Motivational speech

Today and through EC Learn English I came across the speech Randy Pausch, an American professor, gave for his university some time ago.



At an advanced level I think you will be able to understand it without a problem, but I decided to recommend it to you for its inspirational value in the first place, and because EC Learn English has also desgined an online activity that you can do here.

EC Learn English also recommends Randy's lecture 'Achieving your childhood dreams' that you will be able to watch on YouTube here. The talk is closed caption, in case you wish to read the subtitles.

Thank you, Caroline Devane

Royal weddings past and present

Watch this video on British royal weddings to gain some background information on the forthcoming wedding of William and Kate.

Royal Weddings Past and Present

Patricia Ryan, the gift of languages

At TEDxDubai, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It's a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas.

Patricia Ryan has spent the past three-plus decades teaching English in Arabic countries -- where she has seen vast cultural (and linguistic) change.

The Test Tube

The Test Tube looks like the perfect video to reflect on the Earth Day.

H/T to DDeubel.

Ellen Pompeo on the David Letterman show

Watch this segment from the interview to Ellen Pompeo on the David Letterman show.

It is a bit dated, from 2008, but one can only wonder at the emptiness and vacuum of the stories these famous people tell.

Very good practice for our English, though.

You can read a transcript here.

The history of stuff

22nd of April was Earth Day. Let's take a look at what this day commemorate by watching this lengthy documentary (upwards of twenty minutes), The Story of Stuff.

This is the way their makers describe it:

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.


Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

If you want to read the subtitles, they are closed-captioned in YouTube here. Just click on the CC tag, select Transcribe, and choose from the language options, but bear in mind that the English subtitles are by far the most reliable, despite the fact that the transcription is not 100% correct.

Nicole Kidman

This is an  oldish interview of Nicole Kidman with Ellen Degeneres. Anyway, it gives us a good chance to get to know the person behind her public image while we practise our listening skills.



You can read a transcript of the interview here.

Plastic bags

Watch this The New York Times video clip on the ban of plastic bags in the US and try to make sense of what is said.

Then repeat the main ideas in the video in your own words.



You can read a transcript here.

Loudlit

LoudLit.org is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. They put together great literature and accompanying audio.

By putting the text and audio together, readers can learn spelling, punctuation and paragraph structure while listening and reading masterpieces of the written word. Read and listen via your web browser or on your mp3 player. Regardless of how you enjoy the audiobooks (audio books), they are free.

The Beauty of Maps

The Beauty of Maps is an amazing twelve-part BBC series that is now availabe on YouTube.

I have tried to get hold of the transcripts, but I have been unable to track them down on the net, so please do let me know if you are luckier than me.



H/T to Larry Ferlazzo.

TeaTime Mag

Yesterday we informed on My That's English! about TeaTime Mag, a free online English language magazine which Jeffrey Hill told us about. I am going to draw your attention to this online publication today, as I think it is more than interesting for advanced English students.

The focus of TeaTime Mag is improving students language skills (reading, listening, pronunciation and vocabulary, mainly) while learning about the life and culture of the English-speaking world.

You can download the articles in PDF as well as the audio files. On top of that, all articles have vocabulary help and activities.

The articles are intended for intermediate and advanced students. TeaTime Mag is available in three languages for learning purposes: Spanish, German and French.

There is also a Teacher Edition with extra resources.

As it was said before, the publication is completely free.

Here is a video that explains all the details of TeaTime Mag.

TeaTime Video [No Subs] from Lingua Group on Vimeo.

The surprising science of motivation

In this TED talk, career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories... and maybe, a way forward.

Remember you can always activate the English subtitles if you want to fully understand Dan Pink.