Audio: Accidents in the home

A2, B1, B2, C1

How many people in Britain are injured by their sofa every year? How many "trouser accidents" are there in the home?  Do this audio activity from the British Council site to discover the surprising truth. Audio time: 4 minutes 53 seconds. Activity time: 10 to 30 minutes.


Task: Go to the activity page and

1. Do the "Preparation" task to help you with vocabulary.
2. Listen and do the "Task". If you find it difficult, click on "Text" and read and listen at the same time. 
3. For pronunciation practice, listen and read aloud at the same time. Can you finish at the same time as the speaker?

Go to the activity here.

 

Video: When the whole world wants a washing machine

B1, B2, C1

Slide 1

One of the most popular videos on Help Yourself to English is the presentation by Hans Rosling of the problem of population growth. In this new presentation from the TED site, Hans Rosling turns his attention to the growth in washing machine use worldwide and discusses the consequences for the environment of the increase in energy consumption. Video time: 9 minutes 15 secs. Activity time: 15 to 45 minutes

Slide 2

Slide 3

Task: 1 Look at the three slides from the presentation on this page . Try to predict what the different diagrams represent. 2 Watch the video and see if your predictions were correct. Note that you have subtitles available in English if necessary.  3 Imagine that you are explaining the three slides to a friend. Can you reproduce the main ideas? Watch the video again if necessary.

Go to the video here.

To see the original Hans Rosling video from this blog, go here.