Listening. A key practice for improving your English.

Who’s this for?

English Learners, especially learners at a basic or immediate level.

Why?

Because this will make English easier to understand. You will get use to the sounds and the patterns of English and this will also help your speaking skills. You will find it easier to hold conversations in English.

Listening and English

Listen more. Listening is the forgot skill in language learning. It’s also easy to do these days. You can have English on your smart phone, your MP3 player, your computer and TV

Listen to Simple English

Listen to simple English because you will learn faster that way. Many people listen to CNN and BBC news when it’s far too difficult for them. They would learn faster by listening to simpler English.

Simple English Resources

Lingq - Listening and Reading materials

Lingq has lots of short stories and texts with audio. Most of the listening and reading material is free. They have a big library of listening material at all levels. Join them and you will be able to download a lot of useful listening material for English (and other languages).



This YouTube channel has lots of stories for children. They are simple to understand and you can read along as well.

British Council - Simple Short Stories

A collection of short stories in video. The stories are easy to understand and use basic language.

Base Your Learning on What you Enjoy

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Today's message is simple.

Get language material on;

• What you enjoy
• What you know
• What you love to spent time doing

For me this is getting language on;

• Travel
• Cooking
• Entertainment
• Art
• Stuff that comprehensible from first viewing

That's it for today.

Narrow Listening - Dutch

This is for Dutch Learners

An alternative to Vocabulary Lists

What is Narrow Listening?

Narrow listening is listening to lots of material based on the same subject. An example will be watching 10 videos on the weather.

Why?

Listen to lots of material on the same subject will mean lots of repetition of vocabulary. This makes it easier to guess the meaning of words. Also you get to hear the words in context.

How?

Google translate can give you the basic words you need to do a search. I do my searches on Youtube.

For Best Results.

Watch videos on things that really interest you. Also, if you know the subject well in your own language, then it will make it easier to learn in another language. Remember fun (interest) makes you learn faster.

It was much harder finding groups of similar videos in Dutch than it was in English. Anyway, below are a few examples.


Some Examples

Veggiebende is a channel on vegetables. There are several videoes on the life of a plant. I find these very easy to understand. There are 26 videos on the Channel but some videos are not in Dutch - best to skip these.

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RatatouilleTV have 100s of videos online. They have lots on Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Museum

Bruyters is a channel that have makeup demostrations and videos related to Miss Belgium. I've only seen one video in this servies.

http://youtu.be/M2JXXD1sOAo

Other Ideas

To see similar videos - use the suggestions column on the righthand side.

Weather Forecasts

Police stuff and bicycles

Narrow Listening - English

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This is for English Learners

An alternative to Vocabulary Lists

What is Narrow Listening?

Narrow listening is listening to lots of material based on the same subject. An example will be watching 10 videos on the weather.

Why?

Listen to lots of material on the same subject will mean lots of repetition of vocabulary. This makes it easier to guess the meaning of words. Also you get to hear the words in context.

How?

Google translate can give you the basic words you need to do a search. I do my searches on Youtube.

For Best Results.

Watch videos on things that really interest you. Also, if you know the subject well in your own language, then it will make it easier to learn in another language. Remember that fun and interesting stuff makes you learn faster.

Some Examples

Snapfactory Channel on Youtube.

They have a photography channel with 172 videos. They look at different aspects of photography from a photography shooting session to how to use a light meter.

Photography Video

TotalBeautyTV

This Channel is dedicated to makeup and doing your hair. They have 111 videos. Women will probably get more from this as many women use makeup on a daily bases.

Makeup Experts

DIY

This Channel is also dedicated to beauty but uses natural ingredients. They have a 158 videos.

Makeup the natural way

Scotty Kilmer

This Channel is about maintaining and fixing your car. If you’re a mechanic or really interested in cars then this is a channel for you. There are 122 videos in the channel.

Fixing your Car

Other ideas.

With these videos, you can use the ‘suggestions’ on the righthand side of the screen, to see more videos.

