'Real English' utilizing AUTHENTIC and NATURAL ESL videos!

Today I received a letter from Mike at 'Real English' a wonderful resources especially for the summer and those long days when you could be practicing your English skills.

The site describes its self as "Welcome to Real English, the Web's only online ESL site that utilizes authentic and natural ESL videos of people speaking real English on streets across the globe. Designed for individuals learning English, as well as for teachers and institutions, Real English offers unique ESL educational services, including a free subscription to for beginners, and unlimited chat with our teachers, for subscribers."

I ran through many of the pages and discovered a real TREASURE TROVE of materials for students,  teachers, parents, business people and ANYONE who needs to know how to speak REAL English not with a fake accent or using phrases that went out of date during the 'Flower Power' days - sorry - most reading this will just know of that as a chapter in the history book. But this site develops YOUR English so that YOU will be understood.

Give it a try, see what you think. I honestly recommend it to you for this summer and once started you will be hooked!

"This site combines ESL grammar and functions with the spontaneity provided by the people we meet casually during our filming campaigns. You will not find any actors here. All of our clips are based on people being themselves, speaking naturally and spontaneously, just like in the situations which learners will deal with when their training is finished, when they travel to English-speaking countries, or when they welcome English speakers into their homes and offices.

Most of our videos are based on targeted grammar structures, providing an anchor and a counterpoint to the spontaneity of street video. This unique approach is greatly appreciated by teachers who have been using traditional materials and videos, which present us with actors speaking slowly and distinctly, as if the real world were slow and distinct. The traditional shock of migrating from "classroom English" to real English is built into the method itself, providing our students with a head start, enabling them to learn in a reality-based environment."

Let us know how you get on!

Scribd - Useful Resources

Scribd claims to be the world's largest document sharing community and I have personally found everything from exam papers to study guides and presentations there. Here is their description of what they offer:

You will need to register - it is free and then -  here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Scribd works best when you share your documents! Publish now via our Upload page
• Scribd supports the following formats
  • Adobe PDF (.PDF)
  • Adobe PostScript (.Ps)
  • Microsoft Word (.doc)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps)
  • Microsoft Excel (.xls)
  • OpenOffice Text Document (.odt, .sxw)
  • OpenOffice Presentation Document (.odp, .sxi)
  • OpenOffice Spreadsheet (.ods, .sxc)
  • All OpenDocument formats
  • StarOffice Documents
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Rich text format (.rtf)
• Find interesting documents by category, by topic group, by searching, or just browse what's new!
• Fill out your profile and get to know other members of the Scribd community
• See notifications about your content or check your inbox for messages from other members
• Our document viewer, iPaper, is based on Adobe Flash. Make sure your browser has the latest version of the Flash Player, which is available for free from Adobe.
• Professional publishers and developers should check out the Scribd Platform
• Get the latest announcements and updates at the Scribd Blog!

Have any questions? Click here for answers to our most frequently asked questions or feel free to email me at contact@scribd.com.

TOEFL online Preparation

Check out Online IBT TOEFL Test Preparation Course which delivers a daily-changing stream of TOEFL practice - with sole objective to gain you the TOEFL score you need for college.

Or if you have less time, take their intensive (one-week) TOEFL skills courses covering IBT TOEFL Listening, IBT TOEFL Reading, IBT TOEFL Writing and IBT TOEFL Grammar

Make good use of Get TOEFL's free daily-updated TOEFL essay writing service. At the TWE essay page, a completed essay is instantly scored by our proprietary essay scoring tool and your result is emailed to you. Simply enter your email address, click 'Begin' and write your essay. Remember, topics change at 00.00 GMT every day. (Excellent resource)

Assignment for Week April 15 - 19 (Y 9 A/B and Y 11)

This assignment is for YEAR 9 A and B and YEAR 11 and is to be completed during the week starting Tuesday 15th of April and Ending Saturday 19th of April. The answers are to be handed in on MONDAY 21st April. (Register Grade)

Visit this web site EVERY DAY starting TUESDAY 15th of APRIL. Search for 'Word of the Day' - see diagram. Click on the WORD OF THE DAY(In the SIDE BAR) and find out the meaning. On your paper, write the word and the meaning in a table format.

5 Words = 5 Grade
4 Words = 4 Grade
3 Words = 3 Grade
2 Words = 2 Grade

1 and 0 words = 1 Grade.

Assignment for Week April 14 - 18 (Year 10)

This assignment is for YEAR 10 and is to be completed during the week starting Monday 14th of April and Ending Friday 18th of April. The answers are to be handed in on MONDAY 21st April. (Register Grade)

Visit this web site EVERY DAY starting MONDAY 14th of APRIL. Search for 'Word of the Day' - see diagram. Click on the WORD OF THE DAY and find out the meaning. On your paper, write the word and the meaning in a table format.

5 Words = 5 Grade

4 Words = 4 Grade

3 Words = 3 Grade

2 Words = 2 Grade
1 and 0 words = 1 Grade.

Books to Read

Here is a wonderful presentation on books that has been complied by BreitLinks. I recommend all our students - especially our younger ones to visit this EXCELLENT web site. In the meantime watch the condensed book list below and see how many of these wonderful titles you have read and remember!

If you have not read many of them I suggest you plan a good reading scheme and set forth to discover these valuable literature links.

Compile a list of the books you have read and your recommendations - we will publish it here!

Class Representative

To help keep this web site current and updated each class will have one person who adds and maintains the content relevant to their class as well as myself.

Year 11	Besarta Halili
Year 10A and B	Kristi Tuka
Year 9A	Senka Joti
Year 9B	T.B.A.

 

Thanks to all the students who are participating in this interactive project.

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.