Improve Speaking With YouGlish 

Hello ELT!

If you are like me, teaching pronunciation is one of those award moments during an English language lesson. I tend to avoid teaching pronunciation. 

I am always worried about what pronunciation model to use in my class. I am not a native speaker of English. I speak French and a host of other indigenous languages. So my accent in English is also influenced by these languages.

Today, we will put that worry to rest. As much as I do not believe that there is a “best” pronunciation in English. However, I think that it is an excellent idea to improve one’s pronunciation of English.

Today, we will explore YouGlish, an incredible tool that teachers can use to help their learners to learn and improve their pronunciation. 

The first impressive thing about YouGlish is the layout. The website is not fussy, and it is easy to navigate.  

How does YouGlish work?

As simple as ABC. All you need to do is to input a word or phrase, sit back and listen to how it is spoken in the native language of your choice.

Did I say YouGlish is used for other languages other than English? YouGlish support several other languages: Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Turkish, Arabic and a host of other languages.

And Sign language too!

One important feature of YouGlish is that the pronunciation of a word is provided within a real-life context.

Once you type the word you want to hear how it is pronounced and hit the Say it button, the website loads videos from Youtube videos in which that word or phrase has been used. It could be a conference talk, a casual conversation. 

You also have the options to choose the variants of English you want to hear the word. You can choose between English, US, UK, CAN, NZ, Irish, and Scotland…

Below the video, there is a wealth of information related to the words you want to hear. 

There is the definition of the word and other words in the video. Click on the word, and the definition will pop up. 

If you scroll further below, you will also find a list of words that share some phonetical similarities with your word. For “funny” for example, you will find the following words. You will also find the phonetic transcription of the word

Do you want to have a good grip over the word? Then YouGlish provides tips to do that. 

YouGlish Cons

No! Not all languages are supported. For English, not all variants of English are taken into consideration. Only variants that are termed as “native” are supported. I wish Nigerian, Cameroonian, Indian, South African, Chinese and other variants of English were supported to reflect the diversity of videos on YouTube.  

My take: 

YouGlish is an impressive free tool for teachers and students and everyone who wants to improve their speaking skills.

Have you ever used YouGlish in the classroom or to improve your speaking skills? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: YouGlish)

Online Resources for ELT Professionals 2

Breaking News English

Hello ELT!

We continue with our review of online teaching resources available to teachers.

Today, we will review resources available on https://breakingnewsenglish.com/

As the name goes, this website focuses on teaching English using topics from the most significant issues or stories making headlines around the world. 

Is there an event that has interrupted the regular broadcast schedule of major media outlets globally?

Breaking News English will also be reporting from the classroom.

What makes the difference between Breaking News English and other media outlets is that while the latter is concerned with the nitty-gritty of the issue, Breaking News English looks at how it can improve the skills of English language learners. 

Breaking News English reports beyond the facts. It breaks the grammar and the vocabulary. It explores what people are saying. It analyses what media have written.

 

On Breaking News English, there are thousands of resources on speaking, writing, listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary.

 

Let’s take a stroll on the site and see what they have to offer.

The first thing to notice about the website is how simple the layout is. On the homepage, you will find news headlines of the week. Two news lessons are published every week. Under each news item, you will have the date of the event. 

Teaching around that topic is organised according to the level of competencies in English. The same content can be taught to up to 6 different levels, from elementary to advanced. Each level represents the level of difficulty of the materials covered. Levels 0 to 3 correspond to a simple, while levels 4 to 6 represent more complex content.

 

For each level, learning activities are grouped under listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, matching, etc.

 

The site contains thousands of printable lessons, activities, and worksheets.

And all of these materials and resources a free.

 

Navigating the website is very easy. Its layout is simple.

 

My take:

Breaking News English is a site worth exploring for handy materials and resources for the classroom. 

Online Resources for ELT Professionals 1

Onestopenglish

Hello ELT!

We live in an era of abundant resources. There are so many online materials that we can use to boost our teaching. However, as I always say, more isn't always better!

Like the lonely Londoner, English language teachers can be frustrated choosing the correct resources for a particular lesson or teaching context.

In the following two articles, we will visit two websites where you can have some excellent resources for English language teachers and students.

Let us begin with Onestopenglish

 

Have you ever visited a one-stop-shop? Have you ever experienced the incredible feeling of shopping for all your items in a single shop and not moving from one shop to another?

Well, that does not happen only in a grocery or clothing shop! There is also a shop where you can have all the resources you need to teach and learn English. 

What are you looking for? Resources for teaching grammar? Vocabulary? Reading? Listening? Speaking? 

Are you searching for resources to help your students learn English independently? 

Let’s go shopping for some resources!

General presentation of the website

Onestopenglish contains more than 8000 resources. There are resources for each age group as well as for ELT. 

Resources for children

 

These resources are grouped into CLIL, Grammar, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship, Support for Teaching Children, Vocabulary & Phonics and Warmers & Fillers.  

Resources for teenagers

In addition to the same sections for children, teenagers have resources for developing their skills, for General English and Exams. These include resources to prepare for Cambridge English Qualifications, IELTS, and TOEIC.

 

Resources for adults

Onestopenglish provides solid content for adult learners. In addition to the above sections, there are ESOL and Business and ESP resources. 

