From the category archives:

language resources

  • American political discourse: a primer

    Posted by on January 17, 2012

    The run-up to a general election in the United States provides an opportunity for observers of English to see it stretched beyond ordinary limits. The winnowing process that will reduce the various Republican contenders in the race to one has begun and as we plod steadily toward the November election, the rhetoric heats up and [...]

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  • Rap battle video resources

    Posted by on December 20, 2011

    You may recall that we completed last year’s world tour of English with a rap battle video between Canadian rapper Baba Brinkman and UK emcee Professor Elemental. You might also remember that we ran a competition in the summer inviting people to contribute with resources specifically written for the video. Well, the two competition winners [...]

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  • The future of dictionaries? Too soon to tell

    Posted by on November 17, 2011

    At the recent eLEX 2011 conference in Slovenia (for earlier posts, see here and here), the discussion focussed on the future of dictionaries – or, more broadly, on the various ways in which reference needs might be catered for in years to come. What often happens in this field is that people working in universities [...]

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  • Listen and learn: the Global author podcasts

    Posted by on July 29, 2011

    This week’s ‘language in new media’ post comes courtesy of the Global author podcast series. Jamie Keddie talks about words and pictures and using flashcards and flash images with students. There are great practical ideas plus information about where you can find and how you can generate flashcards.

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  • Sounds: the premium pronunciation app

    Posted by on July 14, 2011

    We introduced Macmillan’s Sounds: The Pronunciation App a while back. The excellent news is that it’s now also available for purchase from the Apple app store in a Premium Edition (at just £3.99 / $6.99). Exciting features of the Premium Edition include the following: – Fully interactive phonemic charts for both British and American English [...]

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  • Green English lesson plan

    Posted by on July 01, 2011

    We are in the final week of Green English month. To provide a practical way of discussing the environment in your English language class, the blog today brings you a lesson plan by Claire Hart, a Business English teacher based in Southern Germany. Claire also gives teacher training workshops and publishes free lesson plans. For [...]

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  • Dictionary apps on special offer

    Posted by on June 30, 2011

    We’re celebrating summer with a special offer that English language lovers are not going to want to miss! From 1st July through to 6th July you’ll be able to buy any of our Macmillan Dictionary apps for just $1.99 / £1.19. That’s a potential saving of up to £10.80 on the full dictionary with audio [...]

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  • Teaching tips for green English: exercises

    Posted by on June 28, 2011

    The vocabulary of geography Next in a series of tips for teaching (about) green English. The worksheet includes key vocabulary used in geography, including geographic features, natural disasters and natural resources. In addition to that, exercises help consolidate students’ knowledge of the terms. Geography vocabulary and exercises For further tips for teaching green English, see: [...]

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  • Teaching tips for green English: dictation

    Posted by on June 23, 2011

    Dictation activity: greenwashing The dictation activity called ‘Nature’ focuses on the practice of greenwashing. As well as asking students to listen to and transcribe a short text, the dictation encourages them to expand their vocabulary, asking them to explore some of the many new words that have entered the English language in recent years. The [...]

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  • Teaching tips for green English: vocabulary

    Posted by on June 21, 2011

    The language of science In this useful article, author Keith Kelly provides a list of typical language used in the area of science. His list includes adjectives, verbs, grammar patterns, phrases and discourse markers. For further tips for teaching green English, see: Tip 1: renewable energy (worksheet) Tip 2: the greenhouse effect (animation) Tip 4: [...]

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