The English Blog

TEFLVideos.com: Training Videos for TEFL Teachers

What they say 
“Need a grammar lesson by tomorrow? Want to use games in your classes? Having a problem with disruptive students? TEFLVideos.com has it covered! Each video provides practical, how-to instructions on designing and executing activities in the classroom. A professional teacher guides you through the planning step by step, and then demonstrates it with real students so you can see it in practice-not just theory. 

And the best part? It's all conveniently available online! No matter where you are or when you want to watch, TEFLVideos.com has what you need, TEFLVideos.com has a full library of over 100 videos—and growing! We also offer live TEFL broadcasts where you can ask questions to teachers, trainers, and other industry professionals with our interactive chat feature!”

What I think

I liked TEFLVideos.com.The videos are well-produced (unlike much of the stuff you find on YouTube) and provide practical ideas which any TEFL teacher could use in the classroom. Being able to see the activities and techniques being used with students in class makes all the difference. Categories include Games & Activities, Grammar, Listening, Reading, Speaking, Teaching Techniques, Vocabulary and Writing. 

What it costs
$95 for a one-year subscription or $195 for a lifetime subscription. That may seem a lot, but I can imagine that schools and TEFL training institutions would find the investment worthwhile. In any case, you can judge for yourself—10 videos in different categories are available for free viewing on the site.

What could be improved
1. Many of the activities use worksheets, maps, game cards, etc. It would be great if these could be downloaded from the site.
2. The classes featured all seem to be small (8 students max.), mixed nationality groups. It would be interesting to have some tips on teaching larger, monolingual classes.

  

Apostrophes abolished by council

Birmingham City Council has dropped apostrophes from its street signs because its staff spend too much time dealing with complaints about grammar. BBC News reports:

A council has been criticised after announcing apostrophes should not feature on its road signs.

Birmingham City Council said it would cost too much to change signs referring to areas such as Kings Norton, Druids Heath and St Pauls Square.

But it was accused of "dumbing down" by the Apostrophe Protection Society.

Councillor Martin Mullaney said the authority had consulted with the Plain English Society and Plain Language Commission before taking its decision.

He said on his blog: "We are constantly getting residents asking for apostrophes to be put back in and as a council we have got to make a decision one way or another. Read full article >>

Comment: As Britain enters its worst recession for decades, it's somehow reassuring to know that punctuation is still a subject that arouses passions. Lynn Truss was unavailable for comment.

The Sun's New Political Cartoonist

The Sun has appointed a political cartoonist. His name is Andy Davey and you can see a sample of his work above. The cartoon shows Business Secretary Peter Mandelson as a petrol pump attendant filling UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's "Eco-Car" with petrol. The context is the UK government's decision to provide a support package for the UK car industry potentially worth up to £2.3bn (the amount shown on the petrol pump). In his speech, Lord Mandelson said, "This industry is not a lame duck and this is no bail out." Not everyone will agree!

Notes

1. Gordon Brown's surname is spelt "Broon" on the car. This is to reflect his Scottish accent.
2. In the US, they don't say "petrol", they say "gas".

CNN Video: Obama's New Blackberry

President Obama's new PDA has a secret side, as CNN's Brian Todd reports:

Transcript

TODD (voice-over): It's official. The new president won't have to kick his tech habit.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends.

TODD: A group that White House officials indicate will be very limited. Published reports say the president's new device could be the Sectera Edge made by General Dynamics. It's not available to the public, and the company says the $3,300 portable has to be approved by the National Security Agency before government officials can use it. Why?

A General Dynamics official took us through the capabilities of this personal digital assistant or PDA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an unclassified PDA that can go out to a Web site like weather.com or checklight (ph) and then with one push of a button you switch over to a classified PDA, which would allow you to access secret e-mail or secret Web sites.

TODD: Phone calls are made by pressing that telephone button. But hit the button for the red background and it's a top secret phone call. We e-mailed the NSA asking whether it approved the Sectera Edge for Mr. Obama's use. The agency referred us to the White House which wouldn't say which device the president has. But Press Secretary Robert Gibbs did talk about why the president feels he should have a portable device?

GIBBS: He believes it's a way of keeping in touch with folks, a way of doing it outside of getting stuck in a bubble.

Comments: Obama's new PDA has already been nicknamed the "BarackBerry".

Words in the News: P45

In this cartoon by Matt from the Daily Telegraph, we see a man arriving home from work. He's carrying his briefcase in one hand and in the other he's holding a P45. He is greeted by his wife, who is holding a newspaper with the headline "Debt Crisis". The man is saying "Great news! I'm no longer a taxpayer."