UK weather

UK Weather forecast


US weather

USA weather forecast

News earthquakes

News link on Earthquakes

How to play American Football

Learn how to play American Football

How to get a girlfriend

How to get a girlfriend if you're a nerd

Other articles for English Resources

Lingq English Reading Material

Easy English Videos - Watch and Learn

English Reading on Youtube

More Dutch Language Resources

There should be something for everyone here.


Dutch fun with Sesame Street or Sesamstraat. I find this hilarious.



Talking Website

Dutch culture in Audio. The Rijksmuseum has many of its pages put into audio. The audio follows the words, so it’s pretty useful. The voice is a little metallic but it's a Dutch voice.

Rijksmuseum website education page

Children Stories

Audio only

Mixture of audio children stories

Story and Audio

These two websites should be really good. They have lots of children stories and the audio. Though, I have a problem with the site. I can’t get the audio to work with some of the stories. The one story that I did get the audio to work with, didn't match the story exactly.

Grimm stories

Andersen Stories

Sexy Dutch

A story about the most beautiful bottom in the Netherlands.

The most beautiful bum in the Netherlands

There’s also a video of a journalist who isn’t a bottom man but a breast man. He goes round looking for the perfect breasts.

Journalist looks for perfect breast.

Previous Dutch Resources

Easy Dutch Youtube Videos


Songs, TV for Dutch learners and more

Language Learning – Beyond the Text Book

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English (insert Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and of course, the world’s no. one language Dutch) is not a text book!!!
I’ve heard many times ‘English is boring, English is difficult’, usually from little kids but also from adults too. But what they call ‘English’ isn’t English at all. The English they are talking about is the over analysed ‘English’ that they are taught in schools. Where a simple sentence is made into a complicated beast thanks to too much grammar explanation and not enough actual use of English.

So let’s get this straight. English is not boring. English is WONDERFUL (any language is). And in so many amazing ways.

Movies. Hollywood, British. God dam it, even Australia has produced many fine movies. If you’re bored with your textbook, why not watch a movie in English.

TV series – English TV made easier. Yabla English TV, TV with subtitles in some languages.

Games – set the mode to English and get the language drummed into you whilst you fight ghosts, conquer the world and become beautiful.

Audio Books

Comics - A crazy one and a visual list of English comics

Youtube - Look and learn English Videos.


Music

If you’re getting bored of English (or whatever language you are study) it time to look at your material. Are you just using a text book? Text books are noted for their boringness, if you’re bored of them get some real English. English that you enjoy.

It’s not a sin!

Free Offer for English Learners

Language Bridge is offering free use of its software for a limited period.

Get Better at Speaking English

The software is aimed at improving your English speaking. They do this through ‘shadowing’, which is basically listening, speaking and reading at the same time.

I’m not sure how long the offer is on for. So I have written to them to get more detail of when the offer will end and how long you can use it for.

What you need to do to get the Free Software?

Email info@language-bridge.com and explain why you are learning English.

State which package you want. They have the following packages;

• English for Chinese Speakers
• English for Russian Speakers
• English for Spanish Speakers
• English for Czech Speakers
• Generic Version - English for the Rest of the World
• Russian for English speakers

For free use of their software, Language Bridge wants you to share your experience of using it.

What can you say in the email?

Some examples

For Work.

I have been learning English for years but am unhappy with my spoken English. I want to improve my spoken English. With better spoken English my work opportunities will increase. I will be able to work for international companies and work with people from around the world.

For Study

I find speaking English difficult. I want to be fluent in English because I have spent a lot of time learning it. Also with good English skills I will be able to study aboard. This is something I really want to do.

For Travel

I travel a lot but my poor English makes this difficult. I want to speak English fluently so that my travels are easier. Also with fluent English I can make friends and contacts with people from different countries.

Good Luck

Chris.

Click here for link to Language Bridge

English Resources - LingQ

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For English Learners (also Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, Swedish and French)

There’s never been a better time to learn a language than now. We have access to more resources than ever before.

