Fluency Trick - Try the One-Two-Three Punch (Guest Lesson)

I’m excited to share a special guest lesson on the blog today! This lesson was created by Todd Beuckens, who has been an ESL teacher for 25 years. He created the website elllo.org to provide free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.

Todd offers a fresh approach to listening, fluency, and pronunciation with this engaging activity, and I hope you find it useful. Enjoy the lesson (click the link below), and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Fluency Trick -- Try the One-Two-Three Punch!

elllo.org - a fun, valuable learning resource

 

You’re busy, and often it’s difficult to find time to study English. Don't worry. If you can dedicate a very small amount of time every day to English, it will lead to great improvements overall.

I suggest 15 minutes minimum per day as ideal. You will definitely notice a significant impact by doing this versus studying in one 2-hour session per week, for example.

Suggested 15-minute study guide:  

1. Spend at least five minutes reviewing your notes. The more repetition and studying of notes, the better. Things will become more familiar, natural, and easier. 
2. Ok, ten minutes remaining? This website has something for everyone: elllo.org (English language Listening Lab Online). I use it almost every day with my English students and here’s why: 

• The site contains over 3000 short, free listening activities. 
• There are different language levels, from beginner to advanced. 
• The featured speakers come from all over the world, so you are exposed to different cultures, viewpoints, and accents. You can filter a specific country if you want. 
• The topics are extremely diverse and entertaining.
• Vocabulary, idioms, and phrasal verbs are incorporated naturally within the text. You can review new words on a separate page (audio notes) if you want; these are short explanations of key terms or interesting language.
• You can test yourself with a quiz that accompanies each activity. 
• People speak in everyday English (not formal text book English). 
• Each listening activity includes the written text if you want to read and follow along with the audio. Some people are better listeners, some are better readers. 
• Don't listen while driving. You can't effectively study this way.

I’m enthusiastic about Elllo.org. Try it for 15 minutes a day, every day, and see how naturally your English skills grow. 

The Benefits of Captions

 

Captions are the text that appear on videos, and they are a very powerful learning tool in many ways. (You can make captions appear by clicking the CC button on videos.)  

How can your English improve by using captions? According to elllo.org, there are many ways: 

Listening: When you access the captions, it is easier to see what people are saying. This makes listening more fun and you can catch more words.

Pronunciation: As you read captions, you can see how words are stressed, linked together and reduced.

Reading: Have you ever heard that when parents read to their children, they develop better language skills? It is true for you too. Captions help you develop faster as a language learner.

Speaking: Perhaps the greatest benefit of captions is that you can try to say what you read. For example, read the captions out loud with the volume off. This is a fun way to see if you can speak at the same speed as the speakers in the videos.

Try reading the captions in this video featuring Cheryl, who describes the best things about Guam: https://elllo.org/video/1451/1454-Cheryl-Guam.html