Resources for professional development

Onestopenglish is an excellent place where ELT professionals find resources for their classrooms and can also be brought to the spotlight by sharing their skills. Onestopenglish hosts a Lesson Plan competition and the winners have their resources shared on the website. It also contains abundant resources for Methodology, Classroom Management.

Onestopenglish also believes that teaching English is not only done onsite. The COVID-19 pandemic reminded online sceptics that education is fast-moving online. Do you plan to build a career online? Stop at Onestopenglish to learn about Tech tools for online teaching, Online Education, Interactive worksheets and tons of resources to launch your online teaching career.

Navigating the website

One thing that I love at Onestopenglish is how easy it is to search for resources. They know that teachers are very busy and have less time to search through tons of resources. Here is where the search filter of Onestopenglish comes in handy. 

You can filter resources by Language skills, Level, Format or Age.

Cons of Onestopenglish

As the saying goes, perfection is not of this world!

The website is not FREE! Not all resources on the website are free. To access some resources, you have to buy an annual subscription of £21.00.

You don’t mean it. Did you say £21.00 for 12 months! Yes, you have right. £21.00 for 12 months, £1.75 per month! Even though some materials are not free, the yearly subscription is still reasonably affordable. 

Overall, Onestopenglish is a great place to shop for pedagogic resources. 

Enjoy!

Have you ever used a resource from Onestopenglish? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: Onestopenglish)

Screencast-o-matic.com

Hello ELT!!

Let's continue to review what technology has to offer to an ELT teacher to facilitate learning.

Among the several challenges teachers face, teaching in difficult circumstances and with low resources is the most frustrating.

Have you ever taught English as a foreign language in a classroom of 120 students in the afternoon when they are likely to be tired and sleepy? How possible, you surely ask! Trust me, I have been there, and I know exactly where the shoe pinches and HURTS!

But teaching English shouldn't be a frustrating experience!

How do we make the experience enjoyable, even under challenging circumstances?

Here is where the screencast comes in handy!

What is a screencast?

Simply said, it is a video and audio recording of what occurs on your computer screen. In other words, anything found on a computer screen can be recorded as audio or video and shared.

How does that aid teaching and learning?

We live in an age where learners have a digital preference for learning. They would rather watch videos than read boring textbooks. They would give 100% vote to games and a veto to grammar exercises.

As ELT practitioners, we can capitalise on these learning trends to reach the same goals just in a traditional classroom!

Screencasting is also a very pragmatic way to engage learners before and after the classroom. It can be used as part of a flipped classroom or blended learning.

This is where teaching in large classrooms becomes less burdensome and scary to an extent.

Do you have activities for your learners, and you wonder how to effectively conduct the activities in a classroom of 80 students? Screencasting the exercise and sending them to your students before the lesson will help tremendously.

If you were born with a silver spoon of creativity in your mind, then conjure the spirit of creativity in you to make your videos interactive and fun.

What is the most challenging and boring English language lesson to teach and learn? Trust me, with screencasting, your students will learn that lesson without even realising it!

Now, enough with the chitchatting! Let's get down to some practical business!

How do you make a screencast?

You need screencasting software. There are several on the internet like Loom, Open Broadcaster Software, Filmora Scrn, Icecream Screen Recorder, Camtasia, Screencast-o-Matic.

In this article, my focus is on Screencast-o-Matic. I have a strong preference for this software for several reasons. 

It isn't that fussy!

It's simple to use 

And it is very easy to navigate. 

You don't need more than 30 minutes, and I mean it, more than 30 minutes, to become an expert user of Screencast-o-Matic.

   

Hey, I see you got an excellent grammar lesson lined up for your next class. What about Screencast-o-Maticating it! I mean, what about making a screencast of that lesson!

Before we look at what the website has got to offer, get your lesson or whatever resource you want to screencast ready in whatever format you want.

Now, let me take you on a quick tour of the Screencast-o-Matic website.

The first attraction of Screencast-o-Matic is that you don't need to create an account on the website to use it. Can you believe that? If you are anything like me, creating an account on any website can be very boring. 

You can start straight away by screencasting your lessons!

Click on the "Record for free" button to start the recording. It will 

A page like this will appear. Click on Launch Free Recorder

Once you launch the recorder, a frame will appear with recording boundaries. The frame is very important because the record will only capture content that appears within the frame. 

You can expand or minimise the frame but make sure the content you want to capture is within that frame.

You can choose to record with your webcam, on or without your webcam, or both. 

Once you are ready to screencast your content, clink on Rec and after three seconds, your recording will start. As long as your recording is on, whatever page or content you navigate to on your computer will be captured. You can move from one document to the other or on different folders on your computer or different tabs on your browser. 

Once you have finished recording your content, stop the recording and click on Done. A pop up will appear where you have options to save, share or edit your video. You can save your video and edit or share it later. 

If you decide to save your video, click on Save. A new pop up screen will appear with different saving options. You can either save it on the Screencast-o-matic website, on a folder on your computer, on Youtube or on your Google Drive. 

You can edit your video by adding captions, background music, and other animated content. 

It is as simple as this! 

I know you are saying it is easier said than done! 

Well, I've summarised this content in a screencast. Follow this link on Youtube to watch it.

Enjoy!

Have you ever tried screencasting in your classroom? Let's chat in the comment section!

(All images credit: https://screencast-o-matic.com/)