Ideas for Learning EnglishOnline Dictionaries LEARNER'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY: This dictionary provides you with an easy-to-understand definition in English. It also gives you a sample sentence using most words. Press the sound button to hear a word pronounced. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/ FRENCH-ENGLISH DICTIONARY: Great dictionary with detailed definitions, examples, and forums with native speakers’ comments. This is a good choice if you want to translate a word to English from French (or the reverse). http://www.wordreference.com
Explore English (See your English Artifact Weekly Assignment or Ashley's artifact homework as an example) Listen to English-language radio for one hour (music) or 30 minutes (talk). For interesting programs, try http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives. Click here for a list of episodes related to our class theme. (Each chapter has links to the radio program.) Read the directions in English of four items in your house (e.g. dishwasher, shampoo). Read the last 30 English-language tweets by one or more English-speaking artists or politicians on Twitter. Read an article in English on Wikipedia. Compile a list of 30 words involving the profession you hope to have. Explore the English-language section of a bookstore or library (music, kids’ books, and/or adult books) for 30 minutes and find two things you would like to own. Talk or chat online with someone in English for 30 minutes. Find a recipe on a site like·Allrecipes.com and prepare it. Listen to at least 5 English clips at least B1 or higher on·Audio Lingua. Play around on the·iTunes store and find 2 albums or 5 songs you would like to own. Read all of this week's revelations on the PostSecret.com site. Every Sunday, this site shows anonymous, homemade postcards that reveal a secret the sender has been keeping. http://www.postsecret.com/ Browse poetry to discover new and famous poets, or consider signing up for the poem-a-day email. http://www.poets.org Read an English-language blog for 30 minutes. Click here to check out one of my favorite cooking blogs; here is a great photography blog. Or search for more here according to your interests (photography, advertising, cooking, sports, travel, books, etc): http://www.google.com/blogsearch. Find 3 how-to articles for something you want to learn to do on http://www.wikihow.com. For example, here is an article on how to teach your cat to shake hands. Read three simplified news articles on this website: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish. You can read with a dictionary tool to help you understand new words. Watch 5 English videos on www.YouTube.com. Find a penpal to write to in English so that you have a real reason to communicate.http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/penpals.asp· Write about your life in English.Here are ideas to get you started: http://www.ralphfletcher.com/tips.html· Describe four photographs from http://www.flickr.com/explore/. What is the story behind a picture? What memories or thoughts does it inspire in you? Change your facebook language to English and play on Facebook for an hour. Read an English-language newspaper for 30 minutes (may be online). Play a word game like "Words with Friends" in English for 45 minutes. Read a book in English for 30 minutes. Change your cell phone or mp3 player’s language to English for an entire week. |
