This website and it’s videos have been created for students studying fairly high level vocabulary. The videos include a term, its meaning, pronunciation, examples and an explanation of term.

The has some interesting images used in videos to explain and illustrate each term. There are hundreds of videos to see and terms to enjoy exploring.  If you like what you see, take a look at the site by clicking the title above.

This is a wonderful video series created by Melvyn Bragg as well as the companion book. The series was put out by ITV and appears to have also been broadcast by History International. The series is broken into eight episodes, each exploring a different aspect of the development of the language.

Watch the video at left for a great sample of the series beginning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_English

A teacher I work with, Dan Moye, suggested this fantastic Tex Avery short film. It’s an animation in which a man tries to tell his life’s story but uses so many idioms that St. Peter can’t figure out what he’s talking about.

The story is best for high level learners of idioms as it goes quite fast. There are also a few idioms that are a bit out of date and not used any  more. I’ve never said: “She had nice pins,” before.

All in all it’s still a brilliant video you ought to see.

Mr. Duncan, or Misterduncan!! as I like to say. He scares me. This man is a demon teacher from the future and the video is a strong indicator that he is also some sort of wizard.

That being said, these videos are AWESOME. There is a campy, creepy sort of cool to these things. Mister Duncan has a friendly smooth voice and presents some rock solid example statements very clearly.

Check out video two. Hello and Goodbye. I’m sure that he’s not wearing pants, the monkey business shirt is the cutest,  and the bloody knuckles from a bar fight the night before are just totally incongruous. By lesson three there is a demon monkey thing, his hand tries to kill him and, well, you just have to see it for yourself.

These are videos I’d recommend for some young, hip 20/30 somethings and the cooler 40 somethings in adult ESL classes.

And yes, I seriously recommend these videos cause they are hilariously fantastic.

This video is more entertaining than educating but take a look and take a listen. What language is that they are speaking? It sounds a  lot like English but is really just gibberish. The song was created by Italian singer/songwriter who wanted to make a song that sounds like English. Really an interesting interpretation and a fresh breath to know how I must sound to speakers of other languages.

Undoubtably brilliant, Mr. Richard Dawkins gives a wonderful lecture on the wonders of science.

There are people who feel that science removes the wonder and beauty from the world and that simply isn’t true. The more we learn about science and the world and all the incredible things that go on in the world the more full of wonder it seems.

In this lecture from 1991, Mr. Dawkins gives us an incredible feel for where we are in the world and a broad, clear perspective in a scientific world. 

Yeah this is a little old. I saw this for the first time way back when I was teaching at Bell Language School in New York. But once in a while, it’s nice to revisit an old friend or two, this happens to be one of my faves. Enjoy.

RIDDLES: Riddles are a lot of fun. This is one of a long series of great riddles posted on You Tube as videos. To get the answers, click the links in the side bars. Great fun and you can gather LOTS of great brain teasers for students this way.

By the way, the answer for this video can be found here:

ANSWER

TED: Technology, Education, Design.

There are hundreds if not thousands of videos on TED to inspire us every day. This is only one and is just beautiful. It’s simple, it’s clear and it just make sense.

Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

The Cool Voice of Rita Reys

I discovered Rita’s voice on an old 78 in a Jazz bar in Osaka. After a little reading I found some interesting facts about her. Born in the Netherlands Rita is Europe’s First Lady of Jazz. What’s great to keep in mind in listening to her singing is that she learned English as a means of expanding her Jazz repertoire.

For students it’s great to sometimes hold up examples of people who don’t just study English but use it to their purposes.

Tower Building: Team work and tower building is a great activity that I love getting my students working on. The version I have worked on involves newspapers, tape and string. This video by Tom Wujec brilliantly shows how people interact when team building, who does best and why. Have a look and you’re sure to be inspired to include this great activity in your own classroom!

I have a little shadow: This video features an imaginative Maths teacher who uses technology in a fun and imaginative way. Check it out.

Do the Test: No, really, do the test. What a freaky and delicious little awareness test this is. Check out other videos in the series and be amazed! I don’t want to give anything about this vid except that it is a wonderful way to bring perception and intervention into the classroom.

Been to a Wiki Lately?
Sure you have, or you will soon. Wikis are a pretty interesting source of interaction and information sharing that I’v’e used but never really understood completely. Sure I know you sign up, you interact with the site and save changes and then other people can edit what you have written or add to it. I get that.

But to make a Wiki myself would just be madness right? Not so! The kind people over at commoncraft.com have a fantastic sample video that not only explains what wikis really are and how they work but SHOWS you how you and your friends could build a wiki to more efficiently coordinate with friends. This is a sweet video that beautifully illustrates how it all happens.

So head on over to  commoncraft.com and see it for yourself.

Special thanks to Patricia Galien for sharing this awesome site!