Hi everyone!
Today I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite online listening resources – Elllo. The letters of its name stand for ‘English Listening Lesson Library Online’ and that is exactly what it is – a comprehensive online collection of fun-filled listening activities for almost any level of English.

Don’t be fooled by the simple layout of this site, it has thousands of listening activities which you can access for free and it is constantly being updated and improved. The thing I like the most about Elllo is that you can either watch videos or listen to audio files and that all have associated listening practice exercises. As well as exercises, each listening activity also comes with a full transcript which has the most important words highlighted and explained. You can then choose to complete a vocabulary quiz or you can test your listening ability by completing the comprehension exercises. How good is that! Here are some examples:

–City Down Under is a listening exercise at the elementary level
–Culture Comparison is a listening exercise at the intermediate level
–Wedding Prep is a listening exercise at the upper-intermediate level
–Shipwrecks is a listening exercise at the advanced level

You will notice that each of the above exercises show the length of the audio/video file as well as where the English speaker comes from, so you can choose to listen to English speakers from many different backgrounds – both native speakers and non-native speakers – and you can become accustomed to different accents. You will also see that each file provides you with a transcript, with vocabulary explanations, and additional speaking/listening comprehension exercises. Not bad at all. Give it a go!

Visit Elllo and let me know what you think – start developing your ear for English and have fun at the same time – all you need is ten minutes a day.
Nicole

© Nicole Sammer, Sydney English Teacher, 2015.

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