Effective Ways to Use the Internet: Playing games and having fun

More on Using the Internet for English
or Foreign Language Learning

Our six ways of effectively using the Internet to learn English or another foreign language continues with suggestion numbers and five and six of six.

Photo: A curved outdoor pedestrian-only plaza leading to the Plaza de Los Martires in chilly Toluca, Mexico

5. Playing games and having fun

Vocabulary is often referred to as the building blocks of language. Knowledge of vocabulary is one aspect that separates the language learning levels. The more vocabulary you know, the more communicative you are. Here are some unique linguistic sites that help build your language as you “play”:

• The http://www.manythings.org/ site offers “interesting things for ESL students” like songs, jokes, quizzes, word games, puzzles, slang and even podcasts to help stimulate English language acquisition.

• The foreign language course site at: http://www.foreignlanguagehome.com/topics/courses/index.htm has activities in 27 languages including Finnish, Mandarin and Quechua.

• At the Transparent Language site you can play games in any one of more than 100 languages from Afrikaans to Farsi or Guarani to Yoruba. And yes, they have Zulu too. Check out all their listings here: http://www.transparent.com/games/

6. So what language tickles your fancy?

While the selection of language courses, tutorials, news feeds, music and other audio – visual materials online is extensive, ALL the world’s 6912 languages simply aren’t available. Sorry. But hundreds of languages are and here’s how to find you’re interested in if it’s online.

• 108 FREE online foreign language courses are posted at: http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html

• The PARLO language website offers courses in English, Spanish, French and Italian at: http://www.parlo.com/parlo21/home/courselist/courselist_en.asp

• The E. L. Easton Language Institute offers 14 languages online from Albanian to Japanese, Latin to Croatian to Russian and Spanish. The site is online at: http://eleaston.com/languages.html

• A plethora of language learning activities for the world wide web are online for practice activities from the University of Hawaii here: http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/lss/lang/nflrc.html

Although the internet may not be the complete answer to all your foreign language learning needs it nonetheless can be a tremendous resource in your efforts to “Habla Español”, “Parlez Francaise”, or “Sprechenze Deutcsh”. The prestige, financial gains, personal satisfaction, envy and opportunities that frequently follow with knowledge of a foreign language are without equal. Why don’t you start today trying out some of these effective ways to use the Internet to learn a language. Be sure to read the companion article posting “Six Quick Tricks for Learning a Language”. By the way, if you do find Cochimi, Cibemba or Kukapa, please let me know – I’m still looking.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost PDF Ebook, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know", by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? Contact the author for a prompt response.

Effective Ways to Use the Internet: How do YOU learn?

Number Two: Become familiar with language learning strategies

How do YOU learn? Knowing this can make the daunting task of English or a foreign language learning less like study and more like play. Are you a Visual – Spatial learner who likes pictures, drawings, graphics and extensive use of color? A Musical – Rhythmic type that would benefit from having your lessons and materials set to music, rhythm or rhyme? Perhaps you’re the athletic type who’d derive more success with learning by motion, movement, mime or even dance? Playing the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (pictured) in the background while studying has been shown to enhance learning in a number of areas. To find out more about your manner of learning visit these sites for starters:

• Learning Styles Explanation http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

• Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/ilsweb.html

• The Success Types Learning Style Indicator http://www.ttuhsc.edu/SOM/Success/LSTIntro.htm

3. Practice reading skills

Literacy is one of the 21st century’s most innately valuable compound skills. After all, you’re reading THIS now, aren’t you? Few would wish to be illiterate in their new foreign language so practice of reading skills is paramount. Online newspapers, magazines, newsletters and blogs can provide the needed practice and learning materials. Check out these reading comprehension skills sites:

• How to Read Your Textbook More Efficiently http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/lrnres/handouts/1422.html

• Self-study reading lessons http://www.english-to-go.com/

• Read the article in the following address: http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/read1a.html

In the address that follows, take the quiz to verify your understanding of the reading passage: http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/read1b.html

4. Help in developing listening skills

Considered to be the most difficult of the language skills to develop, listening cannot be taught. Rather, you must practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. Every week, twice a week I passed a street vendor at the same spot, absolutely clueless as to what he was saying. I knew what he was selling – I just peeked over at his wares. But his entreaties in street Spanish fell on my language-clogged ears for months. Then one evening, without warning, it happened. Just two days before, his cries were the same incomprehensible slur they’d been for months. That one evening however, when he launched into his huckster’s spiel I suddenly understood every word. My listening comprehension skills had clicked in. Why then? No one knows. Especially not me, and I’m a post-graduate-degreed Language Education Specialist!

