Sunday, February 28, 2021

Extensive and Intensive Listening Recommendations

(TESOL Worksheets--Extensive Listening)
Google: docs, pub
[Explanation: I used this in conjunction with my Extensive and Intensive Listening Tracker, but I'm posting it separately because I think this could also be used independently.
Each class, I emailed the students an extensive or intensive listening recommendation, that they could do for their homework tracker.  They were not obligated to do these (they could also find their own material independently if they preferred).
This was for an advanced class, and so the level of the material reflects this.
On this public blog, I'm only sharing the publicly available material--i.e. I'm not sharing here the links to materials that were on my school's private drive--which, unfortunately, is most of the intensive listening material.  So if this list seems more geared towards extensive listening than intensive listening, that's why.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: http://esl-bits.net/  This website contains so much material that you can listen to--books, short stories, and articles.  Everything has both the listening audio, and the reading text, so you can do it either as a reading or a listening or both.  In the future, I'll recommend specific books to you that I think would be appropriate for your level.  But for now, I'll just recommend the website generally.  Have a look through the various material, and see what interests you.  
For the extensive listening, it's recommended that you do this as listening practice and not reading practice.  That is, don't look at the printed text--just play the audio the first time, without looking at the reading.  (After you've listened one time, you can use the transcript to help you if there were parts you had difficulty listening to.  But remember, for extensive listening, you don't need to worry about understanding everything.  Just understanding the main idea is fine.)

Intensive Listening Recommendation: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9  Actually today's recommendation can be either extensive or intensive listening.  If you listen to these videos just for enjoyment (and don't answer any questions), you can classify it as extensive listening.  However, if you do the questions, you can classify it as intensive listening practice.  I've designed IELTS style gap fill questions around the first 12 videos in this series.  You can access my materials in this folder here: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5QgMDk6npsRcWNhRFg2c0w3bW8?resourcekey=0-2VdYQ_ZyWEWDU-x_qpBn2Q&usp=drive_link  You can listen and fill in the gaps, check your answers, listen again, listen with the transcript, us the transcript to check unknown vocabulary, etc, and then it would count as intensive listening.  So either intensive or extensive listening would work for these videos.  If you do decide to use them, you can count each video as one listening.  So, for example, the first video (the Agricultural Revolution) can count as one extensive or intensive listening on the tracker.  The next video would count as a second listening on the tracker, etc.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: So, for the last extensive listening recommendation, I gave you this website: http://esl-bits.net/ .  But the truth is, there's a lot of material on that website.  Some of the books are very difficult and probably not appropriate for you.  So you may need some help navigating that website and finding the easier material, and that's what I'll try to do over the next few weeks.  The easier material is, of course, the children's stories.  The easiest story I can think of on that site is Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, which you can find here.  http://esl-bits.net/Novellas.for.ESL.Students/Charlotte/contenu.html  This is a classic children's story, first published in 1952, but still read to young children nowadays.  When I was in school, my teacher read it to us when I was in 2nd grade (so I was 7 years old).  So it's at about a 7 year old level for native speakers.  For second language learners like you, I suspect there will be a lot of unknown vocabulary in this story, but you should still find the main idea of the story very easy to follow.  It's a children's story, so the plot is simple, but it's not without its charms.  There's a reason why it became a classic.
As always with this website, remember to do this as listening practice, not reading practice.  Don't look at the text the first time you listen.  (I suggest either minimizing the window, or looking away from the  screen.)  Although there are pictures for every chapter that you could preview before you listen to give you an idea of what will happen in that chapter.  
If you do this for your extensive listening tracker, you can count one chapter for one extensive listening practice.  (You don't need to listen to the whole book all in one go.)  
There's also a movie version of this story which you can find on Youtube.  https://youtu.be/rv7A4tg7G1k  The movie has some minor changes, but overall follows the story in the book pretty closely.  If you're having trouble visualizing what is happening in the book, you may want to use the movie to help you follow the story.  You can watch the movie before you listen to the book.  Or you can watch the movie after you finish the book.  Or you can watch the movie alongside the book (i.e. listen to some of the book, then watch some movie, then back to the book, etc).  Whatever helps you more.
You can also watch the movie instead of the book.  If you do that, you can count the movie as one extensive listening practice.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. http://esl-bits.net/Novellas.for.ESL.Students/Lion.Witch.Wardrobe/contenu.html  This is another audio book from http://esl-bits.net/ . As I mentioned before, I'm going to help you find the easier books on this website.  And this is another children's book, so it should hopefully be easy for you to listen to.  I first had this book read to me when I was 5 or 6 years old, so for a native speaker I think it's about at the 6 year old level.  For second language students like yourself, I think you should be able to follow the main idea easily, even if there will be some unknown vocabulary.  

