Sunday, April 27, 2008

Sites with general ESL listening activities

This information will help students find quickly resources in English for their listening skills - SAT's, TOEFL, ESL classes, IELTS etc

  • BBC World Service - Learning Zone Home Page --
    This site has changed recently, but it's still great for ESL.
    You'll have to look around for the listening activities, but they're there.

  • Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
    --Lots of great Real Audio quizzes good for all levels. Also, there is material for academic listening as well as a few videos.

  • ESL Wonderland--One of Holly's favourite sites. Kent Trickel delivers a complete package--prelistening and vocabulary, teaching tips, etc.

  • The English Listening Lounge
    -- This is commercial, and there are areas that are available only by subscription, but the free quizzes are quite good.

  • About.com--There's a lot here. It's got a wide range of accents, and there are
    activities suitable for all levels.

Sites with Authentic Materials

Interviews and news

Weather

Radio Drama
  • Shoe String Radio Theater --
    has a lot of short 5 minute audio scenes in real media format.
  • The Mercury Theater on the Air --
    This fabulous site includes Real Audio of famous radio plays produced by the Mercury Theater. It includes the original 1938 Broadcast of "The War of the Worlds." You will need to download a special font plug-in to view it.
  • Old Timer Radio --
    has audio of old radio programs organized by genre.
  • One Act Plays --
    by a non-profit group called the One Act Players.

Speeches

Film and TV

Songs

Poetry

  • The Academy of American Poets --
    Archive of Poetry with both text & audio usually read by the author).

  • The Favourite Poem Project
    Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's ambitious audio/video project asks Americans to record their favourite poems. Here are videos of 50 Americans reading their favourite poems. Wow! What a great site. Listen to many different Americans and different regional accents. Learn why they love these poems.

  • Harper Audio -- Poetry read by the authors or by famous actors. Available in several formats.

Educational Video

  • BrainPop--This site is aimed at kids, but the science related animations have real possibilities for the ESL classroom.

Commercials

Sites for pronunciation


    This information page brought to you by Sharon Widmayer and Holly Gray. For more information, please e-mail  Feedback@soundsofenglish.org

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