Not more homework…

As you know, the internet offers a wide array of resources. Actually, sometimes I feel overwhelmed myself, unable to handle  so much information, so many recommended links, sites that are worth a visit, browsing through endless pages to find out whether they might be useful for students. Sometimes you find something interesting but the design of the page puts you off a bit, not being very user-friendly or confusing to navitage. And you know too well that one thing leads to another, one link opens up another new link that opens up a new link that opens up a new link, over and over again. I could spend aeons on the internet but even though I recommended hundreds of sites I think you’d still have the same problem as me and you couldn’t make up your mind what to do or you couldn’t find the time to do so.

I know I haven’t updated this site lately and I should have, but sometimes honestly I can’t cope with all the things I’d like to do or look for, and then some of the things I get involved in are neglected. Sorry for that. To make up for it, here’s a new entry which sums up a lot of the things I could have done in the meantime. This is a short list of recommended sites that I find useful, interesting, user-friendly, with endless activities to get you engaged and different skills to practice. Instead of concentrating on only one skill I’ve gone for a more general kind of site, where you can practice all of the skills. So basically it’s resources in general, not specifically about only reading or listening or writing. You’ll find phrasal verbs, quizzes, videos, grammar explanations, vocabulary activities, language games and…more links, of course.

Let’s get started then- Just click on the sites icons captures and you’ll be referred to them. Enjoy!

So, podcasts podcasts… You’ve listened to three or four different podcasts by now, even though you didn’t know that it was a podcast. Let me see… the one at   CuLips about the idiom ‘to bite off more than you can chew’, the BBC one about the balloon boy hoax, the Listen To English one about ‘mobile phones ringtones’, the example of TED talks, which is a video podcast, and an excerpt of the CNN Daily News about the woman who’d passed out leaving her two kids at the back of the car. If you were in my classes last year you know by now what a podcast is and probably (hopefully) you sometimes listen to a few or you are even subscribed to your favourite ones. If you still don’t understand what a podcast is, here’s the explanation: the word podcast is a portmanteau -some people think- of the words ipod (Apple’s sleek mp3 player) and cast, from broadcasting.  Some others, however, claim that’s wrong and podcast comes from the acronym p.o.d. (public on demand) + cast. A podcast is…well, you’d rather watch this video to find out.

Where can you find the podcasts? Probably the best way to download, subscribe to and manage episodes is iTunes. If you are experiencing problems or you’re not exactly what I’d call tech-freak, watch it here for troubleshooting.

If you want to browse through the wide array of podcasts available to you, once you’ve downloaded and installed iTunes, go to the Podcasts directory and search for the category you’re after. Choose one episode of a podcast to download the programme or listen to the episodes in streaming and, if you really like it so much, subscribe. For subscriptions, you mainly have two options, either subscribe via iTunes or using your RSS feed reader. If you still have problems, let’s face it, you’re a bit clumsy and state-of-the-art technology is not for you. Buy a transistor radio instead (don’t take it personally ) Anyway, now seriously, do not hesitate to ask your teacher if you can’t make head nor tail of it and you’re stuck.

What do you have to do now? Just to test how well you did it, as an example I want you to watch one episode of the Larry King Show podcast for next week and tell your partners about what it was all about and if it was too difficult. Do not feel disappointed if it happens to be so, you have to think that some of the podcasts are programmes for native speakers!

And last year we started dealing with podcasts and students suggested a few they’d been listening to and gave some information like whether it had been any interesting, difficult, easy to understand, if the podcast provided students or listeners with the transcript, how often it was updated and things like that. So I got a list of podcasts and then chose a few of the best ones, in your opinion-

-Listen to English
-6 minute English
-English as a Second Language
-Breaking News English
-Talk about English
-Business English Pod

Plus a few of my suggestions:

Also, last year I surveyed what were the chances of having a podcast but unfortunately it didn’t come off. Not because you just couldn’t be bothered but because I wasn’t able to think how I was going to organize the recording sessions while in the classroom, the post-editing and that. Anyway, I got some very interesting ideas about what the contents might be and I made up my mind that one day we would have our very own podcast, and I warned you that if I was to be your teacher you would be in for trouble, as our classroom-made podcast this year is going to be top-notch! We will be discussing ideas in the following classes. Get ready!

That’s all, peas in the pod. Do you remember what this idiom meant? Like peas in a pod…

It’s TED, not Ted. Ted talks doesn’t mean that a person called like that speaks. Actually, I don’t even know if it stands for something, I reckon it’s probably an acronym. I’ve been listening to some of these lectures for a few years. I stumbled upon one excerpt featured in another video podcast, got interested and found out about the source.

The first talk I listened to was awesome, very inspiring and exhilarating, by Sir Ken Robinson, especially if you happen to be a teacher you’ll love it. I have to admit that after that, the thrill has gone a bit as sometimes the lectures drone on an on unless you’re a fanatic or are really into, say computer engineering, or advertising, or anthropology or whatever. But there are still some very good lectures. I think it all depends what your field of expertise is.
Talks are normally about-25-minute- long videos, but there are as short as 5 minutes too. If you go to the original source, the TED page has got a stunning collection in the archives. A new, brilliant feature for students is that now some of the lectures have subtitles available in different languages, and the so-called ‘interactive script’ displays a column with the complete transcript.
Of course you can follow the lectures with your RSS feed reader. Look out for the symbol. Besides TED talks are also edited as a video podcast, so you can easily subscribe to it via iTunes.

