Spanish: Aprende a reciclar

This is a great clip to show lower level students and have them answer listening comprehension questions after watching it. The language is very simple and the pace is slow.



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News: INTRODUCING LISTENING SKILLS IN BASIC ENGLISH ONLINE COURSES (BEOC)

Claudia here again with a great article I found for ELT teachers. This article stresses the increasing importance of teaching listening skills to language learners from the beginning as well as providing quality materials that enable this skill to be developed. You can find the article via the link below:

http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolcallis/issues/2013-07-16/11.html

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French Video: Les Trois Inventeurs

Hello everyone, Claudia here,

Here's a cute video you can use in your French classes. I'll post the script as well so you can write some questions for it. You can also ask students questions about what they see in the video, for instance, what inventions are made? or ask them to rewrite the ending. Enjoy!

Les Trois Inventeurs

Il était une fois un grand inventeur, une grande inventrice et une petite inventrice. 
Ils habitaient tous trois une grande maison qu'ils avaient construite eux-mêmes et peu à peu agrandie et perfectionnée car tous trois passaient leurs journées à inventer, à travailler à leurs rêves et à ceux des autres qui étaient les mêmes. 
… 
mais les gens ne comprenaient pas à quoi tout cela servait et certains notables disaient que les inventeurs troublaient l'ordre public.
…
D'autres notables affirmaient que les inventeurs travaillaient contre le peuple.
…
D'autres notables encore assuraient que les inventeurs, par leurs divertissements, transgressaient les lois du Seigneur.

Un jour, le grand inventeur, la grande inventrice et la petite inventrice décidèrent d'aller montrer aux gens de la ville une nouvelle invention qui permettait de se déplacer sans se fatiguer mais un homme les arrêta en leur disant qu'ici, on n'aimait pas les gens inutiles et qu'ils avaient intérêt à retourner dans leur taudis.

- Qu'y a-t-il ?
- C'est encore eux
- C'est toujours eux
- Oh le malheureux, il faut faire quelque chose. C'est intolérable.
- Il faut le venger. Tout est de leur faute.
- Ne perdons plus de temps.
- Ils doivent disparaître:les inventeurs, les malfaiteurs, les criminels.
- (la foule) En avant ! A mort ! A mort ! Tous à l’échafaud ! A bas les inventeurs ! On en a assez des inventeurs ! A mort ! Allez ! A bas les inventeurs ! A mort ! Pendons-les ! A mort ! On va les tuer ! Pendons-les !
- L'ordre public doit être rétabli à tout prix
- Que la volonté du seigneur soit faite.
- Le peuple a toujours raison
- Non. Arrêtez. Pas ça.
- C'est fini.

Non, ce n'est pas vrai, ce n'est pas vraiment arrivé. Ça ne peut pas arriver. Je vous assure. Vous voyez bien, c'est du cinéma.


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Spanish: Mayan Calendar

Hello, here is a really nice video about the Mayan calendar and what the story of 12/21/12 is.
I hope you enjoy it!

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Quick Fix - Essential phrases in 40 languages

Hello all,

I found this cool section of the BBC Languages site with useful downloadable phrases in different languages.

Learn and take these essential phrases in 40 languages with you on your mp3 player and as a print-out!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Spanish Video: McDonald's Commercial

Hi all, Claudia here,
This is a really cool McDonald's commercial I think could be useful in your Spanish class. You could use it to talk about technology, past and present, and change. Enjoy!

French: Le Café

Hello all, I came across this fun French video and I thought you might like it. I think it would be a good icebreaker for your French class and it could also be useful for listening comprehension activities.

Try asking your students how many cups of coffee did the main character drink? and who or how many people offered him a cup of coffee? Enjoy!

Spanish: Video El Grúfalo

Hello all, Claudia here,

I would like to share this translated version I found online of an animated film based on the classic children's picture book "The Gruffalo" written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Schefflerthe.

These would be a fun way to work on your students' listening comprehension. I will soon add some questions to go along with the story. Enjoy!

Useful Website: Proyecto Sherezade

Hello all, Claudia here,

I want to share with you a nice website I came across for Spanish teaching. Proyecto Sherezade is a site developed by a group of scholars who want to share unpublished stories from all Spanish speaking regions. You can use the texts to teach culture, literature, reading comprehension, etc. They even have a few of the stories in audio format so your students can work on listening comprehension.

Check it out and let me know whay you think!

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~fernand4//index.html

Jig-song puzzle

Choose a popular song of the moment. Type up the lyrics. Print out two copies. Keep one intact and cut the other one into strips like this:

......................................................................
First line of the song
......................................................................
Second line
......................................................................

etc.

Shuffle the strips and distribute them around the class.

Place a large table in the center of the room. Tell the students that when they hear the lines they have printed on their strips of paper they must stand up and place them in the correct place on the table.

Play the song as many time as necessary to get all the strips on the table.

The end result should match the intact copy of the lyrics.

Spanish: Colombian Dialects

Hello all, Claudia here,

I would like to share with you a video that shows some of the various dialects from Colombian Spanish. This is a fun video to show your students not only so they can hear different dialects but to show how different the dialects can be within the same country.

Here is the dialog interpreted in all the different dialects:

Oiga pero es que usted sabe que tenemos que contemplar todas las posibilidades que se nos puedan aparecer.
¿Le llegó mi correo ayer?
No hombre…
¿Cómo así que no le ha llegado? Pues ahí está mi posición en el asunto… Cuando le llegue se fija bien en la parte donde se expresa cómo meter los diferentes jugos de coco.

Dialects:
1) Rolo - Bogotá
2) Paisa - Medellín
3) Valluno - Cali
4) Costeño - Barranquilla
5) Santandereano
6) Llanero
7) Pacífico o Chocoano
8) Pastuso o Sureño
9) Boyaco o Cundiboyacense

EFL: Listening Skills Video

Hello all, Chris here. Today I would like to share a useful video I found which focuses on helping students with their listening skills. In particular he discusses the usefulness of music in his classes. The video is geared towards EFL teachers but I think the content could be applied to for any language teaching situation. Enjoy!