Talk is Golden by KanTalk.com

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

kantalk — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:48:08 +0000

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to the Kantalk users all over the world!

Learn from The Office

kantalk — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:16:55 +0000

It’s funny. It’s about work. It’s like a documentary. That sounds a great material to learn English that prepare you for the corporate life. Watch The Office, the popular American TV series that mock the modern work life.

At NBC’s website, you can choose to watch the full episodes, the highlight scenes, the best of the episodes, or even deleted scenes.

Here is the highlights of the latest episode: Secret Santa.

Learn from Fox News Channel

kantalk — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:23:50 +0000

Fox News Channel (FNC) is the youngest cable news channel, started in 1996, but its viewership has grown rapidly. It has surpassed CNN and become the number one cable news channel.

At its website, FNC has a simple page to show video reporting. And there are a lot of videos in so many different categories! Here are some samples: Hot Topics (Tiger Woods On Hold), Entertainment (Up in the Air), Health (Wine Bad for Teeth?), and Opinion (Is America Losing Power in the World?)

You can also watch FNC’s video reporting at its Youtube channel.

Learn from Reader’s Digest

kantalk — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:51:49 +0000

Reader’s Digest is the best-selling monthly magazine in the U.S. It also reaches 40 million readers globally in 21 languages.

Besides its print magazine, Reader’s Digest has been offering various digital contents over the web. Its video contents are great materials for language learning. They are listed under the categories of How To (Unclog a Toilet), Health (Is Coffee Good For You?), Funny (Bad Babysitter), and Inspiring.

The more you can digest, the more you can improve your English.

Learn from Popular Science

kantalk — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:23:29 +0000

Popular Science is an American monthly magazine that covers science and technology. It’s one of the oldest magazines, started in the late 19th century, and its target readers are general public.

At its redesigned website, Popular Science puts out video reports along with the text ones. Here are some interesting reports: Sony’s 3-D Television, video ads in a print magazine, and turning brain waves into beautiful music.

You can also watch Popular Science’s video reporting at its YouTube channel here.

Learn from Harvard Business Review

kantalk — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:02:34 +0000

Harvard Business Review is a monthly magazine that ranks high among senior executives, management consultants, and business school professors.

It would be way too boring for language learners to read the typical jargon-rich long articles of HBR. But watching the short video clips it produces can be a good learning experience. Most are the short interviews it conducted with the business school professors or senior executives. Here are a few samples: Innovate Like Google, Managing Generation Y, and The Dangers of Nepotism.

The easiest way to watch HBR’s video is at its YouTube channel here.

Learn from National Public Radio

kantalk — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:32:42 +0000

National Public Radio (NPR) produces and distributes news and cultural programming over 700 public radio stations in the U.S, reaching 27 million Americans each week. Its diverse contents and sheer volume are great leaning materials for English learners.

For those who reside outside the U.S., the best way to listen to NPR is through streaming through its website. It presents the programming under three categories: News, Arts&Life, and Music. You can hear them at Listen page. Besides radio broadcasting, NPR also produces video reporting under Multimedia page.

This is the NPR’s YouTube channel for its video reporting.

Learn from Voice of America

kantalk — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:32:06 +0000

Voice of America (VOA) should be a familiar voice to many English learners worldwide. It’s a radio broadcasting set up by the U.S. government during the World War Two. Today it broadcasts the programs through television and Internet, too.

At its website VOANews.com, VOA offers many short, up-to-date video reporting under four categories: News&Polictics, Economy, US Life&Art, Science/Health. Here are a few samples: Anniversary of Berlin Wall’s Removal, Asian-American MBAs Job Search, H1N1 Virus goes global.

You can also watch VOA News at its Youtube channel here.

Learn from Reason Magazine

kantalk — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:19:48 +0000

Reason is a monthly magazine that covers politics, culture and ideas. It advocates on the principle of libertarianism of “free minds and free markets”.

Here is the reason you should visit Reason’s website: The Drew Carey Project and other great video clips under the Reason.TV section. They tell interesting stories–what is this “Food Fight” in Los Angeles all about; what is in common between soccer star David Beckham and Mexican labors (hint: “Immigration“), or Kidneys for sale.

You can also watch Reason.TV at its YouTube channel here.

Learn From Success

kantalk — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:17:19 +0000

The start of Success magazine went back all the way to the 19th century; ever since, it has had many changes and reinvention. Its latest relaunch declared that it went back to its root: the magazine for entrepreneurs.

Whether it will succeed is hard to tell. In its reinvention, Success added a video section at its website. There are not a lot video clips yet. Most of the video clips are motivational talks (such as On Failure and The 8th Habit).

These are good materials for the learners, especially if you need a few drops of inspiration to stay on your learning.