Ted Power

English Language Learning and Teaching

English Links

-------BBC TV Weekly Schedules:---------1 --------- 2--------- 3--------- 4--------- News--------- Parliament
----------------BBC Radio Weekly Schedules:-----4--------- 7--------- World Service------Sussex

----------------Watch British TV: BBC iPlayer | All | Current

Online stores with search engines-------------------------------------------------------------BBC 4 TV Schedule
Search for an English language school or English language coaching in the UK
Long Distance Travel
UK Rail, Express Coaches and Buses
Specification of language syllabuses and levels
Examination Boards & Bodies for Learners and Teachers of English
Internationally Recognised (Cambridge) Examinations for English Language Teachers and LT Managers
Higher Education and Career Development in the UK
English Encylopedia, Dictionary, Thesaurus and Vocabulary Acquisition
Resources for Translators (especially French-English & Anglais-Français)
Postgraduate Training (MA or Diploma) in Translation
Writing - paragraph and essay construction for students planning to go to UK universities
Speaking - Common pronunciation problems, phonology and phonetics
Newspapers, Radio and Television
ELT Authoring Software
Royal Mail: postage rates and tracking---------------------------Listen again to BBC Radio 4

Brighton and Hove Community Radio | www.youtube.com | Brighton Gumtree | What's on at The Duke of York's

SEARCH ENGINE: use the input box below to search The Internet TESL Journal, which includes self-correcting exercises.
You can enter search strings such as "phrasal verbs" (exercises by different authors) or "Ted Power" (links to my own!).

01 Online stores with search engines

Amazon Stores: Amazon.co.uk [UK] | Amazon.com [USA] | Amazon.fr [France] | Amazon.de [Germany]

02 Search for an English language school or English language coaching in the UK

Course search: English UK or try my old school The English Language Centre in Brighton & Hove.
[ Over 10 years since I left - mention me and I'll continue to get invited to the Christmas party! ]

Language coach: Corballis Communication can offer online coaching or face-to-face (1:1 or small group) coaching based in London. Tony Corballis is widely experienced in teaching English in many overseas locations and at tailoring English language coaching to specific requirements. Other services offered by his company are Copy writing, editing and proofreading.

Tourist information: Visit Britain | S.E. Tourist Board | National Trust Events Diary

Up Your Street – statistics and comparisons for your area: find out everything you could want to know about an area.

03 Long Distance Travel

The Man in Seat Sixty-One - How to travel by train & ship. Maybe you don't like flying, or are concerned about air travel's contribution to global warming. Or perhaps you just prefer real travel by train or ship, where the journey is part of the adventure... Either way, The Man in Seat Sixty-One will tell you how to travel overland comfortably & affordably where you might think that air was now the only option. (a) within the UK & Ireland. Train times & fares for train travel in the UK: UK page How to travel from the UK to Ireland by train+ferry: Ireland page. (b) from the UK to Europe. How to travel by train from London to almost any country in Europe: Europe page. (c) in Asia, Africa, America, Australasia.

'Make a pledge not to fly' at www.lowflyzone.org

04 UK Rail, Express Coaches and Buses

Train journey planning: UK Rail Planner | The Train Line [bookings] | Mobitix: London (Euston) to Manchester | Eurostar

UK coach travel: National Express Coaches | Multimap (UK)

Buses in UK Cities: UK Public Transport | Transport in London | Brighton & Hove buses

05 Specification of language syllabuses and levels

The Common European Framework of Reference uses six levels (A1 to C2) to describe language ability.

Introduction---------264-page PDF complete document---------Levels

Waystage 1990: Council of Europe---------Threshold Level 1990: Modern Languages

Where can I find clues to syllabus content?
See 3.6 Content coherence in Common Reference Levels (pages 33-36) of 264-page PDF complete document or read some of the Cambridge ESOL examination handbooks (downloadable from their resources for teachers section).

Why will I only find clues?
It has become fashionable to specify language syllabuses in terms of communicative language competences, a vague phrase which invites pages of tedious explanation, often of little practical use to teachers and learners. Cambridge ESOL Exams sensibly refer to these competences as 'Can Do' statements.

Why does the current Common European Framework of Reference avoid specifying topics, settings and vocabulary areas?
It is argued that a common framework scale should be context-free in order to accommodate generalisable results from different speciﬁc contexts.

