Monday, 9 February 2015

animations on bbc learning english

BBC Learning English has got a new website:
BBC Learning English - Learning English

We have the detective story staring Inspector Stone:

Here's the start of the story - with lots of help and practice:
BBC Learning English - Course: lower intermediate / Unit 18 / Session 1 / Activity 1

However, the old website has still got a lot of good stuff:
Learning English - General & Business English

For example, the Video News might not have animations, but there is lots to look at:
Learning English - Words in the News

Take another example, at the Express English: one-minute videos show the words on the screen: subtitles but a bit more animated:

Latest programmes

- Freedom
  
  21 May 2012
- Personality
  
  14 May 2012
- Dancing
  
  7 May 2012

Previous programmes

- Jealousy
  
  30 April 2012
- What's your ideal date?
  
  23 April 2012
- Three wishes
  
  16 April 2012
- Computer games
  
  10 April 2012
- Honesty
  
  02 April 2012
- Self-restraint
  
  26 March 2012
- Sweet or savoury?
  
  19 March 2012
- Wedding vows
  
  12 March 2012
- Eccentric
  
  5 March 2012
- The colour blue
  
  27 February 2012
- The colour white
  
  20 February 2012
- Romance
  
  13 February 2012
- The colour red
  
  6 February 2012
- Coffee or tea?
  
  30 January 2012
- Driving
  
  24 January 2012
- Fitness
  
  16 January 2012
- Phobias
  
  9 January 2012
- Entrepreneurs
  
  2 January 2012
- New Year's resolutions
  
  26 December 2011
- Christmas gifts
  
  19 December 2011
- Happiness
  
  9 December 2011
- Social networking
  
  5 December 2011
- National stereotypes
  
  28 November 2011
- Spare time
  
  21 November 2011
- Embarrassment
  
  14 November 2011
- Heroes
  
  7 November 2011
- Fear
  
  31 October 2011
- Home
  
  24 October 2011
- Relationships
  
  17 October 2011
- Fashion
  
  10 October 2011
- Stress
  
  3 October 2011
- Being a woman
  
  27 September 2011
- Being a man
  
  19 September 2011
- Boxing
  
  12 September 2011
- Your best friend
  
  5 September 2011
- Unhappy kids
  
  29 August 2011
- Happy kids
  
  22 August 2011
- Fairy tales
  
  15 August 2011
- Worry
  
  11 August 2011
- Television
  
  4 August 2011
- Music sharing
  
  28 July 2011
- Lessons for life
  
  21 July 2011
- Flowers
  
  14 July 2011
- University life
  
  7 July 2011
- Your ideal trip
  
  30 June 2011
- Love
  
  23 June 2011
- Success
  
  16 June 2011
- Photographs
  
  9 June 2011
- Awards
  
  2 June 2011
- Shopping
  
  26 May 2011
- Proposals
  
  19 May 2011
- Passions
  
  12 May 2011
- Hope
  
  5 May 2011
- Football memories
  
  21 April 2011
- Anger
  
  7 April 2011
- Bridges
  
  31 March 2011

Learning English - Express English
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more animation at ted talks

Animation can be a great way to get ideas across:
Jay Doubleyou: bbc radio 4's history of ideas - animations
Jay Doubleyou: rsanimate
Jay Doubleyou: science education at the howard hughes medical institute

The famous Ted Talks are doing the same:
TED-Ed, Fascinating New Animated Lecture Series by TED

How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries - Adam Savage - YouTube
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science education at the howard hughes medical institute

Another great place to go for science videos - and animations is the HHMI:
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Science Forward

At their BioInteractive pages, there's lots for schools - which can also be of great help and interest to students of English as a second language:
HHMI's BioInteractive | HHMI.org

Some are without subtitles, but are short and sweet:
Explore Animations | HHMI.org

But others come with subtitles, for example, on YouTube:

Great Transitions: The Origin of Humans — HHMI BioInteractive Video - YouTube
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rsanimate

Very fast, but the best quality talks from the RSA - and animated... and with subtitles!

We have 3-minute talks:

The RSA - YouTube

And ten-minute talks:

RSA ANIMATE

The RSA Animate series was conceived as an innovative, accessible and unique way of illustrating and sharing the world-changing ideas from the RSA's free public events programme. With millions of views and thousands of comments, fans and subscribers, RSA Animates have revolutionised the field of knowledge visualisation whilst spreading the most important ideas of our time.

