How to learn English - Study tips from ELLLO

One Minute English

Student can watch short videos and learn real English from real people!

What is One Minute English?

One Minute English is a collection of over 800 listening and viewing lessons. These lessons help learners hear real, natural English.

Each lesson includes a one-minute video featuring international English speakers responding to a basic question. The lessons come with a transcript and a quiz. Some newer lessons may include vocabulary, speaking, and grammar activities.

Why are the videos especially helpful for students learning English?

In these lessons, students can see the speaker's face when they talk, which is something that rarely happens in textbook listening activities. In the real world, students often will see the speaker with whom they are talking. They can pick up meaning from non-verbal cues like facial expressions. Students are also more likely to have a connection with the speaker if they can see them. Thus, seeing a person’s face as they talk increases engagement.

In terms of language, listening to natural speech, as opposed to scripted speech, is valuable for English language learning. It exposes students to loose structure, filler words, and natural pronunciation that occur in real conversations. Because the speakers are talking naturally, and thinking as they talk, they will naturally use more pauses, speak with shorter clauses, and repeat words more naturally than scripted recordings that are red by voice actors.

Why are these lessons the most popular activities for students and teachers on elllo?

These lessons are popular because they are fun, easy to do, and cover many interesting topics. The video lessons are also short, so students can do one quickly and feel a sense of accomplishment. Another reason these lessons are very popular is because they are not level specific. Students of all languages can enjoy them. Even though most lessons are at the intermediate level (B1), they work well for both high-beginner (A2) and advanced (C1) students.

Why are most lessons at the intermediate level?

Most lessons are at the intermediate level because the videos feature naturally spoken English. Natural English uses simple vocabulary and grammar, making it suitable for beginners. However, it's spoken faster than scripted conversations in textbook recordings, benefiting intermediate and advanced students too. These lessons also use more figurative language, like idioms, multi-word expressions, and slang, which occurs more often in natural language than in scripted conversations.

In the real world, students are more likely to hear authentic speech than scripted language, so they need ample practice hearing how people speak naturally.

What's special about the speakers in these lessons?

These lessons feature speakers from all over the world, including South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. Most of these speakers have excellent English, proving that you don't need to be a native speaker to speak English fluently. One Minute English is special because there is nothing else like it on the web or in commercial textbooks. Nowhere else can teachers find such an abundance and variety of English accents and listening lessons designed especially for ESL students.

How many countries are represented on elllo?

There are English speakers from over 100 countries on elllo, with more being added regularly.

Lesson Plan for One Minute English:

1) Listen for Fun

In the first listening, students should watch the entire one-minute video for enjoyment and to get the main idea that the speaker is expressing.

2) Take a Quiz

In the second listening, students should watch the video again and complete the quiz provided with the lesson. This quiz helps students check their listening comprehension. These quizzes are great practice activities that students can do on their smartphone for free!

In order to practice test-taking, students can do this activity first. The students should preview the questions, then play the video and take the quiz. They can check their answers by clicking the buttons below the quiz.

3) Read and Listen

In the third listening, students should listen and read the text simultaneously. Students will be able to notice language they may have missed before. At this stage, students can notice figurative language and various expressions commonly used in spoken, but not written language.