Real life language

The videos in this playlist feature unscripted speech, when people are responding to an unusual situation or discovering something surprising.

Liz Chiu uses it in Listening courses at the Centre for Academic English (Imperial College London), for international students who need to acclimatise to the speed of ordinary speech, especially when they first arrive in London. Many students enter the UK with an IELTS English score of 7.0 or less, and all the preparation they have done has involved listening to academic rather than everyday English. Students are encouraged to practise each day by listening to 5 minutes of their chosen programme (no captions) repeat the same 5 minutes to try to understand a little more (no captions) and finally to listen while reading the captions to check what they have understood.

Curator

Liz Chiu, Imperial College London

Subject

• Modern English Language

Keywords

Language teaching, second language speakers, listening exercises, unscripted speech, use of transcript