Sunday, May 1, 2011

Voice of America-a Valuable Language Learning Tool

VOICE OF AMERICA is a news agency is funded by the American government. It offers not only news from around the world, but each story has an audio clip followed by activities such as vocabulary development (from the article), grammar, and reading comprehension. Their section on WORD STORIES provides the history behind every day expressions in English such as TO BE IN HOT WATER. Another great feature of the site is that the grammar of every article is analyzed. Students can take quizzes on whatever form of grammar they wish to review. If a wrong answer is selected, students are prompted to try again.

You will also find language development activities for beginners, intermediates, and advanced English learners. The beginner section has a wide range of language activities equipped with video, photographs, and practical conversations using that vocabulary. The one covering what to order for breakfast offered enough vocabulary to fully satisfy anyone's appetite with ease.

There is also an English language instruction section for Chinese, Farsi, and Russian speakers. Here you will find over 80 English lessons that put together images and sound in an instructional format for learners of native languages, including Chinese, Farsi, and Russian. The lessons are broken down into three levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) to cater to English learners of all abilities, and each lesson contains voice recognition software, virtual characters, and video in an effort to provide the best free learning tools to help you improve your American English speaking skills in a fun and effective way.

Voice Of America is a treasure trove of great material. It will take time to sort through the material to find exactly what you need, but that is the best way to explore the site:)

Enjoy it!

Denise
ELL Teacher Pro

3 comments:

  1. That is such a great teaching tool! Another useful resource for teachers can be found at the Habitat for Humanity website. They offer e-learning, lesson plans, worksheets and online courses teaching students about housing issues around the world. For more information please go here:http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms/parent_teacher_leader/hfhlessons.aspx

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  2. I did not know VOA was still around

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  3. Still around and offering a wealth of information and language activities for ELLs:)

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