Macmillan Dictionary gadget
What do you think of the Macmillan Dictionary gadget on the right? It provides definitions in English and sample sentences to see the words used in another context. You can even listen to them. If a word you look up is a “red” word, you’ll know it’s one of just 7,500 words that speakers of […]
Podcasts are better than lectures
Students have been handed another excuse to skip class from an unusual quarter. New psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person. Podcasted lectures offer students the chance to replay difficult parts of a lecture and therefore take better […]
Wijng
Wijng is an emerging online platform for learning English, and currently it’s free. I’ve looked at a few of the units, including one on skiffle, that nice music of the 50s, and here are a few thoughts: The makers of this platform are taking existing videos, e.g. on YouTube. These are not skripted or specifically […]
David Crystal: Keep your English up to date
David Crystal has a lovely series of short and amusing talks about words that are popular but not yet in the dictionary, such as “hoodie” and “get a life” and “in your dreams” and “wired” and “gobsmacked” and “clueless” and “wannabe” and “blog”… so all of my favorite words, actually. Includes audio, pdf lesson plan, […]
