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Teaching the News: A Great Site for Everyone
Posted on 4 February 2014 by Tara Arntsen
From time to time, I worry that I might run out of topics for these posts. It happened today, and then I remembered a great site that I use with my students called News in Levels. News in Levels is a site with the tagline “News for students of English,” and that’s exactly what it is.
When you visit the site, you’ll notice that there is no need to register and that all materials, except for premade exercises, are absolutely free. There are currently three full levels with a level zero for very beginners still being developed.
Click on any title that appeals to you and you’ll see that a short news clip about the topic is available at three different English levels. Levels one and two have audio tracks with transcriptions, while level three has videos with transcriptions. All three levels include definitions for challenging vocabulary. It really is a teacher’s dream come true.
My comments: Indeed, it is.
Since I teach adults in an intensive English program, my favorite thing about the site is that even though the level may be low, the material is still appropriate for adult learners because of the topics. Additionally, materials are already sorted by English level, and the audio clips are transcribed, which saves me a lot of time when I’m looking for supplementary reading or listening materials. In my academic listening class, I have students listen to a clip, take simple notes, and then discuss the topic. The clips are really short, but it is an easy way to break free from our textbooks and classroom routines. There are so many other ways to use News in Levels, too. If you have a mixed level class, students can work with materials at their level but still be included in group activities because the topic is the same. You could have students choose different material to listen to at home and then present it to the class. There is also a page for teachers on the site to give you even more ideas. News in Levels is a great site for English language learners and I highly recommend it as a resource for teachers. How would you use the site for your English learners?
My comments: I'll definitely check it out and introduce it to my friends. Thank you, Ms. Arnsten, for connecting me to the site. This is what I'm looking for, the same news for different levels of students.
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Take a look at the same news written in three versions.
Leopard in a Hospital
Level 1:
This story is from India. A leopard comes into a hospital. It injures a photographer. People start to panic. Soldiers are called.
People are scared. A market is closed. There are no people in the streets. The schools are closed. People wait for new information. They want to know if they can open the market again.
Things like this are normal in India. The big cat’s habitat is getting smaller. The animals move into cities sometimes.
Difficult words: injure (attack and make problems with the body), market (place where you can buy things), big cat (large cat that can hurt or kill people), habitat (place where it lives).
Level 2:
A leopard strayed into a hospital building and injured a photographer. People started to panic and soldiers were called.
Normally crowded markets were left empty. There was so much fear that schools were closed. People are now waiting for administration to tell them if they can reopen the market or not.
Instances such as this one are common in India. The big cat’s habitat is getting smaller, so it often comes into populated areas.
Difficult words: stray (move), crowded (full of people), habitat (natural home), populated (there are a lot of people).
Level 3:
Panic at a hospital in India, as a wild leopard strayed into the building and mauled a photographer who’d been tracking the animal.
According to reports, the hospital caretaker first spotted the leopard, as it entered the male ward with heavily armed personnel being called in to cordon off the area.
Normally crowded markets in the town of Meerut were left empty, with authorities also ordering schools and colleges to close until the big cat was caught.
“There’s so much fear of the leopard that the administration has ordered to close schools. We’re waiting for the administration to inform us whether to reopen the market or not.”
Instances such as this are not uncommon in the country with its big cats and their habitats under increasing threat, the animals are being forced to stray into more populated areas.
Difficult words: stray (to move from the place you should be), maul (injure), spot (see), male ward (part of the hospital with male patients), heavily armed (carrying big weapons), personnel (people), cordon off (close), big cat (large cat that can hurt or kill people), administration (government).
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The following is the introductory article on its homepage.
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
If you read and listen to two articles every day, your reading and listening skills can improve fast. You can learn quickly and after some time you will not have to translate into your own language. You will simply understand. Why should you do this?
When you listen to people in your native language, you do not translate. You simply understand. The same has to be in English. When you learn English, you have to learn the whole sentences in context.
Students, who translate English texts, do exercises and do tests are very good at translating, doing exercises and doing tests, but they have problems with understanding English in real life. In real life, nobody waits for your translation. People usually use simple English when they speak but they use it fast. You have to understand with no translation to your native language. If you translate, you cannot be part of communication because you are thinking about the language too much. These words are maybe hard to read but they are true.
You also have to hear every new word 5 to 10 times if you want to remember it. That's why we use the same words in one level. If you read and hear the same words again and again, you will understand them and remember them. If you know words from one level, you can go to a higher level and learn new words. It is important to go step by step, and read and listen to words which are used in English often. This is what we do with our news. In our short news, we use words which are used in English often. Level 1 has the 1000 most important words. Level 2 has the 2000 most important words, Level 3 has the 3000 most important words.
So, if you want to understand English fast and learn fast, read two articles or more a day. You can improve your reading and listening quickly when you read easy English news. We will help you learn English fast and understand it. When you use this website every day, you can learn 3000 words which you need for communication with anybody in English.
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