English Central
This site has video clips with subtitles. The speech is divided into chunks and students can listen and copy the chunk. They can record themselves and compare their pronunciation with that of the native speaker. The programme grades how well you do with a score and helps you with the sound of each word, as well as the definitions. The English is generally American.
If you want to use it you can go to http://www.englishcentral.com and try out one of the demos on the homepage.This guides you through how to use it. It is very simple and takes just a minute or so to get the hang of it. In short, you can listen to the text in full or check the Pause after each line if you want to listen to each chunk at a time. You can slow the line and you can record your voice and play it back. If you like it, you can register and try out more videos in depth.
Fotobabble
This site allows you to upload photos and record yourself talking about them. It is a great way to personalise speaking practice and share information about each other.
To use it you have to go to http://www.fotobabble.com. You can look at one or two examples and then you can register with the site. Once you have registered you can create a fotobabble by browsing for the picture you want to add. Once you have found your photo, click on Create and you can then record your voice by clicking the Record button. Press Pause when finished and play it to check you are happy with it. Add some tags if you like and then Save your fotobabble. You can now share your fotobabble with friends on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace, or embed it into a blog.
Voxopop
Voxopop allows you to create a voice discussion group where students can leave messages about anything they like. It is a great way to set speaking homework for students who can then listen to each other.
To use it you have to go to http://www.voxopop.com. You can have a look at an example and then you can register. Once registered, click on Create a talk group. Give your group a name and choose a type and a category that it falls under. Choose the Access level carefully if you want it to be invitation only. Add a description. Then click on Create my talkgroup. You can now add a voice recording - add a discussion title and some keywords to describe it. Then record your message, stop it and play it back before you commit to saving it. Once it is saved, the others in your group can listen to it and record their own messages.
To invite others to your group, go to the talkgroup page(click on your photo or icon on the top right of the page and it takes you to your homepage where you can choose your talkgroup) and click on Invite others to this talkgroup. You can then add in the email addresses of the people you want to invite so they can join the group.
Tuesday 9 April 2013
Wednesday 3 April 2013
USING AUDACITY IN CLASS
Audacity is a free audio recorder and editor that can be downloaded very easily from the web. You can use it to record texts in preparation for lessons and students can use it to record themselves in class. To download Audacity go to: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Once the programme has downloaded, plug in your microphone and open Audacity. Press the RECORD button when you're ready. Make sure Audacity is set to MICROPHONE. Press PAUSE or STOP when you've finished. Press PLAY to listen back (The recording must not be on PAUSE). When you play the recording it will start from the beginning. If you want to start from the middle of the recording, place your cursor there and a line will appear.
If you make a mistake, highlight the section you want to delete and press the DELETE button on your keyboard. Place your cursor where you want to start the recording from again and press the RECORD button. Another track will appear but when you play it back and once it's saved, it'll be one complete recording.
There are many different features with Audacity. You can for example, increase the sound level by highlighting the entire recording, clicking EFFECT on the top tool bar and choosing AMPLIFY. You can also slow down and speed up audio by choosing the CHANGE TEMPO option. You cannot edit or use these features if you have paused the audio. You must have stopped the audio for these to be available.
SAVING AUDIO FILES
You can save the file as a .aup.file. This means the file will open in Audacity and allow you to edit it or add to it. If you want to use the programme as a language laboratory then this is the best way to save files. You do this by clicking FILE, SAVE PROJECT AS.
If you want to play the audio on programmes other than AUDACITY (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player) then save the file as a .wav file. Click FILE and EXPORT AS WAV.
You can also download the audio as an MP3 file. To do this, you need to download a plug-in. The Audacity website can help with this.
RECORDING EXTERNAL AUDIO
To record audio from the Internet, make sure that Audacity is set to STEREO MIX or WAVE MIX and not MICROPHONE. Start playing the audio from the Internet and immediately press the RECORD button on Audacity.
EXPLOITING AUDACITY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
There are many ideas of ways in which we can use Audacity in the classroom to benefit language learning. Here are some of them:
Pronunciation:
Intonation
Stress
Linking
Grammar and Vocabulary:
Drills
Complete the sentence about you
Guess the definition
The four skills:
Record audio from the web (great if you don't have the Internet in your classroom but be aware of copyright laws)
Record dialogues/conversations with your colleagues for listening practice
Questions and Answers
Describing an object/a person/ a place
Creating a news report
Speaking exam practice
Recording and assessing speaking skills
Half a dialogue
Dictation/dictogloss
Parallel reading
Half a story
Make a podcast
Make a digital story
Record a play
Voice messages
Note taking
Read and record a summary of an article
The key benefit of these activities is that each learner is working at their own pace. Speaking tasks can be repeated so that accuracy or fluency are improved; listening texts can be repeated more than once if necessary and parts can be listened to again if missed. Activitites can be graded according to level so that stronger learners are challenged and weaker students are supported.
Once the programme has downloaded, plug in your microphone and open Audacity. Press the RECORD button when you're ready. Make sure Audacity is set to MICROPHONE. Press PAUSE or STOP when you've finished. Press PLAY to listen back (The recording must not be on PAUSE). When you play the recording it will start from the beginning. If you want to start from the middle of the recording, place your cursor there and a line will appear.
If you make a mistake, highlight the section you want to delete and press the DELETE button on your keyboard. Place your cursor where you want to start the recording from again and press the RECORD button. Another track will appear but when you play it back and once it's saved, it'll be one complete recording.
There are many different features with Audacity. You can for example, increase the sound level by highlighting the entire recording, clicking EFFECT on the top tool bar and choosing AMPLIFY. You can also slow down and speed up audio by choosing the CHANGE TEMPO option. You cannot edit or use these features if you have paused the audio. You must have stopped the audio for these to be available.
SAVING AUDIO FILES
You can save the file as a .aup.file. This means the file will open in Audacity and allow you to edit it or add to it. If you want to use the programme as a language laboratory then this is the best way to save files. You do this by clicking FILE, SAVE PROJECT AS.
If you want to play the audio on programmes other than AUDACITY (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player) then save the file as a .wav file. Click FILE and EXPORT AS WAV.
You can also download the audio as an MP3 file. To do this, you need to download a plug-in. The Audacity website can help with this.
RECORDING EXTERNAL AUDIO
To record audio from the Internet, make sure that Audacity is set to STEREO MIX or WAVE MIX and not MICROPHONE. Start playing the audio from the Internet and immediately press the RECORD button on Audacity.
EXPLOITING AUDACITY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
There are many ideas of ways in which we can use Audacity in the classroom to benefit language learning. Here are some of them:
Pronunciation:
Intonation
Stress
Linking
Grammar and Vocabulary:
Drills
Complete the sentence about you
Guess the definition
The four skills:
Record audio from the web (great if you don't have the Internet in your classroom but be aware of copyright laws)
Record dialogues/conversations with your colleagues for listening practice
Questions and Answers
Describing an object/a person/ a place
Creating a news report
Speaking exam practice
Recording and assessing speaking skills
Half a dialogue
Dictation/dictogloss
Parallel reading
Half a story
Make a podcast
Make a digital story
Record a play
Voice messages
Note taking
Read and record a summary of an article
The key benefit of these activities is that each learner is working at their own pace. Speaking tasks can be repeated so that accuracy or fluency are improved; listening texts can be repeated more than once if necessary and parts can be listened to again if missed. Activitites can be graded according to level so that stronger learners are challenged and weaker students are supported.
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