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What is the offer - LEARNENGLISH Help with using our elementary podcasts Help with using our elementary podcasts (online and offline) You can use our podcasts while you are connected to the Internet (online) or when you are not (offline). The differences between using them offline and online are explained below. How do I use the elementary podcasts online? (Go to Section on How do I use the elementary podcasts offline?) It is very easy to use our elementary podcasts while you are connected to the Internet. We recommend that you follow the suggestions below: 1. Listen to the whole podcast and do the 'While you listen' activity. a. If you are using the current podcast then you can listen to it directly on the elementary podcast home page: b. Before you start listening, read the questions in the 'While you listen' activity by clicking on the 'Try to answer the questions' link: Page 1 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts c. The activity will open in a new window. Read the questions and instructions carefully - this will give you an idea of the programme you are going to listen to: d. Listen to the whole podcast and try to answer the questions while you listen. Page 2 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts e. Check your answers: 2. Listen to each of the sections of the podcast online one by one and do the online activities. You can access the different sections by clicking on the title of the episode you want to listen to: Page 3 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts You will be taken to the homepage of the episode that you have selected, where you will see an audio player, links where you can download the audio file and the support materials, and the Activity window: Page 4 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts You can move from one section to another by clicking on the tabs numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. at the top of the Activity window, or by clicking on the arrow at the bottom-right of the Activity window: Every page has a comments box at the bottom, where you can send us your comments or other texts if you have registered to use the site (Note: registering to use the site is free): Page 5 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Note: to access previous episodes of the podcast, click on the title of the episode you want to listen to: Page 6 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts How do I use the elementary podcasts offline? (Go to Section on How do I use the elementary podcasts online?) Before you are ready to start you will need to do 4 things: 1. First, download the podcast. You can do this in different ways: (For information on downloading our podcasts please see Help with playing and downloading audio files). Decide whether you want to listen to the podcast on your computer (e.g., at home) or on a mobile device like an mp3 player (e.g., on the bus going to work). 2. Second, download the Support Pack. (For information on downloading our Support Packs please see Help with downloading our support packs) 3. Third, print the Support Pack. The Support Pack is divided into two: the support materials (normally about 16 pages long) and the transcript (normally about 6 pages long). You can either print just the support materials, or the transcript as well (Help with Printing). 4. Fourth, get a pen or pencil. Ok, now you are ready to go! The support materials have two parts. Part 1 While you listen Part 1 is an exercise to help you when you listen to the podcast for the first time. 1. Get Page 1 of the Pack: 2. Read through the questions. This will give you an idea of the programme you are going to listen to. Page 7 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts 3. Read the questions and instructions carefully. Sometimes you must listen for the 'right' answers. But in some of these questions, you must choose the one answer that is not possible, or wrong. 4. Listen to the whole podcast and try to answer the questions while you listen. 5. Check your answers on the answer page (normally the last page of the Pack). How many did you get right? Write this down on the answer page. This means if you listen to the podcast again later (say next month), you can print off another Page 1, do the exercise again, and see if you have improved! Part 2 Part 2 has got 8 different sections. Section 1: Conversations in English Section 1 is based on the Introduction. This section looks at the kind of language and topics we often use when we want to start and continue friendly conversations. Suggestion: One way to use this is to read the transcript, and then look at Tom's tip in this section. You can then do some exercises to help you to learn the common phrases. A good idea is to practise these with a friend who speaks English or is also learning English. Page 8 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 2: (Second series) Would like to talk about Section 2 is based on someone talking about somebody or something they like. This section helps you to practise speaking for a little bit longer – for example, when you're explaining something, or telling people something about yourself. Suggestion: The best way to practise is with a friend who speaks English or is also learning English. If you can't find someone, you can send us* a paragraph in English. Or send us* an audio/video file. Section 2: (First series) I’d like to meet Section 2 is based on someone talking about somebody or something they like. This section helps you to practise speaking for a little bit longer – for example, when you're explaining something, or telling people something about yourself. Suggestion: The best way to practise is with a friend who speaks English or is also learning English. If you can't find someone, you can send us* a paragraph in English. Or send us* an audio/video file. Page 9 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 3: Quiz Section 3 is based on the Quiz. This helps you to learn the meaning of new words and how to remember them. Suggestion: You can write your answers on our Pack. You might want to use a notebook or part of your folder to make your own word lists and maps. Page 10 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 4: (First series) Our person in ... Section 4 is based on 'Our Person in...'