new ideas and were brilliant at using all the techniques effectively and appropriately.

When we looked at ways to correct students I gave them lots of different mistakes and asked them to role play being teacher and student and practise correcting each other.

Survival Guides Part 4 - The answers

This will be the final week for the students in Felicity’s Study Skills High Class to give us some tips when visiting their countries.

Last week Laurence and Balazs gave us some excellent advices when visiting their countries.

In the first country you should be careful when crossing a street, not say pleeeeeaaaase to much and quiet frankly, speak your mind. Laurence is French so congratulations to all of you who guessed… France!

The second person to give you some warnings and advices last week was Balazs.
Balazs is from Hungary and when visiting his country you should make sure that you arrive on time and also are aware of your drinking habits when stepping outside.

Survival Guides- Part 4

In our very last Survival Guides; Hanan and Monica will give you some valuable information when visiting their countries.

Country 1

1. When you go to this country. You must look suitably dressed, because females are required to cover there bodies and hair. So it is unlikely to see a women walking around in a bikini over there.

2. In this country you shouldn’t feel offended if someone is late for your appointment by more than two hours, or if someone jumps in front of you in a queue, it is not a sign of disrespect, it is just our way of doing things.

3. It is always advisable to put sun cream on before going outside even if it is just for a short period of time. You should be aware of the damage the sun might cause to your skin.

4. It is common to see a fight among a group of friends after they have had dinner in a restaurant. No need to worry, it is only a sign of generosity, everyone is insisting on paying the bill.

5. The ability to speak a little bit of our language is considered essential as English is not widely spoken. Otherwise you are going to end up very lost and confused.

Country 2

1. In my country it’s very unlikely that anyone will offer anyone a bribe, especially not to a policeman. If you do you will probably end up in a jail.

2. For all formal meetings it is considered essential to be bang on time if you want to maintain good business relations. In the event that you arrive late make sure you look suitably apologetic and embarrassed.

3. Even if a person is well known we respect he wants to cherish his privacy and always keep a distance. Very famous people like Boris Becker and Michael Schumacher like it that we are not overtly friendly and leave them in peace.

4. If people call you by your last name don’t feel offended, we always try to use the polite form. Only family members and good friends use informal language with each other.

So make sure that you read our blog next week to find out which country you cannot walk around wearing a bikini in, and where it’s bad idea to bribe a policeman. Just in case you were thinking of it…

Survival guides- Part Two. The answers

In August, Felicity's Study Skills High class wrote Survival Guides for their home countries.

Let us introduce the students to you in Felicity’s class: Costanza, Rakhima, Hanan, Monika, Alexey N, Louise, Laurence, Balazs, Tura, Donatella and Lino.

In last weeks Survival guides we asked you to guess what countries Tura and Donatella were talking about. Were you able to use your analytical skills?

The first person to describe her home country was Tura and the correct answer is SPAIN. Congratulations to Anonymous who posted a comment on our blog!

The second country that was described was Donatella’s. Now you know what to do and not do, when you are visiting… ITALY!
Anonymous did not get this one right, though, as they opted for Turkey.

Survival guides- Part 2

This week we asked Alexey and Louise what you should think of when you are visiting their countries;

Country one

1. We consider it the height of rudeness to eat without manners. You can’t put your elbows on the table and you have to keep your arms close to your body. It is impolite to block your neighbors view with your arms. You should never show your impatience, you have to wait for everybody to be served before you start eating. Finally, it goes without saying, you have to eat with your mouth closed.

2. It is common to have to pay to use the toilet wherever you go. There is always a cleaning lady whom you have to pay 50 cents. It is like this in cinemas, bars, restaurants, clubs etc…

3. My country is divided into two parts. There have always been problems between the two sides. Most people are okay with it, but late at night people from either side sometimes cause trouble for each other. It is like this because both sides are culturally very different. Both sides must not feel offended if they don’t want to get in trouble, and you should walk away if you see anything starting.

4. If you want to go to a restaurant in the centre of the capital, you must be careful. There are streets full of the same types of restaurants with maître d's who give you a lot of compliments.(okay that is nice) but that doesn’t mean their food is good. So it is always advisable to look in a guide book before you find your way. And you should also watch out for your clothing when you got to restaurants, bars or clubs. Some of them are very formal and you can’t get in if you are not dressed for it.

