Tag Archive for 'sl'

Top Ten Tips to Choosing a School in a Virtual World!

Being the newest an most innovative form of learning languages, plenty of students world-wide are jumping on the band-wagon to be educated on a virtual platforms. However, in the name of quality control it is now the time to really scrutinise the services available beyond the hype.

…So we here at Languagelab have decided to give you 10 handy questions that any student wanting to learn a language efficiently and effectively need to ask before they join one of the many schools out there on virtual platforms… Happy Reading:

Continue reading ‘Top Ten Tips to Choosing a School in a Virtual World!’

Donatella Benoir back to English city

夏末的一天,在英语城购物的时候,终于又见到我最喜欢的英语城居民(English City people)之一Donatella,假期归来的她依旧谈笑风生。话题还是些老话题,但是每次都让我耳目一新。

英语城有很多故事,而Donatella总能把第一时间把第一手小道消息传给我,这次她谈到了pebblespebbles是另一位城市居民,一个做着好莱坞梦的乐观小姑娘,如果你常看美剧,说不定可以在屏幕中看到她)她告诉我pebbles的小兄弟也要搬来英语城生活了,然后不忘飞短流长的加一句pebbles的小兄弟是大胖子。

谈到最后她又要张罗着要给我找个如意郎君把我嫁出去,这个英国妞就是不顾文化差异,每次都是要用结婚的话题开我的玩笑,也不管我都羞的满脸通红了。还好她很快又转移话题说她迷恋的贝克汉姆马上要为她而和辣妹维多莉亚离婚了。

在Periwinkles 成衣店门前的Donatella总是一幅职业模特的姿态:) 她说自己还在为英语城筹备时尚设计和模特大赛,期待中:)
对于Donatella来说蜚短流长都是她的生活方式了,她总能用诙谐幽默和坦诚把说闲话演绎得精彩出色。她还是精明的生意女人,经营这英语城里最大的成衣店Periwinkles
如果你需要时尚、着装建议,一定不要错过Donatella:)

The end of summer is the beginning of new season Donatella Benoir back to English city

languagelab.com نظرة نحو أفق جديد للتعلم(1)

لطالما كان التعليم حاجة لم تستغني عنها البشرية على ممر العصور
وتنوعت أساليبه وطرقه باختلاف الأزمنة والحضارات . ولا شك أن الملاحظ لمسيرة التعل�
بتقدم الزمان يشهد تطورًا بالغًا من فترات النحت على الحجارة إلى استخراج الاوراق
والأحبار والأقلام هذا علاوة على تقدم أماكن الدراسة وظهور المدارس والجامعات وكل
أمر منها شهد ارتقاءًا وتقدمًا بالغين .

أما في عصرنا الحالي العصر الذي بلغنا فيه اقاصي الفضاء .. تبرز لنا استراتيجية
تعليمية حديثة ألا وهي التعليم عن بعد ” من مكتبك ومنزلك ” قد يكون هذا الأمر ليس
بغريبٍ عنا ولكن التعليم عن بعد هذا .. يستخدم تقنية العوالم الافتراضية ثلاثية
الأبعاد .

في هذه العجالة سأتحدث لكم عن تجربة التقيتها صدفة وذلك ضمن تصفحي شبكة الانترنت .
وهي تتلخص في موقع يدعى Languagelab.com .. هدف هذا الموقع تقديم الخدمات التعليمية
في مجال تعليم اللغات وذلك باستخدام أساليب مبتكرة تتيح لأي فرد من حول العال�
الانضمام لها . ويتم تركيز هذا الموقع وتقديم دروسه عبر برنامج يتيح للمشترك الولوج
إلى عالم ثلاثي الأبعاد ويدعى هذا البرنامج SecondLife وذلك بعد اجراء مستلزمات
التسجيل عبر الموقع . يتم استقبال جميع الطلاب الجدد في منطقة مخصصة لذلك ويت�
تعريفهم بالبرنامج والتأكد من ضبط إعدادات الصوت - لمحادثة بين المعلم والطالب
والعكس - وإرشاده إلى كيفية حجز الحصص الدراسية وكيفية حضور فعاليات التدريب على
اللغة المختلفة والمتنوعة والشيقة أيضًا .ولعل أهم ما يجذب المتعلم في هذه البرامج
تقريب العوالم له فمثلا قد تكون هنالك محاضرة في الانجليزية العامة عن كيفية حجز
التذاكر في المطار فيأخذك المعلم إلى مطار افتراضي ويتم هنالك استحداث درس . ويتنوع
البرنامج بالكثير والكثير من الأمور المفيدة والممتعة وهو ما يتيح بيئة تعليمية لأي
باحث عن تعلم أي لغة أخرى بأقل التكاليف.

