This review is by guest contributor Emmanuel Orozco Castellanos. Learning English on Youtube may not seem like a new idea. There already exists a virtually infinite amount of videos to learn English or any other languages. You can find anything from grammar lessons to tips to perform better at job interviews. But sometimes all you […]
Read More »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 »Monash University in Australia hosts an academic English language self-study website, Learn HQ, with vast breadth and depth in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and grammar. There are quick self-assessments to help you decide which resources to use. I particularly like the treatment of academic reading. Here is an example exercise that gives the user an opportunity […]
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 »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 »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 »Do you want to work on vocabulary, fluency, pitch range, or interpreting technical content to a lay audience Scientific American is a long-established magazine that publishes articles on a broad range of scientific topics for non-specialists. One of my students led me to the groovy “60-Second Science” daily audio podcast, which always starts with the […]
Read More »MICASE is a searchable collection or “corpus” of the transcripts of real-life spoken language on the University of Michigan campus. Most of the audio files are available for free download too. MICASE represents language as it is actually spoken on one university campus, which differs dramatically from how language looks in English textbooks. In MICASE, […]
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