English course British Council FutureLearn online
on the theme:”Exploring English: Language and Culture”
This summer I took part at the English British Council FutureLearn course on the theme: “Exploring English: Language and Culture”, organized by British Council. This course was held from 26 June till 14 July 2018 online.
In week 1 the theme was: “English: the Global language” and we got started how to use FutureLearn and met our British Council tutors. Then we watched the video tutor Nicole , who introduced that week’s topic: “English as a Global language”. Nicole talked about what English means to some of the people Fernand from Brazil, Anne –Lise from Denmark and Mahwish from Pakistan.
We watched the video where British Council’s educator Sally said we should follow the educators and meet the team of educators:
David Lewis – Lead Educator
Genevieve White – educator
Neil Mclaren – educator
Tim Pole – educator
Sally Trowbridge – educator
In section 1.4 “Language and Culture” we learnt what is the relationship between language and culture. We talked about language and language learning, about four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Some people add a fifth skill – culture. They say that communication with people from other countries is about more than just language. If we go to live or work in another country, we need to think about more than just language – we need to think about culture too.
The article by Barry Tomalin identified four ways of thinking about culture:
Culture knowledge. How do things work in the other culture? Who leads the country? How do new laws get made?
Cultural values. What do people think is important? How are guests looked after? How important is family?
Cultural behaviour. What time do people have dinner? Do people form a queue at bus stops?
Cultural skills. How often should we say “please” and “thank you”? What questions should we not ask people?
Then we thought about the questions:
1. How important do we think it is to understand the culture of the language we are learning?
2. If we have some cultural knowledge of the United Kingdom. Do we feel about learning English and why?
In section 1.5 “How do we feel about English?” we talked about:
1. Why English is so widely used ?
2. How do we feel about English?
3. How do we feel when we speak English?
4. How about when we write in English?
5. Does English feel different from speaking our mother tongue?
In the sections 1.6 and 1.7 we watched the video where Richard talked to Martin Peacock (the British Council) and then talked about “English: the Global language”. So why is English the global language?
Then we thought about our answers to these questions:
Are there different types of English?
What is the impact of technology on language?
Why do people say that English is a global language?
Are there many global languages?
In sections 1.8, 1.10,1.12 after Listening practice “Has technology changed the way we learn?”, we watched the interview with Martin again and heard the questions and there were short quizzes to check we understood Martin’s responces.
In sections 1.14 , 1.15 , 1.16 we looked at some of the language Martin used when he talked about global English, learned useful expressions which Martin used in his discussion of English as a global language and read the advice about Passive verb forms. There were rules about how the Passive is formed (be + Participle 2) but the rules about when to use the passive are less clear. It often depends on what the speaker wants to say and how he or she wants to present that information . Then we looked at the sentences and decided which ones sound more natural. At the end of the week 1 we wrote a quiz, a summary and a Lead educator David Lewis made a video talking about the highlights from the 1-st week of the course. He enjoyed this course as it’s one of his favourites and for him it’s even better than the World Cup! He talked about English as a world language.
In week 2 we introduced the topic: “British music”. What does British music mean to us? We listened to Nicole’s video introducing the topic and then we looked at music and social enterprise. We talked about some of our favourite music and then looked at a project that used music to help young people stay out of trouble.
In sections 2.1, 2.2 Nicole mentioned some of the bands that have made British music famous around the world – from the “Beatles” and “The Rolling Stones” in the 60-th through to “One Direction” today.
British music has played a great part in our life. We’ve answered the questions:
What does British music mean to us?
What English groups do we like and what their music does mean to us?
What interesting music would we like to recommend to other learners?
Can singing songs in English help us learn?
There are some of the reasons that singing songs in English might help to improve our language skills:
It can really help with pronunciation . Copying pronunciation of a singer is a good way to make us sound more natural.
The rhythm of a song can help us get used to the rhythms of English speech. We learned new vocabulary in an interesting and memorable context.
Songs can also teach us things about culture.
If we wanted to sing the song, we could go to Vocaroo to record a short sample of our singing.
We watched a short film about the SoCo music project in Southampton on the South coast of England. We thought a project that allows young people to create, play and produce music. Then we watched the video where Richard talked to Matt about the SoCo project. And matched Matt’s answers in the video to the correct questions in the listening practice 1. In the Listening practice 2 we watched the interview with Matt Salvage at SoCo again, and answered some true or false questions about the interview with Matt. As we matched, we thought about the questions and checked our understanding in the quiz.