In what ways were previous Council of Europe syllabus specifications better than today's Common European Framework of Reference?
Earlier Council of Europe specifications such as Waystage 1990 (at pre-intermediate level) and Threshold (at Intermediate level) attempted to link the Notional/Functional approach to structural syllabus design. They were shorter, more manageable documents. They also gave greater practical help to teachers and learners by providing detailed lists of microfunctions, grammatical forms, and vocabulary. No teacher or learner operates in a context-free environment, and those following general English courses or examination syllabuses such as Cambridge ESOL's FCE should expect topics such as Meeting and Greeting, Home Life, Education and Work, Free Time, Leisure and Entertainment, The Media, Holidays and Travel.

Why should learners be careful when language schools describe their approach as 'communicative'?
Pinning down the perfect communicative syllabus requires a model as complex as John Munby's Communicative Syllabus Design. The model is so detailed that few language schools would have sufficient resources, time or skills (among their teaching staff) to deliver it. This kind of approach, too frequently hyped as Communicative Language Teaching when only general English is really on offer, comes into its own in the field of English for Specific Purposes in one-to-one classes or small groups when teachers are already very familiar with the particular variety of English required and the context in which it is used. This usually needs an overseas posting of at least two years on-site within specific settings e.g. a telecommunications company or an advertising agency.

If given the choice between the King's new invisible clothes and a suit which you can touch, take the suit!
If you really require general English you should look for teachers with a good knowledge of the structural syllabus (covering several different levels of proficiency) and the ability to represent syntax by picking out useful language functions. An experienced teacher also ought to be able to anticipate the most useful (survival) topics and to have rehearsed the vocabulary syllabus. A teacher who advertises their approach as 'communicative', 'authentic', 'task-based', 'learner-centred' or 'tailored to your needs' may not be able to meet any of the real requirements. Buzz-words and marketing terms will rarely lead you to a good teacher. It is better to look for one who has an interest in language as syntax and semantics.

06 Examination Boards & Bodies for Learners and Teachers of English

Using the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference,
KET is A2 (BASIC); PET is B1 (INDEPENDENT); FCE is B2 (INDEPENDENT); CAE is C1 (PROFICIENT); and CPE is C2 (PROFICIENT).

Learners' exams: Cambridge ESOL Exams---------KET | PET | FCE | CAE | CPE | skills for life

Exam handbooks: Cambridge ESOL Exams--------KET | PET | FCE | CAE | CPE | skills for life

Teacher resources: Cambridge ESOL Exams-------KET | PET | FCE | CAE | CPE | skills for life

Teacher Training Examinations:----------------------CELTA | DELTA | Trinity College

International bodies: The British Council | IATEFL

English language examinations: UK Examination Boards

07 Internationally Recognised (Cambridge) Examinations for English Language Teachers and LT Managers

ELT to Adults: CELTA [Certificate] | DELTA [Diploma] | Language Teaching Management: IDLTM [International Diploma]

08 Higher Education and Career Development in the UK

Hobsons Postgraduate Courses | www.postgrad.com | LearnDirect.co.uk. | Hot Courses

Open University: Distance Learning Open University | OU Business School

Careers Advice Service Home | Help with Funding | The Educational Grants Advisory Service (EGAS) | Research Councils UK

Search for funding by UK organisation you wish to attend or subject you wish to study: www.studentmoney.org

09 English Encylopedia, Dictionary, Thesaurus and Vocabulary Acquisition

Wikipedia encylopedia | Wordsmyth Dictionary/Thesaurus

British National Corpus | Lexical Analysis Software

Top 1000 English words | Easy Word Java Hangman | Anagram Server

Wiktionary | Cambridge Dictionary Online | Webster's Online Dictionary

yourdictionary.com | A comprehensive directory of bilingual & multilingual dictionaries | yyy

Slang & Colloqialisms | From British slang to American English | From Internet and mobile slang to English

BBC websites: Voices: English accents | International English | Poetry: Poetry Archive

Bartleby provides free online access to books.

10 Resources for Translators (especially French-English & Anglais-Français)

---------Useful links for Translators

Word Reference French-English dictionary | English-French dictionary | Linguistics and phonetics : Glossaire typographique et linguistique

Français-Français: définitions, synonymes, conjugaisons: Dictionnaire de la langue française | 16th-19th centuries: Dictionnaires d'autrefois

Synonyms, Antonyms and Frequency : Dictionnaire des synonymes | Dictionnaire des synonymes (410,000 synonymes)

Verb Conjugator: French-English (ARTFL Project)

Acronyms Acronymes de l'école | First names: Le guide de prénoms | Crosswords: Dictionnaire de mots croisés

Jargon, slang, insults and special registers: Le jargon français | Petit répertoire pour les mal-parlants

French cultural terms: http://franceterme.culture.fr/FranceTerme | la Délégation générale à la langue française

