ADVANCED LEVEL: Writing stories/Video

Watch the following video and do the writing task at the bottom of the post. After the video, read the information about narative tenses, connectors and adverbials.

 

 

Narative tenses:

http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoimiere/myweb/grammar/NarrativeTenses.pdf

Connectors:

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073385719/682159/SampleCh22.pdf

http://writingeoi.blogspot.com.es/p/blog-page.html

Adverbial expressions in naration:

 

Writing task for my EOI students: Avanzado 1 EOI Santander

Watch the video and write the story in 175 words.

Tips:

• Organise your ideas properly, use a mind map or a time line.
• Make use of narrative connectors.
• Make good use of narative tenses.
• Enlighten your narration with proper adverbs, and adverbial expressions.

EFL Web Explorer: Games: ESL Games World

http://www.eslgamesworld.com/

EFL WEB EXPLORER: Christmas songs-lyrics and podcasts

Christmas songs and lyrics in the Argentinian site OM Personal

EFL Web Explorer: Language Games

Traditional hangman games to practice vocabulary. Good site to be used on line with an interactive board:

http://www.languagegames.org/hangman/english/body

EFL WEB EXPLORER: Writing Fun

An interactive writing help site that includes downloads to save for off-line use.
http://www.writingfun.com/

LISTENING COMPREHENSION PRACTICE (ENGLISH)

IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING

The following websites have been selected for their good language learning quality. They can be used both by students who want to do examination practice on their own or for teachers to use the podcasts or videos in their lessons. The webs in this classification belong to any of the following categories: (1) News services (2) Language Laboratories (3) Teachers’ webs (4) Organisations, both private or public (5) Individuals (6) Basic Level (A1, A2) New suggestions VideoJug- Life explained on film: Lots of videos on any kind of topic. Good pace. You can see the script clicking on the little square under the screen. It is worth playing aroud and stick to them. See these examples: How to concentrate How to develop a super memory   News services (1)   BBC Learning English: Listenings and video with tapescripts, regular podcasts, special programmes for learners, quizzes and vocabulary exercises. BBC-Video Nation: Videos of different British people speaking. Includes comprehension tests. There are also lesson plans to follow. [Free resources: streaming videos and interactive exercises] [Recommended levels: Intermediate to Advanced] [European Framework of Reference: B2, C1] BBC- Learning English – Beyond the Postcard: Watch the videos and answer the questions. CNN video and podcast offer news reports and interviews on video and podcasts. English Bites Australian news clips with transcripts, vocabulary help and multiple choice quizzes. “English Bites is an informative and entertaining way to improve your knowledge of the English language. Featuring a new story each weekday English Bites provides a detailed review of language, terms and usage.” Euronews is the site of the Euronews TV service where you can see the news online. This site is very useful because you get also the script of the news you are watching, so you can listen to the news and read them at the same time. Literacy Net – CNN Story Archives – Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. Your can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story. Euronews is the site of the Euronews TV service where you can see the news online. This site is very useful because you get also the script of the news you are watching, so you can listen to the news and read them at the same time. World News for children (a BBC podcast). Listen to 4 minute news. [Free resources] [Level: Intemediate, Advanced] [Levle European Framework of Reference: B1, B2, C1] Language Laboratories (2) AnglesOnline: Check songs and trailers . Fun for kids to learn grammar and enjoy songs, video is very good with clear sound and perfect English for NNS. Efl/ESL English On line resources A websiet developed at the “Centre de linguistique appliquée de l’Universite de Franche-Comptée” with the following listening resources: Beginners Dictations:19 exercises with illustrations. A mini course for real beginners Real English Video Dictations Real people interviewed in the street. EFL / ESL Listening Exercises Created with Hot Potatoes Elementary to intermediate levels Here, There and Everywhere : 21 stories for learners of English. Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. False beginner to advanced levels TV Commercials: Ads from the 60s. Find the difference exercises. Intermediate level Fairy Stories: Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. Intermediate level Telephone Expressions Dictation: Intermediate level Movie Trailers: Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. Advanced level ELLLO: English Language Listening Lab Online. Listen to English speakers from all over the world. Over 400 listening activities that include quizzes and texts. New listenings every day. English Listening Lessons by Caroline Brown [free resources], [elementary, intermediate] English as a Second Language (ESL) Podcasts The podcast section of Esl4L, a project of The Internet TESL Journal (iteslj.org) with thousands of contributions by many teachers. [Free resources] [Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced] [European framework: A2, B1, B2] Learning English with the CBC (Radio Canada) Web pages with listening podcasts intended for those who do not have access to formal learning facilities or who wish to improve their language skills on their own or at home. PhrasalVerbDemon.com: A site for phrasal verbs which has many listenings with tapescripts and exercises that focus on phrasal verbs.   Teachers (3) Arlyn Freed’s ESL/EFL Listening Resources with reviews of web sites (audio and video) Dy-Tech Hot Potatoes quizzes based on movie clips: Some suggested activities: Patch Adams Butch & Sundance The Postman Field of Dreams – Voices Stepmom – Serious The Shawshank Redemption -Life School of Rock The Return of the King -Mordor Lord of the Rings – Middle Earth Gone with the Wind – No Lady Jersey Girl I am Sam – In the “best” interest Free Classic Audio Books Digital Narration for the 21st Century. Whole books are also available on the internet for those who love to read along as they listen, or to download to an iPod or other device. It offers a selection of complete books whose copyrights have expired, including Heidi, Tom Sawyer, The Secret Garden, Emma, and several volumes of classic short stories. Sub beta is a site with short video podcasts which can be seen with or without subtitles. Go to the languages section. Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab Randall’s Basic Self-Study Guide VOA News have good news stories for listening with accompanying language learning apparatus .VOA has many articles of general interest in “Special English, ” which is slower and with a limited vocabulary and grammar, so it is very good for beginning adult learning. English-Trailers.Com You can watch movie trailers and do exercises on them. Scripts available. Cyber Listening Lab. The OWL project Nuria Casas has written a few interactive and multiple choice listening exercises for the EOI students. Interesting Things for ESL Students: Listening, and their Podcasts. The front page (also called “Many Things”) has links to additional exercises based on VOA audio. English Teachers Everywhere by Kevin McCaughey’s. Somebody said that if you like this site, please drop him a line and let him know! ESL Pod CardsThere you can find information listenings about famous cities or famous people with their biographies as well as the transcripts, duration of the listening piece and worksheets to work with them. English as Second Language podcast ESLPod.com is run by a team of experienced English as a Second Language professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience. Dr. Lucy Tse writes scripts and story ideas for the podcasts, and records many of the dialogs and stories. The host for the podcast is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, who helps read the scripts and provides explanations for them. More than just words. This particular link is a particularly interesting one and its authors mentioned that it was completely free and they wanted as many students to use it as possible as they are collecting research data through it. Storynory Free Audio Stories It’s a wonderful collection of children’s stories, called Storynory: Open Culture offers podcasts in many different languages and at different levels, and I guess it will be useful for those who teach languages other than English too. I tried some recordings in French and they were very interesting. This I Believe offers audio and the script. I hope you like it. Organisations (4) Poets.org the site where American poets read their own poetry. Listen to English. Here you’ll find most varieties of English on different topics. At Watch and Listen you can watch BBC shows that come with a tapescript and a note on vocabulary. At MP3 Downloading and Podcasting the BBC gives full details of the podcasts it is making available and how to download them or to subscribe to the recordings as podcasts. Most of these recordings are only available for up to a month after the date of broadcasting. The page also gives a brief description of the contents of each series. For advanced work (and personal enjoyment) I find most of these broadcasts excellent. They are not teaching materials, certainly not language teaching materials – they are about politics and the arts and life around the globe. But as listening material they are hard to better. You can listen to them on your PC or on an MP3 player OM audio: Free Online Conversations At Agenda web they have classified exercises by matter and language level. They all belong to other sites. The good thing about this site is that they have classified it for fast choice and delivery. Yapper:HYPERLINK “http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Welcome.action” The premier community for English learners where you can Watch Fun Videos Meet People Improve Your English Contribute Contributing to the yappr.com community is an excellent way to improve the site for everyone while practicing your English. You can already edit translations; very soon you will be able to post, transcribe and translate videos yourself. Just click on a video to get started. www.eflvideos.com is part of the Better@English group of English language learning websites. This company collects the best ESL, EFL, and ELT videos to help you learn English. The videos are organised by language levels. Recently added and not classified yet http://potatopals.podomatic.com/ Carla’s Listening plus at Ning. A nice space where participants leave their own messages on a presentation. The Word Nerds. This podcast is for native speakers of English, but it is great fun. Itesl for language teachers have published a whole page of links to recent podcasts some individuals or teachers are creating for the practice of EFL listening comprehension. Basic Level (6) Real English Free English Lab on-line. It is good for true beginners and also for basic students to do some revision of basic points and continue learning with videos and exercises. Podcasts in English. ESL Lab. com Saber inglés Everyday conversations at Daily ESL ELT Podcast.com Basic conversations for students of English Inglés Mundial. com ESL.About.com Mansión del inglés Neus Casas’s web site (an EOI teacher)

