Video:

how to prepare for a TOEFL exam. A little too 'American', maybe, but there's a point for sure!
www.youtube.com/TOEFLtv

English Language Blog

by Marcus Hildebrandt:
http://englishisgreat.wordpress.com/

Fun: educational games

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/

Environmental science: animations

http://www.ucopenaccess.org/course/view.php?id=58
Read about a topic you find interesting, watch the animation and post a comment on what you learned.
Find 5 phrases worth remembering.

Video, article: Prejudice shaken.

Watch the video and read the stories.
http://www.susan-boyle.com/video/Susan-Boyle-on-Britain-Got-Tale
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-rosenbaum/the-untold-susan-boyle-st_b_188719.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8005767.stm

What's the moral of the story in your mind?

Dates in written English: exercises

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/date/written

Post your comment with the date and time of posting :)

Conditionals: exercises

http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/conditionalintro.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/conditional-sentences
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/if.htm#car
http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/condit1.htm

Finish the sentences ('comments' down here, WITH translations):
1. If you sing too loud,...
2. If they eat all the sweets,...
3. They will get good grades, if...
4. My best friend will be the champion this year, if....
5. If we ate the whole cake,...
6. If they laughed too loud,...
7. Our class wouldn't go to the field trip, if...
8. You would be my best friend, if...
9. If they had had too much coffee,...
10. If the students had had more free time,...
11. We would have studied a lot more, if...
12. She would have done better, if...

Quiz: Easter crossword

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/crossword/090410_crossword_easter.shtml
Find the most important 'Easter-words'. Post them as 'comments'.

English-Speaking Countries:

How are 'native speaker', 'first language' and 'second language' defined?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population
Facts and figures about English:
http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/esc.htmlWhich numbers were the most impressive?

Governments and governmental systems:

A really interesting one, all countries
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_gov_typ-government-type
(note the word 'suffrage' - the age when people are allowed to vote)
Monarchies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_monarchy
NB! Note the list of 'Forms of Government' to the right, it's really educating :). Maybe ours is not that bad after all?
Which governmental systems are used in English-speaking countries?

What is Slang?

Slang is the linguistic expression of the young and the alienated – it is a challenge to the authority of the standard form of the language. Each generation invents its own slang as a rejection of the standard and as a rejection of the previous generations slang.
As a result, many slang words are buzzwords and most are ephemeral. Slang´s main purpose is not as an efficient form of communicating information but as a means of belonging to a group. You do not wear this year´s style because it is more practical but rather because it shows that you belong to a specific group (the "fashion conscious"). The problem with slang is that, while most natives speak in a more or less slangy way, what you are taught tends to be standard English. Standard English is much less ephemeral and more easily recognised across social and geographical barriers. Moreover, since slang is spoken language, it is very difficult to effectively learn and practise because it is more difficult to find and study.
Here are some useful examples if you are faced with a translation or interpretation full of British Slang.
The largest group of words which British slang has generated recently is that of insults. You can draw your own conclusions from that!
Anorak: An anorak is a person who is obsessive about his/her hobby(computing, films, etc.)Saddo: A socially-inadequate person who is boring and unfashionable. (From the adjective sad: pathetic)
Geek: A boring, socially inept person.
Crusty: It is a person who follows a New Age ideology, washes infrequently, and wears old clothes. Crusties often beg and busk in cities, accompanied by groups of dogs. Many are punks and others are environmentalists.
Squeegee: A person who cleans car windscreens at traffic lights and then asks for money.
Headcase: Someone who is mentally –unstable and violent.
Slaphead: A bald man.
Slapper: A promiscuous woman. A prostitute. Especially "old slapper".
Tree hugger: An environmentalist.
Wheneye: A person who bores others with his/her experiences.
Adjectives Meaning “Good”
Be good news: Be a positive thing “Paul is good news for British football”.
Be sorted: Be prepared, in control.
Stonking: Excellent, impressive, considerable.
Sussed: Informed, aware.
Wicked: Excellent, wonderful.
Mad: Exciting, unusual, excellent.
Other expressions
Air quotes: The gesture with the fingers to illustrate speech marks (""). Used to distance oneself from what one is saying.
Not!: Expression used after a statement to demonstrate that you don´t agree. E.g. “He´s the greatest singer in the world. Not!"
Been there, done that: The idea that you have experienced something, and don´t need to experience it again. Originally used to talk about a tourist attitude which saw destinations as a list of places which had to be visited and crossed off. E.g. “Oh, Nepal! Been there, done that!"
Bog-standard: Basic, standard, uninteresting.
Gobsmacked: Surprised, astonished.
Get a life!: Imperative used to tell people to change their life and to do something more interesting. You might say this expression to a crusty, an anorak, or a geek.
http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/2306/1

Could you add any other good slang words you know? (no offensive ones, please!)

Video: Darwin's egg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7992911.stm
Who discovered the egg?
Why wasn't it discovered before?
Why was the discovery so appropriate this year?

Fun: What disgusts you?

NB! not for people who are easily disgusted!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/disgust/index.shtml
Can you think of any other words in the 'disgusted-disgusting' group? (Disgusting things make me disgusted. Surprising things make me surprised. etc.)

Animation: Forces of nature

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/interactive/index.html

Create a tornado, a volcano, a hurricane or an earthquake. (Upper left-hand icons above the picture). What did you learn about the force of nature?

Diagnostic test:

http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/advdicts/websuppmats/diagnostic_grammar_test_expt2htm.htm

Word formation:

upper-intermediate http://www.smic.be/smic5022/wordformation2.htm
advanced http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blvocabquiz_wordform1.htm
intermediate http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/word_formation/nouns_adjectives1/index.php

Irregular verbs: exercises

2nd principal form, quite easy
http://mrc.ltd.free.fr/VerbPractice.htm
Lots of exercises + other grammar topics
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/verbs.htm

Passive: exercises

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive#exercises

Diary of an English Teacher:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/chriss_china_diary.shtml
Written expression, opinions:
What gave Chris 'a real natural high' in March 09?
What made him a 'real Beijinger' in Apr.06-Oct05?
What is 'scorcher'? (Sep 05-May 05)
Which parts of the diary did you read?
Anything interesting?Post it as 'comments' right here.

Vocabulary practice:

http://www.speakspeak.com/html/d1a0001_resources_this_weeks_word.htm
Try the Weekly Word Online

Ask questions:

common mistakes and diagnostics: http://www.speakspeak.com/html/d10h001_english_grammar_forming_questions.htm

Welcome to practice

English online! You'll find links on various subjects that'll help you keep your nose above - or maybe even build a bridge over - troubled (English) water; and you can add 'comments' to comment how useful these links were. Or suggest some you have found useful. Have fun!