English, please.

10/03/2016

11/02/2016

http://buff.ly/1PFfJMn Triller is a fun way to get your students to practise pronunciation and listening. Send them a clip they have to listen to, transcribe and mime for homework. Enjoy a 100% homework completion rate. Triller lets you make celebrity-quality music videos on your iPhone. http://buff.ly/1PFfK2C

09/02/2016

http://buff.ly/20IlROg Word of the Week: unanimous (adj) Meaning: when something is agreed by all the people Examples: There was a unanimous vote against producing blue elephants by the shareholders of The Pink Elephant Company. The EU collapsed because unanimous agreement was needed to take action against unstable cheese prices. Ahead of Their Time. It's unanimous. This is the most succinct thing that can be said about Doctor Who. The song will never be the same ever again... i see what you did there Doctor Who DadManCult All Doctors walrus http://buff.ly/20IlROm

04/01/2016

http://buff.ly/1Pc4JFb Setting yourself boring S.M.A.R.T. goals this year? Try some D.U.M.B. goals. Watch this video, learn some English and be inspired. Or not, I'm not bothered. Flipped and Blended Interactive Video Learning Platform http://buff.ly/1Pc4HNv

04/01/2016

http://buff.ly/1PJ7d2G Want more D.U.M.B. goal advice? Try this gap filled reading text. Back (to rename, correct errors, change ratio, etc) Cloze Passage with Mixed_percentage items removed 1k=10% removed (90% present); 2k=20% removed (80% present); AWL=null% removed (100% present) Text: D.U.M.B. | 24 Words removed in Text of 588 Words (3%) | Remaining words give 96% coverage ... http://buff.ly/1PJ7anj

10/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1SgdP6L One of my collegues asked me today whether native speakers still use the phrase 'pay in cash' rather than 'pay by cash'. She was a bit upset because she had always taken pains to draw students' attention to the contrast between 'pay by card' and 'pay in cash', but had just come across 'pay by cash' in some supplementary material from none other than New English File 3rd Edition! Off to the the corpora I went. On the way I found this great discussion on this topic from a linguists' blog. Have a read, I think you might like it. A(n) historian I know has taken to calling me his favo(u)rite linguist. I have a suspicion I'm the only linguist he knows. Nevertheless, flattery gets you a blog post. And a flattering pseudonym. So, Generous Historian, when ... http://ift.tt/1O1Th0T

09/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1lfjcc4 Word of the Week: mesmerising Meaning: to be so interesting you can't stop looking or listening (especially of art) Examples: She always found the paintings on the second floor of the gallery particularly mesmerising. She would spend hours on that floor staring at each picture. The musical beat so mesmerising the dancers were giving it their full attention and just swaying on the spot. http://buff.ly/1lfjcsw http://ift.tt/1M1GJG7

09/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1WKtGvs If you're looking for a way to improve your listening, speaking and pronunciation skills all while looking silly and amusing friends, then look no further. Today's app is a lipsyncing video creator with social network integration. Go on, don't be shy, have a go!  Create beautiful music videos with your favorite songs, and share with friends. Musical.ly is the world's fastest growing social network around music and lifestyle. http://ift.tt/1XYoGpz

06/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1L0LKe4 The bbc has recently revamped its learning English website and, I have to say, I'm impressed. They've got courses at two levels: intermediate plus and pre - intermediate (as well as something called "learning my way", which is a mixed level course). They also have specific features, such as words in the news, and interactive activities. They haven't offered me a job though 😢, so it's not as good as it could be! intermediate / Unit 27 / Session 4 / 05 Nov 2015. Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk? Completed. No parking... no litter... no smoking! intermediate / Unit 27 / Session 3 / 04 Nov 2015. When the streets tell you what to do. Completed. Participle (-ing and -ed) clauses ... http://ift.tt/1NwAJra

04/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1NeSve4 You know that feeling when you've got to prepare 3 hours' worth of content for nursery school kids on the topic of sunny and rainy weather? Well this website could help you choose the stories. It has the picture books organised by topic, grade (yes, it's American), and subject. Unusually, it also has previews of a lot of the books so you can check how suitable it is for your lesson plan! This site has the very BEST children's books, picked by a team of teachers and sorted by age and topic. Ideal for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents. http://ift.tt/1QdZDg7

02/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1RLiT2G Idiom of the week: to keep your eyes peeled Meaning: to be alert for something Example: I've just heard a tiger has escaped from the local zoo, so keep your eyes peeled for stripy cats! For the same class as the last one. Different concept. "Making Comparisons: Visual Metaphor" Think of a metaphor. Substitute the visuals of the metaphor for the original subject. Black pen and colo... http://ift.tt/1H08Nul

01/11/2015

http://buff.ly/1GVNdqS What's the difference between NATO and DVD? The former is an acronym (you say it as a word: nay-tow) the latter is an initialism (you say it by sounding the individual letters: dee-vee-dee). They are both abbreviations though, so practise some of those pesky abbreviations with this video. Essential English Acronyms for Writing http://ift.tt/20lKEFe