ESL Video Quiz

ESL Video Quizz is a good site to do video listening with qizzes on-line.

The videos are divided by level and categories. Just an example of what you can find for your students. I hope you like it!

[iframe http://www.eslvideo.com/view_quiz_inframe.php?id=2206 450 900]

[iframe http://www.eslvideo.com/view_quiz_inframe.php?id=2206 450 900]

Blups! I’m trying to find out why the post code does not work.

Well the WordPress support has informed me that this service is not supported by WordPress, so it’s useless to copy their code here.

Listening practice for “Basico 1” students at EOI

 From La Mansion del Inglés.com:

http://www.mansioningles.com/listening00.htm

 From ELLLo.com

http://www.elllo.org/english/Games/G048DayRecap.htm 

From 1-Language.com:

http://www.1-language.com/audiocourse/index.htm 

From OM personal.com: 

I’M CALLING FROM AUSTRALIA
Telephone calls – The time

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
Countries and nationalities

I’M STAYING IN BED
The time – Simple Progressive

MY CAR ISN’T WORKING
Repair shop – Parts of a car

SHE’S GOOD AT LANGUAGES
Gym and sports – Simple Present

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Age – Months – Simple Modals

I’M FEELING BETTER ALREADY
Illnesses and health problems

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?
The doctor – Simple modals

CAN YOU HELP ME, PLEASE?
The town or city – Directions

WHAT ABOUT YOUR WEEKEND?
Entertainments – Simple Past

 WE HAD A GREAT TIME
Cinema and theater – Simple Past

AT THE HAIRDRESSERS’S
Be born – Simple Past

 THINGS ALWAYS GO WRONG
Expressing despair – Part I

WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME?
Cinema and theater – Modals

WHY DON’T YOU COME WITH US?
Simple Future – Present Perfect

YOU’RE A REAL PAL
Making phone calls – Progressive

IT’S AN EXCITING JOB
Jobs and professions

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?
Expressions – Present Perfect

 

From Randal’s esl-lab.com

Calendars and Dates
Conversation Starters
Directions Around Town (1)
Introductions
Names: Meeting People
Shopping and Prices
Telling Time

 
Clothing and Fashion
Directions Around Town (2)
Family Relationships
Hobbies
Restaurants
Shopping Center
Telephone

Grammar practice for upper intemediate

If you want to explore the many possibilities the World Wide Web offers you to do some practice on-line, scroll down and check all the possibilities before you make your own choice

 1. Webs with upper-intermediate (B2+) grammar practice:

• Guide to Grammar and Writing
• Activities for ESL students at http://a4esl.org/ 
• Upper-Intermediate exercises http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/englishstart.htm#Grammar
• 410 Grammar topics (grammar practice for intermediate students by the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/index.htm
• Level 490 materials (some cloze tests and reading practice) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/index.htm
• Level 570 materials http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/570/index.htm
• English Exercises on-line http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html#lowint
• ESL BLUES Pre-intermediate to high-intermediate level English http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/
• Online English Grammar http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm
• Natural English book. Grammar practice on-line for upper-intermediate http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/upp/a_grammar/
• Game Zone at http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
• Language Arts. Go grammar: http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html
• Self Access Corner a web-site developed by Olga Godoy for intermediate students. It is worth paying a visit if you are a teacher or a student involved in self access learning using the World Wide Web.

