Sunday, December 18, 2005

Learning Resources - online video/TV

International
MediaHopper (Choose a country)
Mainly news, sports, fashion, culture.

USA
Sit Down Comedy (Interviews)
Click "Watch full episodes and sneak peaks"
Comedy Central has 2-minute video clips
TVGuide (Video reviews of TV shows)

BBC
BBC London 15 mins. of news daily (RealPlayer)
The BBC also shows Panorama and Question Time
Guide to BBC broadband services

Deutsche Welle TV (Click "Video on Demand")
(Also in German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese)

I do tend to agree with the Linguist on this: MP3's better because you don't have to stare at it; you can do other things while you learn. TV's just more colourful.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Godawful December

Such a heavy workload this month. Considering the number of teachers we have, too many classes have been opened, and opened at times that make everyone's schedule ridiculously long and drawn-out. All of us teachers are feeling the strain - we're completely burnt out and more than a little p*ssed off. Our quality of life is not high right now.

In my case, it has sapped my energy and all but killed my personal relationships. I've been trying desperately to use what free time I can find to reaffirm relations, and this pressure is getting me down even more. (Sorry, my friends.) It seems a vicious circle. Things can't change soon enough.

Monday, December 12, 2005

EFL - Practise your phrasal verbs here! - 구동사를 여기 연습하세요

From BBC Learning: "Funky Phrasals"
Dialogues with sound files
(standard British English; 표준의 영국 영어)

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Learning Resources - Online Radio / 온라인 라디오

Browse the listings and choose your genre:

UK________Australia
New Zealand_ Canada
USA (New York City - FM and AM)

Genres /장르:
News / Talk - 뉴스 / 대화
Sports - 스포츠
Hit Radio / Top 40 - 히트 음악 / 톱 40
Contemporary - 현대 음악
Rock / Alternative - 록 / 올터너티브
Jazz / Blues - 재즈 / 블루스
Soul /R & B - 소울 음악 / 리듬 앤드 블루스
Dance / Latin - 댄스 음악 / 라틴 음악
Gospel - 고스펠 음악
Reggae / Ethnic - 레게 / 민속 음악
Oldies / Country - 옛날 음악 / 컨트리
Religious - 종교 방송

(Recommended for rock enthusiasts - Woxy)

~~~~~~~~~~
For learners of other European languages:
Listings for major W. European countries
Most links from Great Yarmouth Radio Club
and The Flag Shop

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Not a fan of capes, but...

You are Superman
You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

"Which Superhero are you?"

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

To my December classes...

From The Linguist, via AJ's blog:

"It really does not matter why you want to improve your English. The important thing for you to know is that you can improve. You can actually improve quite quickly. You just have to do it the right way.

Most people study languages the wrong way. They study from text books or traditional learning systems with uninteresting content, but lots of pictures, plenty of grammar explanation and quizzes. This kind of instruction looks like it should work, but for most people it does not. It is uninteresting and inefficient. Most people do not progress rapidly and are not satisfied with their language studies. They lose interest and will only study if forced to because of exams.

I can understand this. It is hard to keep working at something if you do not succeed. You need to understand how to learn a language.

When you learn a new language your brain starts to change. The brain begins to build networks of neurons that will enable you to operate in a new language like English. You will not become fluent because you understand grammar rules. You become fluent as your brain naturally develops the ability to understand English. You become fluent when you can put thoughts together correctly in English without having to try to remember grammar rules.

So how can you most quickly build these new networks for English? It depends on three things: your attitude towards studying English, the amount of time you spend on English, and how efficient your study method is. It does not depend on teachers or tests. You have to realize that your thoughts and actions are what will most influence the development of these new networks in your brain. How well and how quickly you learn is up to you"

AJ의 블로그를 통해 (언어학자)에서:

왜 당신의 영어를 증진하고 싶다는간는 중요하지 않다. 중요한 게 증진할수는 있을 거다. 사실 아주 바르게 증진할수 있는데 제대로만 한다면.

대부분의 사람은 언어를 잘못된 방법으로 공부한다. 교과서나 흥미없지만 사진많고 문법과 퀴즈가 풍분하는 교통 규육 체계에서 공부하곤 하다. 이러한 교육이 성공할 거 같지만 대부분의 사람에게 서공하지 못한다. 재미없고 효과적이 아닌다. 대부분의 사람이 바르게 전진하지 않고 자기의 언어 학문에 만족하지 않다. 그들은 흥미를 잃고 시험만 때문에 공부한다.

이건 이해한다. 성공이 없어 뭘 종사하는 거 어렵다. 언어를 어떻게 익힐 방법을 알을 필요가 있다.

새 언어를 익힐 때 당신의 뇌가 바꾸기 시작한다. 영어처럼 언어로 작용할 수 있게 하기 위해 뇌는 뉴런의 네트워크를 만들기 시작한다. 문법을 알기 때문에 창문하게 될 거지 아이다. 뇌가 자연스럽게 영어 이해할 능력을 발달시키면서 창문하게 될 거다. 문법 규칙을 기억해보는 것 없이 당신의 생각이 영어로 정확히 공식화하면서 창문하게 될 거다.

이게 3 것에 따라 다른다. 영어에 대한 태도 그리고 영어에 얼마나 시간 보내는 것과 연습방법이 얼마나 능률적인 것에 따라 다른다. 선생이나 시험에 따라 다르지 않는다. 당신의 생각과 행동이 당신의 뇌에 있는 이 네트워크의 발달에 가장 강한 영향을 미칠 거다. 얼마나 잘.바르게 익힐 걸 완전히 너한테 달려 있다, 마음대로 골라라.

TOEIC in Korea

Number of TOEIC Takers Reaches World's Highest

In 2004,

Korea 3.8% [pop. 48 million, 1.83 million TOEIC takers]

Japan 1.12% [pop. 27 million, 1.43 million TOEIC takers]

Taiwan 0.22% [pop. 22.5 million, 50,000 TOEIC takers]

China 0.002% [pop. 1,29 million, 30,000 TOEIC takers]

The wave of foreign firms accelerated the globalization of the Korean economy and dramatically increased the need for English. Korean companies are becoming increasingly international and more of them are requiring their employees to strengthen their practical English skills...

As TOEIC doesn't test practical English skills (and therefore nor do TOEIC teachers need to teach them), why take this test then?