To see what I’m talking about, watch this short lecture about the ways sound affect us, then activate the subtitles (in English) or open the interactive transcript should you have any difficulties to understand.

Check it out.
See you.

Some of you might be interested in getting the Cambridge FCE (First Certificate of English) or perhaps you’re planning to study (this goes for young people) at a university abroad and you’re required a certain number of points in the TOEFL exam. As some students asked me for information, here’s a few links that will be of interest for you.

For a general overview of the type of exams by Cambridge, visit this guide. If you want some resources for students, check this page. Specifically some more details about the First Certificate Exam, then, click on this link. Also, I have uploaded into my ‘cloud’ as a sample the complete set of the June 2006 FCE exam, with the written exam and the listenings in mp3 format (download part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 here). If you want to test yourself…

For those who are still studying at university and want to go abroad, some things about the TOEFL exam: If you’re asking about how to register to do the exam, the best thing is to ask for information in the “Centro Superior de Idiomas” at the UPNA, as they usually hold exams there every month or so. By the way, give my regards to whoever you talk to, I used to work there… (and then I used to crack the same joke, ‘there’s CSI Las Vegas, CSI Miami…I work for CSI Pamplona, you don’t believe me? Centro Superior de Idiomas’) Here’s a brochure with tips and very thorough information about the exam, it is the only thing I could get hold of, I wasn’t able to find any exams in my archives. However, make sure that you don’t need now the ELAO (efficient language assessment online, apparently) instead. I remember that at the CSI there used to be some exams as a sample for students, so ask at the administration desk there. Sorry for not providing you with any exams.

Hope it all helps!

RSS reading

So, do you RSS or not? RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed readers and news aggregators let you follow news and blogs easily, comfortably and efficiently in a dedicated program, on a web site or in your email program. Here are a few readers to help you choose the best program for your needs. If you use Windows, I’d definitely go for Google Reader. You’ve got a guided tour if you still don’t understand what the heck we’re talking about. Optionally, I recommend Bloglines. In the unlikely case that you’re a Mac user, it’s obvious: then NetNewsWire is for you, or else Google Reader.

You can now get your favourite blogs entries, newspapers or magazine articles delivered into your computer, then organize them into folders, read whatever you’re keen on and delete the ones which were rather boring. No need to go through the literally hundreds and hundreds of entries you will get but flicking through the headlines will give you an overview and then you choose what to read.

Also, if you haven’t noticed, there’s an RSS icon on the top right hand-side of the blog notmorehomework and then two options- entries and comments. Why don’t you suscribe with your brand new RSS feed reader and then be the first to get hold of the new blogposts? You’ll avoid the hassle of having to check if I posted something on the blog.

Still difficult? Try watching this screencast and see if you can figure out how to work with it.

Right, I hope you can RSS from now on, or else you might go through something quite like this:

Ok, even though it seems we’ve just started, time flies and if you want to make the most of it I should start with tons and tons of links I have for you. Just to test the new blog the other     day I used this link on the sidebar, but I’m going to go a bit more deeply into it. This is a website I came across a few years ago. If you are one of my former students you might as well skip the introduction as you probably know about it and perhaps you have even used a great deal of the listenings offered. Well done.

The page is called elllo (it stands for English Language Listening Laboratory Online) and offers a wide array of listenings, ranging from interviews to listening games. It is probably the best website for improving your listening skills. It’s updated regularly -it used to be every Monday, I don’t know if it’s on Tuesday now, but anyway every week- and it’s got an archive of over 950 listenings. You can get the listening itself, plus the transcript, choose if you want to do the slide quiz, then you get recorded explanations of the difficult vocabulary, sometimes there are videoresponses to the topic, and there are different sections, news, the mixer…you can also search speakers by nationality if you specifically want to improve your, say, Welsh accent because you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to live abroad, and a fantastic thing is that you can search by topic so if you type anything we’re dealing with in the lessons you will be referred to a list with listenings about that topic.

In short, a great webpage for you to do, literally, hundreds and hundreds of listenings. Some of them might be a bit too easy for you but some are not, so just skip the easy ones and go for the hard ones. Practice makes perfect. Enjoy.

Hello students! Welcome to Avanzado 2!
Just like last year, holidays are over, long gone actually, as we’re starting classes in the first week of October! You don’t even feel miserable anymore, you’ve probably got used to the daily grind. Anyway,  you’re starting classes again and quite honestly I’m really eager to start, I’ve got a bucketful of ideas that you’ll soon be familiar with. I’ll try and manage to put my ideas across in the first classes, especially if you’re in that semi-presential course.

I tried to look for some funny stuff but it just didn’t come off. Nothing much really. It seems that I got the funniest videos last year. For new students then,  as you can see here pronunciation could even save your life. Or perhaps make you famous for your catastrophic English… However absurd it may sound, some people don’t realise they can speak English!

What do you have to do? Nothing…yet. But, alas, don’t despair-you’ll have plenty of homework this year, despite the intriguing title of the blog. Not more homework? Laughing my head off- well, this is going to be more homework indeed. You wait and see.
That’s all for now. See you!