If you're learning English, podcasts are a wonderful way to improve your listening skills. (By the way, you can find a long list of English Lanaguage Learning podcasts over on The English Blog.) Like many people, I use iTunes to find and subscribe to podcasts, which I then transfer to my MP3 player or iPad. However, iTunes is not the most user-friendly piece of software, so I was pleased to discover that there's an app called Instacast HD which allows you to find, download, and listen to or view podcasts directly on your iPad. It costs $4.99, but it's money well spent. Watch the video below to see how it works.
TIPS 1. Check out the Vemedio website where you will find a lot more information and an English Top 30 podcast chart. 2. After installing Instacast HD, just do a search using the keyword "English" and you'll find dozens of podcasts for English learners. I discovered several I hadn't come across before, including the excellent video podcast The Business of English from Australia Network.
COMMENT There are some wonderful newspaper apps available (The Guardian, for example), but nothing beats the feel of newsprint in your hands. And you can't line the bottom of your budgie's cage with an iPad.
LESSON IDEA Get your students to brainstorm the advantages and disadvantages of printed newpapers compared with the digital versions. Or ask them to come up with "101 uses for a newspaper" (well, as many as possible).
DESCRIPTION wurdle ($1.99) is a fun, flexible and fast-paced word game in which you have to find and trace as many words as possible before time runs out. Can't find any more words? Shake the board to mix up the tiles! You can customize wurdle the way you like it (timer, minimum word length), and see how you measure up against your friends and the world with online high scores.
VERDICT A very addictive game. The same screen multiplayer (well, two) mode works very well on the iPad. At the end of each round, all the possible words are displayed, which makes it a useful vocabulary building tool for learners. In the classroom, teachers with a videoprojector (and a VGA adapter) could organize a wurdle tournament and get pairs of students to compete in a knock-out contest.
If you're a learner or teacher of English, you've probably installed one or more dictionary apps on your iPad. But did you know that the iPad has its own built-in dictionary? Just touch and hold any word you want to look up and select 'Define'. A box will appear with a definition and other information about the word (part of speech, pronunciation, derivatives, and origin. This works with any text which is not in image form, including emails, web pages and articles (but not The Times newspaper app). And if you're reading a book with iBooks, you also get the option to search the web or search Wikipedia.
COMMENT The built-in dictionary is really excellent—and it's a lot more practical than opening a stand-alone dictionary app (some of which require an Internet connection!) to find the meaning of a word. The only thing you don't get is the audio pronun,ciation. For that you will need an app such as Dictionary.com.
DESCRIPTION The Grammar App (free for limited period) takes the form of an interactive book which helps you improve your knowledge of basic English grammar, punctuation rules, and writing rules. The app also includes a quick check while taking a tutorial to test your understanding of what you just read.
FEATURES ✔ 200+ Tutorials, Video Tutorials and Practice Exercises. ✔ 1000+ exercises and questions for revision and to test your understanding. ✔ Grammar Games for mastering concepts.
VERDICT Don't be put off by the child-friendly design—older learners of English from elementary to intermediate level should find plenty of useful material in the Grammar App. All the basic parts of speech and grammar points are covered in the tutorials and tests, and the ebook format makes it a delight to use. Download now while it's free!
Onestopenglish is a teacher’s resource site published by Macmillan. While you can find free sample resources in every section of onestopenglish, you need a subscription to the Staff Room to access the full database of over 8,000 resources, including lesson plans, worksheets, audio, video and flashcards.
THE APP Now you can also access the onestopenglish world via a free mobile app. The app includes: • Quick access to the latest content published on onestopenglish, with weekly updates • A collection of instantly usable activities, such as warmers, fillers, lead-ins • A selection of articles on collocations, idioms, word grammar and phrasal verbs • The latest news from the ELT blogosphere • Teacher tools to easily record your class and time your activities
VERDICT In view of the wealth of resources available on the website, the app comes as rather a disappointment. There are a few useful bits and pieces, but the app is really just a shop window for the web-based version. In fact, even if you have a paid subscription to onestopenglish, you won't be able to access any of the premium resources via the app, which seems like a missed opportunity.
DESCRIPTION Voice Answer ($3.99/£2.49) is an assistant that works on iPhone , iPad and Android devices. You can ask it questions on any topic, either by talking to it or writing. Voice Answer will find the answer by connecting to relevant sources on the Internet. The robot assistant Eve will then present those answers in both voice and text. The answers shown in the video are the actual responses by the app to spoken questions (the powerful 'Wolfram Alpha' database is used to provide answers). For more details see http://voiceanswer.com.
