In this post, I want to share with you two superb sites that can help you improve pronunciation by reading along.
Aim:
By asking students to repeatedly read a selected text or story while simultaneously listening to a text or a story, you can help them
improve reading fluency
improve pronunciation
improve automatic word recognition
1. The first siteListen A Minute.comis one I have been using for years. Here you can find alphabetically-listed topic- based activities from Airports and Harry Potter to Zoos.You don’t even need to register. It’s completely free!! Choose a topic and read along. One minute a day… that’s all they are asking and in return… you’ll be passing your listening/speaking tests with flying colours.
2. The second site I want to share with you is a youtube channel called Learn English Through Story,where short stories at various levels are read at a slow pace to further improve reading and listening skills in English. There are 7 levels. Choose the one that fits your level best. Visit youtube and write Learn English through Story on the search box.
Procedure:
Pick a topic or a story
Set a timer for one minute, and read the article/ story aloud until the timer goes off.
Read aloud the same passage three times or until you feel confident.
Remember that the aim is to read along, not just to listen.
“How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart”. William Butler Yeats
I was once kissed by a marquis, or maybe he was a count, but it was in a palace. I cannot remember his rank, but he was old and ugly, at least for me! Nothing to daydream about, believe me, but the fact remains that I was kissed by a nobleman. He was a long way from Prince Charming, but that was ok for me. He was selling. I was buying. That was it!
But the kiss… yes…back to the kiss. First time ever I had been kissed on the hand. I was ready for a handshake so I extended my hand. Instead the marquis suddenly, and in a very quick gesture took my hand, bowed and made the gesture, and I have yet to decide whether he actually kissed my hand or just the air. Now that I know a bit more about the etiquette of hand-kissing I realize he probably never kissed me.
Photo by Tim Rooke/Rex/REX USA
Level: B2
♥DISCUSS:It is not very often that a woman has her hand kissed nowadays. But let’s reflect a bit on how we greet each other in our different countries. Discuss these questions with your partner:
What are the rules for social kissing in your country? Do you always know how you are supposed to greet someone? Have you ever experimented any awkward moments where you didn’t know what you were supposed to do?
When kissing as a form of greeting, do you kiss on one cheek or on both cheeks?
Is it the right or the left cheek you kiss first? Know that you should kiss the right cheek first to avoid awkward situations.
If you don’t like the kissing business, how do you cope with people who want to kiss you as a greeting?
Is it appropriate to kiss in a business setting?
Do you ever hug?
Apart from the handshakes, cheek kissing and hand kissing which are quite common for us, do you know any unusual ways of greeting people ?
♥READ: Have a look at this interesting article about Unusual Ways to Greet People Around the World. When you finish reading , tell your partner which form of greeting you found most unusual.
♥LISTEN: Watch this video about the etiquette of social kissing and answer the following questions:
In Good Morning America, the *anchorwoman describes an awkward moment when you get to a party. Why is it awkward for some people to greet your host or hostess?
The British are described as” buttoned-up”. What do you think it means?
Laura Ford is a British artist. Does she kiss people she doesn’t know? Choose from the options below and justify your answer.
always b. never c. sometimes
According to Hillary Brown, social kissing in France might be getting out of control. Why?
Social Kissing is taught at some schools. Which ones?
What are some of the rules of kissing taught at these schools?
How are Americans and Latins different as regards social kissing?
At the end of the clip, the anchorman apologizes. Why?
*anchorman/anchorwoman = a person who presents and coordinates a live television or radio programme involving other contributors.
♥WRITE: Imagine a foreign student is coming to your school/house on an exchange visit. What advise would you give about your customs. Use the ideas below and the modal verbs should/shouldn’t , could, must/mustn’t.
TALL. This simple idea is easy to remember: if a thing is higher than it is wide, then we use Tall .
People , trees , ladders, street lamps, buildings with a lot of floors are Tall
I am 1,70 cm tall
I live in a very tall building. It has 20 floors
HIGH: we use high for things which are wider.
There are some high mountains in Austria
Prisons have very high walls
A BIT MORE?