 

2. Some grammar points for upper intermediate (Indexed by alphabetical order):

Conditional sentences: 

• Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/conditionals_exercises/index.htm
• Some exercises on a4sl.org http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html

 

Pasive voice:

 http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htmSome exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/rewrite_passive.htm

•  http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/right_wrong.htm

 

Reported speech:

 

•  Introduction http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/blrepspeech.htm
• Cambios en los tiempos verbales http://www.lingolex.com/indirecto.shtml
• Reporting statements http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/tm-reported1.html
• Reporting questions http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9807/lm-reported.html .
• Test practice http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/reported_speech/index.html

 

Phrasal Verbs:

 Exercises: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html

50 Phrasal Verbs [break, call, do & get] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras4.htm

50 Phrasal Verbs [give, go & look] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras7.htm

50 Phrasal Verbs [make, put & take] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phend.htm

 50 Phrasal Verbs (a choice): Crossword http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phrasx.htm

• · Phrasal Verb Dispenser (Shockwave required) http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm
• · Jumbled Phrasal Verbs http://www.quia.com/jw/3318.html
• · Phrasal Verbs Hangman http://www.quia.com/hm/7066.html
• · Phrasal Verbs: separable or non-separable? http://www.quia.com/pop/2746.html
• · More phrasal verbs http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blphrasalbuild1.htm

 

Verb Patterns:

 

• · Infinitives or gerunds: Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htm

 

 

3. Different kind of grammar practice (by type of exercises):

 .

 

Cloze tests:

 

• · The Half-Baked Interactive Exercises http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/halfbakedcloze.html [last visited 20/05/08]. Check a few examples:
• · Cloze tests also at http://www.testyourenglish.net/english-online/menu/cloze-tests.html [last visited 20/05/08]
• · Cloze tests at UNRESTRICTEDAREA.COM, Matthew Furfine’s website [last visited 20/05/08] http://www.unrestrictedarea.com/esl/clozetestshome.html

•  
  •  
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/antigua.barbuda/1antigbarb.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia1/2australiahist1.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia2/3australiahist2.htm

 

Rephrasings.

 

• · Rephrasings at Self-Access corner, a website by Maria Godoy. It gives you the solutions to the exercises. Check the many aexercises on the left-side bar. http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm
• · Rephrasings at Maribel’s page http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/rewrite.htm
  • · Interactive rephrasings http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm

 

Wordbuilding:

· Word Building exercises http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/wordbuilding/exercises.htm

 4. Miscellaneous:

 

• · Karin’s ESL PartyLand
• · World English http://www.world-english.org/
• · Grammar, rephrasings, a little vocabulary http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/anamerca/Extra%20exercises.htm

 

• · The FCE Trainer http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• · Vocabulary tests which are corrected on line at http://www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker/index.php?fuseaction=home.samples

If you want to explore the many possibilities the World Wide Web offers you to do some practice on-line, scroll down and check all the possibilities before you make your own choice

 

1. Webs with upper-intermediate (B2+) grammar practice:

• Guide to Grammar and Writing
• Activities for ESL students at http://a4esl.org/ 
• Upper-Intermediate exercises http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/englishstart.htm#Grammar
• 410 Grammar topics (grammar practice for intermediate students by the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/index.htm
• Level 490 materials (some cloze tests and reading practice) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/index.htm
• Level 570 materials http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/570/index.htm
• English Exercises on-line http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html#lowint
• ESL BLUES Pre-intermediate to high-intermediate level English http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/
• Online English Grammar http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm
• Natural English book. Grammar practice on-line for upper-intermediate http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/upp/a_grammar/
• Game Zone at http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
• Language Arts. Go grammar: http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html
• Self Access Corner a web-site developed by Olga Godoy for intermediate students. It is worth paying a visit if you are a teacher or a student involved in self access learning using the World Wide Web.

