Teacher-Assistant-TV

Teachers TV is the digital channel for everyone who works in schools. The programmes cover every subject in the curriculum, all key stages and every professional role – from teaching assistant to headteacher. You can watch all (short) videos on this website. Perhaps you can use something here for your English classes, e.g. for a presentation or a talk with one of our language assistents.

Dance Spirit Magazine

According to their website Dance Spirit® magazine is read by more young dancers and their teachers than any other dance publication. This website offers articles on different kinds of dance-topics. There are online videos as well, on choreography etc. There might be something useful here. Make sure you think of ways to use the material you found.

Dance Teacher Magazine

The magazine Dance Teacher®, which has been published for 25 years, is the only (American) magazine addressed to dance teachers of all disciplines. This online version offers articles on a wide variety of dance-topics, such as teaching, style, business and health. You might find interesting and inspiring material here, to use during your English classes (topics for presentations, texts to read/discuss etc.)

Video Jug

VideoJug hosts one of the world's largest, most all-encompassing libraries of factual content online. Video content covers every conceivable topic. The content is divided into a variety of formats that include informative "How To" and "Ask The Expert" films that take users, step-by-step through everything from the lighter, more welcome aspects of life (leisure, hobbies, beauty and style) to the more seriousstuff we all face in day-to-day life (health, legal, money, parenting).

You can use this site's videos to prepare listening and/or speaking exercises and presentations. Make sure to find a video that has something to with your studies.

How Stuff Works

HowStuffWorks is the leading source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. If you're looking for reading exercises, or you need to prepare a presentation, you'll probably find something interesting here. Topics such as: communication, computers, health, entertainment, food and recipes, electronics, people, science and travel.

Chemistry exercises

- Chemical Elements is an online interactive periodic table of the elements. You can use it to practise your knowledge of the elements-vocabulary.

- Can you match chemical names with chemical symbols? Give it a try with this Element Matching Game :-)

- Microscopes is a small text about - you guessed it - microscopes. Complete the passage by selecting the words that best fit the context of the passage. Press the 'Check My Answers!' button when you are done to see how you did. And as an extra exercise you can translate the text into Dutch.

- Properties and Changes is another text about chemistry (chemical formulas), similar to the one mentioned above.

Live Career Test

This test is a HUGE free career interest test. It will help you find your dream job, learn about your work personality and it may help you avoid making costly career mistakes...

Grammar Quizzes (level B1/B2)

Here are some boring interesting grammar exercises to help you study English. Try to do as much as possible. Write down every new/unknown word. And make sure you find out which exercises are most difficult to you. Have fun :-)

Advanced English, level B2

Advanced English exercises for all of you who feel the other exercises are way too easy :)

Two writing exercises

Here are two exercises to practise your writing skills.

- Write an email to ask your penfriend to come over for Christmas.
- Write an email to apply for a holiday job.

Writing about yourself

When you go for a job, the employer might ask lots of questions about you. He or she wants to know if you will be a good person to employ. He or she wants to know about your exams, your experience doing other jobs, about your hobbies and interests, and about what sports you are good at. Write four paragraphs about yourself. Use the information on this website. Make sure to check your spelling. This exercise will be the first item to be put in your portfolio.

'Raise' versus 'rise'

Confusing verbs: raise vs. rise A small but hopefully useful exercise to practise the use of 'raise' and 'rise', in past and present.

Business English Basics

Here are some basis exercises on Business English.

Presentation skills and exercises

At the Friesland College you'll have to give lots of presentations. Presentations require specific language and public speaking techniques. Here you'll find different exercises to help you speak more fluently.

- Starting a presentation

Signposting

When we are giving a presentation, there are certain key words we use to ’signpost’ different stages in our presentation. These words are not difficult to learn but it is absolutely essential that you memorize them and can use them when you are under pressure giving a presentation.

Survival Language

Sometimes you cannot remember what you wanted to say, or you realize what you're saying makes no sense, or is wrong. Here are some exercises to help you during such situations.

Dealing with Nerves

Almost everybody is nervous when they stand up to speak. There’s no shame in being nervous. However, if you are too nervous, your anxiety will spread to your audience, making them nervous in turn. So how can you stop yourself from feeling too nervous? Here are a few exercises.

Advanced vocabulary

So you want to aim at level C1 or higher? Then why not take a look at this website? Here you'll find links to advanced vocabulary and vocabulary exercises. You can complete everything or simply choose the topics that are most interesting to you. Be sure to find a way to put everything in your portfolio.

Application letters and resumé writing

These professional cover letter samples should provide you with some great ideas as you prepare your cover letter.