5. Last but not least, surviving in the subway. The underground is extremely dangerous at night. Some neighborhoods downtown have gangs and, if you would like to keep on living and keep your belongings, it would be better not to cross their paths. You would do much better to take a taxi when it’s too late. Taxis are not really expensive, although they start with a €4,50 minimum.

Which country are they describing?

Country 2

1. So that you don’t die just after your arrival, please keep your eyes open and watch your personal belongings while you are in places like the airport or railway stations. Pick pockets are common in this country so make sure you pay attention when out in public.
What is also common is gambling. A stranger may suggest you playing a card game or whatever. Don’t ever agree to gamble with strangers if you don’t want to lose everything you have.

2. Another thing that might kill you here is the weather. It’s freezing cold in winters and amazingly hot in summers in some areas. So, don’t forget to take some warm clothes in winter or a sun block cream in summer for some areas.

3. Due to the aforementioned weather, people often drink vodka to warm them up in the cold winters. This is the most common alcohol in this country. But be aware of fakes, some of them aren’t safe and as a consequence you could die.

4. An important cultural difference to mention is the driving style. Cutting someone up on the road is not the height of rudeness, in fact, it’s really widespread. Also, people don’t mind showing their impatience in heavy traffic by honking their horns and shouting out of their windows.

5. Another thing is people’s privacy. While people in my country are quite open, at the same time they cherish their privacy and stereotypes. Sometimes personal code is much more important then law. For example, some people don’t mind parking in places where it is forbidden just because they want to. The other thing which really ‘differs’ us from Brits is the lack of hedging, we prefer to speak our minds, and we get straight to the point without “beating around the bush” too much. It irritates most people in my country.

Which country are they describing?

So what we learned this week is that it is important to have good manners, be polite, keep an eye on your belongings, and drink vodka in cold weather.

Don't forget to look for the answers on next weeks blog!

Taking Chances

It's time for a new class and a new task! At the moment, Felicity is teaching a pre-advanced English class. Say hello to the students:

Malak, Khalood and Mohammed from Saudi Arabia
Flavia from Italy
Mahsa from Iran
Wook, Chris and Jungwoo from South Korea
Palm from Thailand

Felicity and her class have been looking at how to survive in dangerous situations. The language they looked at was to do with chances. For example:

"you don't have a cat in hell's chance"
"you've got a good chance"
"you've got a 50-50 chance"

They also looked at the more functional language you'd use to judge how risky a situation might be. For example:

"it's a good idea to..."
"it's not a clever idea to..."
"it's a bad idea to..."
"don't even think about doing..."

After practising this language for a couple of days, the class had to think of a dangerous situation and describe it in writing. The piece of writing had to set the scene and give three options for survival.

The class then read each others writing and chose what they thought was the best option for survival. Finally the story writer revealed which was the correct option and why.

****************************************************************************

See if you can work out the correct answer to Khalood and Wook's scenario below:

You are on the way home crossing the desert with your family; you have lost your way, and direction. Your GPS satellite navigation doesn’t work properly also you don’t have any food and you have only a small amount of water.

Do you -

1. Stay in the car and wait in a shady shelter where you can avoid the sunshine and drink all of your water as quickly as possible.
2. Leave the car and search for some help.
3. Sit in the shade of the car and drink your water slowly.

********************************************************************************

Now have a look at Jungwoo and Malak's scenario:

You’re a father or mother of 3 children, you’re on a big ship with 500 people, the ship is heading directly for a huge iceberg and the ship is about to crash into the iceberg and there are only three escape boats which can only carry a maximum of 100 people.

Do you -

1. Just stay calm where you were and wait for a security guard to rescue you.
2. Wait in a line in order to get on an escape boat.
3. Use your Louis Vuitton bag to float on the water and wait for rescue.

In both cases, what would you do....?

Story time for English students - part three

Another story from Felicity's Upper Intermediate English class by So Yeon and Matheus:

Love on the edge

It was three o’clock in the morning. When the phone rang, Rose instinctively knew why. Her agency was sending her on a mission, she needed to get information about alien troops who were on the warpath to Earth.

She took the train to go to the space station and suddenly meet an extraordinary alien who looked like a human, he was called Jack and he was going to the station too. They fell in love at the first sight. They were surprised because they both took the same aircraft so they had a good time travelling together.

Suddenly the aircraft crashed against a small planet. The impact was so strong that all the people in the aircraft lost consciousness, so did Jack. They were sent back to Earth. Fortunately Rose had a minor injury, but Jack’s condition was serious and he had to stay in hospital and take lots of medicines.

