How to learn something (including academic English) for nothing

The most important thing TOEFL test-takers can do to prepare for the test is to build their academic English by reading and listening. Nothing will help them more! Reading and listening will help them improve all of their English skills – reading, writing, listening, speaking – and become familiar with academic English at the same time.

A few days ago, there was an article in the New York Times called How to learn something for nothing, which described new Internet sources for free educational and cultural content. Several of the resources described in the article are good places for TOEFL test-takers to go to find good academic reading and listening. Before I tell you about them, let’s talk about the best way to get the greatest benefit from these resources.

To get the greatest benefit from your reading and listening

Remember: you acquire new English when you read and listen to English content that is interesting to you and that you can understand. Here are several suggestions to help you find academic English that is appropriate for you:

• Look for classes, or subjects, that you studied in your first language. Take advantage of knowledge that you gained in your first language to help you understand classes in English. When you do, you will acquire, or pick up, more English

• Look for introductory classes. In the U.S., introductory, or beginning, classes usually have smaller numbers: 100 for first year classes, 200 for second year classes, etc. Not all schools use the same numbering system, but smaller numbers will almost always indicate easier classes.

• Look for classes that have audio or video and a transcript. A transcript is a written copy of the lecture. You will acquire more English when you follow the transcript while listening to the lecture. The transcript and lecture work together to help make everything more understandable.

• Set up a regular schedule and keep it. You will get the greatest benefit if you listen and read every day, even if it’s a short time, like 30 minutes. Most lectures are one hour long. Listen to half of a lecture one day and the second half the next day. Regular input, from reading and listening, will provide the greatest benefit.

Academic Earth

Academic Earth is a good place to start. It contains more than 3500 lectures from 130 different courses. Many of the lectures include transcripts, written copies of the lecture that you can read while you listen to the lecture.

If you don’t know where to begin, try First Day of Freshman Year, a series of first lectures in introductory classes (see more suggestions below, at the end of this article). Or try Dr. Paul Bloom’s Introduction to Psychology class. The links to the transcripts are below the videos; look for Related Resources.

iTunes U

iTunes U is the largest and best collection of academic content on the Internet. There are thousands of hours of lectures, and other academic content, from hundreds of schools. Read Preparing for the TOEFL at iTunes U for more information and a video that will show you how to find and use iTunes U. For links to short – one-minute and five-minute – academic lectures, check out Bite-sized academic English.

Open Culture

Open Culture claims to have the best free cultural and educational media on the web. It includes audio and podcasts, video, free courses, language lessons – including the ESL Podcast – free ebooks, and many other things.

Nothing will improve your academic English more than a good diet of reading and listening. Take time to look through these resources, set up a regular time to do your reading and listening, and experience the benefits!

Warren Ediger