Archive for the ‘American Culture’ Category
Online Course: The Business of English
Monday, April 19th, 2010The Business of English from Australia Network is a 15-part series for intermediate to advanced English language learners which looks at the language used in everyday business situations such as meetings, presentations and negotiations. Each episode comprises video and audio versions plus a full transcript, a quiz and useful tips.
Here is the list of episodes
Episode 1 – Pleased to Meet You
Episode 2 – Why don’t you join us?
Episode 4 – Any Other Business
Episode 6 – What are the Options?
Episode 7 – A Report on Progress
Episode 12 – Negotiating part 1
Episode 13 – We Might Have A Deal!
Comments:
Even though American Business practices or concepts might differ with the Australian do business, this is a great resource for professionals and students who want to improve their business vocabulary and speaking skills by studying business situations such as meetings, presentations and negotiations. Thanks to Jeffrey Hills from the English Blog for sharing this interesting resource.
More resources about Business English
ESL Business English here
Business English Lessons here
Business English Site here
EnglishClub here
1065 useful word and phrases in modern American business English here
American Business Culture here
Writing for a North American Business Audience here
Guide to Basic Business Letters here
Essential Apps for English Learners: E-books
Monday, April 12th, 2010In this post I’m going to be looking at some apps which allow you to download and/or read e-books on your iPhone or iPod Touch. See below for links to previous posts in this series.
• Stanza: free application you can use to download from a vast selection of over 100,000 books and periodicals, and read them right on your iPhone. Although you’ll have to pay for recent books, many of the classic works are free, and you can also get free sample chapters of some new books. Visit the Stanza site or watch the demo movie to find out more.
• Kindle: free app which allows iPhone and iPod touch owners to download and read books from Amazon’s celebrated Kindle bookstore. Most new releases cost $9.99, but you can read the beginning of any book before you buy it (a great way for learners of English to practise their reading skills on a wide variety of source material).
• Classics2Go Collection ($0.99): the best of several classic literature apps featuring a collection of over 60 works ranging from Frankenstein to Robinson Crusoe. You can get the books for free elsewhere, but at this price why go to the bother? (If you really object to paying, there’s a lite version with just six books).
PREVIOUSLY
• Essential Grammar Apps
• Essential Dictionary Apps
• Essential News Apps
Thanks to Jeffrey Hill for this enlightening and helpful post.
Fulbright Scholar Learns About The Culture and History of America
Monday, April 12th, 2010Folake Oyedepo attends Fayetteville State University where she is teaching the Yoruba language to American students while learning more about the culture and history in America.
Folake Oyedepo is from Nigeria and she is very focus on what she will be doing while she is here in America. “I’m an English graduate from Nigeria so coming to America has helped me to share my language and culture with diverse people and to improve my English because I hear English from the native speakers. I was a teacher in Nigeria and that is my career; I want to become a teacher in a college, a professor,” she says. “So I came to America under the Fulbright scholarship and this award has given me an opportunity to get a global exposure about teaching and learning. It also awards me the opportunity to learn the American culture first hand apart from what I’ve read in books, what I’ve seen in movies and what I’ve heard in the media. I am in America to learn the American culture first hand.” Continue reading here
Listening to the story here
Source : VOA News
April is National Poetry Month in the United States
Saturday, April 10th, 2010Today, THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English tells us about National Poetry Month.
April is National Poetry Month in the United States. This year is the fifteenth celebration of the event. We tell about how America will be celebrating poetry this month. Poets, schools, publishers, booksellers and libraries will hold readings, competitions, book displays, educational events and other activities in honor of National Poetry Month. They will celebrate poetry and its important place in American culture. Continue reading here
Listening to the story here
Source : VOA News
Americans Saying Poems They Love here
Ted Kooser : the 14th United States poet laureate here
Charles Simic :the 15th United States poet laureate here
11 Structures that Define America
Friday, April 2nd, 2010The United States has a penchant for building. As such, there are numerous buildings and other structures that represent the freedom and opportunity expressed in the American dream. Here are a few of those defining monuments.
On the following pages, you can explore our list of structures that define America, including the from the Golden Gate Bridge and St. Louis Arch to the famous monuments of Washington, D.C. Continue reading here.
Source: HowStuffWorks
How We Choose Varies by Culture
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010New book examines ‘The Art of Choosing,’ from marriage partners to candy bars
Every human being makes thousands, perhaps millions, of choices over the course of a lifetime, and each one has some kind of personal and social impact.
