Listening activities

Understanding oral English may be the most difficult activity for students. So, here is an interesting proposal to develop this skill "Lyrics Training" website where you will be able to fill in gaps and enjoy music and a video at the same time. 

"Lyrics Training is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills like English through the music and lyrics of the songs."

 

Once you have chosen the song you want to listen to, select the "game mode" : beginner, intermediate or expert. 

Then a new window will appear with a YouTube video + incomplete lyrics. The picture below shows the song "My Heart Will Go On" from the movie Titanic ( it is so romantic!!! )

You have to fill in the blanks while you are listening to the song. You get instructions about how to use the tool and/or get hints to fill in the gaps by clicking on HELP (see picture below)

You can do the listening activity as many times as necessary. Remember: if you get a high scoring doing the beginner level, you can step to intermediate or experienced!

Activity  Go to http://www.lyricstraining.com/index.php, choose a song, do the fill in the gaps activity at the different levels, then tell us in comments : 

• Which song you chose 
• The reason for doing so
• Which was the level you felt more comfortable (beginner, intermediate, expert) 
• What  your opinion of this listening practise is 

Deadline: September 21st

I hope you like the proposal. See you soon, Nelba

Weird, or just different?

TED stands for technology, entertainment and design. It brings together the most fascinating thinkers and doers who are challenged to give a talk in only 18 minutes o less.

In this opportunity, I have chosen the following video

Task 1 (easy): Watch it

Task 2 (a little demanding): discuss about the topic presented in the video with your partner and take notes about your ideas. Then write a short paragraph about the topic and your opinion. You can read the comments left by other viewers to pick up ideas and/or vocabulary.

Task 3 (more demanding but not imossible):

Let’s test your reading skills! Pay attention to the website and find out the answers to the following questions and write them in comments:

- What is the speaker’s name? Why do you think he is so special to be invited to TED?

- Can you get the script of the video? How?

- How can you share this video with your cyber friends? Can you publish it in any social network? Which one/s?

-Who can add comments?

-What does the speaker says about Chinese doctors?

Task 4 (take your time) : Look for another video to recommend and share with your partners :)