Before you send your cover letter, review this checklist to make sure that you have covered all the basics and are sending a perfect cover letter to your prospective employer.

Information on resume writing can be found here.

Laboratory equipment

Here's everything you need to know about lab equipment. The vocabulary is explained with pictures and descriptions.

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Ordering in a restaurant

A conversation between a customer and a waitress. Using the new vocabulary, type your answers in the boxes below and click on "Check". When you've finished the exercise, you can practise pronunciation in pairs. Like role-play.

Special needs education

If you're interested in teaching/assisting special education classes, and instructing or assisting exceptional children, this website might be interesting. Read on for discussions and articles on the topic of learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, developmental disabilities, behavioural and emotional challenges and other challenges.

Internet Vocabulary

Match the Internet vocabulary with the meanings. Here you can find four different exercises

Newspapers

Here are links to some national newspapers. Look for interesting articles you can use to improve your reading- and/or speakingskills.

- The London Times (Great Britain)

- The New York Times (United States of America)

- The Village Voice (USA)

- Wall Street Journal (USA / Finance)

- The Toronto Star (Canada)

- Canadian Free Press (Canada)

- The Australian (Australia)

- The New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)

- The Irish Times (Ireland)

- The Scotsman (Scotland)

Career Test

Discover your personality type and ideal career with this interesting test.

Money Vocabulary

Here's a small vocabulary list on the theme of money

Improving services

With many European economies showing slow growth, the retail sector is coming under increasing pressure to improve its service and cater more for consumer demands. Is the customer always right?

Computer Ethics

Here's a text on the topic of computer ethics. Once you've read the text you can complete the exercises.

Childcare Vocabulary

Do you want to work in childcare? Improve your spelling and understanding of childcare words with printable worksheets, quizzes and a crossword.

Listening Exercises

Here are some great general listening exercises. Listen to all kinds of conversations, and comeplete the exercises.
You'll need a pair of headphones.

Make sure you remember which conversations you've listened to.

Care Vocabulary

For those who want to work in nursing or residential care: improve your knowledge and spelling of care words. Especially useful for your portfolio: the printable worksheet section.

Writing lyrics and the music business

- Here is an explanatory selection of common technical terms associated with Recording, MIDI, Audio, Computers and Music Technology.
- A whole lot of stuff on the topic of songwriting and the music business can be found here.
- And here are a few things to keep in mind when writing a song lyric for musical setting.

Try to think of ways how to use this info for your English classes.

Pronunciation Horror :-) Level B2

If you're aiming at level B2, why not test your pronunciation skills with this amusing and half-serious poem. Once you've learned to correctly pronounce every word in that poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world...! If you find it tough going, do not despair, and ask for help (as most of us will have to do).

Pronunciation 1

Practise your pronunciation with these exercises.

And here's another useful website about pronunciation.

Social Work Texts and Vocabulary

This website has been designed primarily for students of all kinds of social work. You'll find texts on a number of topics, such as teenage problems, working with prisoners, single parenthood and medical social work. The texts include lots of specific vocabulary that might be very useful. You could use the texts as reading- and/or translation exercises. There are some quizzes as well, to test your knowledge of social work vocabulary.

Visual Food

This visual dictionary provides images of various fine foods and exotic dishes to help students of English improve their vocabulary related to foods including, fruits, meats, fish and vegetables. Each image contains a description of the foods, dishes and ingredients.

Think of ways to include this info in your portfolio.

"These deserts include a pecan pie and a pecan upside-down cake. The braided rolls are sprinkled with sesame and poppy seeds. The decorations include a pumpkin and two squash..."

(Picture taken from the visual food dictionary)

The electrical trades

Get some practice on vocabulary for the electrical trades here. Especially useful for your portfolio: the printable worksheet section.

Examples of job interview questions and answers

The job interview in English contains specific questions and appropriate answers. It also requires a certain flexibility in your usage of tenses.

- This feature provides tips on job interview questions and answers in English.

- Essential Job Interview Tips and Tricks provides some useful information as well.

- And even more info can be found here.

- Here you'll find some specific vocabulary: verbs that can be used to express responsibilities and tasks performed, as well as words to describe your skills.

ICT exercises and vocabulary

Here are some links to exercises that contain specific ICT-vocabulary.

- Technical vocabulary for ICT
- A variety of ilustrated ICT vocabulary
- An exercise on computer viruses

And perhaps interesting as well: an online dictionary on specific Computer Vocabulary can be found here.

Advertising and budgeting

Here's a text/exercise on the topic of language in the fields of marketing and advertising.

And an exercise on budgeting: are the statements true or false? As an extra exercsie you could translate the fifteen statements to Dutch.