Forgot your password?

Weblog

August Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Discourse Markers.

Posted on July 29 2010 by Tarquin in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [2]

No sex please! We’re not in New York!

After reading the lame reviews of Sex in the City 2 and not being overly impressed with the first movie effort, I was reluctant to bother with it a second time. However, since I hadn’t been to the flicks for a while and was in much need of a girl’s night out, I decided to go and judge for myself.

And I have to say I’m very glad I did. I sat back and let the outrageous opulence of the opening scenes wash over me and managed to be thoroughly entertained for the entire film. I could even go as far as to say I was left wanting more!

Posted on July 27 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in Film | Read More | Comments [0]

Win a FREE English Course!!

The 1st iPass video to feature on YouTube in March 2008 has now received 482,939 views and we’re inviting you to guess the date when that figure will reach 500,000!

The video showing Zara, from Portugal, being interviewed for a practice IELTS speaking test, can be seen at iPass IELTS videos on YouTube.

The 1st person to guess the correct date when Zara’s video reaches 500,000 views will win a FREE online English course from the iPass Store.

To enter the competition, check out the video and leave a comment to this post with the following details:

1) The date on which you think the video will receive 500,000 views
2) Your full name
3) Your email address

Please note that only one entry per person is permitted.

Hurry! The countdown has already begun!!

Posted on July 04 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in iPass News | Read More | Comments [5]

Motivating your students this summer!

Our summer course at the British Council, Barcelona is now in full swing and involves involve kids aged 10 - 16 coming to classes Monday to Friday from 9.30am until 2pm while their mates hang out and generally do other things apart from learning English. I wonder how motivated they are!!!

Here are a few ideas for keeping them distracted from the world outside in an attempt to keep them focused on their learning…

Posted on July 04 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in English Language | Read More | Comments [2]

July Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Punctuation and Spelling (Part 2).

Posted on June 30 2010 by Tarquin in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [0]

England reach an all-time Capel - low

So, as the England squad prepare for their night flight back to London under what must be a dark cloud of disbelief and disappointment, English fans will undoubtedly be discussing the future of Fabio Capello, as to whether he is the right man for the job.

Although Fabio himself has expressed no wish to resign, it seems that he will have to wait for another 2 weeks to have his fate as England manager decided by the FA bosses.

In the meantime the debate will inevitably go on as to what exactly went wrong at the World Cup finals and who is really accountable for England’s uninspiring, lacklustre performances.

Posted on June 28 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in Hot Topics | Read More | Comments [1]

June Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Paraphrasing.

Posted on June 05 2010 by Tarquin in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [0]

Win a FREE English Course!!

Posted on May 27 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in | Read More | Comments [1]

The beauty of maps

There’s a fascinating programme on BBC TV called The Beauty of Maps in celebration of ‘Magnificent Maps’ exhibition staring soon at the British Library in London.
It’s hard to underestimate the importance of maps in history. In fact the exhibition also has the title of ‘Power Propaganda and Art’, which shows their real significance.
Nowadays its easy to know where you are – SatNav, Google Maps and specialist maps galore – it is hard to get really lost almost wherever you are, and its impossible to imagine a world without maps.
As a pictorial representation of the world that we live in, maps were probably the earliest pictures that humans drew, but as people started to leave their own surroundings and travel around and then to other countries they needed some more accurate.
So maps making started to develop. First people had to understand the size of countries and places. When maps first started being drawn it was common for important places to be bigger in proportion to their size; often in the centre of the known world!
But people didn’t understand where they were in the world or the scale involved in distances. It was only when cartography became a science and mathematics could accurately measure and represent size accurately, that maps really started to mean something.

Posted on May 14 2010 by Nigel Haines in Society | Read More | Comments [1]

May Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Punctuation and Spelling (Part 1).

Posted on May 08 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [0]

Is the art of conversation dead?

Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? People not talking to each other, can this really be true?
Well, ask any teenagers and they will tell you that most of them spend their time texting not calling each other and having an ‘old fashioned’ chat.
Many teenagers send over 100 emails a day – interestingly, girls send more than boys – and if you think that sounds excessive, some send many more than that.
Of course Twitter is the latest way to keep in touch with people and tell them what you are doing. Its one of the fastest growing social networking sites and with more and more people using their iPhone to stay online its an ideal way to communicate and stay in touch.

Posted on May 07 2010 by Nigel Haines in Society | Read More | Comments [0]

Choices: The parties we love to hate?

Love it or hate it the UK General Election is here again.
On 6 May the British public will now decide who will be governing them for the next 5 years - or will they?
After three weeks of high-level persuasion by the various parties, the electorate will be given the chance to vote and choose a winning party, but the problem is that for this election it seems that nobody can be sure that any one party will win!

Posted on May 01 2010 by Nigel Haines in Society | Read More | Comments [7]

April Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Advanced Grammar Structures.

Posted on April 22 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [0]

iPass Press Release - April 2010


iPass launches 8 new online English courses!
iPass, which started in February 2008 as an online provider of IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam practice, has recently formed an association with Vital English and added 8 exciting new online language courses to its website:

➢  Academic IELTS
➢  Academic Vocabulary
➢  General Training IELTS
➢  BULATS (Business Language Testing System)
➢  General English (6 levels)
➢  English for IT
➢  English for Health
➢  English for Hospitality

Posted on April 02 2010 by Nigel Haines in | Read More | Comments [0]

March Language Toolbox

Every month we publish a new Language Toolbox Exercise here on the blog. The exercise remains freely online for the whole month until it is replaced with the next month’s exercise. To access the archive of similar exercises you need to be a Course or Course Extra Member.

This month’s exercise is Topic Sentences.

Posted on March 12 2010 by Jenny Bedwell in Toolbox | Read More | Comments [0]

Page 1 of 4 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »