SPEAKING : ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND EXAMS

Look at some tips when you are preparing an oral presentation for the English class:

• Oral Presentation from Learn English Teens ( British Council)
• Exam Speak - try some questions and answers in 60 seconds

Watch the video below:

Watch a video from a PET Cambridge Exam in which students describe a photo:

> For rehearsing your oral presentation you should count the time. Try some fun online timers here.

SPEAKING: VOICE RECORDING RESOURCES

Here are some ways of recording your voice for speaking / reading tasks or just for fun.

> ONLINE:

• on Vocaroo, then send the sound by email
• on Speakpipe you can also send the link of your recording

> Try a "text-to-speech" site and create a "talking avatar" so that you listen to the text that you type:

• Text-to-Speech Oddcast

> You can learn the pronunciation of any word here:

• Merriam-Webster online dictionary
• Howjsay - a talking dictionary of English pronunciation

A good software to record your voice is Audacity. You have to download it or go to the school library. Don't forget to export the file as mp3 format. 

PAST SIMPLE & PAST CONTINUOUS

Do some exercises with the 2 past tenses: Past Simple (did) and Past Continuous ( was/were doing):

• LIVEWORKSHEET
• exercise 1 - complete with the correct verb forms, Past Simple or Past Continuous
• a worksheet with exercises (with answers)
• a game (sentence monkey)

PHONE CONVERSATION / INVITATIONS

INFORMAL CONVERSATION - Notice the language we used when talking on the phone:

• Dialogue ( English Online)
• A telephone call ( YouTube)

MAKING SUGGESTIONS / PLANS :

• Inviting/ Accepting / Refusing ( My English Pages)
• Listen about "Leisure Activities"at eel-lab.

SELF-ESTEEM

> READ a text and DO some exercises, "Is your image more important than being happy?"

> LISTEN to 2 songs related to self-esteem:

• Which one is about low self-esteem? 
• Which is about high self-esteem?

> WATCH a film about a girl, Olive, whose dream is to get into a beauty contest.
Little Miss Sunshine is a must-see!   Watch the trailer:

The Media: Newspapers and magazines, Television and Radio

Take a look at newspapers from the UK and the USA:

• UK newspaper Front Pages
• BRITISH MEDIA ONLINE

Read some news:

• Learning - New York Times
• Breaking News
• Headlines

What about the radio? How has it changed over time? Do people listen to the radio as they used to?

• BBC radio stations
• Watch the trailer of the film Radio Days, by Woody Allen, and find out how important radio once was. 

A family tuning their radio to listen to a speech by W. Churchill, 1945

But nowadays, everything takes place online. You can read newspapers online, watch TV and films online, listen to the radio online... and much more. The internet has really changed the way we communicate, hasn't it? 

• Read about the history of computers and do some exercises ( easy) on LearnEnglishkids.
• Watch the trailer of the film The social network, by David Fincher, and get to know about the history of Facebook.
• Are you social-network smart? Watch the video and think about what you should and shouldn't do.

VERB TENSES REVISIONS: PRESENT and FUTURE

DESCRIBING PEOPLE WITH PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES (Psychological Description)

• Learn character traits ( adjectives) with pictures and sound on this website (Learning chocolate)
• Look at the Interactive Book for Personality ( verb to be ; very/ quite / a little...)
• Listen and do a quiz about personality types here ( esl-lab)
• Visit Chestnut ESL/EFL for lots of other resources.

👀 WATCH a video on Zodiac Signs, about different personal qualities.

Real English 7 - What's your Astrological Sign - for beginners - with subtitles from Real English .

SOCIALISING and SOCIAL ETIQUETTE

Watch some VIDEOS:

• From "British Council - LearnEnglish"

Read about Manners and Social Etiquette:

• Acceptable behavior in England
• UK: Culture and customs ( advanced)

    

 

BRITISH & AMERICAN ENGLISH

Go to the web pages below to find LISTS OF WORDS and EXERCISES:

• British Vs American English (illustrated)
• List of words (Project Britain)
• Exercises 1 ( multiple choice) 
• Exercises 2 ( difficult)

🎥 Watch some VIDEOS about the differences between English in Britain and English in the United States:

• British and American words

• Listen to a well-known SONG by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (American jazz singers): Let's call the whole thing off

• What about the national anthems? Do you know them? Listen to the British anthem, "God save the Queen" and to the American one, Star Spangled Banner.

***Remember that you can always check the different pronunciation of words on an online dictionary: Oxford Dictionary ( British English), Cambridge Dictionary ( UK and US, translations)