The IDEA website contains samples of speaking of hundreds of speakers–first reading one of two texts, and then just speaking, unscripted, about themselves. This is a great way to hear a bunch of voices speaking briefly and informally, and a way to explore the everyday culture of growing up in (and across) different regions of […]
Read More »VocabGrabber, a tool from Thinkmap’s Visual Thesaurus, allows users to paste in up to 100 pages of text, and then see a visual display of the most frequent and most relevant vocabulary. If you have a transcript of something you want to listen to, you can also grab the spoken vocabulary in the same manner, […]
Read More »“NPR” stands for “National Public Radio,” a not-for-profit radio network that emphasizes high quality, in-depth, long-form news and conversation. Most radio shows are available as podcast episodes, and there is some content only available via podcast. For advanced English language learning, the NPR website and apps are a gold mine for working on listening, vocabulary, […]
Read More »The terrific website Vocabulary.com has been out for several years now, and it just keeps getting better. This is a product of Thinkmap, the group that created Visual Thesaurus. You might call it a dictionary with witty definitions. You might call it an advanced vocabulary game that can quiz you on up to thousands of words by […]
Read More »Andy Gillett’s UEFAP site, Using English for Academic Purposes, supported by BALEAP (the British Association of Lecturers in EAP) offers a deep set of resources for academic communication in all skill areas. The best segments of the site offer an introduction, strategic advice and practice exercises, and sample phrases for very specific communicative purposes. The advice […]
Read More »WNYC is a public radio station in New York City. In addition to running a major radio station, WNYC Studios features 60+ podcasts on a wide range of topics, from storytelling to in-depth journalism, in a range of styles. Some are conversational, some feature a reporter, but all of them focus on compelling human stories. […]
Read More »Whether you are interested in economies, personal finance, business, inequality, social and political movements, or how money impacts our daily lives, the Marketplace suite of podcasts has an episode for you. The context is primarily from the point of view of the United States. The style is largely conversational, interviewing expert guests and everyday people […]
Read More »This simple and easy-to-use Verbal Stratagems website offers a robust collection of phrases for specific purposes, such as agreeing, checking for understanding, expressing gratitude, or making a suggestion. These phrases have been collected and maintained by Dr. Brenda P. Imber of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan and Carson Maynard, a Michigan […]
Read More »Cache Chat is a conversational podcast hosted by two undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students at Clemson University. The Cache Chat hosts use informal language to explain CS concepts, demonstrate a little bit of conversational overlapping speech, and use lots of active listening signals. Their conversation sounds like they are good friends. Their topics and interviews […]
Read More »CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, offers hundreds of online lessons and tutorials, many of which focus on writing in legal genres. Because legal writing organization, logical structure, and vocabulary can differ dramatically from other academic and professional writing, this focus on writing specifically for legal purposes is particularly useful. For example, one 45-minute […]
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