. It helps you to listen to other people speaking for a little longer than they speak in a conversation, like a radio or television news report. When people prepare written reports, they are often a little more formal, and use more complex words and structures. Suggestion: The notes here are to help you to think of things to say, and the best order to say them. Make notes and then join these together to make a paragraph. Why not send it to us?* Page 11 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 5 (First series) / Section 4 (Second series): Your turn Section 5 is based on 'Your Turn'. It helps you to listen to and understand people giving their opinions. Suggestion: Look at the phrases that the people use. Sometimes they don't use complete sentences. Write down notes and then say what you think. Record yourself or your friends and send us* what you think about the topic via e-mail or audio/video files. Page 12 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 6 (First series) / Section 5 (Second series): Carolina Section 6 follows Carolina – a young woman who has come to the United Kingdom (UK) to live, study, and to have fun exploring a different country and culture. Listening to this can help you if you find yourself in a similar situation. You will see that there is often more than one way of saying the same thing in English. Suggestion: listen to Carolina on the podcast, and do Exercise 1 as you listen. Then try the rest of the exercises. Page 13 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts Section 7 (First series) / Section 6 (Second series)***: The joke Section 7 is a joke. A joke is normally a funny story you hear and tell someone else. But you can also describe funny things that happen to you. The most important thing is to watch your friends to see if they are enjoying the story or not – then you can make it longer or shorter. Suggestion: Listen to the joke on your computer/mp3 player. Then put the lines in the right order. Then look at the notes and tell the story without looking at the script... Then, think of a funny story that you know. Write down the most important words in English (use a dictionary?). Then try telling the joke. Why not send it to us*, either in an e-mail or as an audio/video file? ***Note: Episode 01 of the Second Series does not have a joke. Section 8 (First series) / Section 7 (Second series): Tom the Teacher Section 8 is Tom the Teacher. These are more traditional exercises. They look at being accurate in English, and often use the type of exercises you may find in English tests and exams. Note about sending texts to us Page 14 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity. Help with using our elementary podcasts * In some sections we invite you to write texts and send them to us. You should follow the links on our website to do this. Sometimes it is best to write your texts using your computer's word processing software, and then copy and paste your text into the message area on the page on our website. If there is no space, send it to us via email. Note: if you send texts to us, you are giving us the right to publish your writing or audio/video files on British Council websites and other teaching and learning materials – this will help other people to learn. We cannot correct texts to return to you. Unless you tell us not to, we will publish your name but not your e-mail address. We may edit or make some changes to your text if it is difficult to understand. Help with printing Note: Some printers will let you print on both sides of a page, and on others you can print two pages side-by-side. In Acrobat, choose 'File' | 'Print'. In 'Page scaling', choose 'Multiple pages per sheet'; and in 'Pages per sheet', choose '2'. Alternatively, click on the 'Properties' box next to the name of your printer. Choose the 'Finishing' tab (if this is available). Then select 'Print on both sides' and choose 2 'pages per sheet'. Why not buy a folder to keep all your LearnEnglish print-outs in? Then you can always find your English notes, Packs and vocabulary lists, etc. Other ways to use the LearnEnglish Podcast Apart from the Support Pack, there are lots of other ways that you can use the podcast and the transcript to help you learn English. You can: , Listen to a part of the podcast and try to write down the exact words that they say (like a traditional dictation). Then compare what you’ve written with the transcript. , Listen and repeat parts of the podcast out loud. You can do this just by listening or you can read the transcript at the same time. If you try to copy the way that they speak, it will help your pronunciation and help your English to sound more natural. , Listen to (or read) a part of the podcast and make some notes on what the people say. Then use the notes to try to reconstruct what they said. Compare what you wrote with the transcript. , Take a part of the podcast and translate it into your language. Then a little later, try to translate it back into English. Compare your translation with the transcript. , If you’re learning with a friend, you can make gaps in a part of the transcript and see if your friend can put them back in. (Go to beginning of this Section: How do I use the elementary podcasts offline?) (Go to beginning of document: Section on How do I use the elementary podcasts online?) Page 15 of 15 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.