LISTENING

Try watching movies and TV programmes, and listening to the radio in English. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t understand everything first time, the more you listen the more you will understand. With movies on video, if you find it difficult, don’t try to watch everything at once; watch a little at a time, checking any new words in your dictionary.
Listen to songs. Follow the lyrics of a song that often comes with a CD. Try to write the lyrics of a song only by listening to it; you’ll probably need to listen several times with many pauses.
The practice of listening online is becoming more and more useful and available. Here is a selection of websites that offer lots of listening material. Plan a daily listening activity from the ones that you like best.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/
• http://www.cnn.com/video/
• http://www.englishclub.com/webguide/Listening/
• http://www.esl-lab.com/ (all levels)
• http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=BBCWorldwide
• http://www.npr.org/
• http://en.yappr.com/welcome/VideoList.action
• http://storycorps.org/listen/ (advanced)
• http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/index.html (intermediate)
• http://www.elllo.org/ (intermediate, basic)
• http://eolf.univ-fcomte.fr/index.php?page=tv-commercials-listening-exercises
• http://www.eviews.net/english-lessons/ Different accents
• http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omaudio/contenidotematico.htm

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH  

6 minute listenings about general and business English, quizzes, vocabulary in the news and videos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml

HOW TO

Discover and practise phrases and expressions which you can use in all kinds of different situations. Each unit has audio and texts you can download. There are also quizzes and exercises to help you practise what you have learnt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/how_to/

WELCOME TO LONDON

An intermediate English language course allowing users to practise their reading, listening and pronunciation skills. It follows two characters, John and Fiona, through a series of situations as they arrive and settle down in the city. So, if you are coming to visit, or live, in London or you want to find out more about what the city has to offer - then this course may be for you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/index.shtml

WATCH AND LISTEN

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/

BEYOND THE POSTCARD

A series that looks at some not so well known features of some very well known places. There are text, audio and video comprehension exercises to help you practise and improve your English.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/btp/

CALIFORNIA DISTANCE LEARNING PROJECT

Stories based on real life situations. Read and/or Listen > Learning activities: Full Story (a more difficult version); Video; Vocabulary and Comprehension Activities; Links to other Web sites; Scores.

Topics: Working   Law And Government   Family   School   Health and Safety   Housing   Money   Science And Technology   Services   Going Places   Nature  

http://www.cdlponline.org/

VOICE OF AMERICA

http://www.voanews.com/: news and general interest articles in text, audio and video formats, and a special section, "Learning English", for lower levels.

http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/ (upper-intermediate / advanced)

http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/theclassroom/home/

SPOTLIGHT RADIO

Each 15-minute program uses a vocabulary of about 1500 words, a speaking speed of about 90 words each minute (about half of the normal speed) and short, simple sentences. LISTEN AND READ: http://www.spotlightradio.net/listen.php

WORD LIST: http://www.spotlightradio.net/wordlist.php

The word list shows the words we use in our Spotlight radio programs. If we use other words, we include extra information in the program to help listeners understand them.

ENGLISH LISTENING LOUNGE (American and International English)

DOMAIN: American English, international English (non-native speakers), academic English, narrative and business English. LEVEL: from lower levels to advanced. For lower levels choose 'New Listener menus'. TOPIC: At each level, there are 10 free passages to listen to, arranged in topics. The passages are real people, speaking real English, talking about what interests them.

http://www.englishlistening.com/index.jsp    Study Guide: http://www.englishlistening.com/study.jsp

RANDALL'S ESL CYBER LISTENING LAB

The listening texts are in generally in American English. There are over 100 listening and video exercises at 3 or 4 levels, from Easy (Elementary) to Very Difficult (Advanced). There are general English listening quizzes, listening quizzes for academic purposes, long video conversations and short listening exercises. There are before and after interactive listening exercises, plus the option to complete the text, as a gap-fill exercise. Difficult expressions are explained. The website is very clearly organised and easy to use.

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

ABOUT.COM – ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

This collection includes over 60 listening comprehension practice exercises. The listening texts, normally between 2 and 5 minutes long, and include British and American speakers. The texts are scripted, not authentic, but are very practical. They will help to develop key listening skills, including listening for details, and more general understanding. The exercises are divided into language levels. Each exercise has easy-to-use comprehension exercises, where you click to see the correct answer.

http://esl.about.com/od/beginningenglish/Learning_English_for_Beginners_Beginning_ESL_EFL.htm

http://esl.about.com/od/intermediateenglish/Learning_English_for_the_Intermediate_Level.htm

http://esl.about.com/od/advancedenglish/Learning_English_for_the_Advanced_Level_ESL_EFL_Advanced_English.

VIDEO

• http://www.real-english.com/: authentic videos with activities for different levels.
• http://www.eslvideo.com/: questions for different levels (beginner to upper-intermediate), transcripts and notes on culture, grammar, slang or pronunciation.
• http://www.hotenglishmagazine.com/videos-nov09.php: recordings of spontaneous conversations between native speakers on current interest topics, with transcriptions.
• http://lingual.net/: learning English through media.
• http://www.lingual.net/lingualproductitems/index.php: learning English through movies with the option of subtitles in English and comprehension questions.
• http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/: with comprehension questions.
• http://www.youtube.com/voalearningenglish: news with English subtitles read more slowly.
• http://es.yappr.com
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/video_and_audio/default.stm: one-minute news on a variety of subjects. http://edition.cnn.com/studentnews/: news for students, in a simplified version.

RADIO IN ENGLISH:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxlbmdsaXNoZm9yY2xpbHRlYWNoZ

National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/

TV IN ENGLISH:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxlbmdsaXNoZm9yY2xpbHRlYWNoZXJzfGd4OjVhZGJiYjNiN2FkMTJkNzc