This video was a timely remember that LingQ has lots of listening and reading resources for English Learners.



Lucas Fischer Raymundo said that he didn’t know any English seven months ago but through listening, reading and reviewing he can now speak English comfortably.

To get access to LingQ resources you can join here

Join LingQ

Check out the site here

Welcome to LingQ

Your English gets better everyday

Chris

Crosstalk - Update

Junk mail or the future of language text books




















I started using crosstalk a couple of weeks ago and have clocked up 9 hours so far.

I’m lucky that I’ve found a woman who seems to instinctively know how to ‘crosstalk.’

I always use English. She always uses Dutch.

We have used photos, pictures, the environment and retail brochures (Junk mail the new language textbook!!) to make the Dutch comprehensible. She is also very expressive, with gestures and the use of her voice.

Initial reaction

I’m amazed. I can hold a conversation in Chinese (only sometimes as my Chinese is a bit wobbly) but I don’t think I’ve had such in-depth and continuous conversations with a person speaking another language as I have had with crosstalk. I was really communicating. At first, it felt weird – how can this be? I’m talking English and she’s talking Dutch but we can understand each other and when understanding does break down, she either rephrases what she’s saying or we simply start a new conversation.

I have to add, that it’s not like speaking to someone in your native language. The conversations start from pictures, magazines etc and can develop into opinions and stories. Sometimes the detail is too much and the conversation dies but with additional comprehensible material, the conversation soon restarts.

What does this mean for language learning?

It’s a brilliant tool for adventuring in the language you want to learn. What other method allows you to hold a conversation with someone of your target language with little or no knowledge of the language (note - I’ve had about 330 hours of listening to TV and stories with no translations). The basic content is up to you. You choose your materials and conversations grow out of these.

I have only got nine hours of crosstalk so far and I'm not a linguists but if exposure to a language is a key element of language learning, then 'crosstalk' is an excellent tool.

Also if people have the chance to use crosstalk early in their language learning, I think it’ll be a great motivational tool too.

Using English made it easy to focus on the Dutch.

I found myself focusing on what she said, rather than conversations I have had when I was using Chinese, where some of my attention is focused on whether I’m saying something right, not always on listening. Focusing on my language partner certainly helped me comprehend the conversation better.

No time for analysis the language

There’s no time for the English voice in my head to translate the conversation (something which I get sometimes when watching Dutch TV). There’s also no time for working out the grammar etc. The focus is on the meaning and communicating. Though through repetition you can quickly work out some language.

The future

I believe this is an idea to spread. Crosstalk offers huge potential for language learners, opening up doors that didn’t exist before - watching videos, language classes and listening to podcasts are like floating above the jungle in an hot air balloon, you can get a good sense of the language, but with crosstalk, you’re in the jungle, it’s real and you’re surrounded by the language.

For me, I’ve got another crosstalk session tomorrow morning and then next week, we are going on the streets and shops of Venlo. Crosstalk on the move, now this is something I really want to workout.

If you want to find out more about crosstalk, feel free to email me on christopher_rawlins@yahoo.co.uk or leave a comment.

Audio Books for Language Learning

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Audio Books are a great learning tool for languages. You get to hear and read at the same time, as well as gaining a lot of exposure to the language you’re learning. They also make extensive reading much easier.

In language learning, extensive reading offers the learner an adventure into the language but is, in my opinion, overlooked.




There are two types of reading; intensive and extensive.

• Intensive reading is reading for detail and this usually means aiming for 100% understanding. In language learning this usually requires a bilingual dictionary, with every unknown word being looked up for its meaning.
• Extensive reading is reading for the general meaning or overall meaning of the text. In language learning this means reading as much as possible and not worrying about the details. You read and you don’t stop if you don’t know the meaning of a word or even a paragraph. The dictionary is used little or not at all.

