Fri 22 Feb 2008
Lonely Spider
In a cave there lived a spider.
He liked to drink warm apple cider.
He liked to think about his life.
He wondered if he’d ever have a wife.
Lonely spider.
Fri 22 Feb 2008
The Croc
In the river
there lived a croc.
He liked to lie (3X)
upon a big flat rock.
He dreamed of going for a walk,
But he had no shoes
and he only had one sock.
This songs just 20 seconds long. For kids, I play it a few times, providing a bit more scaffolding at each stage to help their listening comprehension. I might play the song once with no visual aids, asking them to write down anything at all they hear. After the first listing, I’ll give them time to consult each other. Next, I might provide a model on the board: certain words, a gap-fill, or the structure, like this
In
there
He
upon
He
but
and…
Can’t go wrong with such a short silly song! Wish my language teachers (Arabic, Latin, Russian, Swedish, German, Polish, Chinese, Spanish, Romanian, French) had given me little listening tasks. Just once even.
You’ll also found a slower version: it’s just 24 seconds but easier to understand.
Mon 24 Dec 2007
Meet Marie. She’s an American who fell in love with Russia and moved there: to the relatively unpopulated Russian Far east in fact. In the three audios Marie talks about (1) developing an interest in Russia, (2) getting her first teaching job in the far eastern Chitinskaya Region, and (3) moving to a larger city, Birobidzhan, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region of Russia. Marie also talks about her future–staying in Russia permanently.
In Audio One (36 seconds), 27 words are missing. Yeah, that’s a lot! But they are little words, just one or two letters each. Read the text before listening and try to fill them in.
(1) ____ first was interested (2) ____ Russia when (3) ____ was 4 years old, after reading… I had just learned (4) ____ read. And (5) ____ started reading (6) ____ magazine about Russia. After becoming interested (7) ____ the country (8) ____ course (9) ____ read more. Classical literature. History. Russian classical music. Figure skating. Ballet. And when (10)____ was 21 or 22—I don’t remember—I had (11) ____ opportunity (12) ____ come (13) ____ Russia (14) ____ (15) ____ tourist for about three weeks. (16) ____ soon (17) ____ (18) ____ came into Russia, (19) ____ soon (20) ____ (21) ____ stepped out (22) ____ the plane (23) ____ the airport (24) ____ decided that (25) ____ wanted (26) ____ stay (27) ____ Russia.
Audio Two. (1:04). Develop your own listening activity.
Buryat: a person of one of several Asian nationalities in Russia.
So when I returned to the US after that trip I began looking for work [in Russia] and there was an agency. I think that it’s closed now. But there used to be an agency in Chitinskaya Oblact [in Eastern Russia]
that were looking for native speakers. Through this agency I found a school and they were willing to take me. I was willing to go. So that’s how I ended up there. I was a small village of about one thousand three hundred people. There were two Russian families; everyone else was Buryat. So I worked in a school for three years. I taught second through 11th grades. I enjoyed it very much but village life was very difficult so I decided I needed to move to a city, especially since I almost ruined my health completely.
Audio Three. (1:04). Develop your own listening activity.
I came to Birobidzhan because somebody mentioned it to me just in passing, and it was interesting because I’d also always been interested in Israel, and I thought I could hit two birds with one stone. So basically I telephoned the department of education, said that I would like to move here, could I find a job? They gave me the number of the Institute. I spoke to the dean. He said “Please come and we’ll sign a contract.†So, I came to Birodbidzhan and I like it. It’s very clean, quiet, calm, organized. It’s a nice city. And yes I do plan to stay here. In Russia permanently and
probably in Birobidzhan for quite some time. It’s possible to get permanent residence status. Personally, I would prefer to change my citizenship because I see no reason… I see no reason to keep my American citizenship if I plan to live the rest of my life in Russia. However I have… I’ve been told by different people, by Russian people, by my parents, that I would be very stupid to give up my American citizenship, so I don’t know. Personally, I would like to get Russian citizenship.
Complete Text, Audio 1: I first was interested in Russia when I was 4 years old, after reading… I had just learned to read. And I started reading a magazine about Russia. After becoming interested in the country of course I read more. Classical literature. History. Russian classical music. Figure skating. Ballet. And when I was 21 or 22—I don’t remember—I had an opportunity to come to Russia as a tourist for about three weeks. As soon as I came into Russia, as soon as I stepped out of the plane in the airport I decided that I wanted to stay in Russia.
Marie 2: Teaching in a village, Chitinskaya Region [ 1:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (453)Mon 24 Dec 2007
That’s right. This 15-second song lists the largest countries of the world. It’s a good dictation for groups of all levels. Play the song and students write. You might not tell them the title, only afterwards asking them what the relationship of these 10 countries is.
Sun 11 Nov 2007
The Cockroach
In the kitchen
there lived a cockroach.
He liked to eat
inside the fridge
He dreamed of eating
all the fridge food
but the door is closed.
words and music: Nick Artyushevski (age 11), Minsk, Belarus
Sun 11 Nov 2007
On Kiselova Street in Minsk, there’s an after-school English school of sorts. Teacher Alla Kalishevich allowed me to work with her students aged, 10-13. I did one lesson with the kids (90 minutes) and by the end of this time they had all written lyrics for songs. In the following days I met with them individually or in pairs, and recorded their songs. The recordings took from 20 minutes to one hour.
The kids did all the creative work. They wrote the lyrics; compiled and arranged the music from loops (pre-recorded snippets of instruments), and they sang. I was the recording engineer.
The songs are fun, but useful too. I have even used them with adult teachers of English in Belarus—as listening tasks. There’s nothing wrong with learning and hearing English from non-native speakers. Think of the huge English-language hit “Dancing Queen,” which was composed and sung by Swedes.
Sat 10 Nov 2007
Lovely Lively Mouse
In a cage
there lived a mouse
He liked to swim a lot of times
He liked to run away from a cat
Lovely mouse, lively mouse
He liked to run away from a cat
He wanted to live with a big big bat
Lovely mouse, lively mouse
words and music by Nastya Zhdanovich (age 13)
and Ksyusha Stankevich (age 12)
Minsk, Belarus
Sat 3 Nov 2007
Music: Ed Kliman (www.texasmusicforge.com)
Lyrics: Kevin
Sung by Christy McWilson and Kevin
Below you’ll find a worksheet for a class activity (two PDF versions, one in US letter size, one in A4). The activity concentrates on useful concrete verbs, and can even be done without the music.
The music was originally downloaded from Freesound. By TexasMusicForge (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=5150)
Morenita.mp3
25 Years from this Sunday, worksheet, US Letter size
25 Years from this Sunday, worksheet, A4 paper size
Sat 13 Oct 2007
Listen to (and maybe use as listening activities in your class) these songs composed by students in Belarus, Tajikistan, and Russia. The students wrote the words, created the music (by arranging “loops”–pre-recorded bits of music), and sang the songs. These are entirely original compositions, done in a single session by non-native English speakers.
If other EFL/ESL students around the world are creating original music, I’d be glad to hear about them and post them on this site if they are short and appropriate (and funny).
Sat 4 Aug 2007
A new little story, from July 1st, 2007, in Kyrgyzstan. Listen to the audio. Text coming soon.