Practice your listening skills with radio programs in your target language for a change at www.live365.com which has live global feeds 24 hours a day in multiple languages.

Foreign language internet radio and foreign news radio in 27 European, 4 Middle Eastern, 9 Asian languages and audio feeds from 19 African countries are broadcast on: http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-radio.html

We’ll continue with two more ways to effectively use the internet for English or foreign language teaching and learning in the final, part 3 of this article posting.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost PDF Ebook, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know", by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? Contact the author for a prompt response.

Part 2 Writing for Maximum Creativity: Think You're Creative? Try This!

Re-Tell a Tale

We're picking up from Peter Pan here. As English language teaching professionals and writers, let’s continue to show some creativity as we began in the first part of this series. How about a few twists in the plots to make the story less predictable? How about a unique twist or change in the ending, characters, intent, personality or plot? It’s been done before. So pick one, two or more, put your thinking (and writer) cap on, free your muse and allow your creativity full reign. Why should H.C. Anderson, Mother G., that Barrie fellow and those Grimm brothers have all the fun?

Cinderella

This one’s already been re-done a slew of times but they still haven’t gotten it right! Surely you can put in a couple of good plot twists, and a surprise ending that’ll keep readers on their toes. My Fairy Godmother grants me a “wish” and you think I’m gonna ask for clothes? Get outta here! I can think of a few other things to wish for under those conditions. Man, what Alfred Hitchcock could do with a plot like that! He’d have Cindy take care of her situation in some very “special” ways. How about you? What would YOU have Cindy do? My devious little mind is already puttering away with ideas for that “Stepmother” and her offal. (Pun intended - No, stop that!)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Now we all know that child protection services, civil rights act defenders, the ACLU, the NAACP, labor unions, Amnesty International, the FBI, CIA and a host of other government, religious and private agencies would have a field day with this one. This story would certainly be a challenge to work on. Let’s see, a comedy twist, change of venue, plot reversal, perhaps a ticklish murder mystery? (Has anyone seen or heard from “Sneezy” lately?) How about a “gangster” version called “Get Grumpy”. The English language teaching and learning possibilities boggle the mind. Why don’t you take a stab (pun intended) at this story?

What’ll it be then? Humor, mystery, adult, crime, science fiction, western, drama, weird, whimsy or even raw, stark naked terror strike your fancy? Come up with your own alternative fractured fairy tale version. It’ll not only be a challenge, and loads of fun, but an immeasurable boost to your creativity as you weave, cavort, shoot, stab, stumble, plot, whinny and twist your way through as yet uncharted territory – for you. Fractured fairy tale versions abound online (no peeking now!) but whip and work your muse to develop new strains of tired old themes. Let me know how you make out. (Oops, no pun intended)

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line.

Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author for prompt response.

Effective Ways to Use the Internet for Learning English or a Foreign Language

There are many ways to learn a new language:

You can go live in a country where the language is spoken, attend a formal language course, get a private language tutor or use books and written materials. Other ways to learn a foreign language are to listen to CDs or audiocassette tapes, watch TV, movies and video programs, memorize phrase books, use the Internet or employ a combination of all the above.

But not everyone can arrange to live in a foreign country. Native speakers of the language may not be available. Written or recorded commercial materials may not be available in the language you’re interested in (Cochimi, Cibemba or Kukapa, anyone?) True, many major languages like Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese broadcast TV programs via cable. Even Korean, Catalan, Arabic and Japanese have venues available in cosmopolitan areas worldwide; but the vast majority of the world’s thousands of spoken tongues are simply not at large outside of their local areas. So what’s a prospective polyglot to do?