In teaching languages the emphasis seems to be on intensive reading but extensive reading is just as helpful (if not more helpful to the learner).

I read Doviende’s experience of using extensive reading to learn German. At first, he used intensive reading to read a novel but gave up because he felt it was too difficult. Nine years later, after reading advice from Steve Kaufmann and AJATT, Doviende picked up the novel again and just read. He didn’t use a dictionary, he just kept his eyes moving over the words. He found that he could follow the story, which he wasn’t able to get with intensive reading.

Doviende found that he was able to work out the meaning of words that occurred often and even though he wasn’t sure why, the more he extensively read, the more he could understand of the story.

He also recommended audio books as a great way to read extensively.

My experience

I joined the Dutch Library and got the audio CDs and book of Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the World Champion’.

I was also very surprised at how much I could follow the story. The story revealed itself to me and even some of the details come out. It was a very enjoyable experience to listening to a book in a foreign language.

Great things about Audio books

• They force you to go along with the story.
• You quickly get a sense of what words come up often.
• Words that you don’t know but come up often can be guessed at. The guessing gets easier the more you see the word.
• You can hear the words, so you don’t have to try and pronounce them (or mispronounce them).
• On a second listening to a chapter, you usually understand more. This is very rewarding.


LingQ offers a lot of audio and text material. They have also got sections of ‘novels’ that are audio, though I don’t know to what extent. They offer this material in about 10 different languages.

Easy Dutch - YouTube video links

This is for Dutch Learners

Why watch ‘how to’ videos?

• These videos are relatively easy to understand from just watching.
• It’s real Dutch! This is for Dutch speakers and it’s how they speak.
• There are ‘how to’ videos for most subjects. Pick something you like and you know well and this will make the ‘videos’ even easier.
• ‘How to’ videos can be quite active. If you follow the actions, you’ll learn better.
• Helps you get more use to Dutch

Don’t worry

• You don’t need to know every word.
• The more you watch Dutch TV, especially kids TV, ‘how to’ and stuff that you are interested in, the easier Dutch is to understand.

When choosing ‘how to’ to watch. Choose ones that you enjoy! If you don’t like ‘how to do a sport’ type of videos, DON’T WATCH Them.

The list here is to get you started and hopefully to show you the variety of ‘comprehensible’ videos that are already out there.



Koopmansbak

This is one of 19 two to three minute long films on how to cook something. The films are very similar, which is great as you get a lot of repetition.




De Telegraf

They have over 800 videos. This one is from the Vrouw series. The ones I’ve seen from the Vrouw series seem to be useful for learners of Dutch. This series is lifestyle focused and many of the videos are in the ‘How to’ genre.




SOS Piet

SOS Piet is a cook that visit the homes of people who have problems cooking a dish. I find him entertaining. There are several videos on YouTube.

Other links

http://youtu.be/_FFFYpIKZ1E – Making trophies from ‘waste’ around the house. A Dutch ‘Blue Peter’.

http://youtu.be/oNRDRfU021M - How to exercise – this is part of a series of 164 videos related to fitness and health. With exercise videos, it’s useful to do the exercise with the instructor, as this will help internalise the language.

http://youtu.be/pSaqFjRWrM0 - How to exercise – this is part of a series of 35 videos related to fitness and health.

http://youtu.be/I89WZfwCVb8 - How to make different latte tops – one of 13 videos.

http://youtu.be/tviRbwQRw20 - How to make a cup of tea – one of 4 (others are how to; smoke a cigar and a waterpipe)

http://youtu.be/4XQ-Nlb0Vj4 - How to make a Christmas Decorate – there are others in the series.

Fun Resources for English Learners

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Bored of text books, grammar and the classroom? And yet still want to learn English?

Don't worry! Instead of studying, you can learn better by using games and fun websites.

Lyrics Training

Lyrics Training is fantastic for people who love music! And who doesn't love music!
Also, it'll introduce you to a lot of songs in another language. Most songs are in English but there are six other languages too, including Spanish, Italian and also Germany, which is good for me.

