Category: tools

National Public Radio in the US is a treasure trove of great audio entertainment, and there are many different podcasts I use in class. This one, for upper intermediate, or advanced students, discusses language points like grammar and politeness, all in a funny way (humor is the hardest things for langauge learners to get.

This particular podcast, called WayWord Radio, features 2 people discussing language. They have a great time. This particular episode talks about Family Words, words that some families develop. Even though they are not real words, it is nice way for students to begin to try inventing new words in English. This skill helps people organize vocabulary.

The Internet, especially over at YouTube, is a crazy place. Over at You should have seen this we can find 99 of the most interesting, most popular, strangest video clips on the web. Charlie bit me, for example, is a short video of a little boy getting bitten by his baby brother. It is the most popular video on YouTube. Seen millions of times. Discuss why it is so popular.

This Word List Generator was developed for elementary school teachers using a government grant. It is a free way to create, using the basic 2000 words in English, words that have the same spelling structures.

My students rarely ask me how to spell things, and that is not natural. Mostly because they haven’t developed listening to be able to decode someone spelling out a word. Mostly that is because they haven’t studied common spelling features aurally, only in written form. I use these lists for spelling practice first semester of the first year.

The Pinky Show disguised as something cute, but discusses some serious issues. This one, for example, explores what it is to teach and what it is to learn. Ivan Illich, famous in the 1970’s for his unusual ideas about society in general, wrote a book called Deschooling Society. This is the source of ideas for this short video. A great way to start a discussion on learning and teaching.

An educational initiative brings us thousands of audio books, many with their text and sometimes even with exercises or activities. Definitely worth a look. Shorter pieces available like Kintaro.