Jack’s DNA suffered an unexpected change, making him human. When he woke up, he could feel something different, the colour of the scar on his arm had changed from green to red, he noticed that his mind was also changed so he decided to tell her the truth and save the earth. When he told her the secret story, she also told him that she was a spy from Earth. They shared their information. Finally they could save the earth from aliens.

Story time for English students - part two

Last month, Felicity's Upper-intermediate English class studied different kinds of stories. They looked at everything from traditional fairytales to sagas. (Sagas are usually stories from the 12th to 14th Century about the adventures of a hero or a family in northern Europe).

Looking at different stories is a good way to practise grammar and see how different types of language is used - especially adjectives.

Once the students had looked at a variety of stories, it was time to write their own. Felicity gave them a selection of pictures, places, types of transport and famous people to choose from. These would then have to fit into the story.

Here is Sam and Sarah's story:

The Unfortunate Incident

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. It was Meg Ryan’s manager, who organizes everything for her. He wanted to tell her that she had to leave Paris immediately and fly to London.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten to tell her about the fact that the Oscars would be held there the next day. He had been so busy arranging other events that the Oscars had completely slipped his mind.

She felt extremely angry with him because he hadn’t given her enough notice, so she didn’t have a designer dress. “What am I going to do?” she thought. She decided to see if there were any dresses in the duty-free shops at the airport. Unfortunately by the time she got to the airport the flight was about to leave so she didn’t have enough time to look for a dress. She decided to buy dress from London.

The next flight to London wasn’t until the next day but she had to leave that day, so she called her manager to ask him what she should do. He asked her to take the Eurostar, she rushed to the train station and caught the train by the skin of her teeth.

She felt very uncomfortable while she was on the Eurostar because there were a lot of people who wanted to talk to her and take a picture with her or get her autograph.

When she arrived in London, it was eight o’clock in the morning so she was really tired. The Oscars were in Trafalgar Square and she had to stay in a hotel near there. When she got to the hotel she was so exhausted that she turned off her phone and decided to have a quick nap. She slept like a baby. After all that, she missed the Oscars. She was devastated because she won an award for her latest film.

Story time for English students - part one

Over the last month, my (Felicity) Upper-intermediate English class have been studying different kinds of stories, including mini sagas and more traditional tales.

This has been a useful tool to help the students learn different narrative tenses, as well as reviewing a lot of other grammatical tenses. I gave my wonderful class a variety of pictures and asked them to choose a location, some characters and a mode of transport. After that, I let their imaginations go crazy and I will be uploading their stories one by one to keep you all interested. Here is the first installment - please post your comments below to let us know what you think.

Tom and Tradgedy
by Nori and Jaeho

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. Tom picked the phone up and answered very angrily, “Who is calling so early?” The call was from his stupid old friend who had been living in London. He told Tom that he had to go to the Sydney Opera House to watch Phantom of the Opera. Tom decided to go there with his stunning wife, Penelope. They immediately got up and prepared to set off.

Unfortunately they lived in a tiny village called Ayers Rock, in the centre of Australia, and they only had a retro tractor made by John Deer for transport. After breakfast they set off on their long life-changing journey. In the middle of their journey they noticed two tiny dots in the sky.

A few minutes later they realised that those two dots were skydivers. When the skydivers touched down, Tom and Penelope were extremely shocked because they were two of the most famous politicians in the world. Unbelievably, they were Tony Blair and Colonel Gadafy!

Obviously, they looked miserable. Tom and Penelope asked them “What has happened to you?” They briefly explained that they’d had a horrible accident and they were forced to jump out of their jet. As soon as they had cleared the plane, it exploded into a ball of fire.

Tony and Gadafy asked them to pick them up and take them to the nearest city. However, unfortunately Tom’s tractor didn’t have any extra space, so Tony and Gadafy had to take a seat on the cover of the plough.

A few hours after they met, the tractor suddenly broke down. Sadly, they didn’t have any food or water, so they died in the desert. The whole world mourned their death.

THE END

Exploring the World

Students in Felicity's Lower Intermediate A English Class reveal their top three worldwide destinations, with hints and tips on what to see and do....

England

London
London is a very interesting and exciting city. It's full of museums, one of them is Madame Tussauds. You must see it because it's really special and interesting. I'd recommend visiting Hyde Park, it's the biggest park in London.

It's really worth seeing.