“Choice is essentially the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow,” says Sheena Iyengar, whose book, “The Art of Choosing,” sums up over 15 years of her research on the subject.
Iyengar examines how we make important life decisions, like who to marry, as well as seemingly trivial choices such as which kind of candy bar or soft drink to buy. Continue reading here
Listening the story here
Source: VOA News
‘The Art of Choosing’ suggests the desire to choose is universal, but how we choose varies by culture.
More about “The Art of Choosing” here and here
American History: Songs Cowboys Sang
Saturday, March 27th, 2010Cowboys of the American West told of their hard, dangerous lives in song.
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.
This week in their series, Kay Gallant tells what life was like for the early American cowboy.
People all over the world have seen all sorts of films about the cowboy. And he is often shown in television shows. But the real life of the cowboy is not often shown. His work has been hard, and his life lonely and full of danger.
The cowboy has told his own story in many songs and ballads. Hundreds of these have come from cowboys whose names are not known. They just sang these songs as they rode on the saddles of their horses across the cattle lands. Or, as they sat at their campfires at night. Continue reading here
Listen to the story here
Source: VOA News
American History: Gold, Land Drive Settlers West
Thursday, March 18th, 2010The discovery of gold in California helped to speed development of the western United States.
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION — American history in VOA Special English.
Soon after the Civil War ended in eighteen sixty-five, thousands of Americans began to move west to settle the land. The great movement of settlers continued for almost forty years. The great empty West, in time, became fully settled. The discovery of gold had already started a great movement to California.
This week in our series, Robert Bostic and Leo Scully tell about the gold rush and the important part cowboys played in settling the West. Continue reading here
Listen to the story here
Photo : California Historical Society Gold miners in California
End of Black History Month with Maya Angelou
Sunday, February 28th, 2010Black History Month is coming to an end as today marks the final day of February. We wanted to end it on a high note with a famous poem, Still I Rise, written by Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou is an American autobiographer and poet who has been called “America’s most visible black female autobiographer” by scholar Joanne M. Braxton.
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Video of Maya Angelou reciting her poem here
Musician Ben Harper honoring Maya Angelou with his song “I’ll Rise“, which includes words from her poem, “And Still I Rise.”
Learn and Improve English at EnglishCafe
Friday, February 19th, 2010English Café is a great new web site that is dedicated to providing a community atmosphere for English teachers and learners. Not only does it provide a place for learners and teachers to connect and share lessons, photos, audios, and classes, but it also provides each and every user with some amazing e-learning tools including:
• Your very own blog for both teachers and learners. Teachers can blog about any topic of their choosing and can even turn it into a lesson for their students. Students also have the chance to write their own blogs to practice their English, or as an assignment from a teacher.
• EC Toolbox – Patent-Pending Suggestion Tool allows teachers to correct and comment on learners’ written work they post to English Café. It also allows you to translate and hear sections of text.
• Multimedia Library including photos, audio, files, videos, etc. English Café allows users to upload their own materials to include in their lessons, blogs, quizzes, or just to share with other users.
• EC Recorder – this online software that is available to all users allows you to record either audio or video directly to the English Café site using your microphone or webcam.
• Lesson Builder – You can create your own lessons to share with other English Café users directly on the web site. The lessons can include any of the materials from your multimedia library, and are automatically archived for both your own convenience as well as the users.
• Quiz Creator – Each lesson is followed by a quiz to help students test their newfound knowledge, and English Café provides a great online tool to help you create that quiz in to time at all. It even includes automatic scoring, multiple choice answers, and you can even imbed audio, video, and photos.
• Groups – Join a group that suits your interests to be able to interact with like-minded people. This can be a great way for learners to practice their English on a topic that’s interesting to them. Alternatively, it is a great way for teachers to choose a topic that will keep the learners’ interest without having to rack your brain for ideas.
• Calendar – Schedule one on one session with students or an online class with multiple students. English Café even integrates with Skype and Dimdim to effectively communicate with your students.
These are only some of the amazing features English Café provides to its users, but there are many more.
English Café was featured in the first edition of ESL International’s newsletter.
Comment :
This site is a great and complementary resource for students seeking to gain English knowledge and join a world-wide conversation about words and culture.
We highly encourage you to use it in addition to attending English Language programs.
