Thursday, November 7, 2013

Rewordify (free, online reading comprehension and vocabulary development software)



Rewordify lets users:

The site lets teachers:
  • begin using the site in the classroom right now with the help of ready-to-use lesson plans (aligned to Common Core standards): no purchase orders or technology approvals needed
  • guide and coordinate learning by saving any text passage with one click, allowing learners around the world to get to assemble their own collections of learning materials, individualized for their learners and differentiated by readiness and interest
  • quickly create vocabulary activities and quizzes from any high-interest reading passage or web page, for more engaging learning
  • instantly obtain a Rewordify.com Reading Level Analysis for any passage, for effective differentiation by readiness.
Surf to Rewordify blog.

    Friday, October 25, 2013

    The benefits of clear communications (“Global Brand Simplicity Index 2013” by Siegel+Gale)



    Based on interviews with 10,000+ consumers in 7 countries, the Simplicity Index evaluated the simplicity of 500+ brands. Conclusion: Simplicity pays. (Download PDF)

    [1] “Complicated processes + unclear communications = frustrated customers”

    [2] What is the impact of simplicity on businesses, on customer, and on employees?
    On businesses: Higher customer loyalty (75% will tell other people about the brand).

    On customers: Greater willingness to pay (for simpler experiences, people would pay up to 5.9% more)

    On employees: Increased employee motivation (companies that articulate a purpose simply and make it a central purpose for employees foster innovation.)

    Thursday, August 22, 2013

    Differences between American English and British English



    For a fuller understanding of the differences between American and British English, please read the following articles:
    American and British English differences from Wikipedia;
    Differences Between American and British English from About.com.

    Tuesday, August 13, 2013

    Free online books library for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast

    Read Print offers over 8,000 absolutely free online books by 3,500 authors at your fingertips.

    Categories: Essays, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Plays, Poetry, Short Stories

    Top Authors: Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, O Henry, Oscar Wilde, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare

    Top Books: 1984, Animal Farm, Hamlet, Jane Eyre, Paradise Lost, Peter Pan, Pride and Prejudice, The Canterbury Tales, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Man

    Saturday, August 10, 2013

    Learn English Through Song

    Learn English Through Song helps young adults at high school to university levels learn to speak, practice listening, develop vocabulary or just sing along like karaoke and have fun as they study more than a hundred songs from John Denver, Loggins and Messina, James Taylor, Elton John, CSNY, Simon and Garfunkel, Abba, etc. (from Teacher Frank’s Learn to Speak English Here and Now, with free song lyrics and practice exercises)

    Thursday, August 8, 2013

    Daily Pronunciation

    Daily Pronunciation, with more free videos on vocabulary, American slang and idioms with pronunciation help from Sozo Exchange (the place where professional adults can learn English and exchange knowledge for free; download sample Study Guide)

    Tuesday, February 15, 2011

    Rules for good writing by Frank L. Visco

    Notes: (1) Originally published in the June 1986 issue of Writers’ digest; (2) The author intentionally violates the rules he prescribes in order to make his point.
    1. Avoid Alliteration. Always.
    2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
    3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
    4. Employ the vernacular.
    5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
    6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
    7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
    8. Contractions aren’t necessary.
    9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
    10. One should never generalize.
    11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
    12. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
    13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
    14. Profanity sucks.
    15. Be more or less specific.
    16. Understatement is always best.
    17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
    18. One word sentences? Eliminate.
    19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
    20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
    21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
    22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
    23. Who needs rhetorical questions?

    Sunday, February 13, 2011

    Using plain language on a government website; free website design and usability book


    Free website usability guidelines book, from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

    Throughout your Web design or redesign project, you should take advantage of what is already known about best practices for each step of the process. The Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines (PDF, 20.64MB) brings you these best practices compiled through an extensive process of research and review. (From usability.gov)

    You can also download specific sections of the book:

    Saturday, February 12, 2011

    English grammar test every day

    Learn English every day by doing the grammar test. The test contains 10 questions. Each test is generated randomly. You also get another test by clicking the New button. Click the Check button to verify your answers.

    Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 7

    (Note: This blog is AnswerTips-enabled; double click any word and a pop-up window will appear with the definition, pronunciation audio,word tutor, misspellings, antonyms, rhymes, Wikipedia and translations.)

