BUILDING BIG: Home Page
Explore large structures and what it takes to build them with BUILDING BIG™, a five-part PBS television series and Web site from WGBH Boston. Here are the main features of the site: Bridges, Domes, Skyscrapers, Dams, and Tunnels. The Labs Try your hand at our interactive engineering labs.
Pre A1 Starters preparation
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learning English online - Story of language course - very easy
Use the story of our language course to develop and improve your English comprehension. The coherent story, which is divided into several chapters, guides you along the way. In addition to the text, each chapter offers pre-, while- and post-reading and/or -listening exercises.
ESL Listening Comprehension Exercises: Movie clips to practice English
SECTION 1: Movie Clips Learning through media (movies, music, etc.) is one of the best ways to learn a new language. The exercises below use movie clips to help you to better understand spoken English. Here's what you do: Click on the video you want to watch below.Watch the video, and pay attention to it! (You can pause and rewind the video.)Answer the listening comprehension questions below the video.Check your answers.
How do I get to the zoo?
How do you get to the zoo? Vocabulary I. Choose the proper option. Revision Video
Sherlock Holmes
Wendy: The streets of London are full of history. But not all the famous characters associated with this city were real. More than a hundred years ago when people travelled by horse and cart and the foggy streets were lit by gaslight, one famous detective was leading the fight against crime. It was Victorian London, the time of Sherlock Holmes. The fictional character of Sherlock Holmes has been popular ever since he was created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800s. Since then, Holmes has appeared in many films …Roland Carstairs: Mr Holmes?
Businessenglishpod: Telephoning Howtos, intermediate
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on complaining and getting results over the phone. Few people actually like to complain, but sometimes you just have to. There’s an old saying that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” which means that if you don’t complain, you won’t actually get anything resolved. So if you pay for a product or service and you’re not satisfied, it’s usually best to let the company know. We can complain by email, but email isn’t always powerful enough.
The ESL Commando: Best English Listening Websites
Here is a quick run down of all of my favorite listening websites for English learners. Please be sure to check out my top ESL listening activities here on the ESL Commando too! Enjoy!
Speaking Actvities: Get Speaking task sheets for FCE, CAE, CPE, BEC, IELTS, BULATS
Each week we publish a free, photocopiable Get Speaking Task Sheet. To download and try this week's speaking activities place your cursor over the link below. Right-click (Windows) or hold down the mouse button (Mac OS) and then choose Save Target As from the pop-up menu. In the Save As dialogue box, specify a name and location for the PDF file, and then click Save.
Culture - the fifth language skill
What do we mean by 'culture'? Many teachers quote the Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede’s maxim ‘Software of the Mind’, the subtitle of his 2005 book ‘Cultures and Organisations’. What culture covers is the commonly held traditions, values and ways of behaving of a particular community.
Is the UK the same as Britain, Great Britain and England?
The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. From north to south it is about 1,000 kilometres long. The UK part of Europe and is a member of the European Union (EU). Click here to find out about the Geography of the UK
ESL Web Directory
Business English (180) new Sites specialising in Business English and the language used in professional life, including Document Proofreading, Translation and help with writing Resumes and CVs. Computers and Language (222) Links to ESL and other language sites that deal with software, ILT, etc. Dictionaries Thesauri and Reference (115) Online English and Translating Dictionaries, Thesauri, General Reference
Brass monkey weather
Q From Peter Grace: Over here in Queensland, it gets pretty cool in the evenings at this time of the year (though it’s probably pretty mild by UK standards). The other day, I used the expression brass monkey weather and was asked to explain. Any ideas? A The full expansion of the phrase is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey and is common throughout the English-speaking world, though much better known now in Australia and New Zealand than elsewhere.