COMMENTS Since Apple didn't see fit to include its Siri personal assistant on the new iPad, Voice Answer provides a good substitute while we're waiting for the iPad4. The video is slightly misleading, however, since the app does not feature the animated version of Eve, just her voice (apparently, there are plans to rectify that in future versions). I downloaded the app and tried a few questions. I found the voice recognition to be pretty accurate (although "Who will win the French election?" came out as "Who will win the French connection?" Answer: "The best man"). As for Eve's voice, 'robotic' is probably the best description. Luckily for us English teachers, synthetic voices still have some way to go before they become indistinguisable from the real thing.
IDEA FOR LEARNERS Activate the chatbot mode and have a conversation with Eve. A good way to practice speaking if you don't have a real live person to talk with. Just don't imitate the accent ;-)
IDEA FOR TEACHERS Get your students to ask Voice Answer questions. A fun way to practice question forms (and pronunciation!) in class.
Shane Richmond, the Telegraph's head of technology, charts the history of the iPad, examines the post-PC world and reviews the third-generation iPad. This book also contains 10 tips and tricks for iPad owners, five essential accessories and reviews of 40 apps.
The Internet Grammar of English (iGE) is a free online course in English grammar written by a team of linguists at University College London. Although primarily aimed at university undergraduates, the iGE will be useful to everyone who is interested in the English language and does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar.
The Internet Grammar of English has been thoroughly revised and updated, and is now available as an app for Apple hand-held devices (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad).
DESCRIPTION iGE is a complete grammar of the English Language, specifically designed for mobile devices. iGE comes in two versions: iGE Lite is free. It has a complete glossary, and three units of course material covering word classes, nouns and determiners. The complete iGE is on sale for £4.99 ($6.99 or €5.49).
FEATURES • An extensive glossary which helps you make sense of grammatical terms. • A guided course taking you through different concepts in turn. • Interactive exercises and puzzles aim to reinforce learning and make it fun.
VERDICT There's a real dearth of decent grammar apps for the iPad, so the iGE is an essential purchase for iPad-owning English teachers. In the absence of any comparable grammar reference work (when will CUP get round to doing an EGIU app?), more advanced EFL/ESL students should also find it useful, even if it's not specifically aimed at them. My advice would be to download the free 'lite' version and see what you think. You can always buy the complete app after.
Just a quick post to say that the My Brushes iPad painting app is currently available for free in the App Store (thanks to iGo With My iPad for the tip).
DESCRIPTION MyBrushes is a unique painting application designed to create images and playback the whole painting process. It has 100 kinds of realistic brush styles to simulate the effect of Brush painting, Watercolor painting, Oil painting, Chinese painting, Drawing, Chinese Calligraphy, etc.
COMMENT OK, I admit it's not going to improve your English, but it may improve your art skills! And everyone likes getting something for free.
LEARNING ENGLISH WITH SONGS As an English teacher, I often use songs in the classroom, getting my students to do gap-fill exercises, highlighting grammar points, or using a song as a discussion starter (for example, Abba's 'Money, Money, Money' is great for working on conditional sentences or for discussing attitudes to money). And listening to songs is an excellent way for learners to improve their listening and vocabulary skills, especially if they have the lyrics available. Of course, these days you can find the lyrics to most songs on the Internet, but wouldn't it be wonderful if there was an app that found lyrics for your iPad music automatically. Of course, there is. It's called iLyrics.
DESCRIPTION iLyrics ($0.99) is an amazing app that allows you to instantly view the lyrics of the song that you're currently listening to. Not only that. It allows you to view the artist's official website or biography, and find video clips. If some music is playing on your iPad and you would like to view the lyrics of this song, just open the iLyrics app and click on Lyrics button and there you go. And you don't need to waste time searching for artist information manually in your browser. This app does that for you too. You can also create a music playlist and navigate through all songs searching for lyrics and information. This application requires an internet connection to work.
COMMENT A long time ago when people still bought CDs (or even LPs in my case!), the lyrics were often printed in a nice booklet or on the record sleeve. Now, in the age of digital downloads, you have to use lyrics search engines to find the words to your favourite songs, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Fortunately, this app takes all the hassle out of searching for lyrics on the web. I found it worked really well even for some less well-known artists (Anaïs Mitchell, for example). One word of warning, however. Lyrics sites are not always 100% reliable since the lyrics are generally submitted by users, so you might want to visit a couple of sites to compare (iLyrics usually proposes three).
