YouTube
I'm thinking about a way to describe our English course and the first image that flashes through my mind is a kind of jigsaw. Every week in the lab we have added a new piece to this jigsaw and during the last lesson we definitely completed the work with the final piece: YouTube!!!
I think that anyone, who has even the smallest experience of computer, has visited this site at least one time in his life. YouTube is the largest on line videos sharing tool and maybe the fastest-growing tool on Web 2.0. In my opinion YouTube is a distinct site from the others that you can fine in the Net, with the only difference that all the information you need are given by videos or images and not only in written form.
In YouTube you can really find whatever you want: videos that inform you on what's going on in the world, videos that you can use to learn something or even practice English (as in our case), and videos that you can watch just to have fun or to relax.
But, if on one hand this huge amount of material represents a great potential for YouTube's development, on the other hand it's its great limit too; because of when you open YouTube you're literally overwhelm of everything, what it is difficult and "danger" is to be able to filter and select what is useful to your purposes from what are simply "rubbish".
As regards our English purpose (if YouTube is really useful to improve English skill) I totally answer: YES, IT CAN!!!
First of all the majority of videos you find surfing the YouTube are in English and so you can "dive" into English language in an easy way. Then, I think that you can learn more if the information you need are accompanied by videos and images; they will remain better engraved in your memory if you learn them by having fun!!!
I decided to add a couple of videos to my blog to show you how opposite things one can find in YouTube:
The first one is just to relax, after this exhausting experience on the Net. It's a little scene, taken by the movie "Pride and Prejudice" that is the film that by far I love the most. It's the moment when Mr.Darcy proposes to Elizabeth Bennet for the second time and she finally accepts.
How a romantic scene!!!
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5 commenti:
Hi Alessandra!
What a wonderful video from 'Pride and Prejudice'. I read the book five or six years ago and I loved it. Unfortunately I've never seen the film but the video you chose is so romantic that I'm going to watch the movie next week.
I'm sorry but I don't agree with you about the usefulness of this tool. There you can find a lot of English videos but as you said there's a lot of rubbish. You can listen to native speakers and at the same time have fun but searching around I haven't found any really interesting language learning video. Maybe YouTube can be useful if teachers have to share videos among them. Unfortunately I'm not able to link to the Teacher Tube. I'll try today during the lab lesson.
Hi Alessandra!
I definitely agree with you when you say that a tool like Youtube can help learners thanks to visual memory. On the other hand, as Serena and you write, in Youtube there's also a lot of rubbish. This is the reason why we all sometimes risk to watch/listen to something stupid, vulgar or (and this an event that really worries me), something that seems to be English but that isn't...
I like your videos! I've never watched "Pride and Prejudice", but I suggest you to read and then watch "Atonement". It's a book written by Ian Mc Ewan and the director of the film is the same of that you love so much. Keira Knightley is one of the main characters (like in "Pride and Prejudice") and there's something that reminds me Jane Austen's atmospheres...
Hi Alessandra and Serena!
For Alessandra: Your videos are so nice! I saw the movie "Pride and Prejudice"... It's very well done and really romantic!I like it!
The second one is very interesting... First of all this man has a clear pronunciation and his advices can be really useful to improve our English!
For Alessandra and Serena: I agree with Alessandra and not with Serena because I think that even though many videos don't have a pedagogical purpose, we can learn English even from funny stories or songs, movies and so on... Of course we have to pay attention to what we come across!
Bye Bye
Laura
Hi Alessandra,
first of all I'm glad my corrections meant no offence to you! (I must admit I was a bit worry!!)
I'm not going to take part in the discussion, but I agree with Serena, of course we can learn English trough videos, but what is the advantage in using YouTube instead of any other dvd? That's why I am a bit doubtful about it!
Anyway, I like the video you choose, I've seen Pride and Prejudice, but I still prefer the book (I don't like K.Nightly that much)!
See you next week!
Claudia
Hi Alssandra!
I watched both your videos and I think that your choices are good!!
I agree with Laura because,as she said, I think that on one hand YOUTUBE allows users to "familiarize" the language and on the other hand you can find bad material. Anyway I think that this site is an interesting means of communication.
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