 

2. Some grammar points for upper intermediate (Indexed by alphabetical order):

Conditional sentences: 

• · Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/conditionals_exercises/index.htm
• · Some exercises on a4sl.org http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html

 

Pasive voice:

 

• · http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htmSome exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/rewrite_passive.htm
• · http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/right_wrong.htm

 

Reported speech:

 

• · Introduction http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/blrepspeech.htm
• · Cambios en los tiempos verbales http://www.lingolex.com/indirecto.shtml
• · Reporting statements http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/tm-reported1.html
• · Reporting questions http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9807/lm-reported.html .
• · Test practice http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• · Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/reported_speech/index.html

 

Phrasal Verbs:

 

• · Exercises: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [break, call, do & get] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras4.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [give, go & look] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras7.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [make, put & take] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phend.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs (a choice): Crossword http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phrasx.htm
• · Phrasal Verb Dispenser (Shockwave required) http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm
• · Jumbled Phrasal Verbs http://www.quia.com/jw/3318.html
• · Phrasal Verbs Hangman http://www.quia.com/hm/7066.html
• · Phrasal Verbs: separable or non-separable? http://www.quia.com/pop/2746.html
• · More phrasal verbs http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blphrasalbuild1.htm

 

Verb Patterns:

 Infinitives or gerunds: Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htm

 

 

3. Different kind of grammar practice (by type of exercises):

 

Cloze tests:

• The Half-Baked Interactive Exercises http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/halfbakedcloze.html [last visited 20/05/08]. Check a few examples:
• · Cloze tests also at http://www.testyourenglish.net/english-online/menu/cloze-tests.html [last visited 20/05/08]
• · Cloze tests at UNRESTRICTEDAREA.COM, Matthew Furfine’s website [last visited 20/05/08] http://www.unrestrictedarea.com/esl/clozetestshome.html

•  
  •  
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/antigua.barbuda/1antigbarb.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia1/2australiahist1.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia2/3australiahist2.htm

 

Rephrasings.

 

• · Rephrasings at Self-Access corner, a website by Maria Godoy. It gives you the solutions to the exercises. Check the many aexercises on the left-side bar. http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm
• · Rephrasings at Maribel’s page http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/rewrite.htm
  • · Interactive rephrasings http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm

 

Wordbuilding:

· Word Building exercises http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/wordbuilding/exercises.htm

 4. Miscellaneous:

 

• · Karin’s ESL PartyLand
• · World English http://www.world-english.org/
• · Grammar, rephrasings, a little vocabulary http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/anamerca/Extra%20exercises.htm

 

• · The FCE Trainer http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• · Vocabulary tests which are corrected on line at http://www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker/index.php?fuseaction=home.samples

If you want to explore the many possibilities the World Wide Web offers you to do some practice on-line, scroll down and check all the possibilities before you make your own choice

 

1. Webs with upper-intermediate (B2+) grammar practice:

• Guide to Grammar and Writing
• Activities for ESL students at http://a4esl.org/ 
• Upper-Intermediate exercises http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/englishstart.htm#Grammar
• 410 Grammar topics (grammar practice for intermediate students by the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/index.htm
• Level 490 materials (some cloze tests and reading practice) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/index.htm
• Level 570 materials http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/570/index.htm
• English Exercises on-line http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html#lowint
• ESL BLUES Pre-intermediate to high-intermediate level English http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/
• Online English Grammar http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm
• Natural English book. Grammar practice on-line for upper-intermediate http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/upp/a_grammar/
• Game Zone at http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
• Language Arts. Go grammar: http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html
• Self Access Corner a web-site developed by Olga Godoy for intermediate students. It is worth paying a visit if you are a teacher or a student involved in self access learning using the World Wide Web.

 

2. Some grammar points for upper intermediate (Indexed by alphabetical order):

Conditional sentences:

• · Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/conditionals_exercises/index.htm
• · Some exercises on a4sl.org http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html

 

Pasive voice:

 

• · http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htmSome exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/rewrite_passive.htm
• · http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/right_wrong.htm

 

Reported speech:

 

• · Introduction http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/blrepspeech.htm
• · Cambios en los tiempos verbales http://www.lingolex.com/indirecto.shtml
• · Reporting statements http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/tm-reported1.html
• · Reporting questions http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9807/lm-reported.html .
• · Test practice http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• · Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/reported_speech/index.html

 

Phrasal Verbs:

 

• · Exercises: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [break, call, do & get] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras4.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [give, go & look] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras7.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs [make, put & take] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phend.htm
• · 50 Phrasal Verbs (a choice): Crossword http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phrasx.htm
• · Phrasal Verb Dispenser (Shockwave required) http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm
• · Jumbled Phrasal Verbs http://www.quia.com/jw/3318.html
• · Phrasal Verbs Hangman http://www.quia.com/hm/7066.html
• · Phrasal Verbs: separable or non-separable? http://www.quia.com/pop/2746.html
• · More phrasal verbs http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blphrasalbuild1.htm

 

Verb Patterns:

 

• · Infinitives or gerunds: Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htm

 

 

3. Different kind of grammar practice (by type of exercises):

 .