Notes
P45 is the reference code for the form issued by the employer when an employee leaves. The P45 contains details of earnings and tax paid during the tax year. (The equivalent in the United States is a pink slip.) We are meant to assume that the man has lost his job due to the economic crisis (the cartoonist probably used the word "debt" because it's shorter). His comment about not being a taxpayer is ironic—he won't be paying tax because he no longer has a job!

Links
• P45 - details of an employee leaving work (Business Link)

• Download example of P45 form

CNN Student News: January 29th

 

Here's the CNN Student News for January 29th. Click on the links to view a transcript.

• Stimulus Vote - Discover how the House voted on President Obama's economic stimulus plan.
• Infrastructure Report - Hear why America's infrastructure earned low grades from civil engineers.
• The Athlete's Brain - Explore new research on the consequences of concussions for athletes.

CNN Student News: 10 Questions

BBC Learning English Support Material

In this section of the award-winning BBC Learning English site you will find a range of materials that you can download and print off to help you study and learn English. There are two areas so far, but look out for further additions in the future. 

• Study Guides - Ten PDF guides on different ways to help you improve your English
• Worksheets - Two PDF booklets with many pages of worksheets, complete with answers  

Comments: For some reason the link to these resources is not available on the BBC Learning English home page. This seems strange as there's some fantastic material here.

Video: Mobile Translation Devices

The Daily Telegraph's Christopher Middleton went on the streets to test two devices that can speak a foreign language.

Comments:  The accompanying article on Telegraph.co.uk gives details of the two devices featured in the video. I don't think they'll be replacing teachers quite yet.

An Ad for Chewing Gum?

This is one of those ads which is not quite what it seems. Stop the clip before the end—around the 53s mark—and try and guess what the ad is for. 

Lesson idea: Do the same with your students, and then discuss how effective the ad is.


Transcript

Me? Who do I know? Let me tell you my friend, it's easier to ask who I don't know. You see, I'm a people person. I love them. Guys, girls, dropouts, high-rollers, waifs, strays, round or square. Whether you got a nickel or a hundred in your pocket, I'm yours for keeps. You're my kind of guy—or gal. I'm not prejudiced or racist; I'm that rare breed—I take people as they come. Can you hear me? Taste me? Bar room brawler, prom queen. I ain't leavin'. Brother, sister, I'm stayin' for good.

The Best Job in the World

The Tourism Board of Queensland in Australia is looking for a "Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef." The job pays $100,000 U.S. for 6 months of whale watching, pool cleaning—and blogging. I'm tempted to apply myself ... This CNN video gives the lowdown.

Transcript 

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wanted: One island caretaker of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Pay: $100,000 U.S. for 6 months of watching whales, feeding turtles or whatever else you'd like to do on a tropical island. Oh, you might have to clean the pool at the beachfront, three-bedroom luxury house that comes with this package. And all you have to do is write a weekly blog for the Tourism Board of Queensland about your island experience. So, is it a job too good to be true?

MAN ON THE STREET: You get a three-bedroom luxury apartment with a swimming pool and 73,000 pounds a year.

MAN ON THE STREET: That can't be right. There’s gotta be a catch somewhere.

WOMAN ON THE STREET: Sounds like a good job. I should go bikini hunting straight away.

SHUBERT: Tourism Queensland insists there's no catch, just, quote, "the best job in the world." Others might call it a publicity stunt for Australian tourism, but one that just might work.

JANE NICHOLSON, REGIONAL MANAGER, TOURISM QUEENSLAND: Word of mouth is really important now. You need to hear from fellow travellers what a destination is really like. So, what better way than to create a job to allow someone to do that? They need to be over 18; they have to be able to swim. And apart from that, it's open to anybody.

SHUBERT: The land down under has been hit hard by the credit crunch. Tourism Research Australia says tourist numbers could fall by 4% this year, especially from mainstay markets like the UK. So, will the "best job in the world" spark new interest? Well so far, so good. On opening day, the Web site has been flooded with about 33 hits per second. All applicants have to do is submit a 60-second video to this Web site, islandreefjob.com, explaining why they are the perfect candidate to be island caretaker. It's very tempting.

SHUBERT: Eleven lucky finalists will be flown to Australia for a final round of interviews before an island caretaker is chosen. Twenty-six-year-old Louise Cryan saw it in the paper on Monday morning and immediately called up, one of the first to apply.

