Languages Out There

There is a growing market for online language teaching and learning. Do a Google search for online materials and you’ll find a motley collection of grammar overviews, games and ideas. What online teachers, myself included, are looking for are easy to access, easy to use, informative and well structured worksheets.

Languages Out There has provided this. There are level specific, topic based lessons downloadable at the click of a button or two, using real life language and themes that would appeal to both teenagers and adults looking to improve their general English.

The interesting thing about this website is that it can appeal to teachers and students alike. Worksheets are available for either teacher led or self -study activities, and the use of Skype or other live VoIP chat is encouraged to enhance language learning opportunities amongst students.

For the price of membership to the site (£48.49) you have access to 10 worksheets at each level, Beginner, Elementary, Pre Intermediate, Intermediate and Advanced. Students can also learn and self study either with lesson plan instructions in English for all the levels or in one of a few selected languages, such as Spanish, Russian or Chinese at the Beginner and Elementary levels. The topics cover areas such as making recommendations, predictions, describing people and places, and discussing issues. There is a good range of grammar and lexis considered at each level, and each worksheet is based on a language point- presenting it in context and providing further exercises to consolidate learning.

The teacher-led lesson plans are clearly presented, starting with the lesson aims and recommended timings. There are reading passages and tasks in many of the worksheets and plenty of questions to generate discussion. The self study lessons are even more simply laid out, and would be useful for one to one classes. I actually prefer these as there are also audio files to download and some of the lessons include more visual materials.

I personally really liked the informal language presented and the use of idioms. However, because of this these worksheets aren’t ones I would necessarily use with my Business students. The site is easy enough to navigate (note the log in button is at the very bottom of the homepage) and clearly presented with links to the various courses and levels. There is a topic or grammar search facility so you don’t need to scroll through all the materials to see what’s there, which is especially helpful.

The website is quite new, and still developing. There are links to forums and member profiles as well as information on setting up your own business, so watch these pages as hopefully they’ll expand and offer teachers more ways of communicating and sharing ideas.

If you’re a busy teacher looking for a balanced site which provides a general overview of the main language to cover at each level presented through everyday 21st century vocabulary and situations, then Languages Out There could well be what you’re after!