Check it out: http://www.esl-lab.com/
At englishmed students can find interesting multimedia resource material related to medicine and the treatment of pacients. Cartoons and audio are the main features, but the exercises with medical collocations are the best due to the fact that this are is poorly covered by the other sites. The interface is friendly and rather fast which compensates a bit the non attractive design.
Beginners can take over the web to study English with the simplest pieces of news ever: at SIMPLE ENGLISH NEWS you can hear and read about current issues without panicking. The extracts are easy and ready to use, no need to download, and with vocabulary support. Try some:
News Flash Five is a news site whose mission is to encourage young people to take an interest in news and current events. Animated broadcasts offer a fresh way of receiving the news online. Additional interactive activities are designed to provide users the means to understand how current events relate to and can affect their lives. A section for parents and teachers provides guides for teaching children about current events. The site also gives users guidance and a means to write and share their own news stories.
Check the PBS Kids site for more fun for the youngers!
Bangkok, in Thailand
One of the major problems when beginners start studying English is to be able to read pieces of news. Lawyers, managers, IT analysts, accountants, all range of professionals want to keep updated through a foreign language. The Bangkok Post has a solution with a section where many pieces of news from the paper are edited in a simplified manner. Easy English News provides starters with listening and transcript in genuine English.
Japan launched a robot teacher named Saya to walk into classrooms. The device is supposed to express six basic emotions – surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness – because its rubber skin is being pulled from the back with motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth, unlike more mechanical-looking robots like Honda Motor Co. Asimo put out this robot this time.
The use of this polemic technology is the issue in many major papers around the world, like Telegraph, from UK, and space-fan sites and media journals.
This blog “discussed” robot teachers much longer they popped up from the news.
BT Group, the so called “the oldest telcommunications group in the world” has got a business niche focused on making dreams plausible. Among many tools, they offer a business simulation to measure the capacity of the investor and the chances of being well- succeeded. All the steps are scored and the result can take you by surprise. Play it here.
Listen and read afterwards many discussions on politics, environment and culture at BBC podcasts. The files are light and easy to download. Listen to this about green energy:
Michael: green campaigner
I’m very disappointed with Lovelock’s change of ideas. He was somebody who had a lot of interesting ideas
about the environment, and I’m sad that he has turned his back on what he said before. There’s no way nuclear
power is safe – it’s just as harmful to the environment as traditional fossil fuels, and as well as that, there’s the
enormous risk of storing nuclear waste.
Teresa: Member of Parliament
A brave statement from a very interesting man. Our party has always had a strong record on defending the
environment, and looking at environmental problems in a constructive way. I’m glad to see that a distinguished
scientist agrees with us. We want to build more nuclear power stations, and defend the environment – and now
we can!
Kevin: biologist
The problem with James Lovelock is that he isn’t really a scientist. He has lots of experience in different fields,
and I respect him, he’s certainly an intelligent man. But a lot of his theories have never really had that much
support in the serious scientific community – they’ve been picked up by lots of other people, Green campaigners
and such. I wouldn’t listen to him too much.
Raymond: CEO of International Nuclear Fuels
Who? No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the man. Who is he? An environmentalist? Oh well, it’s always good
to have support, from anywhere. And nuclear power is very, very safe. And no, it doesn’t pollute at all.
Kerry: member of Surfers for the Environment
People always want quick solutions. As far as the environment goes, there aren’t any. It could take hundreds
of years to sort out the mess this planet is in. Nuclear power looks like a quick and easy solution, but it isn’t.
There are levels of radioactivity well above average, and well above safe, in all the sea around nuclear power
stations. There are higher rates of cancer and leukemia. Nuclear power is just a way of putting off the damage
until a later date.
Teachers Claudia, Alexandre and Ana from Flextime have got some very nice tips for you: songs that teach prepositions! Don´t like them? You may prefer the ones that play with adjectives instead. What about The Simpsons helping you to learn present continuous?
Whatever you favorite is, don´t miss this list from the Teachers from Flextime:
Music about adjectives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYzGLzFuwxI&feature=related
Music about adverbs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7wnT8iiR8w&feature=related
Music about verbs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4QEzJe6_ok&feature=related
Music about nouns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iLAI0gUW0&feature=related
Music about conjunction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkO87mkgcNo
Music about preposition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4jIC5HLBdM
Music about daily activities – simple presente:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWccPqg1DbI
music using adjectives to compare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWTL_xJx6Xk&feature=related
With irregular verbs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRsLLGnYhJ0
Tell us about . . . Flextime Language Center 