Jessie Teacher speaks at the DRHA 2008


The DRHA 2008 conference at focused on how cross discipline knowledge sharing is essential to the future of digital humanities and teaching. Languagelab as experts in this field were invited to participate. The interdisciplinary nature of virtual worlds is not only relevant to teaching English at Languagelab but to many other communities of practice. Digital art, heritage, 3-D visualisation and engineering, science and theatre are all using virtual environments to create and share content. The use of virtual worlds in education was highlighted as increasingly important and a number of practitioners showcased their student collaboration and creativity in virtual environments. Among the leading institutions discussing their successful initiatives were The University of Pisa, Brunel University and Rezzable, Harvard Law School are now using Second Life as a platform to teach their courses, which are being marketed globally.

The other speakers at the conference also gave interesting presentations, here are some links to find out more about them:

Mike Takeo Magruder

Hugh Denard

Olinkha Gustafson-Pearce

Enrica Salvatori

Stephen Byrne

However there is a stark contrast between successful institutions and others who have established projects that have stagnated due to the lack of maintenance and provision of new content. Indeed, one delegate at the conference stated that many have ‘Built very impressive empty spaces’. This differs from others that are breaking new ground and attracting a significant number of new students.

Languagelab was specifically invited to show how the combination of; live actor immersive practice (The City People), classes and full courses combine narrative, student generated content and pedagogy to create a new way to learn language. Attendees were also given sight of of future projects at Languagelab, new courses (IELTS, Business and General English) and even a glimse of a radical new teaching methodology, TRIP.

How to use Languagelab in 4 easy steps…

City Update …. Meet Millie Eames

Meet Millie Eames and the most comfortable place to speak English on the Internet

Something that many language students find difficult to master is the art of
small talk.’
In class we often practice talking about ‘important’ topics, such as politics, science, music and culture.
Or we practice more functional language, like checking into a hotel, making a complaint or going to the bank.
One thing that is often not covered is the small talk that happens constantly throughout our daily lives.

This is where Millie Eames, LanguagLab’s resident café owner and
manager can help you. Millie’s café is just like a real life café. It’s a place where you can go to listen to music, catch up
with friends and socialise just like you would in a café in your own country. The big difference is that everyone speaks in English.

Here’s a hint for those of you who are shy about speaking in English. Try going to the cafe and just listening to what people are
talking about. Make a list of the things that Millie says when she is greeting people and the questions she uses to start conversations.
Then, when you’re feeling more confident try using some of the expressions and questions yourself. You’ll find yourself chatting like a local in no time at all.

Click on the following links to download some helpful reference sheets that you can use if you’re not sure what to say to Millie when you meet her.

Elementary reference sheet for Millie

Intermediate reference sheet for Millie
Advanced reference sheet for Millie

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Using your inventory to learn English

Using your inventory to learn English
To get the most out of your English classes at languagelab you need to know how to use your inventory. Your English teacher will often give you notecards you need to read or objects you need to wear or use. In this blog, I will help you find things in your inventory, create new folders and change the names of notecards and items.

Finding things.
Your teacher will often give you notecards in English class; these are really useful and important. They help you read information, discuss things with other students and explain your homework. When you take these you automatically save them.
First, open your inventory by clicking on the ‘my stuff’ button at the top right of your screen. Type the word in the search box at the top of your inventory, or click the ‘recent items’ tab where you should be able to see all your recent objects and notecards.

Keeping things in order
To keep your notecards in order you could put them in a new folder. To make a folder open your inventory and right click the top, then choose ‘create new folder’. You can now give this a name, for example ‘Important English Grammar’. You can drag and drop items into folders.

Changing Names - Renaming
Sometimes your teacher will ask you to fill in a notecard and save it, this might be part of a listening activity or a discussion, it might even be a grammar quiz. To remember which notecard it is, you can easily change the name. Find the item in your inventory and right click on it, now choose ‘rename’ from the menu. You can now write any new name you wish.