As always with this website, remember to do this as listening practice, not reading practice. Don't look at the text the first time you listen. (I suggest either minimizing the window, or looking away from the screen.) Although there are pictures for every chapter that you could preview before you listen to give you an idea of what will happen in that chapter.
If you do this for your extensive listening tracker, you can count one chapter for one extensive listening practice. (You don't need to listen to the whole book all in one go.)
Because this is a very famous story, it's been made into a movie multiple times.  At least two of the movie versions are available for free on Youtube.  A 1979 cartoon version is on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/CP5uXoNf7Nc A 1988 live action version is on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/6Fft9DLIp7E If you're having trouble visualizing what is happening in the book, you may want to use one of the movies to help you follow the story. You can watch the movie before you listen to the book. Or you can watch the movie after you finish the book. Or you can watch the movie alongside the book (i.e. listen to some of the book, then watch some movie, then back to the book, etc). Whatever helps you more.
You can also watch one of the movies instead of the book. If you do that, you can count each movie as one extensive listening practice.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: Another audio book from http://esl-bits.net/ Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  http://esl-bits.net/ESL.English.Learning.Audiobooks/Wimpy.Kid/indice.html  This is another children's book.  This one is pitched at slightly older kids (10-11).  The vocabulary is slightly more advanced, and it also contains more slang terms and idioms.  But on the plus side, each individual chapter is very short, so it's very easy to do this in short listening sessions.  And in my experience, this book has been popular with students in Vietnam.  You can also listen to it on Youtube if you prefer.  https://youtu.be/cy0jEVm002w

Extensive Listening Recommendations:  So far I've been slowly recommending you audio books on a book by book basis.  But we're now 2 weeks into the course, so it's time to just give you all the good stuff at once so you can make up your mind.  The following are a list of books on esl-bits.net that were written for children, and so should be easier to comprehend.

Intensive Listening Recommendation: The Robin Hood movie, and do the slideshows and worksheets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5QgMDk6npsRNmFJU2N6djNzN1U?resourcekey=0-nBFEagwqu3UgRyOMGDexYg&usp=drive_link (If you only watch the movie, you can count it as extensive listening.  If you do the movie and the slideshow and worksheets, you can count it as extensive listening.)

Extensive Listening Recommendation: Eyes on the Prize Documentary https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOwK3r1sMvSZVth7XGlcpfLSjS3tAp90T  I notice you've been doing a lot of talks and lectures on the extensive listening, but not a lot of documentaries.  Documentaries can also be a fascinating way to study, and this is one of my favorites.  It's a documentary on the American Civil Rights Movement.  There are 14 parts, but each part can count as 1 extensive listening.  The transcript is here: https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/filer_public/b9/02/b902b327-70e0-4a4c-80d4-db9ca54941ab/eyes_on_the_prize_transcript.pdf

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Princess Mononoke and do the slideshows and the worksheets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5QgMDk6npsRUUtYbVc4OWlnbUE?resourcekey=0-MgR3Hdtd24WhCO34qLg6Bg&usp=drive_link  The movie is originally Japanese, but the version I'm sharing with you here is the English dub, so it counts as English listening practice.  The worksheets and slideshows follow the same format as the Robin Hood worksheets and slideshows I shared with you earlier this week.  As with the Robin Hood materials, if you only watch the movie, you can count it as extensive listening.  If you watch the movie and do the worksheets and slideshows, you can count it as intensive listening.  Each part can count as one intensive listening.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: Story Time Animated: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfT-6VFvgdC2wTkjITSTGyg  This is a Youtube channel which (supposedly) takes real stories from teenagers, and animates them.  Are all of these stories real?  Well... supposedly, at least.  I don't know, what do you think?  Most of the stories are just over 10 minutes, so they should be perfect for extensive listening.  You can count each video as one extensive listening.