I've only had my iPad for a month and haven't got round to getting a Bluetooth keyboard or a Smart Cover yet. However, this new keyboard from Logitech could be just the thing to kill two birds with one stone. Here's what Logitech has to say about its new accessory:
Extra sleek and thin, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover is a stylish, aluminum screen cover that protects your iPad screen and features a built-in keyboard that pairs through Bluetooth. It attaches securely to your iPad with a magnetic clip and its built-in stand holds your iPad at the best angle, whether typing or watching a movie.
COMMENT The price is $99.99, which I suppose will translate into €99. Still, when you consider a leather smart cover is €69, that wouldn't be excessive.
DESCRIPTION TuneIn is a free app which allows you to live local and global radio from wherever you are. Whether you want music, sports, news or current events, TuneIn offers over 50,000 stations and 120,000 shows for you to choose from.
FEATURES With TuneIn Radio, you can: • Pause and rewind any station as you’re listening • Add the stations, songs and shows you love most to your presets • Share a station, show or song with your friends on Facebook or Twitter • Wake up every day using the alarm clock or fall asleep every night using the sleep timer • Play your stations in the background while you use other apps
COMMENT Listening to speech radio is a great way to improve your global listening skills and get used to hearing different accents. I always have mine set to BBC's Radio 4, but I can also recommend the American NPR for English learners.
I remember the good old days when we used to use cassette recorders to tape our students. Now that we've entered the brave new world of digital recording, these have all been consigned to the store cupboard (the cassette recorders not the students), and replaced by voice recorders. The iPad does many things, but can it replace my trusty old Sony cassette recorder?
Although the iPad has a built-in microphone, Apple didn't see fit to include a voice recording app among the pre-installed applications. Not to worry though, there are plenty of free (and paid) apps available which will do the job. The one you choose will depend on what you want to do. For example, do you want to export your recordings? Do you want to edit them? Do you want to add text? Bearing that in mind, here are just a few suggestions.
• iTalk Recorder is a full-featured recording app with a streamlined and intuitive user interface. Press the big red button to record; press it again to stop. You can append to existing recordings, choose from three levels of recording quality and manage your recordings, all with just a fingertip. You can email recordings straight from iTalk. iTalk also supports direct file sharing through iTunes. There's a free ad-supported version or a premium version at $1.99.
• Voice Memos for iPad ($0.99) lets you record unlimited, high quality audio using the built-in microphone, your headset, or an external mic. Voice Memos supports multitasking so you can continue to record while you're using other apps. You can also add text notes to a memo. The built-in trimming tool allows you to trim recorded memos right in the app, to keep only what you need. Memos can be sent by or transferred to you Mac or PC via USB.
• Smart Recorder Lite is the free ad-supported version of Smart Recorder ($4.99). Useful features include the ability to append to existing recordings and categorize/sort recordings. Less intuitive than the previous two apps but comes with a comprehensive help section that describes the recorder's many features.
LESSON IDEAS Get students to record dialogues, sketches, radio ads, monologues, descriptions of pictures, etc. This can be done for homework and sent to the teacher by email or shared online using SoundCloud or Audioboo, for example.
COMMENT Please comment below if you want to recommend any other voice recording apps.
There is a plethora (noun; overabundance, excess) of English dictionaries available in the App Store. Some are free, some are not. Some work offline, some do not. Some are good, some are not so good. They all offer different features, which makes it hard to know which one(s) to choose. To help you sort out this dictionary dilemma, we'll be reviewing some of the best ones in the coming weeks, starting with Dictionary.com.
The good news is that the Dictionary.com app is free (though an ad-free version is available for $2.99). Another advantage is that you don't need an internet connection to search for words, an important consideration if your Wi-Fi connection is unreliable (like in my office!) Watch this video to learn about the various other features.
COMMENTS The voice search function is not perfect (a search for 'conservatory' gave 'conservative tree'!), but that's a minor quibble (noun; a slight objection). What really sets this dictionary app apart from others is the integrated hyperlinked thesaurus, which is great for expanding your vocabulary. Learners of English will also find the audio prounciations very useful. An online version is available at www.dictionary.com, but I found the ads terribly intrusive (adjective; tending or apt to intrude)—and you can't even pay to get rid of them!
THE BOTTOM LINE Installing the free version of this app is a total no brainer (noun, informal; something requiring little thought or effort). The only question is whether you think it's worth paying a small amount to get rid of those pesky ads.
