"Word Trivia"

Word Trivia ~ vocabulary building and word fun for everyone. 

Rules for writing

Your rules for writing via Culture | guardian.co.uk by Michelle Pauli on 2/23/10

Saturday's selection of expert advice on how to write fiction has generated a lot of interest. But we'd like to know your maxims, too

I really enjoyed Saturday Review's Ten rules for writing fiction feature and, judging by the stats for page hits and the buzz about it on Twitter and other sites, so did many others.

Just Google It? Developing Internet Search Skills

Just Google It? Developing Internet Search Skills via NYT, Education by By SARAH KAVANAGH and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO on 2/22/10

Lesson Plan | Developing Internet search strategies by trial and error, and telling the stories of these searches to benefit other Web users and researchers.

Game Based Learining

10 Free Digital Game-Based Learning Resources for English Classrooms from Educational technology in ELT Digital game-based learning (DGBL) can be a good way to get excited about learning. The right games can serve as effective teaching tools that not only speed up the learning process, but also improve comprehension. There are many different learning-based games that can be played online. Here are a few to try with your English classroom: Free Rice - FreeRice is an online trivia game created by the United Nations World Food Program to provide free education and end world hunger. When visitors answer game questions correctly, rice is donated to hungry people around the world. Trivia categories include English vocabulary, English grammar, geography, math, chemistry, language learning, and art. Free Poverty - Free Poverty is similar to FreeRice in the fact that it donates to needy people whenever visitors answer questions correctly. The difference is that Free Poverty donates cups of clean drinking water rather than rice and focuses solely on geography trivia. ProProfs Brain Games - This site offers free puzzle and brain games, such as word searches, hangman, memory games, and word jumbles. Visitors can play existing games or create their own online learning games and puzzles. Fit Brains - Fit Brains is an online brain fitness platform that provides fun games to educate and exercise the brain. The site's word fragment games have been proven to improve English language vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. Learning Today - Learning Today, a provider of Internet-based education, offers several free reading games that can be played online. All of the games are research-based and designed to improve phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

You've just been BROADSIDED

The Importance of Extensive Reading

`Extensive reading crucial for English acquisition Voluntary extensive reading is an effective way for Koreans to acquire English fluency, an English education expert believes. Shin Kyu-cheol, professor in the department of English language at Far East University, feels it can expose them not only to the language but also to culture and material that would motivate them to study. Koreans are learning English as a foreign language (not a second language) in an environment where exposure to the language and culture is rare. Reading would help increase the exposure, Shin said. Through reading books that are rich in linguistic and cultural elements, one can learn how words are used in specific contexts, and enhance critical and creative thinking skills and cultural understanding. Shin, who has headed the Korea Association of English Reading Education, a group of some 100 English education experts, since its inception in April 2008, underscored that starting with boo ks that are interesting and easy to read is important. There are many books that have been adapted according to learners levels. Learners should choose books that are one level lower than their current one to maintain their interest and motivation, Shin said. If the books are not interesting, reading could become a difficult chore, which would discourage learners to continue to read. The professor claimed that through extensive reading, learners can develop all four language skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening - in an integrated way. While reading books extensively, learners would repeatedly encounter words and expressions, which will be then internalized and used proficiently when they write things in English, Shin said. With the proper training to recognize sounds for corresponding words and expressions that they have read, learners can develop their speaking and listening skills. They can use a wide array of multimedia materials containing what they read in the books. Multimedia materials can be helpful in enhancing learners phonemic awareness to enable them to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning, he said. Noting that despite many years of studying English, many Koreans have difficulty speaking English, Shin said Koreans should remove their obsession with being perfectly accurate in their language production. Psychologically, Korean learners seek to be perfect and accurate in their use of English. That is why they are reluctant to speak English and write things in English as they fear making mistakes, Shin said. What matters is whether they can communicate with the international communication tool, not whether they have a native-like pronunciation. Shin also stressed that there should be changes in the current public English education. English education should b e learner-centered. Securing good teachers is important, but what is more crucial is to forge a good learning environment in which students are motivated to voluntarily study English, he said. Teachers can play a role of a facilitator who can help students select good books and study in good reading environments. (sshluck@heraldm.com) By Song Sang-ho 2010.02.16 Copyright 2001 ~ 2003 Herald Media INC. All rights reserved. Contact webeditor@heraldm.com for more information. __._,_.___ Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___

“Lyrics Training”

“Lyrics Training” via Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... by Larry Ferlazzo on 2/17/10

Lyrics Training looks like a neat new website using music and lyrics to help people learn English. You can read more information about it at The English Blog.

The big problem, however, is that it appears they only use YouTube videos, which pretty much makes it inaccessible to most schools in the United States (since most content filters block YouTube). Because of that, I won't be it on The Best Music Websites For Learning English.
Too bad they don't "rebrand" their videos like some other websites so they can be accessible.