Better at English - Learn English - EFL ESL podcast! » Learning resources

Advanced listening tip for students of Business English

Lori — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 08:28:39 +0000

If you are an upper-intermediate to advanced student of business English, you should definitely listen to the Manager Tools podcast over at www.manager-tools.com. This cast is aimed at native speakers of English, so they don’t provide transcriptions or vocabulary lists, but if you are at all interested in management, productivity or business etiquette, you should find these casts an interesting and fun way to improve your business English listening skills and learn new business English vocabulary.

The two hosts, Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne, use an informal conversation format, but they are meticulously well prepared and their content is always thought-provoking and interesting. If you listen actively, you can learn lots of idiomatic American English as well as business English vocabulary. The Manager Tools website also has a forum you can sign up for (it’s free), and there you will be able to learn more business English vocabulary as well as discuss business topics in English with other listeners. Here is the blurb from the Manager Tools website:

Manager Tools is a weekly podcast focused on helping you become a more effective manager and leader. Each week we’ll be talking about new tools and easy techniques you can use to help achieve your management and career objectives. If you’re tired of a lot of management theory and would rather learn specific actions you can take TODAY to improve your management performance, we think you’ll enjoy the manager tools podcast.

I hope you’ll enjoy the Manager Tools casts as much as I do!

Here is the link to their list of all previous Manager Tools Podcasts.

English book recommendations from Better at English readers

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:29:50 +0000

Thanks to everyone who’s responded to my question about your favorite books in English. Reading books in English about topics that interest you is a wonderful way to improve your English and have fun at the same time. Your suggestions are listed below. There is no deadline for making suggestions, so if there is an English book that you love, please let me know so that I can add it to the list.

Readers’ recommendations: Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:28:53 +0000

Matteo wrote in to recommend Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I guess it’s the best book I’ve read
in English. It displays different writing styles in a very unique
narrative structure, built by assembling diary entries, paper articles,
letters and more. Everything is written in an old but most fascinating
manner and the story is so deep! The characters are, if possible, even
deeper. I mean, this book is DEEP!

If your students are “frightened” of reading a whole book in English I
think you could also suggest some “faster stuff”, like good magazines.
My favorite one is National Geographic Magazine.

Matteo (ITALY)

Crime novels and detective stories for learning English

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:27:28 +0000

B@E listener Christiane enjoys reading detective novels in English, and recommended the following authors:

Elisabeth George

Colin Dexter

Ian Rankin

Harry Potter – enjoyable and fun reading for learning English

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:27:20 +0000

The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling are a favorite with learners of English. For instance, B@E listener Christiane wrote in to say:

I have read a lot of books in English already, but I have to admit: it was the whole Harry Potter series I liked best! The witch-and-wizard-vocabulary is quite easy to learn from the context, even without a dictionary. Apart from that the language is easy to understand and the story is thrilling and enjoyable.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:23:35 +0000

Alfredo, a listener from Miami Florida, called in to recommend Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx,a short (64-page) romantic story with an unusual twist, set in the mountains of Wyoming. I read the reviews on Amazon and ordered it myself; thanks for the tip, Alfredo!

Thrillers and comedy – a nice combination!

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:04:35 +0000

Paul wrote in to suggest the following:
Thrillers written by Richard North Patterson, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and Jonathan Kellerman. He finds that the tension in these books holds his interest and keeps him reading until the end; he freely admitted that sometimes he skips the long descriptive passages (e.g., the descriptions of weapons in Tom Clancy’s books) and focuses on reading the parts that move the story forward. This is perfectly OK when reading for pleasure!

Paul found it difficult to choose a favorite book, but did come up with the following recommendations:

Sein Language by Jerry Seinfeld, which he says is “short and very funny.”

He also recommended the the more poetic books by Sam Shepard, which are short and enjoyable but more difficult to read.

