Political Issues in the UK

In this follow up to the How Political Are You? class we talked about some of the main political issues facing the UK, notably the EU referendum and the risk of Brexit. There is a quick explanation in these slides of this concept as well as the details of the role play we started working on at the end of class. We worked on the video below from the Financial Times and the students noted down the pro-Europe and pro-Brexit arguments they heard. They then started preparing in their groups for a TV role play debate in which two Eurosceptics and two pro-Europeans have to convince an audience of undecided voters how to vote in the referendum. They used the infographic below from The Economist to add to their arguments.

How to improve you listening skills with Breaking News English

Listening is a skills that many of you find very difficult. It's normal. Fast, natural English can be hard to understand. I know a lot of you listen to English regularly via TV series, films, podcasts and YouTube videos. However, if you do some intensive practice, like dictations, you can really develop your listening skills.You can use the website Breaking News English. to do dictation exercises based on news articles. The video below explains how to get started and how it works:

 

Another excellent website is the Voice of America learning English website, where you can hear different American speakers reading news articles aloud for English learners. There are three different levels to choose from depending on number of words and the complexity of the language. There is an explanation of difficult words at the end of the article.  

Level Two News Story main page on the Voice of America website

You can also watch subtitled videos about news topics which are in careful spoken English that is easier to understand. Some of the videos are also about language such as 'Everyday Grammar' or 'English at the Movies'.  

Learning English TV video with subtitles, spoken in slow, clear American English.

English at the Movies videos with explanations of expressions heard in films.

If you're not so interested in news broadcasts, you can listen to other types of audio and video on topics such as American pop culture.

Don't forget to follow VOA Learning English on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube so that you don't miss the latest videos or audio. I hope you enjoy using these resources.