That´s English is an official program of distance education implemented by the Official Schools of Languages. Students who enroll in the program receive a complete package of materials to study on their own, and have the opportunity to meet a tutor and other students once a week. They also watch programs on TV or they can choose to follow them on their own DVD. The weekly sessions are intended to provide time with a tutor to solve any questions and also to practice both oral skills and writing.
Nowadays, the Web 2.0 gives us a great opportunity to be in contact with our students outside the class. This blog is intended to reach students who are following That´s English and have an intermediate level. The main objective is to provide access to updated and authentic materials that can help learners improve their English skills. In this blog, I try to provide interesting links to useful materials, such as radio podcasts, speeches, videos or other self-learning websites. The main purpose is to provide a sample of the wide range of authentic materials that can be enjoyable and useful in improving their English level. The contents of the blog focus on the topics explored in modules 6, 7, 8 and 9, which are the modules studied in the two years of intermediate level.
Students at intermediate level should start to be exposed to authentic materials, in order to improve their level and prepare to use their newly acquired skills in the real world. Although they might not understand everything in the videos or news that are presented, students enjoy how “real” it feels to be listening to or watching news or current affair programs that are not adapted or “text-bookish”. This blog also gives them the opportunity to communicate with the tutor and each other through comments on each entry.
Two interesting features have been added: a link to the BBC Learning English website, which has a variety of activities for students at this level, and the widget for Word-reference, so students can look up vocabulary words without having to navigate out of the blog.
Forthcoming activities include: listening test-like exercises and other self learning tools for those students intending to sit the Certificate exam in September.