Giving other people objects and notecards
To give someone else a notecard, open your inventory, find the object and then drag and drop it on the person. This will give someone an item or notecard from your inventory.

Next week: Maps and Landmarks, finding your English Class

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Introducing Pebbles Kronfeld

Introducing Pebbles Kronfeld
Recently at LanguageLab our resident actress, Pebbles Kronfeld has been hosting a series of activities in which students have had the opportunity to practice their English while learning about important elements of English speaking people’s culture.

Here is an overview of a sketch comedy session with Pebbles and how it can be useful for improving your English skills.

Initially we read through the script of a sketch called Camel Spotting created by the famous Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Pebbles helped us with pronunciation and difficult vocabulary, as well as making sure that we understood the humour of the sketch. Understanding humour is a really important aspect of learning a language that is often overlooked in the classroom. It is one thing to be able to ask directions to your hotel but getting a joke is an entirely different kettle of fish.

After helping us to understand the script and the situation, Pebbles asked us to try and imagine how the different characters were feeling and exactly what they wanted to say when they were speaking. We then had to try to read the script aloud with the correct tone of voice to express this feeling. This is another really important skill to have when communicating in English. The tone of voice we use and the words that we stress in a sentence can completely change the meaning of what we are saying.

How many different meanings do you think the following sentence can have depending on which word in the sentence is given the most stress?

I don’t think he should get the job.

Click here for answers and examples.

To read more about Monty Python’s flying circus click here and to watch a YouTube clip of the comedy sketch that we practiced click here.

Next week: Find out how dropping in for a coffee at Millie’s café will have you chatting like a local in no time.

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Look good to learn well!

How you look affects how you learn
Having an avatar that looks good makes you feel better. It makes you feel better and it helps the other students and teacher
respond to you well.
There might also be times when your languagelab teacher will ask you to wear something. This might be for fun or it might
be to take part in a role-play or an activity where you need to look differently. I sometimes ask my students to wear ‘word’
hats to answer questions or different jackets to pretend they are shop keepers.
Please don’t come to class naked or in a bikini, even in the virtual world other people can get offended.

How to change your clothes
In Language Lab you can make your avatar look like anything you want. This is what I did to myself in just a few minutes.
You can get loads of clothes in the two language lab clothing shops either Banana fashions or at Periwinkles

You too can be stylish like the captain!
If you really need some help choosing or finding some cool clothes, visit one of the City people, Donatella Benoir in Periwinkles,
Language Lab’s clothing store.

Everything is free and Donatella is on hand to give you some advice about what looks good.

How to save your appearance

Once you are happy with what you are wearing you can save it. Right click on yourself and you will see a circle menu,
choose ‘appearance’. You should see a next box like the one below, click ‘save as’, and you can save the clothes you are
wearing as a folder. Now you can drag that folder onto your avatar to change your appearance.

English expressions which refer to clothes
  1. Put a sock in it.
  2. Pull your socks up.
  3. Keep your shirt on
  4. Keep your mouth zipped
  5. Put on your thinking cap
a) think about a problem carefully
b) stay calm
c) try harder
d) shut up!
e) don’t tell anyone, keep a secret
Answers1d 2c 3b 4e 5a

Next week:
Keeping your inventory in shape.

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Introducing the City People

Recently you may have heard the words ‘City People’ mentioned by teachers and other LanguageLab staff and students. If you have been reading this blog carefully, you will have seen several references to them.
You may be a seasoned City People user, or you may not have the faintest idea who they are and what we are talking about
when we mention them. Either way this weekly series of blogs is designed to help you find out more about the City People
and more specifically, how you can use them to help improve your English.

Before I start my introductions (one City Person character per week) I’d like to say a little more about myself.
My name is Sally Langer but I am also known by my Avatar’s name, Salsita Almendros. I am a qualified English teacher
and you can read more about my profile on our teacher’s profile page.
Aside from teaching formal English lessons at
Language Lab I also work with the City People to ensure that the activities they do will help our students to practice
speaking English.

You can read a short summary about the City People and what they do here,
but for more detailed information and up dates
keep an eye out for my weekly blog. If you have any questions or thoughts about the City People please leave them in the
comments.

Next week my first focus will be on Languagelab’s very own resident actor Pebbles Kronfeld who has been hosting a series of activities
in which students have had the opportunity to practice their English while learning about an important element of British culture.

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