    The Academic Word List contains 570 word families which are frequently used in academic texts. The AWL does not include the 2,000 English words in the General Service List. It was developed by Averil Coxhead of the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for the use of teachers and students in colleges and universities. It is divided into 10 sublists, with Sublist 1 containing the most frequent words and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

    How to use this word list: (1) Use the AnswerTips tool to know the meaning and pronunciation of these words; (2) Read the words silently; and (3) To practice your pronunciation, read the words at your full speaking volume.

    Sublist 7
    1. intervention
    2. confirmed
    3. definite
    4. classical
    5. chemical
    6. voluntary
    7. release
    8. visible
    9. finite
    10. publication
    11. channel
    12. file
    13. thesis
    14. equipment
    15. disposal
    16. solely
    17. deny
    18. identical
    19. submitted
    20. grade
    21. phenomenon
    22. paradigm
    23. ultimately
    24. extract
    25. survive
    26. converted
    27. transmission
    28. global
    29. inferred
    30. guarantee
    31. advocate
    32. dynamic
    33. simulation
    34. topic
    35. insert
    36. reverse
    37. decades
    38. comprise
    39. hierarchical
    40. unique
    41. comprehensive
    42. couple
    43. mode
    44. differentiation
    45. eliminate
    46. priority
    47. empirical
    48. ideology
    49. somewhat
    50. aid
    51. foundation
    52. adults
    53. adaptation
    54. quotation
    55. contrary
    56. media
    57. successive
    58. innovation
    59. prohibited
    60. isolated

    Friday, February 11, 2011

    Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 6

    (Note: This blog is AnswerTips-enabled; double click any word and a pop-up window will appear with the definition, pronunciation audio,word tutor, misspellings, antonyms, rhymes, Wikipedia and translations.)

    The Academic Word List contains 570 word families which are frequently used in academic texts. The AWL does not include the 2,000 English words in the General Service List. It was developed by Averil Coxhead of the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for the use of teachers and students in colleges and universities. It is divided into 10 sublists, with Sublist 1 containing the most frequent words and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

    How to use this word list: (1) Use the AnswerTips tool to know the meaning and pronunciation of these words; (2) Read the words silently; and (3) To practice your pronunciation, read the words at your full speaking volume.

    Sublist 6
    1. intelligence
    2. transformation
    3. presumption
    4. acknowledged
    5. utility
    6. furthermore
    7. accurate
    8. diversity
    9. attached
    10. recovery
    11. assigned
    12. tapes
    13. motivation
    14. bond
    15. edition
    16. nevertheless
    17. transport
    18. cited
    19. fees
    20. scope
    21. enhanced
    22. incorporated
    23. instructions
    24. subsidiary
    25. input
    26. abstract
    27. ministry
    28. capable
    29. expert
    30. preceding
    31. display
    32. incentive
    33. inhibition
    34. trace
    35. ignored
    36. incidence
    37. estate
    38. cooperative
    39. revealed
    40. index
    41. lecture
    42. discrimination
    43. overseas
    44. explicit
    45. aggregate
    46. gender
    47. underlying
    48. brief
    49. domain
    50. rational
    51. minimum
    52. interval
    53. neutral
    54. migration
    55. flexibility
    56. federal
    57. author
    58. initiatives
    59. allocation
    60. exceed

    Thursday, February 10, 2011

    Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 5

    (Note: This blog is AnswerTips-enabled; double click any word and a pop-up window will appear with the definition, pronunciation audio,word tutor, misspellings, antonyms, rhymes, Wikipedia and translations.)

    The Academic Word List contains 570 word families which are frequently used in academic texts. The AWL does not include the 2,000 English words in the General Service List. It was developed by Averil Coxhead of the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for the use of teachers and students in colleges and universities. It is divided into 10 sublists, with Sublist 1 containing the most frequent words and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

    How to use this word list: (1) Use the AnswerTips tool to know the meaning and pronunciation of these words; (2) Read the words silently; and (3) To practice your pronunciation, read the words at your full speaking volume.

