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.