Intensive Listening Recommendation: British Council Listening Materials: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening  Tons of stuff on this website.  You can choose your own level.  (It may be useful to start at an easy level and then work your way up.)  If you do all the tasks, and look at the transcript, you can definitely count this as intensive listening.  

Extensive Listening Recommendation: A great listening resource which we haven’t even talked about yet is the wonderful world of podcasts.  You can find podcasts on just about any topic you like, so explore around a bit and find what you’re interested in.
You can search for podcasts on many different apps, but I use https://podcasts.google.com/  .  I’ve been recently been listening to (and loving) history podcasts by Mike Duncan.  Revolutions https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yZXZvbHV0aW9uc3BvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3Mv and The History of Rome https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXN0b3J5b2Zyb21lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz

Intensive Listening Recommendation: ELLLO--English Listening Lesson Library Online--So many great resources here.  And great for intensive listening because it includes questions, vocabulary work, and work with the transcript. http://www.elllo.org/index.htm

Extensive Listening Recommendation: Spotlight English.  This is a good way to build up your listening confidence if you're struggling.  The presenters on this Youtube channel specifically use only easy-to-understand broadcast English.  It's a great way to build up your general listening ability before going on to more difficult materials.  Check out their Youtube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/SpotlightEnglish1 and also more material at their website: https://spotlightenglish.com/

Intensive Listening Recommendation: https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/ Scroll down on the left hand side to the listening exercises.  Choose a level.  (You may want to start on an easy level to get started).  There are lots of activities here to practice both intensive listening and micro-listening.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: Channel Awesome Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChannelAwesome/videos  I find these videos very entertaining, particularly the Nostalgia Critic segments: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0AQIMR-tpolMHlQtgREG-amOqw8J_fkS

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Listen and Write: https://www.listen-and-write.com/  This website is so extremely useful for practicing micro-listening.  Highly recommended.

Extensive Listening Recommendation: I've been finding Philosophy Tube's videos very thought provoking.  Check them out: https://www.youtube.com/c/thephilosophytube/videos​​​​​​​

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Lyrics training--this website is great for practicing Microlistening skills. https://lyricstraining.com/

Extensive Listening Recommendations: Adam's Answers Youtube channel.  https://www.youtube.com/c/AdamsAnswers/videos  The channel is made for kids, but I think it would be great practice for anyone struggling with English listening.  Adam's pronunciation is so clear and easy to understand. 

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Check out micro listening: https://microenglish.com/  There's a ton of great resources on this website, but of particular use to your exams is the micro-listenings: https://microenglish.com/category/micro-listening/

Extensive Listening Recommendation: I find the film criticism of Lindsay Ellis really interesting.  Check out her Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/LindsayEllisVids/videos  She also does work on the PBS channel Storied: https://www.youtube.com/c/pbsstoried/videos

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Check out the MyEnglishExam website: http://www.myenglishexam.com/  There's a lot of content here for all the skills, but select the listening from their menu.  It's really great for reviewing the listening strategies for IELTS style listening (which will also be relevant to your exams).  You can also access the same content on their Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ESL4free/videos​​​​​​​

Extensive Listening Recommendations: The Philip DeFranco show--A really interesting way to keep up with the news... and also the Youtube scandals.  https://www.youtube.com/c/PhilipDeFranco/videos

Intensive Listening Recommendation: Check out TubeQuizard--lots of great activities to practice micro listening with. http://www.tubequizard.com/

Extensive Listening Recommendation: As discussed in class, Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell is a great Youtube channel for educational videos about science topics.  https://www.youtube.com/c/inanutshell/videos  In particular, there video about Do we Need Nuclear Energy to Stop Climate Change? (https://youtu.be/EhAemz1v7dQ) is useful for your Unit 8 topic.

Extensive and Intensive Listening Recommendation: English Reading and Listening Practice.  https://sites.google.com/view/reading-and-listening-practice/  Listen to the videos for extensive listening.  Practice the comprehension questions and vocabulary for intensive listening
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