Рубрика: Lynn’s BLOG

Hello! My name is Lynn Jacobsen and I am an English teacher in Moscow, Russia at the Russian Language Institute (RALI). One of my passions is finding relevant ways to make English real and useful through creative resources and media.

Read Listen Learn

Website review

Reading is one of the four main skills that learners of English need to improve (the others being Listening, Speaking, and Writing), but it’s not always easy to find interesting reading material at the right level.

Most of the main EFL publishers have a range of graded readers (see here and here, for example), but they are usually physical books and not available in digital form (plus you have to pay for them). Which is where Read Listen Learn comes in …

Read Listen Learn is a free website that offers digital graded readers for English teachers and learners. There are over 180 readers and they come in two forms: short stories adapted from works by over 50 authors, and articles on history, science, crime, sport and more. The readers are graded at 5 different levels for English learners and they all come with audio versions, so you can listen while you read.   And once you have registered (using Facebook), you can create your own personal library of readers.

Each article also includes a list of vocabulary that is located to the right side of the story.

All the English language gurus say that watching films in English is a great way to improve your English, right? I agree with the “gurus” but not ALL films are a good use of your time and energy. In fact, there are some films that are much better than others.

One of my favorites is Forrest Gump, with Tom Hanks. My number one reason for choosing this film is Forrest Gump’s style of speech. He speaks very slowly and uses basic vocabulary that almost everyone will understand. And in addition, other characters in the film speak in the same way when they are speaking to Forrest, due to his slower mental abilities.

However, this style of speech doesn’t make the film boring. It just adds to the character and charm of the film and pulls you into Forrest Gump’s world.

There is another element that I love about this film.

Even though it doesn’t have a clear plot or story line, the film takes you on a tour of modern American history, through Forrest’s eyes. In the film, Forrest experiences some of the major events of the 20 th century, first hand*, including the Viet Nam War and the Civil Rights movement. The film even shows several original news reel clips of these times, but with Forrest Gump now in the middle of the scene, thanks to special effects.

On the other hand, Forrest Gump is a long film – 2 hours and 22 minutes. However, that doesn’t cause my students to lose interest. We usually watch it in two or three segments, which gives us time for discussion and a popcorn break or two!

Sometimes films are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. But in the case of Forrest Gump, there is nothing to worry about!

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*to be there at the time of an event, to see it and experience it yourself

Hello! My name is Lynn Jacobsen and I am an English teacher in Moscow, Russia at the Russian Language Institute (RALI). One of my passions is finding relevant ways to make English real and useful through creative resources and media.

Website review

You know the routine….free newspaper!…free! ….free! And… 3 clicks later you can no longer read without paying.

I was looking for a free newspaper that was easy to understand and found The Times in Plain English that was advertised as “free” and decided to give it a try.

The Times in Plain English is a newspaper written with the (pre-intermediate and above) English learner in mind. It is a daily newspaper that features newspapers from international newspapers such as the New York Times and The Washington Post.

The articles are clear and well edited, and you can find articles on education, global politics, health, law, money and work.

One feature that I find very useful is the audio feature. By highlighting any section of the page and clicking on the audio icon, you can hear the text read aloud. Also, there is a translation available for a number of languages.

The Times in Plain English is a newspaper written with the (pre-intermediate and above) English learner in mind. It is a daily newspaper that features newspapers from international newspapers such as the New York Times and The Washington Post.

The articles are clear and well edited, and you can find articles on education, global politics, health, law, money and work.

One feature that I find very useful is the audio feature. By highlighting any section of the page and clicking on the audio icon, you can hear the text read aloud. Also, there is a translation available for a number of languages.

(By Lynn Jacobsen)