Daily English Activities: images

Showing posts with label images. Show all posts

Show and tell online

Show and Tell has been a very popular activity in the English language classroom for quite some time. It is often based around bringing in to class an object or photograph of something that is important to you and asking and answering questions about it.

Now you can 'show and tell' with the world and share images from your life and ask and answer questions using a website called Shuttercal. It's very simple, you just upload a picture each day and write a few sentences about it. This is a great way to practice reading and writing and communicate with real people.

Task:

First go to: http://shuttercal.com/ and create your account (It's free).

Once you have done this you can log in and start to look at other people's photographs and leave comments on the ones you like. You can do this just by going to the 'Explore' menu and looking for new photographs.

Click on an image that you find interesting, click on 'Comments' on the bottom right corner.
You should now be able to see a text field and add a comment or question. Once you have added a question click on submit and the owner of the image will get a message with your question.

Be patient it could take some time before you get a reply. Try to comment or ask questions about ten images.
You should also upload some of your own images. To do this, go to your own calender, by clicking on your name. then click on the square for today. You should then be able to browse your computer for an image and upload it. Youc an also add some comments and information about the image.

Keep adding images everyday and commenting on other people's images. This way you will build up a network of contacts to interact and communicate with.

I hope you like this activity and by all means look at my calender and leave comments or questions at: http://shuttercal.com/calendar/NikPeachey/

Here you can find more image based activities.

A City Love Story

Today's activity is about talking about your city and the things you love, and was inspired by a YouTube video that tells a short love story. The Story is set in Beirut in Lebanon and tells the story of how two young people meet and fall in and out of love. The video though is also a tribute to the city that they both love and the things that they like about it.

The wonderful thing about the video is that it shows you the inside of a city from the perspective of two people who live there. So in this task you will watch the video and then see how you can make your own tribute to the place you live.

Task:

So, first here is the video. It isn't in English, but it has English subtitles, so it will be easy to follow. Just pause the player if you need more time to read the subtitles.
The first part of the story shows the two people meeting and what they like about their city and what they like doing there. Watch and decide which of them has the most similar likes to your own.

Were you more similar to the girl or the boy? Were you surprised by what you saw of Beirut? Was it as you expected?
Think about the things they like about their city and the things that you like about your city.
Now take a camera and go round your city taking photographs of things that you like, places that you like to go and things that you like doing.
If you don't want to go taking photographs you could search for images on Flickr.com. Use the Creative Commons section where you can find images that are free to use without copyright restrictions as long as you aren't selling what you create. Just search for images of your city or things that you like doing.

Once you have collected your images you will need to make them into a video. You can do this using a free product called Photo Story 3, which you can download from here It is for use on PCs running Windows.

Photo Story 3 enables you to create projects using images music, your own voice and text and then covert them into video.
Here you can find a short video showing you how to create your photo story.
Photo Story 3 Tutorial

Create your project, add some music from your city and narrate the video in English, telling people what you like about your city. You can also add text to help people understand.
Once you have finished you can upload the video to YouTube and share it or you can keep it as part of your English digital portfolio.

I hope you enjoy making this video and please do share a link in the comments below once you have made one. Also be sure to post any comments if you need help or if you get stuck making your video and I'll try to help.

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

Images for Vocabulary Revision

Vocabulary is the key to expressing yourself well in any language and the key to learning and improving your vocabulary is constant revision. Luckily there are lots of sites which can help to make this easier and more fun.

Today's activity is based around the PhotoMunchrs website that combines words and images into a simple game.

Task:

Go to: http://imagine-it.org/flickr/PhotoMunchrs.html here you will see a grid with images and at the top you should see a word.

To play the game you simply use your arrow keys to go to images that are connected with the word. Each time you find an image press the space bar.
If you are correct the image will disappear and you will score a point. If you are wrong you will loose one of your 3 lives.

You will have to find 7 example images to move to the next level and a new word.

Good luck. I hope you enjoy this game. You can find more activities to improve your vocabulary here.

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

Revise your Vocabulary with Images

Sometimes you know the word you want to use, but you just can't say it when you are in a situation that is putting you under pressure. This can be very frustrating.

So today's activity is going to use a timed image game to put you under some pressure to recall your vocabulary.

