MEMO

Austin, TX, United States
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Friday, November 20, 2009

Things that worked for me in English

We used to have fun with 6 minute English in the beginning of every 2nd lesson. It keeps interest as the topics are very engaging for the most part. They also emphasize the vocabulary, which is wonderful!
Tom Lehrer is also worth mentioning here, since his pronunciation is clear. Humor makes it special too. Check his Pollution too.You won't regret!
This year with my 12y.o. we read and watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There are two versions of the film, both are well-utilized.
Color Idioms is a great source of fun too. It is a part of the BBC Learning English - inexhaustable well for lessons.
I adore Frontline, where you can add subtitles, see scripts and access controversial video from all over the world.
I forgot to mention "The Terminal" - a story of the man, who is stuck in the JFK and knows 2 words of English. Students sympathize with him and interested in his story!
to be continued...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Uncategorised facilitators!

http://www.gramota.ru/ - Unique source in case a student needs to ask a grammar question from a specialist; also find etymology, check spelling, find books. Tongue twisters, games, language conferences, and much more!

T he best possible collection of literary Russian works, starting from 16th. You can also find every book that was published two days ago.

http://library.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx - press display of Russian press. Read today newspapers on-line! They can be used for the scheming-scanning task in class, as well as recourse of authentic and up-to-date target language.

http://music.privet.ru/ - download your favorite Russian music for free!

http://rutube.ru/ - Russian Youtube! Find videos you’ve been looking for and couldn’t find on Youtube.

http://video.yandex.ru/ - similar video finder!

http://www.webtelek.com/ - subscribe to Russian TV online. Watch it for pleasure, develop your listening comprehension, assign your students to watch it, introduce them to the series, that might potentially grab their attention.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_Ru/index.html - The Hermitage! Go and take a virtual tour around one of the most famous museums in the world. Learn the language within the content of art.

http://www.rusflag.ru/ -Learn about the history, symbolism, and current Russian flag

www.anki.com – neat program to learn words

http://slovari.yandex.ru/ -translate back and forth!

http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hotpot/ - an easy way for teachers to create language tasks, like crosswords, gap-filling exercises and more. Explore!

Translit.ru - Check this out!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Teaching Speaking (Russian)

It is widely known that in order to learn to speak you need to actually speak, i.e. communicate. Communication takes two to tango, so it is a little difficult to teach students to speak in a proper sense via the Internet unless in is a distant learning with the use of all up-to-date technology. At same time to support Speaking Classes, these link are a great help!
First phrases in Russian - learn how to say your first words in Russian
Video-Audio Dictionary - this link is for revising, since the pace is so quick, at the same time you can go back and forth
Professionally arranged first phrases -BBC is one of my favourite web-sites for learning English. It also teaches you some Russian. Their professional interface makes it even more likeable.
Hilarious kitsch of Soviet Posters and basic Russian- a very captivating way to revise basic vocabulary.
Let's sing Russian Alphabet - Sing it!
This resource contains a variety of links - an entrance with many chances for practice
Cornell's University Web-site - one of the best and my favorite resources . Contains links to multiple task, film-based are of special interest to me.
Phrases for Speaking - I find this useful too. In a very concise manner phrases are grouped under topics.
News of the week in simple Russian - this is unique project of the GWU Russian Professor Robert Robin, who adapts authentic speech with the help of Audacity. This can serve as a home assignement for follow-up discussion. Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate Level
I hope you all find it useful!