LOUISE CRYAN, APPLICANT: It's actually a real job, so that's amazing. I just thought, what a great place to go and spend 6 months. Looked out of the window; it's such a grey and miserable day, so who wouldn't want to go?

SHUBERT: So, rainy London versus sunny Australia in the middle of a credit crunch? What would you choose?

MAN ON THE STREET: For me, with everything that's going on in my life, it couldn't come at a better time.

SHUBERT: Better get your applications in. The deadline for the best job in the world is February 22nd. Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

Comments
When I read about this story in the press, I thought it would make a great subject for a lesson. That was a couple of weeks ago, and I've now had time to put together some materials. In this Word file you will find the video transcript, an English-French glossary, a video worksheet, a website scavenger hunt and a job interview activity.

Lesson ideas
You can use this subject in many different ways. Here are a few suggestions:

• students produce a 60-second video job application (there's nothing to stop them applying for the job for real). You can watch other candidates' videos here. 

• students hold interviews for the job (see my lesson materials for one suggestion).

• students write a letter of application for the job. 

• use the story as a marketing case study (the job is really just a way of promoting tourism in Queensland!)

Links

• www.islandreefjob.com (the site that started it all)
• YouTube video 1 (Great Barrier Reef showcase)

• YouTube video 2 ("official" Best Job in the World video)

• MailOnline article

• BBC article (with advice on how to land the job)

• What the campaign did for Queensland (website stats)

CNN Video: British Pubs Suffering

Dozens of British pubs are closing each week due to the credit crunch. ITN's James Blake reports.

Articles
• Record six pubs closing every day due to economic downturn (Telegraph)
• Pubs 'face mass closure threat' (BBC - with video)

Comment: Pubs are such an integral part of the British way of life, it's really sad to see them disappearing. I just hope that when I go back to the UK for my annual visit in the summer, my "local" will still be open!

Cartoon: Skiing Accident in Davos

Global political leaders and business people are gathering for the annual World Economic Forum, which is due to start today in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. To mark the event, Schrank has drawn a cartoon in The Independent showing the world as a skier going off the edge of a cliff. An onlooker remarks: "I kept telling him not to go off-piste".

Commentary: "Off-piste skiing" typically refers to any skiing away from controlled trails and slopes. The inference is that by straying from tried and tested (economic) models and taking too many risks, the world (economy) has lost control and is now plunging into the void. 

Davos Resources

• Q&A: World Economic Forum 2009 (BBC News)

• A beginners' guide to Davos (BBC News)

CNN Student News: January 28th

Here is the CNN Student News for January 28th. Click on the links to see a transcript.

• Meeting on the Hill - Learn about a sort of "first date" between President Obama and GOP leaders.
• A Money Matter - Explore the pros and pork included in a massive, economic stimulus proposal.
• Fewer Teens Working - Hear experts' concerns that the value of work could be lost among some teens.

CNN Student News: 10 Questions

Savage Chickens Cartoon: Econocalypse

Comments: It's not always possible to trace the first use of a new word, but "econocalype" (economy + apocalypse) was coined by Jonathan Chevreau in an article entitled "Rosenberg's four horsemen of the Econocalypse", posted on June 10th 2008:

Rosenberg's four economic horsemen are asset deflation, food and energy inflation, declining employment and contracting credit availability. He hasn't to my knowledge actually used the term "Econocalypse" since I just made it up (and there was no Google match though there may well be after this blog post). But if the shoe fits... Read full article >>

A Google search today returned 467 results for "econocalypse", which suggests that it's not going to catch on. I can't say I'm surprised—it's too difficult to say. Just try it!

How Britain Lost Its Way

After three years in Britain, French journalist Jacques Monin has come to the conclusion that the British are obsessed with money, drowning in debt and morally bankrupt. In this article from The Guardian, he examines where it all went wrong:

If I had to choose a single image that, for me, represents Britain today, it would not be a phone box or a postbox. It wouldn't even be a double-decker bus. It would be a simple briefcase. A battered red one, the one the chancellor of the exchequer likes to brandish triumphantly in front of the television cameras when he leaves his residence at Number 11, Downing Street every budget day. It sums up, all by itself, the way this country now thinks. 

The key words, the only words that really matter in Britain, are money, business, interest rates, profit, consumer spending, "good for the economy". I still do not understand why it is impossible, in this country, to talk about someone without mentioning their salary, the cost of their car, the value of their house. Even if you're talking about health, about a humanitarian act, it's in the context of cost. You have forgotten, it seems to me, that what matters is who you are and what you do. Not how much you cost. Read full article >>

Comment: It's just as well I moved to France then ...