ESL Lab

Click to watch the videos and do the quizzes on this excellent site:

http://www.esl-lab.com/

Listening "Mixers" - Good listening practice!

Listen to a variety of people speaking about interesting subjects and then do the quizzes!


http://elllo.org/english/Mixer.htm

1000 Listening Exercises!

Becoming a good English speaker begins by learning to be a good English listener! The only way to do this is to LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN! If you can't get out too often to meet English speaking people, you can practice right here by listening to people from all over the world.

I suggest that you listen to each lesson at least five times while reading the text - use headphones if you have them- and then five more times without the text. Then go on and do the quizzes and interactive exercises. Browse through the topics and find the ones that interest you the most.

http://elllo.org

Grammar for Kids!

Here are some fun videos - especially if you have children learning English!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4Im0y5n9s&feature=related

Video ESL Classes From Toronto

These grammar and vocabulary lessons are presented by a variety of teachers based in Toronto . Some are very entertaining! Have a look! You can browse the lessons by selecting "Teachers" or "Categories".

http://www.engvid.com/

Adjectives-Describe Everything!

Here are a few pages of adjectives:

http://www.paulnoll.com/Books/Clear-English/English-adjectives-2.html

A You Tube English Link with video lessons. Here's the one on Adjective Order:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL-qh3-dxlo

Listening - Voice of America

These stories from Voice of America are read clearly and you can follow the text if you click on the title. There are translations, but only into Korean, Japanese & Spanish.

http://www.manythings.org/voa/rss/

Nouns: Count and Non-Count

What's a noun?
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/noun.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns.htm

(Irregular plural forms of count nouns)
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/irrplu.htm

Here are some good sites comparing count and non-count nouns:

Here's a Canadian site from the University of Victoria, BC:
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/330/grammar/count.htm

This is an American site that features video lessons. After you look at this lesson, go to the Home Page of the site. Many other grammar lessons are available.
http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/Blue%20Level/B19%20Count%20and%20Noncount%20Nouns.html

(This is the Home Page:)
http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/index.html

Here are some quizzes that you can do to check your understanding the difference between count and non-count nouns:
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/agree2a.html

An interesting lecture on language.

This is a lecture by Steven Pinker, a world famous professor of psychology and linguistics speaking at MIT - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He's Canadian and studied at McGill University in Montreal. The first few minutes of the video is another professor introducing Prof. Pinker

It's called "Words and Rules".

Select the video player that best suits your computer system - Real Video or Windows Media


http://www.listeningtowords.com/lecture.php?id=366

Good Sites for Grammar Study

This is a British grammar site that has simple and clear explanations and exercises. If you read the examples and do the exercises it will help you learn and/or review all the English tenses!

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/index.html

Here is an excellent grammar site that will teach you all the grammar terminology you will ever need. Be sure to look at "Eight Parts of Speech" and do the exercises.

http://www.grammar-monster.com/

For French speakers: This is an excellent grammar site with explanations in French but everyone can try it!

http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/gram.htm

Here's a new site I've just found. Each lesson has a video component. There are many levels - start with "Blue" - and new lessons are being added regularly.

http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/index.html

Used to/ Be used to/ get used to

Here are some exercises:

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/115.html

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/menu.php

*NEW* OCT 7

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-m_used-to-do.htm

This next one is from BBC English. At the bottom of the page see "Podcasts" and "Download" for free audio lessons. The Download link has texts to accompany the audio lessons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode38/languagepoint.shtml

And a song! "Can't Get Used to Losing You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUeaqHHq2II

Here's an example of an Intermediate student's work:

Ke is from China. She wants to tell you about things you might have top get used to if you visit or live in her country:

What will people who are thinking of living in my country have to get used to?

By Ke

1.They will have to get used to using chopsticks instead of a knife and fork when they have a meal.

2.They will have to get used to making and eating jiaozi (dumplings) at festivals. Especially at the Spring Festival, almost every family makes jiaozi and eats them together at midnight on New Year's Eve (lunar calendar). After that, everyone bows to whoever is older than himself in his family, and says "Happy new year!” If you are a kid, you get money from your elders as a lunar New Year gift. This is a Chinese custom. Before I worked, I got gifts from my grandmother, mother and aunts etc.

3.They will have to get used to fireworks. In the Spring Festival, every family, especially with kids, buys lots of fireworks. Kids love them very much. Be careful of fireworks when you are setting them off or looking at them!

4.They will have to get used to crowds. There are many people on buses, in shops, restaurants, markets, on streets, especially in big cities.

5.They will have to get used to eating noodles on their birthdays. According to Chinese custom, the noodles that you eat on your birthday are called "long life noodles”. They mean health and long life.

6.They will have to get used to drinking tea. There are many kinds of tea in China, for example green tea, red tea, flower tea etc.

*************************************************************************************

Rika wants to tell you what you'll have to get used to if you are planning a visit to Japan:

What will people who are thinking of living in my country have to get used to?

1) They will have to get used to taking off their shoes when they visit a house. We like to keep our houses clean.

2) They will have to get used to sitting on a tatami mat and not on a chair. A tatami mat is made of straw.

3) They will have to get used to not washing their bodies in the bathtub. They have to wash their bodies beside the bathtub, and then they can take a bath.

4) They will have to get used to using a mechanical toilet. It’s so nice!

5) They will have to get used to not opening or closing taxi doors. They are automatic.

6) They will have to get used to buying canned hot drinks from a vending machine.

I love hot canned corn soup!

7) They will have to get used to bowing when they greet people. Bowing is a very polite way to greet someone.

8) They will have to get used to Japanese people making noise when they eat noodles.

Be careful of splattering yourself!

9) They will have to get used to not blowing their noses in front of people.

10) They will have to get used to eating raw fish with wasabi. Wasabi kills bacteria.

Now Rika tells us about how she had to get used to life in Quebec and Ontario:

Getting used to Canada.

I used to live in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec. It is a small city. Not many Asians live there, so I had to get used to living in St-Hyacinthe.

1) I had to get used to speaking French. People there don’t speak English.

2) I had to get used to people staring at me. Old people did this a lot.

3) I had to get used to driving very carefully. People drive like crazy.

4) I had to get used to the smell of pigs. Sometimes the wind brought the smell [probably from a farm somewhere.]

5) I had to get used to listening to “Nous sommes Québecois”.

People don’t celebrate Canada day and don’t sing “O Canada” even though two Québecois wrote the song. Canada Day is moving day in Quebec!!!

6) I had to get used to seeing French signs on the streets. No English signs.

After I moved to Ottawa, I had to get used to some things again.

7) I had to get used to English.

8) I had to get used to seeing small traffic lights.

9) I had to get used to cashiers who don’t say “Thank you”. In Ottawa, customers say “Thank you” and cashiers say, “You are welcome”. How come?

In Quebec, all cashiers say “Merci beaucoup. Bonne journée.”

Prime Minister Harper Sings: "With a Little Help from my Friends"!

Our Prime Minister surprised everyone at an arts gala by singing this famous Beatles song that we learned in class!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQvv3lRVfY

And an article from Canada's national newspaper, the Globe & Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-performed-with-a-little-help-from-his-wife/article1311750/

Watch Documentary Films Online

This is a site with access to hundreds of documentary films. There are films on every imaginable topics. There will certainly be some that interest you and they can be an excellent source of information and listening practice.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/watch-online/

Expressing Regret

http://www.elllo.org/english/MixSix/073B-Regret.html

This goes with our chant: "I'm sorry I did it. I shouldn't have done it!"