BBC Learning English - Towards More Delicious English Learning

When browsing through BBC Learning English, it gave me a feeling like I was playing Terraria, an adventure game where you dig around in search of treasures. This learning resource is like a trove of infinite treasures, with every click potentially uncovering hidden gems of knowledge, much like the unexpected discovery of precious stones behind a simple rock in the game.

captured from Terraria

Guided Systematic Learning

captured from BBC Learning English

captured from Terraria

At a quick look, the navigation bar is so simple and neat, actualy too simple to the extent that you don't know what to expect, just like what the players will encounter when they start to play this game. 

Upon clicking the "Courses" link, the users are directed to a long journey exploring various units that place lessons unrolled around different themes. Here the website is like the "guide" in the game, leading you through their pre-ordered lessons. As to why some language points or words are taught before others, we don't know.

captured from BBC Learning English

These lessons demonstrates the perspective to develop learners' key language skills comprehensively. The focuses on multimodal reading and listening skills are prominant in the lesson design and they are greatly enhanced by the carefully crafted videos and audios. An overview of syllables can be found here. What both self-teaching learners and teachers might find specifically handy might be the transcripts and vocabulary and grammar references foregrounded in each lesson. The transcripts eliminate the need for users to spend time copying, pasting and editing the transcripts (like we often do with YouTube videos' subtitles) or finding transcripts (like we do with songs and films we enjoy). Meanwhile, we have reasons to believe that the language point explanations provided by BBC are trustworthy and authentic, which can save us huge amount of time toggling between tabs to look up word meanings and evaluate the source.

Informing Learning

Just as there are story mode and endless mode in games, there are, for me, both systematic and incidental patterns of English learning. If I rely more on teachers's systematic guidance of English to pass exams when I was a beginner, I'm now more likely to purposefully seek out English resources based on the linguistic needs of the moment, or to pick up linguistic items that catch my attention during conversations. As I introduced earlier, BBC Learning English provides courses that resemble the systematic way of learning, and it also afford potentials for a more incidental, informal way of learning that considers the needs of learners in authentic communication scenarios while offering bite-size commonly used langauge episodes.

captured from BBC Learnig English

Speaking of real-life scenarios, BBC Learning English tries to bring the real-world encounters into their lessons, tapping into that scenarios to trigger learners' emotions and desires to follow the lessons and see how communication breakdown can be solved. Like with Ayesha's phone call scenario – totally relatable! It took me back to my own nerve-wracking phone calls and triggered a desire in me to see how she would solve the problem. It encouraged me to try asking the interlocutor to slow down and repeat when I saw Ayesha finished her task successfully through these techniques. A follow-up vocabullary video is also provided to consolidate the linguistic aspects, which beginner might find quite handy. 

Another programme I would recommend is "How to Speak English naturally - medium", because it keenly captures the uncertainty we feel about getting the language just right, especially when we are trying to conntect interculturally. It offers a pathway for me to be my best self in English - that polite, humorous and caring me with real feelings - by providing the expressions I can use and the pronunciation and pragmatics aspects I should pay attention to. You might find some of the following topics quite interesting:

• How to make small talk
• How to respond to compliments
• How to... be sarcastic
• How to express no strong feelings

Tip: While navigating the BBC English Learning platform, keep in mind that the search engine may not always yield precise results. To find specific topics of interest, consider using Google along with the search term "BBC English Learning."

Tired of mindless browsing? Try bbclearningenglish on IG!

captured from Instagram

The other day, while scrolling through Instagram, I stumbled upon a post by bbclearningenglish (hereafter bbc) introducing 7 fascinating food idioms. Among them, one caught my attention - "as calm as a cucumber" - a phrase I hadn't encountered before in my day-to-day conversations. Although bbc didn't delve deeper into the meaning beyond the basics, I was reassured when I saw possitive feedbacks bbc gave to users around the world asking questions like "Is it everyday English? Rude or can we use it without problem?"

It dawned on me that social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook serve as ideal mediums for sharing the bite-sized content offered by BBC Learning English, such as "English In A Minute" and "The English We Speak." These platforms thrive on user engagement and feedback, fostering a two-way exchange that goes beyond simply imparting knowledge. Each post becomes a gateway not only to share information but also to spark meaningful discussions and share experiences within the community.

Some Further Comments

Having said that BBC Learning English offers abundant well-designed materials for both guided systematic learning and informal, incidental learning, it appears that the platform tends to focus more on delivering knowledge rather than providing ample opportunities for users to practice and apply what they've learned. This is evident in the predominantly multiple-choice or drag-and-drop quizzes directly related to the content.

"Planet Planners" - Bitesize

"Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade" - Bitesize

To address this gap, teachers and learners can supplement their learning experience by experimenting with recently acquired words or expressions from BBC Learning English in various contexts. Platforms like Youglish or TubeQuizard offer avenues to explore how linguistic items are used in diverse situations through YouTube videos, enhancing practical application.

Additionally, BBC's Bitesize channel serves as a valuable resource, offering engaging games across different subjects such as history, geography, and economics. These games not only provide entertainment but also serve as effective Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) resources. Exploring Bitesize further could be a rewarding endeavor in establishing a more engaging and exciting approach to English learning.