In section 2.10 we watched and read about the Grammar: Relative clauses.
We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and things. Non-defining relative clause – who,whom, whose, which but not that to tell more about a person or thing. We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns: many of, whom, most of whom, one of which, none of whom, some of which, lots of whom, two of which. And completed the sentences by choosing the right relative pronouns in Practice (quiz).
In Summary we have looked at our thoughts and impressions of British music. How music is being used to help young people take an active role in society. In the language work section we have talked about relative pronouns and relative clauses.
In video review of week 2 Genny, one of the educators, made a video and looked back at some of the highlights of that week. Genny recommended the following resources: “Lyrics training”. Then we checked our progress at our progress page that showed what percentage of the course steps we have marked as complete.
In week 3 we discovered more about the British countryside and found out about our countries as well. We talked about the British countryside: what does it look like and how does it make people feel?
During the week 3 we thought about how countryside and climate affects us and looked at some language we used to describe the world around us . Then we listened to Nicole introducing the topic. At the end of the week 3 we talked about the countryside in our own country.
We watched a short video film of Richard visiting the Lake District about the British countryside. Before we watched, we looked at the landscape features in the list. When we watched, we made some notes on 3 topics: 1. Climate; 2. Industry; 3. Tourism. We listened again and thought about how the climate and landscape in our country have an impact on industry and tourism.
In the section 3.9 ‘Visiting the UK” we saw Richard visited the lake District in the North West of England. In the video, Richard visited the other countries in the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the different parts of the UK. We watched the video, and then answered the questions about the places we visited in the quiz. We saw video from all four countries in the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The biggest island is divided into three countries: England, Wales and Scotland.
Then we discussed the English Grammar again. So we watched Nicole’s talk about some of the language used in the video, then read the information about gradable and non-gradable adjectives. We remembered that gradable adjectives are adjectives like “cold, hot and frightened”. We can be very cold and a bit cold. Gradable adjectives show that something can have different degrees. Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like “married” or “wooden”. We can’t be very married or a bit married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees. Adjectives like “terrifying”, “freezing”, “amazing” are also non-gradable adjectives.
They already contain the idea of “very” in their definitions – “freezing” means “very cold” etc.
In section “Uning adverbs of degree” when we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use different adverbs for gradable and non-gradable adjectives: (Not I’m completely hot. Not it was very fantastic). Modifiers ( like “very, a bit, absolutely) can be used with some adjectives but not with others. After that explanation we wrote description-check our understanding – quiz and tested our knowledge of which modifiers can be used.
That week 3 the educators holded a Facebook Live broadcast on our LearnEnglishfacebook page to answer any questions we had about that course.
In week 4 we discovered more about the British literature and finding out about our books and writers in our country.
Introducing the topic –“ British literature” we watched the video and went to look at British literature. We listened to Nicole introducing the topic.The list was long. William Shakespeare is probably the most famous writer in the English language and his plays have been performed all over the world and translated into many languages. Then we watched and listened about Victorian novelists like: Charles Dickens, jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy, contemporary novelists like: Martin Amis, Lan MacEvan and Zadie Smith have been read all over the world – and Scottish writer J.Rowling has become one of the richest women in Britain.
I have read some of these British writers and enjoyed them very much.
Then we started with a quiz to see how much we know about British literature and shared our experience with the other learners.
The Facebook live Broadcast video took place on Wednesday 11th of July at 2 pm UK time. We could post our questions in the comments section and the educators tried to answer them during the broadcast.
We watched a short video film about Shakespeare ‘s Globe – a theatre in London.
It’s based on the original theatre where William Shakespeare performed many of his plays. More than half of the world’s children study Shakespeare at school so there’s a good chance that we have studied one of his plays at some time in our life.
Before we watched the video, we shared what we know about Shakespeare, about his plays, have we studied any of them, do we have a favourite, what famous lines do we know from Shakespeare’s plays, what do we know about Shakespeare’s life?
Then we watched the video about the Globe Theatre and listened especially for information about the original and modern Globe theatres.
The greatest British writer of all of them is the Bard: William Shakespeare and this is Shakespeare’s Globe in London on the banks of the river Thames.