The Internet
One answer of course, is the internet. Plug “foreign language courses” into an internet search engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN and more than 70 million hits instantly come up. From Afrikaans to Punjabi, and Hebrew to Zulu, thousands of listings lay before you only a mouse click away. How exactly then, can the internet be used to tackle learning a foreign language? Start off effectively by using these six ways:

1. Do an initial evaluation

The first thing you may want to know is where you are in the scheme of learning the language. An initial language skills evaluation is in order; are you a raw beginner? False beginner? Intermediate level? Higher? Let’s take English as a second or foreign language as an example. English proficiency diagnostics tests are free online at:

• General English Test with instant results http://nll.co.uk/test/english.shtml

• Parlo http://parlo.com/ (diagnostic tests in English, Spanish, and French)

• Upper Intermediate Test

http://www.wordskills.com/level/caeform.html

If you score above 80% in this test, you should take the next one and also show your teacher or tutor a copy of the results.

We’ll continue with additional ways to effectively use the internet for English or foreign language teaching and learning in parts 2 and 3 of this article posting.

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? Contact the author for a prompt response.

Writing for Maximum Creativity: Think You're Creative? Try This!

Being As Creative As Possible
In Colombia or elsewhere, if you're teaching English as a foreign or second language you're going to have to be as creative as possible. For EFL teaching or learning, try these creative writing activities to give your class room sessions a true boost.

Re-Tell a Tale

An online survey was done to determine the most popular fairy tales of all time. You’re familiar with all the winners. They’re some of your and my favorites.

Showing Some Creativity

But let’s show some creativity shall we? How about a few twists in the plots to make the story less predictable? How about a unique twist or change in the ending, characters, intent, personality or plot? It’s been done before. For example, “Little Red Riding Hood, first published in 1697 by Charles Perrault as a warning to errant ladies in the court of Louis XIV, has undergone a series of metamorphoses including one by the Grimm Brothers in 1812, before arriving at its present-day version. So pick one, two or more, put your thinking (and writer) cap on, free your muse and allow your creativity full reign. Why should H.C. Anderson, Mother G., that Barrie fellow and those Grimm brothers have all the fun?

Little Red Riding Hood

Why was “Red” really on the way to Grandma’s? Or was it Grandma’s she was headed for? Who (or what) is the “wolf”? Why’s he set on “Red”? What really going on? Tell me why she couldn’t tell the difference between Grandma and the wolf – at 100 yards? Let the lion (or wolf) tamer out. Is “Red” an animal lover? Is she a “fox”? If so, what happens when “foxy” Red Riding Hood meets wolfie? What, pray tell, do we do about the wolf? You’re not gonna, (gulp!) KILL him are you? The SPCA might give you a problem about that.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Hey, what was “Goldie” doing in the woods anyway? And by herself too? Where did the bear family go? Excuse me, but the last time I checked, bears don’t eat porridge! So anyway, what DO you do with an intruder you catch in your house who’s already trashed the place? How about a quirky, fun or humorous ending here? Is it add-a-player time? Feeling peckish? There’s still some porridge left.

The Three Little Pigs

Give me a break! Pigs don’t live in houses, they live in a sty. Have you ever smelled one of those? I’m telling you – it’ll put you off ham and pork chops forever. Anyway, how come wolfie doesn’t wise up? Have you seen the commercial where he shows up at house number three with a bulldozer? By the way, is this wolf the same one who’s been bugging that red-headed girl? Didn’t we get rid of that hairy bugger in another story? Maybe he’s twins or another family member has dropped in? Well anyhow, YOU figure it out. I’m going to go have some porridge – oops! Wrong story. Sorry.

Peter Pan

Doesn’t anybody have a problem with a kid who doesn’t ever get out of the sixth grade? Why don’t they kill that crocodile? (Didn’t anybody see “Jaws”?) If you can fly, why stay on an island? Paris in the spring is nice, but in winter it’s the pits. That’s when I’d try Buenos Aires. How and what do those “boys” eat? And if Wendy’s the only girl around all those “lost boys”, I can see some problems coming up. What would happen if Peter took a wrong turn and wound up in Kabul, Amsterdam or the south Bronx? Yikes!

... to be continued in the next post ...

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line.

Get Sean Connery to Help to Improve Your English Language Speaking Fluency

MEDICINE MAN

In their scientific research for a cancer cure, Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco have a great scene for using prediction when they are trekking through the Amazon with a native Indian guide. One of them gets “high” from a locally-produced medicine from the bark of the Yocco tree. The ensuing scene is simply hilarious. The following scene, when they suddenly face a “danger” together, is also a good one. You’ll love the dialogue line, “Go ahead, cry all you want.”

