Learning English with Edmonton CBC

I heard about Edmonton CBC's Learning English pages at the TESL Canada conference but then I forgot about it. Fortunately, one of my colleagues mentioned it just now. There's lots of good stuff here with very clear, slow, simple English along with transcripts, well developed lesson plans, and extensive materials, all linked to the CLBs.

The materials are covered by CBC's copyright, but permission is granted to reproduce for educational purposes. It's regularly updated, and very professional. CBC Manitoba does something similar. I just wish CBC Toronto did.

ESLvideo.com

This site primarily seems to use YouTube videos, the quality of which, obviously, vary greatly. They seem to have been graded, but it's not clear how the grading works or how accurate it is. The exercises are also mostly of dubious value. Overall, if you find something useful, that's great, but perhaps the best part of this is the ability to make your own exercises. It requires a login, but the account is free.

TED Ed

For those who like TED talks but whose students might not be ready for a full-on 18 minute lecture, TED Ed is a good alternative. Many of the talks are shorter, often about 5 minutes, and they are supported with animation that helps convey the meaning. They also come with a number of multiple-choice comprehension question, two or three "think" questions, and a "dig deeper" suggestion for research.

Unfortunately, most of these are not really aimed at language learning. Fortunately, though, you can "flip" the video, which means you can make your own questions, which would be associated with a unique URL which you can give your students. TED Ed also provides tools to track the viewing of and responses to your flipped video. More info here.

When you flip the talk, sadly, you cannot edit or add multiple-choice questions; you can simply include or exclude what is already there. The "think" and "dig deeper" sections are editable, though.

Unlike TED talks, a transcript isn't provided on TED Ed, but many of the videos will have a CC box, which, if clicked, will provide closed captions.

Real English

The Real English website has impromptu video interviews with a wide range of people, many of whom are simply folks on the street. They are often tagged and grouped around certain grammar points. Many also have exercises and pre-listening vocabulary lists.

Unfortunately, many of the interviews are quite fragmented with a very simple question-answer format and little followup or connection between the questions. (e.g., Q: What did you do yesterday. A: We shopped. Q: What do you hope to achieve before you die?...)

British Council Elementary Podcasts

The British Council has been doing elementary podcasts since 2008, so there's a lot of material there. The first two seasons' podcasts are about half an hour each, broken into multiple sections, while the third season had shortened them down to about 10 minutes each. Most of them are covered by a creative commons license, which allows you to freely reproduce them. Each has materials attached.

As you would expect, the accents are mostly British. The speaking can get a bit fast, but the content and the activities are aimed at quite low levels.

Premier Skills English

Premier Skills English is a collaborative project between the British Council and the Barclays Premier League. They have heaps of lesson plans and materials based around football, including interviews with some of the top players.

Using English for Academic Purposes

Andy Gillett put together the EUfAP site about 11 years ago, and it's been very successful since. It provides listening instruction, not just material or exercises.

The paradox of choice materials

One of the TED talks I've been using quite successfully in level 8 is "The paradox of choice" by Barry Schwartz. I've prepared some materials to go with this.