clicknlearn.net | An interactive way to learn language

Hola everyone!

Today, I would like to introduce another interesting tool to be used to learn language. It is clicknlearn. 

What is it?

Clicknlearn is a website that provides an interactive way of learning language, useful for both teachers and learners. There are lots of interesting activities that can be found here. What makes it more great is that the activities are sorted according to level of learners and covered a variety of topics. Once you clicked on a topic, you will be taken through a set of related exercises and games. Activities are usually associated with pictures, animated images and sounds, which makes it more engaging for learners. There is also marks shown for some exercises so that you would know how well you are doing. For teachers, there are also printable materials provided in which teachers can print and use it in classroom. 

Although this is a Spanish website, it also offers the learning of three other languages: English, French and Valencia.

clicknlearn interface

How to use it?

So, this is how to use clicknlearn: 

Below is the video which will provide you with brief explanation on how to use the website in case you need more help:

How to use clicknlearn to teach/learn language?

Clicknlearn is helpful for teachers in the sense that it provides useful activities to be used in language classroom. Teachers may use this tool to teach vocabularies, functions and grammars as well as to    supplement their teaching materials. This tool which uses lots of pictures, animations and sounds could cater students' needs and learning styles.

This tool can also help students to learn autonomously. Students, at home, can just easily go to the website and do the activities. As there would be a brief introduction of contents at the beginning of most topics, there would not be much difficulties for students to just go through the activities by themselves. This would help students to become an autonomous learner of language as well as self-assess themselves. 

What I liked

• Lots of activities
• There are pictures, animations and sounds. Makes the learning double interesting and engaging than just learning from books.
• Activities cover various topics and skills.
• Suitable for learners at all levels.
• Vocabularies are presented in context.
• Some activities can be printed - useful for teachers, can use it in the classroom.
• It is free of charge.
• There is no need to set up account. You can just use it instantly. 

What I disliked

• Instructions are mostly in Spanish. Might cause difficulties for users with other language background.
• Feedbacks given are in written and sometimes too lengthy. Students might just ignore it.
• There is no 'BACK' button in case students want to go back to previous activities. 
• There is also no 'NEXT' button available in case students want to skip the activities. They have to go through them all.
• Need internet connection. 

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Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

In this post, I would like to introduce you to another interesting tool, Vocaroo which is the easiest online recording tool.

Vocaroo interface

It allows you to do 5 minutes recording on the internet. What makes it great is that you can download the audio file, embed it on your blog/website and send it to e-mail. It is really easy to use and there is no need to install any software to your computer. And of course, it's free!

Here is 4 simple steps to record your voice using Vocaroo:

Vocaroo and language teaching

Teachers and students can use Vocaroo to do audio recordings and create podcasts, which can be very useful in order to develop students' speaking skills. So, teachers can use Vocaroo for any activity which involves speaking. An example of speaking task which integrates Vocaroo is as follows:

1. Teacher can ask students to choose a topic to talk about. It would be useful to choose a topic that of students' interest so that they would have something to say and become engaged with the activity. Topic chosen for this activity is 'unforgettable moments'.
2. Teacher can start the activity by providing students with examples by telling them stories or play recordings. This would gives students some ideas on what to say and include in their recordings. Teacher can also provide students with a framework. 
3. Students then would be given time for notes and brainstorming ideas.
4. In a group of 3 or 4, each student would take turn to tell their stories to their group members. At this stage, teacher would monitor students and give feedback such as on the organisation of story or the language use.
5. After that, teacher would demonstrate to students on how to use Vocaroo. Students can do the recordings at home and share it in class blog. They can also email the recordings to the teacher.
6. Teacher then would provide students with feedback. Students too can provide peer feedback by commenting on each other recordings. 

Other than that, Vocaroo can also be used for pronunciation practice by asking students to read texts aloud and record it using Vocaroo. Students too can use Vocaroo to do speaking journal and share it in their personal or class blogs. Generally, Vocaroo would help teacher to do an assessment on students' speaking skills. 

Teacher also can use this tool to do recordings as materials for listening activities. 

What I liked about it

• It is fast and easy to use
• Can use it without the need to install any software
• The recording can be downloaded and shared online
• Can re-record your voice
• Can upload own recordings but not more than 50MB
• It is free

Its limitations

• Can record only up to 5 minutes
• Can't record video (can't see facial expression)
• Need internet connection

Here is how Vocaroo looks like when it's embedded in your blog.

Audio and voice recording >>

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