You can find and contribute to translations of RSA Animates on DotSub

All of our work, including RSA Animates, is supported by our 27,000 Fellows who inspire, support and enable new solutions to address the problems of the 21st Century. If you share or demonstrate a commitment to positive social change, find out how you can become a Fellow.

If you like the videos in our RSA Animates series, find out more about how you can use our audio and video files

LATEST VIDEOS

RSA Animate - Re-Imagining Work
Dave Coplin imagines what might be possible if more organisations embraced the empowering potential of technology and encouraged a truly open working culture
RSA Animate - The Truth About Dishonesty
- BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
- SOCIAL BRAIN
In this RSA Animate, Dan Ariely explores the circumstances under which someone would lie and what effect deception has on society at large.
RSA Animate - The Divided Brain
- BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
- CREATIVITY
Renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how our 'divided brain' has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society.
RSA Animate - The Internet in Society
Does the internet actually inhibit, not encourage democracy? Evgeny Morozov presents an alternative take on 'cyber-utopianism' - the seductive idea that the internet plays a largely emancipatory role in global politics.
RSA Animate - Changing Paradigms
- CREATIVITY
- EDUCATION
RSA Animate taken from a speech given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education expert and recipient of the RSA Benjamin Franklin award.

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RSA Animate - RSA
RSA animated lectures: how to open your mind - Telegraph
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Monday, 2 February 2015

stone circles in the west country

The most famous stone circle in the West of England is Stonehenge:

Stonehenge | English Heritage

It is heavily promoted as a 'must-see sight':
Stonehenge.co.uk - Your guide to Stonehenge, the World's Favourite Megalithic Stone Circle

The place is full of history:
5 facts about… Stonehenge | Facts | History Revealed
Early Britain | ESOL Nexus

Here's a history video-lesson:
Video lesson – Stonehenge « Chestnut ESL/EFL

And something from National Geographic:
ESLvideo.com :: Secrets of Stonehenge

Here's more video:

Stonehenge prehistoric monument - YouTube

The problem is that it doesn't look like this:

Stonehenge | English Heritage

It's more like this:

Foto de Stonehenge, Amesbury: Stonehenge - TripAdvisor
Google Image Result for http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/04/95/93/the-so-called-barrier.jpg

It was a bit disappointing that visitors can’t touch or even get close enough to the stones anymore. I wish I had that “WOW” moment when I first saw it but I didn’t.

Beyond the Circle of Rocks: Our Tour of Stonehenge - The World Is A Book

And in fact, many find it a 'disappointment':
Disappointing and expensive - Stonehenge, Amesbury Traveller Reviews - TripAdvisor
The world's most disappointing tourist destinations revealed by Reddit | Daily Mail Online

Here's a critique of the commercialisation and 'museumification' of Stonehenge:
Will Self: has English Heritage ruined Stonehenge? | Books | The Guardian

Many would prefer a site just up the road:
Avebury - Visitor information - National Trust
AVEBURY a present from the past

This is the village-in-the-stones view from the air:

Stonehenge-Avebury-Crop CircleDivine Light Tours

And these are the stones:

Avebury | English Heritage

You can walk through them:

Avebury Stone Circle

The stones are quite something:

Avebury Ring (C) Simon Barnes :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

In fact, the West Country is full of such places:
stone-circles.org.uk - the prehistoric sites of Great Britain
Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites in England - Photo Gallery
Silbury Hill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flying Past - The Historic Environment of Cornwall: Ceremony and Ritual
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thatching

Wikipedia is a good place to start:
Thatching - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course, it's very important to the county of Devon:
Thatch in Devon

But it happens in other parts of the UK:

Thatch in the 21st Century

Country Thatching - Traditional Master Thatcher, Berkshire - About us

More Thatching

Axel the dog likes to help his owner thatch roofs | Metro News

Here's how to do it - in just a few minutes:
Disappearing acts: Thatching a roof | Money | theguardian.com
Kirstie's Handmade Britain - Videos - How to Thatch a Roof - Channel 4

Here's how to do it from a BBC documentary:

Published on 23 Apr 2014

While discovering the importance of thatch in the UK throughout history, three trainees are taught the fundamentals of the craft - from learning how to bend the hazel spars that keep the thatch on the roof, to packing and blending the straw correctly to ensure that the roof remains waterproof, before being put to the ultimate test - laying a piece of thatch on an 800-year-old property.

Mastercrafts part 2 of 6 - Thatching - YouTube

The vocabulary is far too specialised:

Thatch plans for eaves
how to thatch a roof - Google Search
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