Thursday 1 December 2011

Elllo English

Elllo English (yes, with the triple L) is an interesting website that provides language learners with various activities that can enhance the learners' language skills such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. Ellloenglish is mainly designed as an online listening materials library available for anyone who would like to use it in classes, as teacher or language learner to learn language just with few clicks of fingers.

The website is well organised and divided into few sections. The first and most important sections are categories that classify all the listening materials, situated at the topmost left of the website. Users are able to easily explore the available materials and activities in ellloenglish. Other than that, there is a search engine provided in the website. The search engine will be the most convenient way for learners or users to search listening materials that tend to their interests and hobbies. In the middle of the website, there are some recommended materials for the convenient of any new learners to explore the website. Moreover, there are more sections in the site like ellloenglish's twitter and an index of all available listening materials. Below is the snapshot of the home screen :




Elllo Video

Another great feature in ellloenglish's website is the elllovideo. Ellloenglish provides authentic videos recording from various english speaker from throughout the world. There are various videos with different context such as sports, hobbies and much more for learners to choose based on their preferences. For beginners, there are transcription provided as subtitles and text separately. In addition, comprehension quiz are provided for learners who would like to test themselves after done listening to the video. Here is another screenshot featuring one of the elllovideo in this website :

Elllo Video

Application for Teachers


As mentioned earlier, ellloenglish is an useful website especially for teachers who would like to add more varieties and add more ideas into their classroom. In terms of materials, there are various materials available for downloads such as mp3 files, pdf and videos that can be used as teaching materials. Other than that, the videos in ellloenglish provide an example of genuine recordings where the speakers are trying to explain various content. Teachers would be able to teach language and content simultaneously or opt to focus more on whether the language or content bit.

Other than that, ellloenglish is full of features that can encourage autonomous learning. The reading materials, organisation and instructions in the website are all simple and easy to follow. In addition, the transcription provided with each recordings will be very beneficial for beginners to learn a new language. With ellloenglish, users may choose to challenge themselves with more questions and activities or reward themselves by trying the easier materials and activities. There are even 'exam help' section where students can get exam and study tips. Moreover, various materials and games such as songs and much more can make the language learning experience enjoyable and satisfying.

Advantages


1. Students will be exposed to variety of english accents. This will provide more language experience for the students.

2. Authentic materials and content.

3. Variety of topics - culture rounded

4. Users would be able to personalise, making choices and interests based on their own.

5. Provide variety in classroom.

6. Encourage autonomous learning.

7. The website covers almost all skills in language

8. Various context of the listening materials provide motivation for students to listen.

9. Supported by CLIL enthusiasts.

10. Free and there's no need to register an account.

Issues


1. Server issues. Sometimes the website might not be functional if their servers are overloaded.

2. The organisations might confused some first time users.

3. Some of the audio and video quality is not that good


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