Better at English readers’ book recommendations

Lori — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:02:15 +0000

Thanks to everyone who’s responded to my question about your favorite books in English. Reading books in English about topics that interest you is a wonderful way to improve your knowledge about English vocabulary and grammar and have fun at the same time. Your suggestions are listed below. There is no deadline for making suggestions, so if there is an English book that you love, please let me know so that I can add it to the list. You can find the ever-growing list of recommendations listed here.

Making presentations in English: video resources for teachers and advanced learners of English

Lori — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 08:59:57 +0000

Many of my students tell me that they want to learn how to make presentations in English. Additionally, many teachers of English are required to teach presentation techniques (or at least require their students to make presentations) during their courses.

I think that of the best ways to help yourself become a better presenter is watch great presentations and see what you can learn from them. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find audio and video examples of well executed, inspiring presentations in mainstream English teaching materials. When I come across a great presentation video on the Internet, I save it for my upper-intermediate to advanced students of English. Here is a collection of some of my favorites so that B@E readers can benefit as well. I hope you’ll find them useful.

This is Broken by Seth Godin

The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki

Identity 2.0 by Dick Hardt of Sxip

Ted talks

There are many fantastic videos at the TED talks site. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started.

Hans Rosling (Karolinska Institut) on bringing boring statistical data to life

Skeptic Magazine founder Michael Schermer

Anthropologist Helen Fisher on the biochemical foundations of romantic love

Sir Ken Robinson on creativity

Majora Carter on sustainable development

New York Times Columnist David Pogue on the state of software

Al Gore on steps people can take to combat global warming

Copyright 2008 L. Linstruth - www.betteratenglish.com.

Making presentations in English: video resources for teachers and advanced learners of English

Listening resources for advanced learners of English: 6 Oct 2006

Lori — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 07:18:52 +0000

When researching new content for Better at English, I come across a lot of great listening material on the net. Unfortunately, a lot of it is impossible to use for podcasts here because of copyright issues. But that doesn’t stop me linking to these listening resources so that you can listen on your own. So each week I will summarize the interesting links that I come across.

Note that these audio files will be most suitable for upper-intermediate to advanced learners, because transcripts and vocabulary lists, and other supported learning material are usually not included.

OMG: IM Slang Is Invading Everyday English

This is an interesting article discussing how Instant Messaging (IM) slang is spreading to other contexts. It features some interview quotes with David Crystal, and interviews with native speakers on what they think about people using IM slang.

Read the article on NPR.
Direct direct link to the audio. [Windows Media Player]

English as a Global Language

Hear David Crystal discussing his book, English as a Global Language. It’s from a few years ago, but the topic still highly relevant to many visitors here at Better at English. And David Crystal (one of my favorite authors on language) is always interesting.

Link to article on NPR. From there you can click to listen to the audio [Real Media Format]

Orwell on Writing: ‘Clarity Is the Remedy’

From the NPR series, You Must Read This. Hear author Lawrence Wright singing the praises of Orwell’s classic essay, “Politics and the English Language.”

Read the article on NPR.
Direct link to the audio [Windows Media Format].
Read the Wikipedia article about Orwell’s essay.
Read Orwell’s original essay.

The best free online English dictionaries

Lori — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:37:59 +0000

Here is a list of our favorite online dictionaries. To be included on this page, a dictionary has to be up-to-date, have a good user interface, and the website can’t be too ad-heavy. We promise to list only the English dictionaries that we actually use ourselves in our day-to-day work here at Better At English, dictionaries that we find truly useful. If we are missing a good dictionary resource, please drop us a line and let us know so that we can help spread the word!

English only – Learner’s dictionaries

These dictionaries are designed for non-native speakers of English

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: Features: clear definitions in easy-to-understand language; good example sentences; helpful usage notes; fairly up-to-date. Our favorite online learner’s dictionary. We really like their word of the day feature as well.

Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary: This is like the Advanced Learner’s dictionary above, but the language is adapted for intermediate level learners.

Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs: Features: Over 6000 phrasal verbs, lots of example sentences in context. Covers British, American and Australian usage. Take control of your phrasal verbs!

Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms: Features: Over 7000 idioms, lots of example sentences in context. Covers British, American and Australian usage.

English only – Advanced / Native-speaker

Dictionaries designed primarily for native speakers of English (but if you are upper-intermediate to advanced, you should give them a try). For example, learner’s dictionaries don’t tell you where words originated, but dictionaries aimed at native speakers usually have a brief note about a word’s origin (etymology notes).

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus.: Features: American English (but provides notes about British usage as well), up-to-date. Audio files so you can hear the pronunciation. The Thesaurus shows you synonyms and antonyms.

Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Grammar Checker An integrated solution for English writers who need quick and reliable grammar and spelling correction, and a huge dictionary/thesaurus for reference.

Video and audio resources for learning English

Lori — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 11:49:16 +0000

Criteria for listing a site on this page

it has to provide useful content
it has to work in Mozilla browsers (e.g. Firefox)
it has to load fairly quickly
it can’t have annoying adverts that get in the way of the content
it can’t be too ugly (why are so many English learning sites so UGLY?)

Many of these sites use Real Media. If you think Real Player is Evil, you can download Real Alternative and Media Player Classic. It is excellent!

Featured English Podcast

Video – listen and watch

EFL Videos.com: The Better@English collection of free English teaching and learning videos. We scour the internet for the best ESL, EFL and ELT videos so you won’t have to. New videos are added every day.

EFL Videos
A huge collection of free EFL, ESL, TESOL, and TEFL videos of all types.

English Movie Trailers
Movie video trailers with exercises. The user interface SUCKS but if you spend some time figuring it out, you’ll have fun and learn a lot of English from the engaging movie trailers.

Elllo
Hear native speakers having conversations on many different topics. Transcripts and quizzes provided.

Behind the News
Australian educational video webcasts from Australia’s ABC-TV. Transcripts available. Designed for children, but the topics are interesting for adults as well.

Yahoo News UK
So far, no ads. No extra activities, but lots of short videos of engaging news stories.

CNN Videos
The directory of available videos at CNN. So far the ads aren’t that bad. Lots of resources here for you to practice your listening comprehension.

CNN Video Podcasts
Video podcasts at CNN – lots of news and stories to help you practice your English listening.

BBC Video Nation
Short video clips on all kinds of topics.

BBC Comedy clips
Video clips from various BBC comedy series – laugh and learn!

BBC Film network
A collection of short films in various genres. Some of excellent quality. No exercises – just watch, listen, enjoy and learn.

Australia Network – Living English
Excellent videos, exercises and learning materials about general English – for beginning to intermediate learners

Australia Network – The business of English
Excellent videos, exercises and learning materials about Business English – for intermediate to advanced learners

English language audio and podcasts

Some of these have video as well

Yahoo Podcast directory of EFL (ESL) Podcasts
Search for podcasts about learning English. Try searching for these search terms:
ESL, EFL, ELT, learning English, English Lessons, etc.

Podcast directory at the British Council. Varied topics, transcripts available (PDF format). At the site you’ll also find quizzes and exercises.

Voice of America – Special English.
News and stories in Special English. Special English is English that is simplified and read slowly. Lots of great listening material here and many transcripts.

CNN Podcasts
Podcasts at CNN – lots of news and stories to help you practice your English listening.

Breaking News English
Listening, exercises, and even lesson plans for teachers. Updated fairly regularly with current news stories.

BBC World Service – Learning English Home page.
Something for everyone – videos, listening, business and general English, grammar. Many listening activities have transcripts you can download so you read along as you listen.

Penguin Dossiers
Short readings from Penguin readers. Transcripts and fact sheets available.

NPR (National Public Radio, USA)
A wide variety of news, reports and broadcasts. Unfortunately they use Real Audio format, but their content makes it worth worth downloading and installing Real Alternative.

BBC Online
The BBC Online offers several different channels to listen to. Wide range of topics from news to talk radio to entertainment and more!