Summer practice for intermediate students (repost and update)

These are some of the resources for that you can use if you are at an intermediate level (I will update this  if I find more)

Onestopenglish.com Monthly topical news lessons from The Guardian.  These are reading exercises based on news adapted from the UK newspaper The Guardian. They have three different levels: elementary (B1), intermediat e (B2), and upper intermediate (C1). There are teacher's notes and answers. Monthly lessons are free with registration and you can access weekly lessons with a subscription fee (they've made them free until the end of July 2020, so take advantage of that while it lasts). There is also an elementary version http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/news-lessons/elementary-topical-news-lessons/ for A2 students.

Inside Out e-lessons used to offer reading e-lessons  which were often based on current news as well. The level was different every week. You can still find them in the archive, with teacher notes, answers and a glossary. These days they are publishing video lessons on everyday topics, which are also great.

Despite the old-fashioned design, http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/ has very complete lessons based on current events, complete with an MP3 file that you can use for listening practice.


BBC Learning English is also nice for current topics, particularly the section called 6 minute English. In this section you can find downloadable podcasts with transcripts and solutions on many different issues. They also have grammar sections that cover from A2 to C2 levels. Their app is also highly recommended. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.bbc.learningenglish&hl=en_US


There are three apps you can use if you want to listen to international radio online. The first one is Podcast Addict , which allows you to subscribe and listen to many different podcasts in many languages. You have the option of downloading them so you can listen to them offline. On the other hand, Radio.es  gives you a wide variety of online radio stations from many different countries to listen to. Be careful because there is no offline option, so make sure you have a Wi-Fi connection if you want to save data. Tune in radio is another good option.

Finally, you can listen to the BBC via BBC Media Player . There is no offline option but the programmes there are really useful. You can also download podcasts to listen to offline at BBC podcasts.

As for video practice, some good sources are https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/  and https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDEducation for  very short documentaries,  The School of Life  for philosophy and psychology, and if you are interested in art, both the Tate Museum and the British Museum are great resources.

You may also keep an eye on this blog and on its Twitter account, as I will be posting anything I find interesting through the summer.

That's all for now! Have a good holiday!

Fake news, BBC Learning English.

Just a quick tip that BBC Learning English has launched  new series about fake news. I know you are quite busy with the end of the term right now, but it looks quite interesting  and maybe something you could look into to practice your English in the summertime. 

Link here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/fakenews/unit-1/session-1

The amazing Malala

Malala Yousafzai's story is anything but conventional. When she was only 11, in 2009, she started writing a blog in her own language, Urdu, explaining to people what life under the Taliban was like. She defended the right of children, especially girls, to receive an education. The blog was translated into English and it became so popular that the Taliban felt threatened by it. Three years later, in 2012, a gunman shot her in the head. Two of her friends were shot, too. She had to go through many operations in her country, Pakistan, and later in the UK. She moved there to continue her recovery and study.


2013 was a very active year for her. She made a speech at headquarters of the United Nations in New York. She spoke vehemently of the power of educating girls and women and against intolerance and extremism. She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and she published her story in a book.

Finally, in 2014, Yousafazi won  the Nobel Peace Prize. However, all of this activity never stopped her from studying. She has just finished her A Level exams with excellent grades, and now she's planning to go to the university at Oxford or Stanford.   

You can watch her speech at the UN here (Spanish subtitles).



You can also read more about her story and do some exercises at Guardian News Lessons. 

News resources for intermediate students

We have been discussing today a few resources for reading news that you can use if you are at an intermediate level (I will update this  if I find more)

Onestopenglish.com Monthly topical news lessons from The Guardian.  These are reading exercises based on news adapted from the UK newspaper The Guardian. They have three different levels: elementary, intermediate, and upper intermediate. There are teacher's notes and answers.

Inside Out e-lessons offers a weekly reading e-lesson, which is often based on current news as well. The level is different every week, and it ranges from pre-intermediate to upper intermediate so be careful. There are teacher notes, answers and a glossary.

Despite the old-fashioned design, http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/ has very complete lessons based on current events, complete with an MP3 file that you can use for listening practice.

That's all for now! Again, I'll update this if I find more info.

"you can change the spelling without changing the language"

That's what the The Simplified Spelling Society. believes. They are campaigning for a way to spell English that reflects better how it really sounds. Similar reforms have been done in Spanish, French or German, but the transformation of English would probably be much greater.
Simplified Spelling Society: "Let's get phonetic" - Yahoo! News


What do YOU think? Do you think it can be done? Would it really be a good idea? What about things written in the old spelling?

At English Spelling Problems you can find many of the biggest problems with spelling in English. Surely you know already there are more than a few ;-)