YouTube...Broadcast yourself!
YouTube is among the most famous websites in the world! There you can find everything you want, and even more than what you could have ever imagined!
I’ve recently discoverd YouTube: unfortunately I’m a bit out of the whole Web 2.0. thing because I do not have broadband at home, so that it takes 2 hours to me to load a single video! However I often go to my father’s office in order to look for strange videos, and it is cool to see how many unbelievable videos you can find...everything you could be interested in is available on YouTube!
I often look for videos of concerts, foreign TV shows or for some episodes of my favourite TV series! Other times some friends of mine send me links to some strange videos which always make me LOL!
As for ESL learning experience, I think that YouTube is a great place where to find useful materials in order to improve our listening skills!
The videos Sarah proposed to us are very interesting and funny, I especially loved the one about the “sort of” translator, that’s awesome! Hope we’ll never become such “good” translators! While watching it I was wondering if the Italian accent really sounds like that abroad! It was obviously a joke, and all the accents were a bit exaggerated, but the Italian accent really sound so? Just Sarah can answer to this question!
To me that was much more similar to the accent they speak in Naples...but I watched some other videos I found in YouTube and I realized that the Italian accent perceived abroad is that of Southern Italy (try for example to look for the joke about “The Italian man who went to Malta”, which is everywhere!).
With reference to the other videos, I really like them as well, and particularly the one about the i-rack! That’s amazing, and everything correspond exactly with what is really happening...great piece of lampoon against G.W.B! And now it’s time for the i-ran! YouTube is full of amazing videos like the one Sarah choose for us, the only problem is that looking for them is so time – demanding! Most of the time you get lost among the great amount of videos available, and you go from a video to another losing a lot of time...isn’t YouTube something like a “drug”? Once experienced you get addicted to it!
I’ve recently discoverd YouTube: unfortunately I’m a bit out of the whole Web 2.0. thing because I do not have broadband at home, so that it takes 2 hours to me to load a single video! However I often go to my father’s office in order to look for strange videos, and it is cool to see how many unbelievable videos you can find...everything you could be interested in is available on YouTube!
I often look for videos of concerts, foreign TV shows or for some episodes of my favourite TV series! Other times some friends of mine send me links to some strange videos which always make me LOL!
As for ESL learning experience, I think that YouTube is a great place where to find useful materials in order to improve our listening skills!
The videos Sarah proposed to us are very interesting and funny, I especially loved the one about the “sort of” translator, that’s awesome! Hope we’ll never become such “good” translators! While watching it I was wondering if the Italian accent really sounds like that abroad! It was obviously a joke, and all the accents were a bit exaggerated, but the Italian accent really sound so? Just Sarah can answer to this question!
To me that was much more similar to the accent they speak in Naples...but I watched some other videos I found in YouTube and I realized that the Italian accent perceived abroad is that of Southern Italy (try for example to look for the joke about “The Italian man who went to Malta”, which is everywhere!).
With reference to the other videos, I really like them as well, and particularly the one about the i-rack! That’s amazing, and everything correspond exactly with what is really happening...great piece of lampoon against G.W.B! And now it’s time for the i-ran! YouTube is full of amazing videos like the one Sarah choose for us, the only problem is that looking for them is so time – demanding! Most of the time you get lost among the great amount of videos available, and you go from a video to another losing a lot of time...isn’t YouTube something like a “drug”? Once experienced you get addicted to it!
Camilla
5 commenti:
Hi Camilla,
I definitely agree with you when you say that YouTube is something like a ‘drug’. To be honest, I’d never stop watching videos.
Anyway, since in Padua is almost impossible to find a spare room in the computer lab I certainly don’t get addicted to it! ;)
What do you think about exploiting YouTube as a learning resource? Silvia said that she thinks YouTube can be a very helpful resource (it you use it properly).
I agree with her; in addition, I think that teachers should be aware of what is helpful for English learning and what is not, but students should feel free of exploring the web in order to develop a critical outlook towards technologies.
Thank you for your good contribution!
I’m looking forward to reading your comments!
Catch you soon
Martina
Hi Camilla,
Although I’m not so addicted to YouTube and prefer podcasts, I quite agree with you; on YouTube you can watch a lot of stuff in English, such as TV shows, comic sketches, or other funny episodes. Definitely, this is the most positive aspect of YouTube: learning and enjoying yourself at the same time! Right?
From your post I see you find YouTube useful for yourself as a language learning tool; but, as a teacher, would you propose it to your students? In my view, YouTube is a very good and appealing tool to teach English to upper-intermediate and advanced students (i.e. at university). I’m not so convinced of its usefulness for younger students… It’s that English videos are usually made by natives who speak very fast and, in addition, some videos should be prohibited to under 18 year olds! Do you agree?
In the end, just two suggestions for you: as regards grammar, in 'I loved especially' I’d move the adverb between the subject and the verb ('I especially loved'); as regards style, when you speak about the activities we do for Sarah in our English course, it’s better if you make some reference to them, for example with some links, so that anyone who visits your blog can understand what you are saying… I know that all of us, your peers, understand what you’re speaking about, but remember that your blog is public and can be read by someone living on the other side of the world!!!
Hope you find my comment relevant and helpful!
Kisses!
Elena
Hi Camilla!
I'm still thinking about the fantastic video you put on your blog...:-)
Anyway, I agree with Elena when she says that YouTube is not for ESL beginners, because people speak very fast and also because some videos should not be seen by young people!
I have the same problem as you with a sloooow line, so it is very difficult for me to see a video at home. If I had broadband at home, I'm sure I'd be addicted to YouTube, because, as you wrote, you can find really everything! When I wrote Takt That I didn't imagine to find so many videos... and most of them were really amazing!
Martina
Hi Camilla,
I loved your post... above all I loved this one:
"isn’t YouTube something like a “drug”? Once experienced you get addicted to it!". I don't have broadband (but I'm planning to buy it). However, when I discovered this website I really fell in love with it! I mean, you can find whatever you want; you can watch funny and interesting videos dealing with any topic and at the same time you learn English!! What a lovely tool! As I wrote on my post, I prefer watching a video rather than listening to a podcast. Sometimes, I find podcasts quite boring! Moreover, I think that it's easier to understand the sense if you look at the images too..
See you then
Silvia
Hi Camilla!
I enjoyed reading your post! I definitely agree with you when you wrote: “Isn’t YouTube something like a “drug”? Once experienced you get addicted to it!". Fortunately, I have broadband at home and I can surf the Net whenever I want and without limits of time. I always spend hours and hours in front of the computer, doing the e-tivities, reading through the websites that I usually visit, and searching for new interesting sites… Since I’m very curious I always click on every interesting link that catches my attention and I don’t notice that time passes!
I agree with Elena and Marina when they say that YouTube is not for ESL beginners; in some videos people speak very fast and the content of some files isn’t suitable for young people!
As far as grammar is concerned, I would suggest you to avoid using the preposition TO after the verb ‘propose’ in the sentence: “The videos Sarah proposed to us are very interesting and funny”.
That’s all for now!
Veronica
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