How it works (very easy to use)

• You choose the song you want to play.
• Game option – beginner, intermediate or expert.
• Play and write in the missing word.
• To repeat, use backspace.

Go on, give it a go! It's very addictive! (you'll play again and again)

Ello (Home Page)

This site has lots and lots of English listening material. There are different activities to do and games too. Give it a go! Listening a lot is very important to being about to speak better.

Listening Games

English Yabla

Watch TV and play games. This is not what your English teacher told you but this is excellent. I've used the German version and it's fun (only the free part).

• There are different levels; one star - very easy, five stars – difficult
• Some of the easy videos you can understand by watching and guessing
• There are captions in English and your languages (only for German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish at the moment)
• You can play listening games to help your listening and writing.


Go on, have fun with learning English or whatever language you want. You'll get better results learning this way then by using materials that don't interest you.

Grammar - video and script.

I decided to post the video again, even though it was in yesterday's post, which explains why I'm telling the story in this way. The script is below the video.



The Transcript

Hi, it’s teacher Chris and today we have a short story that will help you understand tenses better. Let’s start.

(the story)

Sam went to Vietnam last year. Did Sam go to Vietnam two years ago? …………….. No, he didn’t. He didn’t go to Vietnam two years ago. He went to Vietnam last year. Who went to Vietnam? ……………. Sam, Sam went to Vietnam. When did he go? ………………. Last year. He went to Vietnam last year. He went to the mountains to go hiking. Where did he go in Vietnam? …………… He went to the mountains. He went to the mountains to go hiking. What did he do in the mountains? ………... Hiking. He hiked in the mountains. He went hiking because he loves it.

Did he go shopping in the mountains? ………………. No, no, he didn’t go… no, he didn’t. He didn’t go shopping in the mountains. He went hiking in the mountains. He went hiking because he loves it. Does he love hiking? …………… Yes, he does. He loves to go hiking, especially in the mountains. He loves the scenery and (the) fresh air you get when you go hiking. Does he love the scenery or the fresh air when he goes hiking? …………………… Mmm, he loves both. He loves the scenery and the fresh air. In Vietnam he felt the mountain scenery was very special. Did he feel the mountain scenery was boring? ………………………… No, no, he didn’t. He didn’t feel the mountain scenery was boring. He felt it was very special. Did he feel it was strange or very special? …………………… He felt it was very special.

What did he feel was very special? ………………… He felt that the mountain scenery was very special. Where was the mountain scenery very special? …………….. In Vietnam. The mountain scenery was very special in Vietnam.

Sam loves hiking so much he said that if he had gone to China last year, he would’ve gone hiking there too. Did Sam go to China last year? …………………….. No, he didn’t. He didn’t go to China last year. But if he had gone, he would’ve gone hiking. Would he had gone sailing in China? ………………………… No, no, he wouldn’t had gone sailing in China. He would’ve gone hiking. If he had gone to China, he would’ve gone hiking. Why would have he gone hiking? …………………….. Because he loves hiking. So, if he had gone to China, he would’ve gone hiking. But did he go to China last year? No, he didn’t. He didn’t go to China last year. He went to Vietnam.

End of Story

English Grammar - a different approach to learning

I made this video last year and it uses an interesting approach to teaching grammar.

It doesn't concentrate on the mechanics of grammar but rather shows you the structure of the language through repeated use.

I read a short story and I constantly ask questions. You should answer the question. After a short pause, I also answer the question, so within the story, you get all the common grammar structures;

Sam went to Vietnam last year. positive structure
Did Sam go to China last year? question structure
No, he didn't. He didn't go to China last year. negative structure

The 'past tense' is the main focus of the video.



I hope you find the video useful. I personally think it's a great alternative to traditional methods of teaching grammar. In my view, people who learn languages ultimately want to communicate well in that language. I believe this approach is more helpful than the book approach.

I will provide a script for the video tomorrow.