William Shakespeare wrote some of the most famous plays in the world: “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” are among his best known works. Many of his plays were performed at the original Globe Theatre. It burnt in 1613, during a performance of “Henry VII”.
Shakespeare’s Globe opened to the public 15 years ago. It’s an idea or “best guess”. It’s a theatre , excibition space and place of international education. It aims to bring an appreciation of Shakespeare to a wider audience.
The Globe’s artistic director is Dominic Dromgoole. Dominic told that the Globe is a recreation of Shakespeare’s theatre which was originally built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s own company to house his own work and the work of many other playwrights. It’s an extraordinary theatre. It has no roof, which makes it extraordinary within itself. It has a curved auditorium and a beautiful frons scenae. And it’s one of the most exciting theatres to watch a play in or to act in the world.
Dominic told that they did about 300 performances every year, about 1.500 people attended every performance. They did a variety of plays by Shakespeare, by other contemporaries of Shakespeare, new plays as well and an extraordinary audience came from all over the world.
At the Richard’s question: Is Shakespeare still relevant today? Dominic answered that “more than ever”. Shakespeare speaks to us about our own feelings, love, about grief, about jealousy, about joy, about bereavement, about any of a huge number of things. He could hardly think of a contemporary writer who was as relevant as Shakespeare was.
Then we watched the video of Globe theatre and checked our understanding quiz.
As we watched the video for a second time, we thought about the best way to end each of those sentences. And we would choose the best ending for those sentences:
For example: 1. The original Globe theatre…
2. The new Globe theatre…
3. One extraordinary feature is that…
4. The theatre performs…
5. Dominic thinks that…
Then we checked our outstanding quiz and chose the best ending for each of those sentences about the Globe theatre.
In the next section 4.10 we learnt English grammar again. We watched and read Comparatives and Superlatives adjectives. We watched Nicole”s talk about some of the language we heard in the video and read this information about modifying comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
Ways of modifying comparative adjectives:
We can modify comparative adjectives to show that there is a big difference between things:
- Sales in July were much higher than sales in June.
- She is a lot taller than you.
- This one’s far more expensive than the blue one.
We can also say that things are completely or totally different from each other.
They may be twins but they’re completely different from each other
A small difference – slightly, a little, a bit, not much.
We can show there is a small difference:
Sales in August were slightly lower than sales in July.
You are a bit younger than me.
These are not much more expensive than those.
No difference – exactly, more or less, roughly.
We can show that there is no difference or almost no difference .
Modifying superlatives
No strengthen the superlatives – by far, clearly, easily
To moderate the superlatives – among, one of, some of
After that we did Comparative and Superlatives practice quiz and must decide whether the sentences were grammatically correct or not.
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
At this course we read about the life of Mary Shelley and her most famous work, the novel “Frankenstein”, or “The Modern Prometeus”.
2018 is the 200th anniversary of the publication of “Frankenstein” or “The Modern Prometeus” written by the English author Mary Shelley. Started when she was 18 years old and published when she was 20, it is a novel which has had an enormous influence and is often described as the first real example of science fiction.
“Frankenstein” has remained popular and has been adapted into stage plays, films, animations, video games. “Frankenstein” or who would not have a clear picture of the monster in their heads.
Then we read about the biography of Mary Shelly, about the plot and themes of the novel “Frankenstein” and answered some questions about it; wrote a summary of the main events of the book and a look at some of the themes which continue to fascinate readers to this day. Then we watched the short video for a review of some of the themes and background of the story. We watched a video, hosted on Youtube.
The themes of “Frankenstein” continue to fascinate us to this day – in fact,perhaps now more than over.
As in: “Frankenstein”, recent films and TV shows like “Westworld”, “Blade Runner 2049”, “Ex Machina” and others, looked at the ethical issues and questions of rights and responsibilities that are raised when Artificial Intelligence (AI) reaches a point where it can be seen as truly “alive”.
“Frankenstein 2018” - this Norwegian University project has extensive articles and free video and audio resources that allow us to explore the novel and its influence in depth.
After that we tried to answer at some questions and share our comments:
Do you think “anniversary” events like these are a good idea?
Are they a good way to celebrate the work of important writers, artists and filmmakers?
Do you have any similar anniversaries coming up in your country?
