Quick Reading Activity

Reading in a foreign language can often seem a bit boring and time consuming, but it is a key way to improve your vocabulary and understanding of grammar and word order.

In today's activity I'd like to show that reading doesn't have to be dull and that you can improve your English using just a short daily activity, that will also help you learn more about the world and keep in touch with the news.

This activity uses a part of The BBC News website called In Pictures. The site shows you interesting pictures that have a sentence about each one describing what is happening. Most of the pictures are in sequences, so you can read about a topic or just select pictures of the day each day. Reading in this way is quick, you have wonderful images to help you understand the text and you can still develop your vocabulary.

Task:

Go to the BBC In Pictures feature find an image that looks interesting. There are a few to choose from or you could just click on the image sequence from the previous day. Here is the sequence from 15th April In Pictures

Once you click on the image it should take you to the start of the sequence. Read the descriptive sentence, make a note of any new words, then go to the next image.

Here are a few sequences you might find interesting;

• Life in a squat looks at how people in the UK who can't afford rent live.
• Kora maker looks at the life of a man who makes musical instruments
• Women's lives in northern Iraq looks at Women's lives in northern Iraq!
• Easter worldwide shows how Easter was celebrated in different countries

If you enjoy taking photographs and would like to see your own photographs on the BBC website, there is some information here about where to send them: Your Portfolio In Focus

I hope you enjoyed this activity and the images. Try to come back to the site every day just for a few minutes and read about the pictures. This will help your English develop and also keep you informed about the world so that you are a better conversationalist. If you like pictures and images, here are some more image based activities.

Related links for teachers:

• Exploiting Travel Images
• Art Photography as a Basis for Language Activities
• Darwin and Evolution
• Create Image Books
• Create a Flickr Montage
• Great Time Line Tool
• Create a YouTube Carousel
• Interactive presentations
• A Picture's worth
• Picture phrases

Best

Nik Peachey