    Sublist 5
    1. alter
    2. stability
    3. energy
    4. aware
    5. licence
    6. enforcement
    7. draft
    8. styles
    9. precise
    10. medical
    11. pursue
    12. symbolic
    13. marginal
    14. capacity
    15. generation
    16. exposure
    17. decline
    18. academic
    19. modified
    20. external
    21. psychology
    22. fundamental
    23. adjustment
    24. ratio
    25. whereas
    26. enable
    27. version
    28. perspective
    29. contact
    30. network
    31. facilitate
    32. welfare
    33. transition
    34. amendment
    35. logic
    36. rejected
    37. expansion
    38. clause
    39. prime
    40. target
    41. objective
    42. sustainable
    43. equivalent
    44. liberal
    45. notion
    46. substitution
    47. generated
    48. trend
    49. revenue
    50. compounds
    51. evolution
    52. conflict
    53. image
    54. discretion
    55. entities
    56. orientation
    57. consultation
    58. mental
    59. monitoring
    60. challenge

    Tuesday, February 8, 2011

    Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 4

    (Note: This blog is AnswerTips-enabled; double click any word and a pop-up window will appear with the definition, pronunciation audio,word tutor, misspellings, antonyms, rhymes, Wikipedia and translations.)

    The Academic Word List contains 570 word families which are frequently used in academic texts. The AWL does not include the 2,000 English words in the General Service List. It was developed by Averil Coxhead of the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for the use of teachers and students in colleges and universities. It is divided into 10 sublists, with Sublist 1 containing the most frequent words and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

    How to use this word list: (1) Use the AnswerTips tool to know the meaning and pronunciation of these words; (2) Read the words silently; and (3) To practice your pronunciation, read the words at your full speaking volume.

    Sublist 4
    1. overall
    2. emerged
    3. regime
    4. implementation
    5. project
    6. hence
    7. occupational
    8. internal
    9. goals
    10. retained
    11. sum
    12. integration
    13. mechanism
    14. parallel
    15. imposed
    16. despite
    17. job
    18. parameters
    19. approximate
    20. label
    21. concentration
    22. principal
    23. series
    24. predicted
    25. summary
    26. attitudes
    27. undertaken
    28. cycle
    29. communication
    30. ethnic
    31. hypothesis
    32. professional
    33. status
    34. conference
    35. attributed
    36. annual
    37. obvious
    38. error
    39. implications
    40. apparent
    41. commitment
    42. subsequent
    43. debate
    44. dimensions
    45. promote
    46. statistics
    47. option
    48. domestic
    49. output
    50. access
    51. code
    52. investigation
    53. phase
    54. prior
    55. granted
    56. stress
    57. civil
    58. contrast
    59. resolution
    60. adequate

    Monday, February 7, 2011

    Academic Word List (AWL) Sublist 3

    (Note: This blog is AnswerTips-enabled; double click any word and a pop-up window will appear with the definition, pronunciation audio,word tutor, misspellings, antonyms, rhymes, Wikipedia and translations.)

    The Academic Word List contains 570 word families which are frequently used in academic texts. The AWL does not include the 2,000 English words in the General Service List. It was developed by Averil Coxhead of the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for the use of teachers and students in colleges and universities. It is divided into 10 sublists, with Sublist 1 containing the most frequent words and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

    How to use this word list: (1) Use the AnswerTips tool to know the meaning and pronunciation of these words; (2) Read the words silently; and (3) To practice your pronunciation, read the words at your full speaking volume.

    Sublist 3
    1. comments
    2. convention
    3. published
    4. framework
    5. implies
    6. negative
    7. dominant
    8. illustrated
    9. outcomes
    10. constant
    11. shift
    12. deduction
    13. ensure
    14. specified
    15. justification
    16. funds
    17. reliance
    18. physical
    19. partnership
    20. location
    21. link
    22. coordination
    23. alternative
    24. initial
    25. validity
    26. task
    27. techniques
    28. excluded
    29. consent
    30. proportion
    31. demonstrate
    32. reaction
    33. criteria
    34. minorities
    35. technology
    36. philosophy
    37. removed
    38. sex
    39. compensation
    40. sequence
    41. corresponding
    42. maximum
    43. circumstances
    44. instance
    45. considerable
    46. sufficient
    47. corporate
    48. interaction
    49. contribution
    50. immigration
    51. component
    52. constraints
    53. technical
    54. emphasis
    55. scheme
    56. layer
    57. volume
    58. document
    59. registered
    60. core