Which authors or artists from your country would you like to see celebrated in this way?
Then we made a round up of what we covered in week 1-4 and a discussion of literature.
For our final task, we thought about literature in our country.
For many people the idea of “Britain” is closely connected to literature.
Thomas Hardy wrote about the English countryside, for example and Charles Dickens wrote vividly about XlX century London.
The author Sir Walter Scott is often credited with “inventing Scotland” by reviving and introducing his readers to many of the stories and symbols that today we think of as typically Scottish.
We recommended books to other learners on the course. It should be books that we have enjoyed and that captured something about our country or culture. We must review of the book, some information about the author and explain why we think it’s special.And we could recommend a film that we think tells viewers something special about our country and culture. Then we shared our writing in the discussions. Our recommendations were on the site: “Your Literature and Film choices: Books form.
My comments with #FLlearnenglish.
There are 4 ways we can keep in touch and continue our learning journey with the British Council.
To join the global community
We can still engage with people all over the world to develop our understanding of English language and culture. We can join the community on the LearnEnglish website. Every month the LearnEnglish website is visited by over 1 million learners of English. The teachers of English can join TeachingEnglish Facebook community with over 3,8 million fans.
To take another course
The British Council runs language courses in teaching centres all around the world. We can find out about the British Council’s face-to-face English courses in our country. We can also take an online teacher training course with the British Council. They have a wide range of online courses to help us with our professional development tailored.
To use other resources
The British Council has a wide range of free resources for both learners and teachers of English. On the LearnEnglish website we can find hundreds of pages of audio, stories, games and video content and over 2,000 interactive exercises to help us to improve our English.
On the TeachingEnglish website teachers of English can download lesson plans and resources for use in classrooms and get information about professional development, conferencies and qualifications.
To come to the UK to study
Over 600,000 international students come to the United Kindom every year to improve their English language skills. The UK has high-quality courses for all ages and abilities, teaching English in a fun and inspiring way.
In the video review one of the educators looked back at some of the main talking points of this week 4 in a short video and the other educators also said their final farewell. That video appeared at lunch time ( UK time) on Friday 13 July 2018.
When I reached the end of week 4, I clicked the Progress icon at the top of the page to see my Progress page. That showed what percentage of the course steps we have marked as complete. We could always use “To do” icon at the top of the page to go back to previous weeks and catch up.
The team of Future Learn British Council thanked us with congratulations when we reached the end of the course.
I have enjoyed learning and running this course “Exploring English: Language and Culture”.
It’s been fascinating for me to see all the comments and ideas coming in from learners all around the world: Cuba, Mexico, Greece, Germany, France, Poland, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Columbia, Italy, Portugal, Mozambique, Ukraine etc.
They also took part in these courses. They all thanked the FutureLearn and British Council team for their interesting and insightful contributions in this course. After answering their questions we could complete this FutureLearn course survey.
We’ve enjoyed “ Exploring English: Language and Culture” very much. We might find this British Council’s course useful and enjoyable, as we would like to improve our English in a Global Community of language learners.
This course for learners of English helped us with the language we need in our teaching work and successfully function in the workplace.
This course is for people who are learning English and who are interested in developing English language skills for employability and workplace contexts. It will help all professionals with the English they need.
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Devid Lewis – Lead Educator British Council: “ Thanks for the feedback. You’re making great progress, keep learning! Congratulations we have reached the end of this course. Well done for all our hard work. We got the best way to demonstrate our learning to friends, collegues and employers is with a printed and digital certificate. Because so many of you have enjoyed the course, we’d like to help you to stay in touch with each other. Our Exploring English MOOC Group is a place where you can share your ideas and links to useful resources, as well as ask questions. Finally, I’d like to thank you for all your fantastic participation over the last four weeks. It’s such a unique experience to have a global mix of learners communicating with each other in English. We hope you’ve found the course useful and as enjoyable as we have found it”.
Sites:
http://www.socomusicproject.org.uk/ LearnEnglishFacebook British Council’s LearnEnglishFacebook page https://www.facebook.com/LearnEnglish.BritishCouncil/ https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html? [email protected] LearnEnglish website TeachingEnglish Facebook Online teacher training course Education UK site [email protected] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/01/confession-of-the-lioness-mia-couto-review-mozambique
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