sábado, 22 de junio de 2013

ESL Hip-Hop and English Strokes

A few weeks ago Larry Ferlazzo informed about two sites where English students can learn in a different way, ESL Hip-Hop and English Strokes.

ESL Hip-Hop is a website aimed at both students and teachers around Hip-Hop. It was founded by Stephen Mayeux, who teaches English as a Second Language at UC Davis Extension (University of California, Greater Sacramento), an institution for continuing and professional education.

He posts lessons around Hip-Hop songs. He usually focuses on a grammar, or pronunciation point, and makes a choice of the 8-10 most relevant vocabulary items in the song. He also includes a short oral activity.

As you may expect, the activities are mainly aimed at students in the intermediate-to-advanced range.


English Strokes has been created by the British Council and uses the topic of cricket as a springboard to teach English in three different levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Each level consists of 10 units.

The site uses animations to engage learners in listening, writing, reading, and pronunciation activities, all of which revolve around the sport of Cricket. There are also interactive games.

On the minus side, this is a payment site, although students have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the materials through two demo lessons per level.