18 July 2016 / by Marjan Van Rij

Some tips for your English students during summer break

Have you already made plans for this summer? Going to the beach, the mountains or visiting family? What about your EFL or ESL students? Will they keep on studying English if they're not going abroad? It might be a good idea to give them something to do, right? Therefore I've listed here some activities to keep them busy in a easy way without you having to check any homework. So let the progress continue of your English students during summer break!
Cooking recipes

Give your students some cooking recipes in English which they can try out during summer break. Make sure that you give them everything in English: the grocery list and instructions. You can find recipes on the web with videos, with instructions (in American English or British English) or you can give them one of your own favourites. Here are two of mine: Chicken pot pie & scones. You can even take it to the next level and let your students organize an English evening in which they can play some charades, cook a lovely dinner and only speak English with eachother.
Ted Talks

A great platform for short interesting videos is Ted.com. Your students can search for any topics they like and watch a short (or longer) video about it. This website offers them full transcripts or subtitles in any language they prefer. Of course, it depends on your students which one will be best. That's why I recommend you to have a look beforehand and already select one or two videos for your students to watch. Some of my personal favourites are Why I keep speaking up & What makes a good life.
Lyrics training

A helpful tool to practise listening which English students can use on their own can be found on lyricstraining.com. Students can select the language of the songs and browse for any song they want to practise with. They're able to choose their own level (beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert) and listen to lyrics while doing a fill in the gap activity.

27

January 2012
Pretty....
by Radmila Gurkova
Pretty has many different meaning depending on how it is used. Adjective Adverb Verb Noun ...

27

January 2012
Try something new for 30 days…
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfBXjWm7hc Matt Cutts was “stuck in a rut” with his life so he took the advice of a fairly modern American philosopher – Morgan Spurlock – which was to, “do something new for 30 days”. So he thought of doing something straightforward that he has always wanted to try and add it to his life but for ...

27

January 2012
Friday Fun: The History of English #4
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN7-EvgKAsk&feature=relmfu The Friday posts about the history of English continue with this video about the impact of the King James Bible. Have you heard any of these terms and phrases? Why not try using some of them to talk about contemporary events. ...

24

January 2012
S1: Learn the Alphabet...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpIhzFh0yw8 Can you say the English alphabet? This musical video helps you to remember and pronounce the alphabet. ...

20

January 2012
I am rowing... subject + 'ing'
by Radmila Gurkova
The present continuous We use the present continuous to talk about actions in progress: I am reading I am swimming I am eating ...

20

January 2012
Roz Savage – Rows across the Pacific and embraces another big adventure
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXqPaHQp4Xw Roz Savage rows solo across many oceans – the Atlantic and the Pacific to name a few. She has rowed over 8,000 miles and taken over three million oar strokes and spent more than 312 days alone on a 23 foot rowboat. Roz has a love hate relationship wi...

20

January 2012
Across the river......preposition
by Radmila Gurkova
The preposition across talks about movement from one side to another, usually two-dimensional lines for example Room, or a River. How are we going to get ...

20

January 2012
Therefore......Connector
by Radmila Gurkova
Therefore is a connecting adverb that can be used instead of SO, it is formal.  It can come at the beginning of the clause or after the...

20

January 2012
If you read this post, you will understand the zero conditional
by Radmila Gurkova
We use the zero conditional when we talk about something that's generally true. For example. If I study, I will pass the exams. if +...

20

January 2012
€4,000 For a child's birthday party?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn9B9cwZY4Y&feature=related Stephanie Kaster of Manhattan set out to plan the birthday party of a lifetime for her daughter. Little three year-old Sophie, had not have many birthday parties to compare to, so after careful deliberation and her mother Mrs Kaster saying: "I just thought,...