 

Cloze tests:

 

• · The Half-Baked Interactive Exercises http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/halfbakedcloze.html [last visited 20/05/08]. Check a few examples:
• · Cloze tests also at http://www.testyourenglish.net/english-online/menu/cloze-tests.html [last visited 20/05/08]
• · Cloze tests at UNRESTRICTEDAREA.COM, Matthew Furfine’s website [last visited 20/05/08] http://www.unrestrictedarea.com/esl/clozetestshome.html

•  
  •  
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/antigua.barbuda/1antigbarb.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia1/2australiahist1.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia2/3australiahist2.htm

 

Rephrasings.

 

• · Rephrasings at Self-Access corner, a website by Maria Godoy. It gives you the solutions to the exercises. Check the many aexercises on the left-side bar. http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm
• · Rephrasings at Maribel’s page http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/rewrite.htm
  • · Interactive rephrasings http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm

 

Wordbuilding:

· Word Building exercises http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/wordbuilding/exercises.htm

 4. Miscellaneous:

 

• · Karin’s ESL PartyLand
• · World English http://www.world-english.org/
• · Grammar, rephrasings, a little vocabulary http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/anamerca/Extra%20exercises.htm

 

• · The FCE Trainer http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm
• · Vocabulary tests which are corrected on line at http://www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker/index.php?fuseaction=home.samples

 

Scroll down and check all the possibilities before you make your choice

•   Guide to Grammar and Writing http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

Activities for ESL students at http://a4esl.org/ 

Online English Grammar http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm

· Upper-Intermediate exercises http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/englishstart.htm#Grammar

· 410 Grammar topics (grammar practice for intermediate students by the University of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/index.htm

· Level 490 materials (some cloze tests and reading practice) http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/index.htm

· Level 570 materials http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/570/index.htm

· English Exercises on-line http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html#lowint

· ESL BLUES Pre-intermediate to high-intermediate level English http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/

· Natural English book. Grammar practice on-line for upper-intermediate http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/upp/a_grammar/

SELF ACCESS CORNER (Intermediate practice)

I have just explored Self Access Corner a web-site developed by Olga Godoy for intermediate students. It is worth paying a visit if you are a teacher or a student involved in self access learning using the World Wide Web.

GRAMMAR WEBS:

Some webs with their own selection of grammar exercises:

• Game Zone at http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
• Language Arts. Go grammar: http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html
• ESL BLUES Pre-intermediate to high-intermediate level English http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/

·

INTERNET:

Webs with grammatical points for upper intermediate (Indexed by alphabetical order)

Conditional sentences:

· Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/conditionals_exercises/index.htm

• Some exercises on a4sl.org http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/if-clauses.html

Pasive voice:

· http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htmSome exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/rewrite_passive.htm

· http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/passive_crosswords/right_wrong.htm

Reported speech:

· Introduction http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/blrepspeech.htm

· Cambios en los tiempos verbales http://www.lingolex.com/indirecto.shtml

· Reporting statements http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/tm-reported1.html

· Reporting questions http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9807/lm-reported.html .

· Test practice http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm

· Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/reported_speech/index.html

Phrasal Verbs:

· Exercises: http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html

· 50 Phrasal Verbs [break, call, do & get] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras4.htm

· 50 Phrasal Verbs [give, go & look] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phras7.htm

· 50 Phrasal Verbs [make, put & take] http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phend.htm

· 50 Phrasal Verbs (a choice): Crossword http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/50phrasx.htm

· Phrasal Verb Dispenser (Shockwave required) http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm

· Jumbled Phrasal Verbs http://www.quia.com/jw/3318.html

· Phrasal Verbs Hangman http://www.quia.com/hm/7066.html

· Phrasal Verbs: separable or non-separable? http://www.quia.com/pop/2746.html

· More phrasal verbs http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blphrasalbuild1.htm

Verb Patterns:

· Infinitives or gerunds: Some exercises prepared by Maribel González http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/match_sentences.htm

INTERNET ADVANCED ENGLISH PRACTICE: Exercises and examination practice .