Task:

Go to: http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/ and click on 'Start labeling'

You will be paired with another person to play the game. You will then see a series of images. When the images appear you have to type as many words as you can to describe the image.

For this image, you could type a variety of word like, bird, fly, sky, soar etc.
You will get point every time your word is the same as your partner. Try to score as many points as you can.
At the end of two minutes, you can see the images again and see the words your partner suggested.

This is a great way to revise your vocabulary and put yourself under pressure to remember words. You can easily play this for a few minutes every day to improve your ability to recall vocabulary.

I hope you enjoy it. Here you can find more vocabulary activities

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

Finding Out About People

The Internet is a great way to find out more about people from other countries, their lives and their culture. Understanding these things can make it much easier to understand the language and the things that people talk about.

Today's activity is based around materials from the New York Times and you are going to listen to ordinary people from New York talking about their lives and the kinds of things they do.

This will also help you develop your listening skills and your ability to understand a range of different accents.

Task:

Think about the things that you do each day and make some quick notes about your daily habits and routine.
Now go to: The Type A Teenager

Here you will hear a teenager from New York talking about her daily habits. Listen and compare them to your own.
The text is about 2 mins long and you can also watch the images of the girl. Think about how you would tell her about the differences between your life and her life. You can pause the audio if you want to make notes.

Write a message about the differences in your life. If you want to you can post the message on the website and read other people's comments at: One in 8 Million - Omika Jikaria
If you want to post your comments you will need to register on the site.

There are many more people on this part of the websites talking about their lives, so if you enjoy this activity have a look and a listen to the lives of some of the other New York people.

I hope you enjoy finding out more about people in New York. Check out more Daily English Listening Activities

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

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:

Best

Nik Peachey

Improve your Brain Power

Exercising your brain regularly can help to keep it agile and improve you memory and your ability to learn language.

Today's activity is designed to help you improve your visual memory.

The exercises is based on memorising groups of images and then trying to decide which image has been added. The activity comes from the Games for the Brain website.

Task:

Look at the images in the grid below and try to memorise them. Once you think you can remember them all, click on 'Continue'. You will see the images again, but one will be replaced with a new image. Click on the image you think has been added.

As you play, you will see your IQ score. Play until your score IQ score is 100.
Then try to write a list of all the images that you saw in the game.
If you play the game here: Mastermind, you will also get tips on how to improve your brain.

Hope you enjoy this and come back for more EFL ESL activities tomorrow.

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

Guess the Word

Today's activity is another great game which can help you to practice and improve your vocabulary. The game is called 'Guess the Google' and is based on images and Google search words.

You will see a grid of 20 images and you will have to guess the Google search word which connects them all. You have 20 seconds to guess the word correctly. The quicker you guess the word, the more points you get.

Each game last for 10 rounds and at the end you can submit your score.

Task:

Go to: http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/

Check the instructions in 'How to Play' then start playing the game. Type in your guesses for each set of images and try to get a final score of more than 200.
You can play the game as many times as you like. The images and words change each time.
If you like these image grids you can create some of your own to help you remember words. Just go to: http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/ . There you will be able to type in key search words and generate your own image montage like the one below.

I hope you enjoy this game. Come back tomorrow for more EFL ESL activities.

Related links for teachers:

Best

Nik Peachey

Play Games and Improve Your Vocabulary

The ESP game helps you to practice your vocabulary and have fun.

You play the ESP game against an invisible online partner. You both see an image and you have to type words that describe what you see in the image. If you match the same words as your partner then you score points. Each game lasts around 3 mins and you can play as many games as you like.

Task:
Got to: http://www.gwap.com/gwap/ and click on ESP Game. You can either play as a guest or you can register. If you register the site will remember your score and you'll be able to communicate with other players.

Wait while the site finds you a partner to play with.
Play the game until you score at least 1000 points.
If you enjoy the game register and try some of the other games.

I hope you enjoyed this activity. Come back for some more tomorrow language learning activities.
Best

Nik Peachey

Related links for teachers:

Daily English Activities

Pages

Show and tell online

A City Love Story

Images for Vocabulary Revision

Revise your Vocabulary with Images

Finding Out About People

Quick Reading Activity

Improve your Brain Power

Guess the Word

Play Games and Improve Your Vocabulary

My Books & Lesson Plans

My Free Newsletter