Fans in Brazil videos Given that the eyes of the world will be on Brazil in the summer of 2014 we asked a number of questions in English to a number of Brazilians. While a few of these questions were loosely about football (e.g. what words would you use to describe the way Brazil plays football?) the majority were aiming to elicit cultural information which would be of interest to others. Here are some of the questions: What other sports do you like watching or playing? What would be a useful phrase in Portuguese for visitors to learn?
These videos not only reveal interesting aspects of Brazilan society, but they also provide a model and a stimulus for possible student self-produced work, whether it be interviewing each other, or their parents and friends (and adding translation). There are seventeen of these videos in total and they will all be added eventually to the Fans in Brazil section of the website. They will all have learner self-access worksheets, and teacher notes for classroom exploitation.
What do you think visitors will find surprising here? What food would you miss if you travelled outside of Brazil? What’s the best way to learn a language? What do you like about English? What are your favourite words in English?
The English Game videos Humour is notoriously under-used in language learning. In a series of 12 short videos for elementary language learners, we have taken a globally familiar television genre, the football pundits commenting on football performance, and transported it into a light-hearted competition between two people whose native language is not English.
The competition challenges the competitors to carry out a simple task (checking in at a hotel, ordering a meal, and so on), in a UK environment. As with all video on the site, The English Game videos have online interactive exercises and downloadable support packs to complement the resource.
Player Interviews It is one thing for a teacher to try to instil good ‘learning to learn’ strategies and techniques into their students, but when they hear their football idols talking about the importance of keeping vocabulary records, learning grammar, and not being shy about ‘doing’ (sic) mistakes when speaking English, then this becomes something very popular. The Player Interviews have long been one of the most popular sections of the website, and we are launching a whole new series with Premier League players, and teenage Academy players, talking about various aspects of living in the UK (their likes and dislikes around food, clothes, music, films, books, and so on).
As always they come with complementary online and downloadable materials, and again provide a model for student production. As a package, these materials capitalise on the global interest in football – stronger than ever in a World Cup year – and use it as a springboard into exploring ideas of culture, identity and self-expression in English. Learners don’t need to know which team is top of the Premier League or who’s going to win the world cup to find ways that English through football can raise their game.
Michael Houten works for the British Council Brazil, and is based in Rio de Janeiro.