Lyrics Training - Learning English Through Songs!

What is Lyrics Training? What can Lyrics Training do?

Lyrics Training is a fascinating website which can be used for practicing mainly listening skills by watching/listening songs in various genres (usually linked from Youtube). Basically, these songs are divided into three levels: Easy (Green), Medium (Orange), and Hard (Red). In each song, there are still three levels for you to choose according to your proficiency, including Beginner (Fill in the blanks 10%), Intermediate (Fill in the blanks 25%), and Expert (Full lyrics). In addition to English, Songs in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Dutch (7 languages in total) are available as well. Lyrics Training is frequently updated and totally free. Amazing, isn't it?

How to use Lyrics Training?

1. Go to http://www.lyricstraining.com/. You can click on 'Recently 
    Played' or 'Most Played (Today)' or even search by keyword(s) 
    (lyrics, artist, or whatever) to get the song you want.

2. After selecting the song, you have to choose the proper level 
    then you can start enjoying it.

3. With the song going, fill in the blanks with correct words until the 
    end. The system will count the total time you spend and show 
    how many of the blanks are left below.

Why is Lyrics Training relevant to language teaching?

1. The varieties of levels (9 levels in total: Easy-Beginner, Easy-
    Intermediate, Easy-Expert, Medium-Beginner, Medium-
    Intermediate, Medium-Expert, Hard-Beginner, Hard-
    Intermediate, and Hard-Expert) make this website suitable for 
    almost all the people to choose the song based on their language 
    proficiency. And it will be great for T to help Ss select the song 
    according to Krashen's "i+1" theory.
2. Using music/songs for materials is effective to lower Ss' anxiety 
    and to make the atmosphere more relaxing and friendlier. It is 
    also helpful to enhance Ss' motivation towards language learning.
    Moreover, for those who have strongly musical 
    aptitude/intelligence, learning language by using songs will easily 
    make them become 'autonomous learners', which is one of all the 
    language teachers' common goals. 
3. As long as Ss have computers and the Internet, they can go on 
    the website to learn English by choosing the song(s) which they 
    like or which they would love to learn. It is also very convenient 
    for Ts assign one/some of the songs for homework.
4. 'Culture' is also an important issue in language learning and 
    teaching. By using 'lyrics' and 'music videos', it is easy to find 
    materials to do with cultural issues. Ss can understand different 
    cultures and learn how to respect different ones.

How can Lyrics Training be used in / outside classroom?

1. It can be used as a warm-up activity to arouse Ss' curiosity and 
    attention. Also, it can be implemented as an extension activity 
    related to the theme/topic.
2. Through careful and appropriate selection, T can make Ss not 
    only practice listening and vocabulary (spelling) but also focus on 
    grammar and sentence structure.
3. It is possible to hold a competition based on this tool. The 
    person/group that finish the lyrics the fastest will be the winner.

The following is a sample activity concerning 'friendship'.
(Made by My Brainshark)

What limitations are there?

1. The blanks slightly change every time you refresh the webpage, 

    which is a disadvantage for Ts to prepare worksheets beforehand. 

    Therefore, I personally suggest that it is better to use this tool in 

    computer classrooms.

2. It is possible for Ss to GUESS the answers by randomly typing 

    every letter on the keyboard. So T's monitoring is necessary 

    when using this tool.

3. "Ascents" may be good for high achievers to practice various 

    listening skills. However, different ascents will increase even 

    more difficulty for low achievers. Perhaps this factor may harm 

    their confidence or even demotivate them.

4. Some lyrics (e.g. taboo words) are not appropriate for Ss, 

    especially for younger learners and teenagers. Thus, T should be 

    very careful when selecting.

Click n Learn - To Learn / Teach English Interestingly And Interactively

What is Click n Learn? What can Click n Learn do?

If you think it is ideal to teach / learn English while playing games, then you cannot miss a fabulous website called 'Click n Learn'. Click n Learn is a free website which provides numerous English teaching and learning resources related to different topics such as music, sports, traffic, colors, weather, etc. Also, all the materials are categorized into three levels (easy, intermediate, and difficult), which are convenient for users to use this website more properly.

Why is Click n Learn relevant to language teaching?

    1. It contains a lot of pictures, animations and audio effects; most 
        materials are designed as games. These are helpful to arouse 
        Ss' curiosity and attention, especially for young learners. 
    2. It includes vocabulary practice, grammatical rules, cultural 
        knowledge, etc. The wide-ranged materials are beneficial for 
        Ts / Ss to teach / learn.
    3. The materials will appear automatically from basic ones to 
        advanced ones. Ss can choose the most appropriate level and 
        material to learn instead of challenging the hardest part at the 
        beginning.
    4. Ts can select ore or more specific topics related to the 
        textbook to teach or to use this website as supplements. Also, 
        Ss can choose the most interesting topic to learn, which will 
        help promote learners' motivation and autonomy.

How can Click n Learn be used in / outside class?