Computing: English-French Word List of Common Computing Terms | Glossaire informatique | Dictionnaire de l'informatique et d'internet

Finance: Dictionnaire Anglais-Français des Termes de la Microfinance (PDF file) | Lexique de l’assurance insurance

Food and drink: Lexique de la bière | French-English Wine Glossary

Medicine: Glossary of medical terms: French | Lexique français-latin des remèdes homéopathiques

Maths and Science: Lexique de mathématique | Glossaire de biochimie | Glossaire genetique moleculaire

Dictionnaire chromatique | Dictionnaire Français d'Hydrologie | Thesaurus D'Astronomie (Français) | An English-French Aeronautical Glossary

Recreation, Sport and Culture : Dictionnaire des termes d'escrime | Glossaire Héraldique | Lexique le golfeur
Lexique des sports olympiques d'été | Lexique des sports olympiques d'hiver

Spanish dictionary | Spanish Dictionary - (Real Academia Espanola) | Translation corpus based on parallel Portuguese and English texts

Free Translation | Systran to translate a block of text | Translators' Café | www.nakedtranslations.com

Postgraduate Training (MA or Diploma) in Translation--Useful links for Translators | Funding: www.studentmoney.org

Institute of Linguistics: Diploma in Translation

University of Portsmouth: MA in Translation Studies (Distance Learning) strong on commerce and professional applications

University of West of England: MA in Translation (Distance Learning via the Blackboard UWE online computer conferencing system)

London Met University: MA in Applied Translation Studies (Full; Part-time = 2 days or 2 evenings per week)

University of Westminster: : MA Bilingual Translation (Full; part-time = day) strong on language technology

Imperial College / University College London: MA in Translation Theory & Practice (Full; part-time = day)

Swansea University: Translation | MA Translation with Language Technology | MA in Literary Translation | Useful links for Translators

Newcastle University: MA in Professional Translating for European Languages strong on medical applications, language technology and research.

11 Writing - paragraph and essay construction for students planning to go to UK universities

Lower levels: BBC Skillwise: writing | Higher levels, including students at university: The Royal Literary Fund

English for Academic Purposes (UK Univ of Hertforshire) | The Centre for English Language Teacher Education (UK Univ of Warwick)

Writing Lab - The OWL (univ of Perdue) The Virtual Language Centre | Writing at the Univ of Toronto

12 Speaking - common pronunciation problems, Phonology and Phonetics and Intonation

Online English Pronouncing Dictionary

English vowel sounds: | RP 1 | English RP 2 | Northern | The vowel machine

English consonant sounds: RP 1 | RP 2 | Transcriber - phonemic transcription

Phonetics: V Grid - vowel quadrilateral | IPA Consonant Sounds | Phonetics Tutorials

Phonology materials from: John Maidment | Univ College London | Virtual Language Centre

Intonation: Intonation practice drills | Plato - 'Place the tonic' | Toni - 7 tunes (days of week) | Toni - 7 tunes (sentences)

Unicode & Fonts: IPA in Unicode | Free IPA FONTS | Unicode Home Page

13 Newspapers, Radio and Television

Brighton UK: The Argus | News Archive | Letters Page | London: Time Out [London]

UK News: The Guardian | The Times | Electronic Telegraph | British Library: newspapers 1800-1900

UK Economy: The Financial Times | The Economist | UK Government Information

BBC Television---------1 --------- 2--------- 3--------- 4--------- News--------- Parliament

BBC Children's TV--------- CBBC--------- CBEEBIES

ITV Television: ITV 1,2,3,4 | Radio Times

BBC Radio---------4--------- 7--------- World Service

UK Radio: BBC Radio Listen Again | BBC World Service | BBC Radio Home

UK Education: English Language Gazette | Times Educational Supplement | Higher Education Supplement

USA News: Time | Newsweek

14 ELT Authoring Software

For making tests (gap-fill, multiple choice etc) &/or crosswords which correct themselves: Hotpot

See Isabel Perez's English Language web site for good examples of how to author with the above, and a lot more.

International call charges for phone calls made over the Internet

BT Talk Broadband | BT Communicator | Skype

15 Royal Mail: postage rates and tracking

Prices for post within UK | International prices for Airmail and Surface Mail | Royal Mail - track and trace

RSS webfeeds

-- Easy Access to the key parts of English language learning and teaching

-- Published resources for English language learning and teaching (Ted Power's recommendations): This feed is intended for learners/teachers/Directors of Studies wishing to review or select books/CDs/CD-ROMs on English language learning and teaching including areas such as teacher training, pronunciation, listening to spoken English, oral fluency, grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing (including handwriting & basic literacy).

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