· Karin’s ESL PartyLand

· World English http://www.world-english.org/

· Grammar, rephrasings, a little vocabulary http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/anamerca/Extra%20exercises.htm

· Interactive rephrasings http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm

· Word Building exercises http://www.xtec.es/%7Eogodoy/sac/wordbuilding/exercises.htm

· The FCE Trainer http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm

· Vocabulary tests which are corrected on line at http://www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker/index.php?fuseaction=home.samples

CLOZE TESTS:

· Many interactive Cloze tests at The Half-Baked Interactive Exercises http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/halfbakedcloze.html [last visited 20/05/08]. Check the following examples:

• • • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/antigua.barbuda/1antigbarb.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia1/2australiahist1.htm
    • http://www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/half.baked/the.commonwealth/australia2/3australiahist2.htm

· Cloze tests also at http://www.testyourenglish.net/english-online/menu/cloze-tests.html [last visited 20/05/08]

· Cloze tests at UNRESTRICTEDAREA.COM, Matthew Furfine’s website [last visited 20/05/08] http://www.unrestrictedarea.com/esl/clozetestshome.html

REPHRASINGS:

· Rephrasings at Self-Access corner, a website by Maria Godoy. It gives you the solutions to the exercises. Check the many aexercises on the left-side bar. http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/rephrexercises.htm

· http://web.educastur.princast.es/eoi/eoiovied/maribel/inf_ger/rewrite.htm

 

Improve your listening (English: intermediate-upper intermediate)

IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING

The following websites have been selected for their good language learning quality. They can be used both by students who want to do examination practice on their own or for teachers to use the podcasts or videos in their lessons. The webs in this classification belong to any of the following categories: (1) News services (2) Language Laboratories (3) Teachers’ webs (4) Organisations, both private or public (5) Individuals New suggestions VideoJug- Life explained on film: Lots of videos on any kind of topic. Good pace. You can see the script clicking on the little square under the screen. It is worth playing aroud and stick to them. See these examples: How to concentrate How to develop a super memory News services (1) BBC World Service: Listenings and video with tapescripts, quizzes and vocabulary exercises. BBC Video Nation: Videos of different British people speaking. Includes comprehension tests. BBC Learning English – Beyond the Postcard: Watch the videos and answer the questions. CNNHYPERLINK “http://edition.cnn.com/video/” video and podcast offer news reports and interviews on video and podcasts. English Bites Australian news clips with transcripts, vocabulary help and multiple choice quizzes. “English Bites is an informative and entertaining way to improve your knowledge of the English language. Featuring a new story each weekday English Bites provides a detailed review of language, terms and usage.” Literacy Net – CNN Story Archives – Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. Your can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story. Euronews is the site of the Euronews TV service where you can see the news online. This site is very useful because you get also the script of the news you are watching, so you can listen to the news and read them at the same time. Language Laboratories (2) Learning English with the CBC (Radio Canada) Web pages with listening podcasts intended for those who do not have access to formal learning facilities or who wish to improve their language skills on their own or at home. ELLLO: English Language Listening Lab Online. Listen to English speakers from all over the world. Over 400 listening activities that include quizzes and texts. New listenings every day. Efl/ESL English On line resources A websiet developed at the “Centre de linguistique appliquée de l’Universite de Franche-Comptée” with the following listening resources: Beginners Dictations:19 exercises with illustrations. A mini course for real beginners Real English Video Dictations Real people interviewed in the street. EFL / ESL Listening Exercises Created with Hot Potatoes Elementary to intermediate levels Here, There and Everywhere : 21 stories for learners of English. Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. False beginner to advanced levels TV Commercials: Ads from the 60s. Find the difference exercises. Intermediate level Fairy Stories: Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. Intermediate level Telephone Expressions Dictation: Intermediate level Movie Trailers: Text Reconstruction / Dictation exercises. Advanced level AnglesOnline: Check songs and trailers . Fun for kids to learn grammar and enjoy songs, video is very good with clear sound and perfect English for NNS. PhrasalVerbDemon.com: A site for phrasal verbs which has many listenings with tapescripts and exercises that focus on phrasal verbs. Teachers (3) Dy-Tech Hot Potatoes quizzes based on movie clips: Some suggested activities: Patch Adams Butch & Sundance The Postman Field of Dreams – Voices Stepmom – Serious The Shawshank Redemption -Life School of Rock The Return of the King -Mordor Lord of the Rings – Middle Earth Gone with the Wind – No Lady Jersey Girl I am Sam – In the “best” interest Sub beta is a site with short video podcasts which can be seen with or without subtitles. Go to the languages section. Arlyn Freed’s ESL/EFL Listening Resources with reviews of web sites (audio and video) Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab Randall’s Basic Self-Study Guide Free Classic Audio Books Digital Narration for the 21st Century. Whole books are also available on the internet for those who love to read along as they listen, or to download to an iPod or other device. It offers a selection of complete books whose copyrights have expired, including Heidi, Tom Sawyer, The Secret Garden, Emma, and several volumes of classic short stories. VOA News have good news stories for listening with accompanying language learning apparatus .VOA has many articles of general interest in “Special English, ” which is slower and with a limited vocabulary and grammar, so it is very good for beginning adult learning. English-Trailers.Com You can watch movie trailers and do exercises on them. Scripts available. Cyber Listening Lab. The OWL project Nuria Casas has written a few interactive and multiple choice listening exercises for the EOI students. Interesting Things for ESL Students: Listening, and their Podcasts. The front page (also called “Many Things”) has links to additional exercises based on VOA audio. Kevin McCaughey’s English Teachers Everywhere If you like Kevin’s site, please drop him an email and let him know! ESL Pod CardsThere you can find information listenings about famous cities or famous people with their biographies as well as the transcripts, duration of the listening piece and worksheets to work with them. English as Second Language podcast ESLPod.com is run by a team of experienced English as a Second Language professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience. Dr. Lucy Tse writes scripts and story ideas for the podcasts, and records many of the dialogs and stories. The host for the podcast is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, who helps read the scripts and provides explanations for them. More than just words. This particular link is a particularly interesting one and its authors mentioned that it was completely free and they wanted as many students to use it as possible as they are collecting research data through it. Storynory Free Audio Stories It’s a wonderful collection of children’s stories, called Storynory: Open Culture offers podcasts in many different languages and at different levels, and I guess it will be useful for those who teach languages other than English too. I tried some recordings in French and they were very interesting. This I Believe offers audio and the script. I hope you like it. Organisations (4) Poets.org the site where American poets read their own poetry. Listen to English. Here you’ll find most varieties of English on different topics. At Watch and Listen you can watch BBC shows that come with a tapescript and a note on vocabulary. At MP3 Downloading and Podcasting the BBC gives full details of the podcasts it is making available and how to download them or to subscribe to the recordings as podcasts. Most of these recordings are only available for up to a month after the date of broadcasting. The page also gives a brief description of the contents of each series. For advanced work (and personal enjoyment) I find most of these broadcasts excellent. They are not teaching materials, certainly not language teaching materials – they are about politics and the arts and life around the globe. But as listening material they are hard to better. You can listen to them on your PC or on an MP3 player OM audio: Free Online Conversations At Agenda web they have classified exercises by matter and language level. They all belong to other sites. The good thing about this site is that they have classified it for fast choice and delivery. Yapper:HYPERLINK “http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Welcome.action” The premier community for English learners where you can Watch Fun Videos Meet People Improve Your English Contribute Contributing to the yappr.com community is an excellent way to improve the site for everyone while practicing your English. You can already edit translations; very soon you will be able to post, transcribe and translate videos yourself. Just click on a video to get started. www.eflvideos.com is part of the Better@English group of English language learning websites. This company collects the best ESL, EFL, and ELT videos to help you learn English. The videos are organised by language levels. Recently added and not classified yet http://potatopals.podomatic.com/ Carla’s Listening plus at Ning. A nice space where participants leave their own messages on a presentation. This podcast is for native speakers of English, but it is great fun.http://www.thewordnerds.org Itesl for language teachers have published a whole page of links to recent podcasts some individuals or teachers are creating for the practice of EFL listening comprehension. here is their list.