This is a weekly selection of reading articles, free online exercises, YouTube videos, games, quizzes and resources for you to further improve your English language skills and have fun – ENJOY!
📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:
From BBC CULTURE: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Portraits of a complex marriage, by Kelly Grovier. Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera painted each other for 25 years: those works give us an insight into their relationship, argues Kelly Grovier.
Seen side-by-side in photographs, they struck an almost comic pose: his girth dwarfing her petite frame. When they married, her parents called them ‘the elephant’ and ‘the dove’. He was the older, celebrated master of frescoes who helped revive an ancient Mayan mural tradition, and gave a vivid visual voice to indigenous Mexican labourers seeking social equality after centuries of colonial oppression. She was the younger, self-mythologising dreamer, who magically wove from piercing introspection and chronic physical pain paintings of a severe and mysterious beauty. Together, they were two of the most important artists of the 20th Century. (Continue reading)
From BBC TRAVEL: The country with 11 official languages, by Denby Weller. Before coming to South Africa, the last thing an Australian would think is that there might be language difficulties.
[...] Discussion of the evolution of the colonial languages of
South Africa is controversial, not least because they are just two of the 11
official languages in use today, and neither one is the first language for the
majority of South Africans. In the 2011 Census, IsiZulu emerged as the language
most spoken at home, followed by IsiXhosa. Afrikaans was a first language for
13.5% of South Africans, while English was spoken in just 9.6% of homes. Yet it
is English that has emerged as the lingua franca – albeit a unique, local
dialect enriched by the company of the many languages of the land. (Continue reading)
🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:
LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
What causes antibiotic resistance? - Kevin Wu (4:34 minutes)
- How the food you eat affects your brain - Mia Nacamulli (4:52 minutes)
- Learn words from the news: hearing impairment, stimulate, hearing acuity, discriminate (3:41 minutes)
- Where does gold come from? - David Lunney (4:34 minutes)
- Ireland | Trinity College (2:32 minutes)
- HOW TO TIP WHEN VISITING LONDON (4:00 minutes)
- Academic Insights – 6 top tips for... working with others (2:32 minutes)
5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
BBC 6 Minute English: What Makes You Laugh? with English Subtitle (6:03 minutes)
- Why The Netherlands Isn't Under Water (7:14 minutes)
- Skills for Work: Group Discussion Skills (7:12 minutes)
- 5 Minute Biographies - Season 2, Episode 4 - Mary I, Queen of England (9:03 minutes)
- Skills for Work: Team-working Skills (5:33 minutes)
- Digital Literacy – English for study (5:15 minutes)
A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
How to Survive Long Haul Flights - Travel Tips, Hacks & Tricks (11:42 minutes)
- Improve Your Vocabulary: KNOW, MEET, MEET WITH, or MEET UP? (10:42 minutes)
- Travel English | English For Travel And Tourism - Car Rental (12:03 minutes)
- Australian Accent Tips 2 - Short Vowel Sounds (15:13 minutes)
💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:
VOCABULARY: Find out when to write hyphens (6:14 minutes)
- Vocabulary Test (Multiple choice exercise)
- Bedroom (Things you will find in a bedroom)
- Christmas Traditions
- Idioms - exercise 13
- Idioms - exercise 14
- Already / All ready
- Already / All ready - exercise 2
- Altogether vs All Together
- GV029 - Expressions with TAKE, MAKE, PUT and KEEP
💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:
English Grammar - comparing with LIKE & AS (9:10 minutes)
MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!