Tuesday, June 30, 2009
News item update!

MEC Managing Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

 

Kosovo clubbers fight for their right to party

 

 

 

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the club scene in Kosovo and the challenges faced by the region's electronic musicians.

 

You'll find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 1:59:51 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, June 26, 2009
Celente the fortune-teller

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

 

If you teach Business English you have probably already heard the name Gerald Celente. He is known as the trend expert and visionary of business.

 

In the first link, Trend Research Institute, you will find a video that summarizes the predictions Celente made about the credit crunch.

 

 

In the second video, Russia Today, Celente is discussing the Federal Reserve in the United States after the economic crisis hit.

 

 

The first interview is on American television and is very different to the second one made on Russian television. It can give your learners a chance to compare different types of languages in class. I hope you find the videos useful in your business classes.

 

 
Friday, June 26, 2009 8:46:23 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Where and how to study?

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

If you teach English for Academic Purposes the links to the videos below may add some vibe to your classes. Both videos come from YouTube.

 

The first video is about Hampton University. The students are giving their opinions about scholarships and the change of the job market since the financial crisis.

 

 

The second video is about the Trump University. The founder of the university, Donald Trump himself, highlights the advantages of his university over the others. Donald Trump foretells success and prosperity for those who enrol at his university.

 

 

The interesting thing about these videos is what they find essential in education.  

You can send these videos to your learners using My Web Links on your Campus site. To find out how to do it, go to the Teacher's support area.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 9:51:08 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
News item update!

MEC Managing Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

 

Can Ronaldo strike brand gold?

 

 

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the professional football player Cristiano Ronaldo and his potential to become football's most successful brand.

 

You'll find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:45:44 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, June 19, 2009
Link with words!

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

 

Learners very often say that they do not remember words they have studied. Wordnik.com is a place where your learners can find context based definitions which may help them to consolidate vocabulary items.

 

 

Wordnik.com gives a wide range of real life context to use the words in. You just type in the word and the next thing you see are examples from articles and books. There is also usage of the word on Twitter! If the power of definitions is not enough, there are always images from Flicker which visually represent the word.

 

Don't miss Fun & Games, Related words, Word family and much much more!

 

You can send Wordnik.com to your learners using My Web Links on your MEC site. To find out how to do it go to the Teachers' support area.
Friday, June 19, 2009 10:41:50 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [2]  | 
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Clinic's resources

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

 

On the 11th June we held a Macmillan English Campus online clinic, giving ideas on how to use online resources to teach vocabulary. The host was Ania Rolinska from IH Prague. Ania presented very useful and interesting online resources which can be used to consolidate vocabulary.

 

Below you can find some feedback from the clinic's participants:

 

 

Sarah Gibson- Sheridan: Wow - very interesting presentation. Thanks for the great tips and ideas.

 

Daniel Fernandez- IH Bydgoszcz: I really learnt a lot and have some ideas for my students that I

can use next school year.

 

Roberto Murakami- Cultura Inglesa Sao Paulo: Great tips and ideas, Ania! Thanks for sharing!

 

Sedat Cilingi- Istanbul Bilgi University: Thank you very much for everything.

 

 

A big thanks to everyone who participated. We had 12 participants in total!

 

If you missed this clinic, please click on the link below to see a downloadable PDF of Ania's presentation:

 

 Online tools helping to learn vocabulary.pdf (1.81 MB)

 

Ania has also written us several blog postings. Click here to find them.

 

If you are interested in attending the next MEC clinic you can contact us by leaving a comment or emailing j.trzmielewska@macmillan.com

 

 

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 11:37:30 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
News item update!

MEC Managing Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

Beautiful, brilliant Brighton

 

This week's news item is our monthly news item for teens. It focuses on the attractions of Brighton, an English city by the seaside.

 

Go to the News Items section on your Work Area screen to find out more about these awards.

 

You can also find longer versions of the news item with extension activities by logging in to our teachers' area here.

 

 
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 4:08:03 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, June 12, 2009
Slang your day!

Onestopenglish and MEC assistant, Giulia Merlo, writes:

 

If your learners would like to sound like real American, British or Aussie kids, but don't know how to find out about all the new, continuously changing slang words, then Slang O'The Day is the website for them!

 

 

With a new word added every day, Slang O'The Day brings you slang words and expressions from all over the English-speaking world, all the way to multilingual slang created by international communities.

 

You can search the whole archive, browse the words by category, or simply check the website every morning and learn a slang word a day. If you or your learners know of any expressions that are not in there, you can submit your own suggestions!

 
Friday, June 12, 2009 11:49:32 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
News in your classroom

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

Whether you want your learners to practise an American accent or you are looking for updated and interesting news headlines go to CNN StudentsNews.

 

CNN Student News is a daily ten-minute broadcast of the day's news. You can find free related curriculum material, including Learning Activities, Discussion Questions and Newsquizzes. There is an option to download CNN Student News to your desktop or iPod.

 

In addition CNN offers editions of CNN: Special Investigations Unit, CNN Specials or its award-winning documentary programme CNN Presents.

 

It could be a nice activity to prepare your learners to do their own news slot.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:14:42 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
News item update!

MEC Managing Editor, Jeremy Smith, writes:

Climate change creates new 'global battlefield'

 

 

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about an important report on the impact of climate change on humanity.

 

You'll find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area.

 

You could get students to find out more about the organization that published the report by looking at their website: Global Humanitarian Forum

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 4:11:55 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Friday, June 05, 2009
Onestopenglish newsletter

Onestopenglish Web Editor, Lucy Williams, writes:

 

 

We're launching two new series in this packed June edition of onestopenglish. Fun with grammar, by Jill Hadfield, is a collection of games to practise individual grammar points.

And our exams author, Russell Whitehead, has written a series of six lesson plans for Bulats, the Business Language Testing service, which we will publish monthly. The lessons feature real questions and audio from the Reading and Listening tests and the first set is free for all onestopenglish users now.

Finally, our soap opera, The Road Less Travelled, is coming to an end! Vote in our poll to influence the season finale:Should Sal marry Rich? You decide!
Friday, June 05, 2009 2:18:27 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Teens love reading!

MEC Trainer, Joanna Trzmielewska, writes:

If you want to encourage your students to read in English or you are looking for a nice aid to present a grammar point, you should have a look at www.onemanga.com. It is a place where you can read ‘Manga's scans' online.

 

The extract above is from Highschool Debut. It can be used to introduce Present Perfect Continuous or it can serve as the beginning of a story for learners to develop.

 

In case you are not familiar with Manga, it refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan. I'm sure your teen learners will be able to tell you much more about Manga, some of them may even draw their own!

 
Wednesday, June 03, 2009 10:14:09 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  | 
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
News item update!

MEC Editor, Kerstin Schneider, writes:

 

Nigerian music reaches new audiences

 

 

 

This week's news item, adapted for MEC from a news article originally published in the Guardian Weekly, is about the increasing popularity around the world of urban music from Nigeria.

 

You’ll find this story in the News Items section on your Work Area.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009 4:38:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [1]  |