If you're a teacher and are lucky enough to have a video projector in your classroom, you can use your iPad to show apps or other content to the whole class. However, you will need an Apple VGA adapter (29 euros but well worth it!) This video shows how simple the procedure is.
COMMENT I've only had my iPad for a few weeks but have already discovered all sorts of potential uses in the classroom. This morning I used the Titanic Trivia app for a class quiz with my students. Check out the links below for more ideas.
One of the best ways to improve your listening and reading skills is to follow the news in English. There is no shortage of news apps for the iPad, and we'll be reviewing the best ones in the weeks ahead, starting with one of the best.
The BBC News app for the iPad offers breaking news, top stories, video news clips, and a live stream of the BBC World Service radio. Although our main focus here is English, it's worth mentioning that you can get the news in several other languages including Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. You can personalize your news experience by adding or removing BBC News sections, and stories can easily be shared by email, Twitter and Facebook. Although it does contain some fairly discreet ads, the BBC News app is free to download and use.
COMMENT As one has come to expect, this is yet another impressive offering from the BBC. You'll certainly want it on your iPad. The only thing missing from a learner's perspective is transcripts. (If you're looking for a news app with transcripts, check out Newsy, which I reviewed last week.)
TIP To get the most out of this app, make sure you read the "Help" notes. Unfortunately, they're not easy to find (a rare negative point). In landscape mode, scroll down to the very bottom in the left-hand panel. You'll find the "Help" button there.
Yesterday we featured some apps which commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, so why not test your new-found knowledge with this Titanic trivia app ($0.99).
The app contains 120 multiple-choice questions relating to the Titanic and is designed to be played with up to four people (or teams) on the same device, at the same time, which makes it great for the classroom.
LESSON IDEA If you've got a videoprojector, you could use this app with a whole class. Divide the class into four teams and begin the quiz. There is a problem, however. As soon as one player selects an answer, his score is modified, so the other players will know if the answer was correct or not. This means that you'll have to get all the players to enter their answers simultaneously. It would be much better if the scores were not updated until all the players had answered.
April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, so I thought it would be appropriate to look at some of the iPad apps which commemorate the disaster (and I'm not talking about James Cameron's movie).
• Building Titanic is a free app from National Geographic. Travel back in time and witness Titanic’s construction. You control the assembly of the majestic liner as you explore a dynamic interactive timeline and watch the great ship being built in simulated timelapse.
• Titanic Calling ($0.99) offers an unusual insight into the final hours of Titanic. Users can read the messages transmitted between the vessels whilst hearing the Morse code as it would have been broadcast in 1912. A map of the Atlantic ocean shows the trajectory of the Titanic and nearby vessels on the night of the tragedy. Representations of each boat offers more information about the vessels. Read FT review >>
• TitanicDock is a free iPad app which will give you access to stories, history, facts, and information about the RMS Titanic. The app features an introduction to 'Titanic Island', a unique 30-minute video documentary on the subject of how the Titanic came to be and is available for purchase 'in app' for €0.79.
• TITANIC 2012 ($0.99) Complementing the TITANIC miniseries, this app consists of a three-part immersive journey that reveals the complexity of the tragic story. In "Ship Builder" users explore the choices faced by Titanic’s engineers and designers as they create their own luxury ocean liner. The "Anatomy of the Impact" segment explores the circumstances and choices before and after the fatal impact with the iceberg, while "Survivor Stories" features the narrated stories of four real-life Titanic survivors.
• 100 Years of the Titanic – A Human Tragedy (£1.49) Commemorating the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, this special Daily Mirror digital publication looks back at the shocking disaster and its aftermath. Featuring rare and unseen images from the Mirror archive, plus newspaper pages and reports from the time, it recalls how the ship believed to be unsinkable met with catastrophe.
• Titanic: Her Journey (£2.99) from The History Press (see video above) includes knowledge collected from many of the world’s leading Titanic experts. It includes rare archive footage, details and photographs of the ship’s construction, a sinking timeline and “Did You Know?” facts. Other unique features include an interactive deck plan, detailed biographies of the ship’s key features, contemporary films, narrated survivor accounts and a wide range of photographs from every stage of the ship’s life.
WHAT I THINK While all of these apps have fascinating content and interesting features, if I had to choose just one, it would be Titanic: Her Journey (the most expensive but still very reasonably priced). The fact that there is so much narration makes it a great listening resource for learners.