When talking about measurements, Tallis used for people and Highfor things. So, as you can see there are things that can be “tall” or “high” depending on the context
I am 1,70 cm tall
This building is 25 m high (tall) / I live in a very tall building
The adjective High is used when talking about distance above the ground
The shelf is too high for me to reach. Can you help me?
Parts of the body are long, not tall
TEST YOURSELF
The clouds are very ... today
high
[collapse]
This park has very ... trees
tall
[collapse]
The woman is six feet ___
tall
[collapse]
What is the ___mountain in the world?
highest
[collapse]
This building is 75 metres ___
High ( we are talking about measurement)
[collapse]
This is a very ___ building. It has 30 floors.
tall (higher than wide)
[collapse]
The fence was too ___for a man of his age to climb
Raise your hand if you have never seen Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. No hands? Right! Just what I thought! You might like it or not, but what is undeniable is that this video has become a classic.
I was racking my brains about the activity I could give my students for Halloween this year when suddenly the image of the undead rising out from their graves in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” appeared in my mind out of nowhere. Yeah! I know! Weird!
A spooky video but also a masterpiece. I hope you enjoy the activity and also the homework.
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Time required: about 60 minutes
SETTING THE ATMOSPHERE.
Ask students some of these questions:
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you know any stories about ghosts?
Has anything ever happened to you that you cannot explain?
Do you believe that vampires or zombies exist?
What is the most frightening experience you have had?
Ask students if they know who Michael Jackson was. Can they name any of his songs? Most probably students will know who Michael Jackson was and will probably mention the song “Thriller”. If you deem it appropriate, give students some information about this video, like for example, that it was voted the most influential pop video of all time.
The video lasts about 13 minutes. It is going to be divided into two parts, with a different task for each part .
TASK 1. Dictation (from the beginning to 4.40)
Tell students they are going to see the first part of the video where there is a dialogue between Michael Jackson and his girlfriend. Half the class will take Michael’s role and half the class the girl’s role.
Have the students work in pairs. Half the pairs in the class will write down the part of Michael Jackson and the other half the part of the girlfriend.
I suggest you give students the beginning of the dialogue as M. Jackson’s first sentence might be difficult to understand.
Jackson: Honestly, we’re out of gas.
Girlfriend: So, what are we going to do now?
You might need to play it twice.
Students help each other complete the dialogue
Pair students once again, this time you want to pair a student with Michael’s part and a student with the girlfriend’s part.
Ask students to act it out.
TASK 2. The Song (from 4.40 until the end)
Write/display the following words on the board and ask students to guess meanings. Explain if necessary and drill pronunciation.
Play the song and ask students to fill in the gaps with the words in the box. Words can be used more than once.
Play the video a second time
Students complete task 1 and try to fill in the blanks for the words in phonemic transcription.
Check and listen again to enjoy the video and maybe… sing along?
TASK 3. The homework
I am well aware that I won’t be able to check this homework and I am also pretty sure my students, which are all adults, won’t be volunteering to show how much they have learnt from doing this homework, but I guess that at home they will be having a great time and that’s important too. Enjoy!
Open to all my students at intermediate level until October 31st!
Are you willing to try your hand at writing a short scary story in English? This could be your chance to be internationally known. Who knows who might be visiting the blog and reading your stories. You might end up being a well-known writer !!!
Yeah! I know ! Probably too far-fetched ! But, what is undeniable is that this activity can help you improve writing and this is what really matters!
As in every single contest of some importance, there are RULES. These are mine:
Please ensure you read the rules carefully before entering the competition.Entry implies acceptance of all the rules and failure to comply may result in disqualification.
♥Theme: a scary/horror story
♥Stories must be written in English
♥Stories must be entirely your own work and must be previously unpublished
♥Only one entry per person can be submitted
♥ Stories may be of any length
♥Stories shall be titled
♥Submit your story via email by 11.50 p.m on October 31, 2015. Late entries will not be considered. Please, don’t paste your work into the body of the email, send it as an attachment with your name in the upper left-hand corner of the page
♥Prizes to be determined
♥Winners will be announced the first week of November, online and on this blog
