Language learning sites

Learning language on the internet

Personally, I like to challenge myself to improve my language skills via Netflix, YouTube, and audio books.  These are all great resources to develop listening skills, cultural awareness, and vocabulary.

For this blog, I’d like to discuss lyricstraining.com with you. I’ve used this website with my students before from intermediate to advanced. Essentially, the website has a giant catalog of popular songs that students can select from.

Then, they choose their level of difficulty.

Once the song begins playing, it will ask them to choose (basic) or type in (advanced) the correct word in a CLOZE activity with the lyrics. It will pause if they make mistakes or fall behind. They can also see the music video as they play.

Pros of this website: interactive, accommodates different skill levels, appeals to students who like music, integrated skill practice, uses popular music, vocabulary exposure, pronunciation practice, allows independent study, can compare scores among classmates.

Cons: music videos and lyrics can be inappropriate (if your students are at an age/maturity level where you need to control for that), can be overwhelming for lower level students, no resource to explain/define unfamiliar vocabulary within website, CLOZE words chosen at random.

H5P for interactive activities

H5P is an HTML5-based platform that integrates with Moodle to create interactive activities. It's a little like Hot Potatoes, except the HP is slightly more customizable (e.g. you can add HTML code in many of the fields, which you can't do in H5P) but unlike HP, you don't need to download anything; you can just create activities right in Moodle.

Here's a sample of the activities you can create - you can try them here (the course password is 

Technology!2020 if you log in as a GUEST):

• How potato chips are madeInteractive Conten

  Practice listening for the passive with this interactive video presentation.

• Record a sampleInteractive Content

  
  

  Students can record and download a sample with this audio recorder.

• Find Multiple HotspotsInteractive Content

  This is a "hack" of the Hotspot activity to allow for multiple hotspots. Students have to identify the correct items - in this case, vegetables.

• Listen for the temperatureInteractive Content

  
  

  Bottom-up listening: Students listen for the temperatures mentioned in songs in this dictation activity.

• Lyle Lovett - If I had a boatInteractive Content

  Song: Students listen and fill in the blanks in this cloze (fill in the blanks) activity.

• Sam Cooke - Wonderful WorldInteractive Content

  
  

  Students have to identify noun clauses by clicking on the lyrics in the song in this hotspot activity.

• Label the face.Interactive Content

  
  

  Students label the face in this drag-and-drop activity.

• Match each sound with a word that contains that sound.Interactive Content

  
  

  Students match the IPA sounds with words containing those sounds in this memory game.

• Match the IPA sounds and words that contain them. Interactive Content

  
  

  Students drag and drop IPA sounds onto words which contain that sound in this image pairing activity.

• Say the wordsInteractive Content

  
  

  Students have to say a sentence which is transcribed and compared to a target by speech-to-text in this speak the words activity.

• How to make teaInteractive Content

  Students listen to instructions and pit the pictures in the correct order in this image sequencing activity.

Here's a screencast of how to make H5P activities in Moodle:

Host a Podcast for your Students: It's Easy!

Podcasts are the coolest thing since sliced bread! You can use your blog as a place to host a podcast! This can be a series of audios, a bit like this.

https://www.podcastsinenglish.com/pages1/level2.shtml

Or you could make it interactive. By that I mean, you can upload an audio which includes a couple of questions, or an assignment. Your students would have to listen to the podcast and then respond. They could respond in writing in the comments section below the podcast. Your students could respond on the 'voice recording' app on their phone or you could teach your students how to use audacity and get them to respond orally.  

Click on the link in the title to this podcast and answer the question in the comments below. 

What should we bing watch next.

 If you like action, adventure, sci-fi, romance, and great special effects, try watching the TV series  "The 100." It is a very engaging and entertaining show, with an extensive cast. Every show ends with a cliff hanger leaving you in suspense and eager to watch the next episode. You won't want to miss this one!

Sanctuary: The Best Unknown Sci-fi

The mysterious Helen Magnus, played by Amanda Tapping, stars in this series.  Magnus appears on the scene as a 162 year old teratologist and leader of the sanctuary network.  Throughout this tv series, we follow Magnus and her team on adventures to find and capture strange creatures called abnormals.  These creatures, or monsters, are seen by the sanctuary team as deserving of protection, especially since most of the abnormals they encounter are close to extinction.  In fact, many on her team are abnormals themselves.  Directly under her supervision is Biggy, a very strong abnormal covered with lots of hair and course skin, and Henry, who we find to be a werewolf later in the series.

As a tv series with only four seasons, Magnus and her team do an excellent job of making us relish every moment.  This tv series also ties in historical fiction including characters like Jack the Ripper,  Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and even 18th century London.  Plots range among the past, present, and future.

Sanctuary, a must watch for all science fiction fans!

BInge Watch

Binge watch Stranger Things! Warning! it's a horror show, kind of, with a monster. If you don't like it, don't try. But it's not too scary. Just a random girl shows up then a bunch of kids encounters a monster and they run away together.