    1. Ts can use the games as warm-up activities, which will easily 
        attract Ss' attention and make them more interested in the 
        following learning activities.
    2. It also provides materials to teach pronunciation (e.g. vowel 
        sounds, phonemes, dipthongs, etc.). In my context, speaking is 
        always ignored due to time limitation, and most Ss refuse to 
        speak just because they do not think they have good 
        pronunciation. Thus, Ts can take advantages on the exercises 
        to teach pronunciation in an interesting and interactive way, or 
        ask Ss to do further online learning / practice after school.
    3. Some grammatical exercises are also suitable to be used in 
        class such as tenses, voices, clauses, and so on. Also, the 
        lexicon part is also designed very well for learners, especially 
        for beginners. These are good materials for Ts to do questions 
        and answers in class. Ss also have opportunities to review 
        again and again at home.
    4. The materials in this website are mainly divided into different 
        topics. For example, the topic 'number' requires both English 
        and mathematics skills to answer the questions. Maybe there is 
        a possibility for Ts to develop and promote 'CLIL' (Content & 
        Language Integrated Learning), which means to apply what Ss 
        learn in target language to other subjects.

What limitations are there?

    1. This website is basically designed for Spanish speakers. 

        Therefore, it is inevitable to see some Spanish terms appearing 

        on the webpage. What's more, some instructions are only 

        written in Spanish. Sometimes it may be interference while 

        teaching / learning. 

    2. The background audio effects sound good, but from time to 

        time it may distract Ss' attention. Also, there are some 

        misspelling words which may cause misunderstanding if T does 

        not clarify the errors.

    3. Some grammatical questions can not be answered merely 

        based on Ss' English knowledge (see 'passive voice' for 

        example). Instead, it requires knowledge in other fields to 
        successfully choose the correct answer and language learning 
        may be out of focus. Thus, Ts should be responsible for 
        choosing or recommending suitable materials to maintain 
        teaching / learning quality.

Breaking News English - An Amazing Website to Teach Current Events

What is Breaking News English? What can Breaking News English do?

Created by Sean Banville, Breaking News English is a free website which provides current news regularly. There are numerous online teaching resources related to each piece of news. Ts can get printable and downloadable lesson plans and online quizzes for teaching; even Ss can learning News English by themselves. This is really an ideal language teaching / learning website.

Why is Breaking News English relevant to language teaching?

    1. In my context, current events are important for entrance 
        exams, and some cram schools even provide News English 
        classes. As for Ts in public schools, what they always do is to 
        copy newspapers or to use magazines as teaching materials. 
        However, sometimes it costs a lot and it takes Ts a lot of time 
        to do the preparation work. With this website, Ts can not only 
        save time and money but also make teaching more interesting 
        and interactive.
    2. It mainly includes reading, listening, and writing exercises. Ts 
        can add additional speaking practice based on time and Ss' 
        abilities. It is easy for Ts to take care of four abilities.
    3. It gives Ss more opportunities to do self-learning. Ss can 
        choose topics which interest them to do extra practice. It will 
        help promote their motivation and make them become more 
        autonomous learners. Furthermore, the materials can be 
        downloaded as PDF or MP3 files, so Ss can store them in 
        digital devices or smartphones which allow them to learn 
        anytime.

How can Breaking News English be used in / outside class?

    1. T can ask Ss to listen to the news on this website carefully and 
        give them some questions to check their comprehension, or 
        invite Ss to share what they have listened with other Ss.
    2. T can make Ss to do "sentence jumble" and "no letter" after 
        listening to the text. By doing this, Ss can get good results due 
        to their fresh memory. If possible, T can make Ss pair up to 
        see which pair could finish the mission first. To me, these two 
        exercises are interesting and exciting. Thus, Ss' may have 
        higher motivation towards language learning and more 
        involvement during class.
    3. Besides, there are still a lot to do based on this website. 
        However, it is important to note that T should choose suitable 
        materials and use them appropriately according to Ss' language 
        proficiency. 
    4. Actually, I tried to use this website when I was teaching. It 
        was two years ago, after my Ss finished the Basic Competence 
        Test (the standardized entrance exam for ninth graders), I used 
        this website to teach News English. However, there were only 
        two computer classrooms in my school. What I want to   
        mention here is that T can use the lovely materials on this 
        website to teach whether each S has a computer or not. The 
        following is my brief description about how I used it in a 
        normal classroom, presented by My Brainshark.

What limitations are there?

    1. There are too much information on this website; sometimes it 

        looks too complicated. On the one hand, it provides Ts a lot of 

        teaching resources. Nevertheless, on the other hand, Ts should 

        select materials wisely for each class. By doing this, Ts can 

        make their teaching more effective and efficient, or going 

        through too much unnecessary materials may become a waste 

        of time.

    2. Basically speaking, it requires better English abilities to learn 

        the materials of this website. If T use it in a mix-ability class, it 

        is possible that the low achievers may lose their confidence 

        and interest in learning English.

    3. This website is already good enough, but if some visual     

        elements related to the news can be added, this website will 

        definitely be more attractive.