Photo: Embera Indian family on the Jurubida River, Choco, Colombia

Using Popular Films to Improve Speaking Skills

During the course of my 15 plus years of English as a foreign language teaching, I have come across a number of popular films which not only aid EFL learners in improving their English language speaking skills, but are enjoyable for them to watch. In each of these films a scene is selected and the dialogue and setting are exploited for cultural, linguistic and connected speech elements. While there actually many such films, I’ll mention five of my English language learners’ favorites in this series of articles.

In the film, “Medicine Man”, two scientists are looking to find a natural medicine cure for cancer. When they think that they might have found one, the source of it is suddenly destroyed. Not only do they have to find the suspected source again, but also prove that it really works. In the meanwhile the local Indian groups are distrustful because the rain forests are systematically being destroyed by development in the name of progress. They are losing their homes.

Are there jungles or rain forests nearby to your EFL learners? What’s the difference between the two? What kind of wildlife and flora are common in your area? What is cancer? How does a doctor diagnose cancer? What are the treatments for it in your area or country? Are these treatments effective? Why or why not? Talk about natural remedies and medicines in your area. Have you or your learners ever tried any of them? Did they work? Is there a commercial form of these natural medicines available? What are they? How much do they cost? Do they work better than natural remedies?

Have your learners practice and act out the scene in pairs or small groups. Write in changes to the scene dialogue. Add dialogue to the scene as well. Update the dialogue into more modern or colloquial English language. May the dialogue funnier, more serious or use idioms and expressions common to the area where the EFL learners live.

Create vocabulary lists, puzzles like crosswords or word searches from the key vocabulary in the scene. The extent of possibilities are limited only by the imagination of you and your English or foreign language learners. Above all, have fun!

Key Film Elements

While many popular films contain selected scenes which could be used to illustrate cultural, linguistic and connected speech elements, these five have proven to be useful and well-received by a variety of English language learner profiles. If you can get a hold of any or all of them, give them a try and watch your learners’ motivation and English language speaking skills skyrocket.

By the way, let me know how well this works for you. If you have any questions or would like one of the worksheets I use to accompany each of these film scenes, just drop me an e-mail. I’ll be happy to help.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Part 4: The English-Speaking ExPat’s Guide to Making Money Abroad

Part Four

Here, in this multi-part article series, we’ll take a look at several additional money-making abroad opportunities you can seek out or create for yourself while living in a foreign country or traveling extensively abroad. Wherever you may be and whatever is common to the country or region where you might be living and traveling, you can rest assured that there are many editors, web masters, site owners, publishing houses and others with available cash in hand, who are interested in seeing and knowing or experiencing more related to the area.

Photo: scene at the Santiago de Cali University in Cali, Colombia

More About Schools and Institutes
Let’s get back to schools and institutes again. Whether they have native English speaking teachers or not, there’s one thing they don’t have – and that’s enough authentic English language materials to work with. How does this benefit you? Plenty! You can write or prepare materials for the teachers and staff to use in classes. Create a menu from one or more of your favorite restaurants back home. Write it up use photos, drawings and images to dress it up a tad, and be sure to write descriptions of each dish, beverage and dessert; then print or publish it as an authentic menu (which, by the way, it is).

In addition, you can create simple games and puzzles that foreign language teachers will fight over. Word search puzzles, crosswords, coloring books, illustrated poems and nursery rhymes, riddles and tongue-twisters can all be written up, illustrated with your photos or graphics, then bound into a published or photo-copiable book you can sell in lots to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and English language institutes at a tidy profit. These types of materials are cheap, quick and easy to produce. You’ll almost never run out of ideas, topics or themes to keep you cranking out an almost endless supply of highly sought-after materials. Walk into almost any large educational institution from primary to secondary schools through trade and technical schools, to even English or foreign language institutes and university language departments, with a selection of your custom-prepared materials and you’ll almost surely walk out with cash in hand and standing orders for more.

There’s More, Much More
In this multi-part article so far, we haven’t even come close to touching the tip of the iceberg yet when it comes to the cornucopia of money-making possibilities you have before you while living or traveling abroad. The only real limits to your possibilities are those that your imagination and creativity may have.


Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on how to get your copy of his full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “The English-Speaking Ex-Pat’s Guide to Making Money Abroad” by send an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "Making Money Abroad" in the subject line. Contact the author directly if you need professional, original content for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website, want more information, have a comment or special request?