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Website Changes and Additions:
Visitors always want to know what I am currently working on to improve my Websites, which also include www.dailyesl.com, www.ezslang.com, esl-lab.blogspot.com, www.trainyouraccent.com, www.tips4students.com, and any number of other new projects yet to be announced. With many new things going on, it is difficult to point you to all of them, but I often am spending a lot of time making current listening activities even better by adding new features. Here is a short list:
New Website Features:
> [Current Project until Spring 2008]: Adding new vocabulary quizzes to my Website, www.dailyesl.com. These quizzes are exciting in that the help students review the vocabulary from the related reading and listening activity. You can try to quiz below, but be sure to do the main activity (the second link) to see how these activities work together:
> [Current Project until Spring 2008]: Adding new vocabulary exercises to help students review and practice the words that appear in the conversations so they can learn to use the vocabulary in their own speech (see examples called "Mixed-Up Sentence" and "Sentence and Vocabulary Matching" and read more about this project HERE).> [Current Project until Spring 2008]: Revising many of the Post-Listening Exercises to encourage more application and recycling of the language skills presented in each listening activity (i.e., a focus on putting the listening skills into speaking practice for addtional learning). The newer exercises encourage greater use of critically-thinking skills, including analyzing information in the form of an Internet-based task (see example HERE).
> Linking my Post-Listening Exercises to my blog at http://esl-lab.blogspot.com, which encourages students to share their own ideas on related topics (see example on credit cards HERE).
New Activities:
> Added Budget Hotel Rooms - A man checks into a hotel, but he's surprised by the service---or lack of it.
> Added Grocery Shopping - A man picks up a few groceries at the store, but his wife is really surprised by his purchases. The man receives a big shock at the end of this conversation.
> Added College Majors - A man and woman discuss their majors with a funny twist at the end.
> Added Flower Shop - A man finds himself in deep trouble for not buying his wife flowers.
> Added A University Degree - A man helps his daughter prepare for the university with a surprising ending.
> Added 72-Hour Emergency Kit - A man describes preparing supplies for emergencies, including a possible alien attack.
> Added Wedding Anniversary - A man forgets his wedding anniversary, and his wife wants some changes to make things up.
> Added TV Guide - A man and woman discuss what to watch on TV.
> Added A Hiking Family - Randall introduces himself and talks about his family.
> Added eleven new listening and reading activities to my site, Daily ESL (www.dailyesl.com).
Adding Text Completion Quizzes to more of the listening activities.
> Added Video Game Systems - A boy tries to convince his father to buy him a Game Boy system.
> Added Computer Sales - A man is having a hard time returning his faulty computer, and sales representative is not much help.
> Added Car Accident - A teenage girl wrecks the family car, but it turns out not to be all her fault.
> Added Driver's License - A teenage girl discusses her desire to drive, but her dad comes up with some strict rules for using the family car.
> Added World News Stories - A short news clip reporting on a series of news events.
> Added Great Apartment Living - A woman calls an apartment owner to find out more about a place to rent.
> Added Arches National Park - A mini lecture on different steps to remain safe while hiking through this famous park.
> Added Cosmetic Surgery - A mini lecture on the efforts of organizations to help people in need of reconstructive surgery around the world.
> Added Funerals: Expressing Condolences - A woman talks with a friend about the death and funeral of his father.
> Added Leisure Activities - A man invites a friend to hang out with others in the evening.
> Adding pictures to listening activities as a means of simulating discussion and vocabulary development. Click HERE to read more about this.
> Adding idioms to each listening activity to help student improve their comprehension skills of conversational English.
> Added Easy Pet Care - A man tries to persuade his neighbor to take care of his unusual pets.
> Added Joe's Hamburger Restaurant - A man is in for a surprise when ordering a meal at a local restaurant.
> Added Exercise Program - A man talks with his friend about his "new" exercise program.
> Added Car Rental - A man rents a car from company with some undesirable conditions.
> Added Snacks and Candy - Two men discuss a problem when one loses money in a vending machine.
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