Personally, I'd go to Portobello Road Market, but I wouldn't recommend it at the weekend because it's too crowded.

You should stay in London for about five days and after that you should go to Canterbury.

It's a small medieval city. It's famous for its important cathedral called Christ Church designed in a traditional English-Gothic style. You should definitely visit the cloister of the cathedral, it's fantastic! The church bell (Bel Harry) is really worth seeing. There is a castle in the city, but it's very far from the cathedral.

Spain

Valencia
Valencia is a city in the east of Spain, it's a wonderful city and it has fantastic weather. Valencia is a small city so I think that you can explore it in 3 days.

On the first day I recommend visiting the City of Arts and Science. These are the most important buildings in Valencia, they are on the Turia River, they are some of the most beautiful buildings in Valencia.

On the second day you must see the city centre it's got great shopping and you should visit "El Barrio del Carmen", it's the old part of Valencia and it's very interesting.

On the third day personally, I'd go to the beach if you want a relaxing day and at lunchtime you should eat "Paella Valenciana", it's a traditional dish from Valencia.

I wouldn't recommend going to "Cabanyal" it's famous for thieves, it's the most dangerous part of Valencia.

Asturias

Asturias is a magical place if you want to relax, it's in the north of Spain.

On the first day you should definitely visit the Art museum, it's really nice and it's got typical Asturian art and craftmanship.

After that you must eat "Fabada Asturiana" it's the most famous dish in Asturias.

On the second day I recommend going to the natural parcs in Asturias, the scenery is stunning, it's a magical place to go with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Japan

Okinawa

Okinawa is located in the south end of JAPAN. There are beautiful beaches and blue sea.

Personally,I'd like to go to TYURAUMI Aquarium which has the largest water tank of the world.

There are three big sharks and many fish, more than 20,000. It is so beautiful and fantastic!You will definitely be impressed. I'd recommended to have your holiday in OKINAWA.

Osaka

OSAKA is a big city in japan. OSAKA has a lot of local specialities. A typical example is baked octopus,and a meat and vegetable pancake. I'm sure you will take to these local foods.

The people of OSAKA have a cheerful and witty personality. There are many Japanese comedians who are called OWARAIGWININ. You can see their performance on stage.

Questions and Answers

This week we have been learning about question forms. We have been practising question words, auxiliaries and infinitive verbs. Below are some examples of the questions students have written, asked and answered:

1. What's your favourite web site?

Marcela said: "My favourite website is Facebook because I can share with my friends and keep in touch with them".

Fatma said: "My favourite website is ihlondon.blogspot.com because I want to continue improving my English and have the opportunity to know how my class is advancing".

2. What's your favourite film?

Imer and Majed said: "I like action and comedy films because they have good storylines".

Annie said: "I like romantic films and Amercian TV series".

Pin-I said: "I like documentary and funny films because I find them interesting, they help to reduce stress".

3. What's your favourite place in London?

Majed said: "My favourite place in London is Harrods department store because I can find a lot of things there".

Annie said: "My favourite place in London is Covent Garden for the small shops and architecture and the theatres".

Pin-I said: "My favourite place is the outlet store in north London. There are beautiful, cheap and high quality clothes, shoes and famous products there".

4. What would you like to do in the future?

Marcela said: "I would like to work with my father in his company, and I would like to get married and have children".

Fatma said: "I would like to work with women in my country (Western Sahara) to improve their development, and for them to have more active, political and economical participation".

Hyeli said: "I would like to go and study art at university in London so I will study English at SOAS when I finish at IH. I have to pass an exam and make a portfolio before entering university".

5. What is your favourite food?

Anam said: "My favourite foods are spicy foods, especially Tom Yom Gum which is a spicy soup from Thailand".

Chiara said: "My favourite food is tiramisu, it is an Italian dessert".

6. What are you going to do when you finish your English course?

Khalid said: "I would like to go back to my country and study at university".

Hamza said: "I would like to study at university in London".

JL said: "I will start a postgraduate course in London or Korea".

Maria said: "I would like to go back to my country and live in the place where I was born".

7. Why are you studying English?

Khalid said: "Because it is a very important language in the world and it can help me at university".

Hamza said: "Because I want to study at university in the UK so I need English skills".

JL said: "Because I want to study at university in England so I need English skills".

Maria said: "Because it is very important to improve my English. I like to talk with English people".

Signed, the class of Lower Intermediate A (room 302)