Newsweek, just like Times, is a weekly magazine covering national and international affairs, business, science and technology, society and the arts and entertainment.
Because they cover such wide range of topics, Newsweek’s contents are perfect fit for English learners. Here are a few samples from its video section: Get Fit, Be Happy, Susan Boyle: Words Fail Them, Obama’s First 100 Days. And there are a lot more.
Newsweek has a YouTube channel to feature its video reports, too. Check it out.
Fast Company is a young business magazine started in 1995 that covers innovations, digital technologies, and management. It’s no longer as hot as the Internet stocks during the dot com days. But it manages to stay on the edge.
Fast Company TV went live in 2008, producing video reporting under three channels: Fast Company Live for short features (“Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg“), Scobleizer TV for longer one-on-one interviews (“Guy Kawasaki Gives A Reality Check”), and WorkFast TV for half-hour long interview show (“David Allen: Get the Thing Done“)
You can also watch the videos at Fast Company TV’s at YouTube.
All Things Digital is a new baby in the family of Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. It dedicates the reporting on technology, the Internet and media.
As its name tells, all of its contents are delivered over the web. In the Video section, you can watch the short video reporting mainly by four editors under different channels–Boom Town, Digital Daily, Media Memo, etc.
The sound quality of the video clips are not always good. But the contents are great for English learners.
United Press International (UPI) used to be a major newswire service competing directly with Associated Press (AP) and Reuters. Its heyday has long gone. But it still produces quick, short news everyday.
UPI’s video reports are all serious news coverage, usually less than five minutes long. Under the Video section of its website, you can watch the video in several categories: News Features (“Earth Day“), Issues of the Day (“Swine Flu“), In the Spotlight (“Janet Jackson“), White House Weekly, etc.
You can also watch UPI’s videos at its YouTube channel here.
The Christian Science Monitor, despite of its religious reference, is an American newspaper that covers serious international and domestic news. It used to be a daily print publication, but changed to an online news publisher this year.
From its multimedia section of the website, you can watch some great video reporting. A few samplers include Tel Avidv’s bubble economy, the migrant workers in China struggling, India’s political election.
The same section also features audio slideshows and podcasts, all great materials for ESL learners.
Inc. is the American magazine for entrepreneurs. It’s mainly for business owners, particularly those of small private businesses, making it a great source to pick up business English.
Inc. presents many short video reports under Inc.TV channel at its website. There are interviews (“Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind“), expert advices (“Empowering Employees“), buying guides (“Buying a Printer“), and lifestyle tips (“Dress for Success“). Under its Online Exclusives section, it also features some interesting report, such as 12 Round with Big George.
Boxer champion talks about grill. You got to listen.
U.S. News & World Report started as a weekly magazine that competes with Time and Newsweek. Its annual rankings of the American colleges, graduate schools, and hospitals are influential. But its news reporting is no longer strong; it only publishes once a month now.
For the language learners, the real treasure is the video section of the magazine’s website, which has a channel called College Tour. It features many short student interviews throughout the college campuses in the U.S.. Each student talked spontaneously about why she chose that particular school and how she liked the college life.
It’s amazing how articulate the American college kids are. And you can learn a lot from their talking.
Good Housekeeping is an American magazine that covers woman’s interests in diet, recipes, style and beauty, and house. It also endorses the consumer products by awarding the “Good Housekeeping Seal” based on its testing.
As to housekeeping, nothing is too trivial or boring. Using short video at its website, it tells you how to cook asparagus or make chocolate chip cookies, slash pet-care costs, and offer anti-aging tips. Under its Product Testing channel, it also recommends the products in many categories.
You can also watch Good Housekeeping’s video at its YouTube channel.
Rolling Stone is an American magazine known for its coverage of popular culture–especially music–and politics. Its heyday has long passed, but its influence remains.
At the video section of its website, it reports news (“Michael Jackson’s Final Days“), reviews movies (“Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince“), and features music (“U2“). The drawback is that you don’t have a lot of videos to watch.
Let stone roll and learning start.
Big Think was launched last year to share ideas online, the ideas coming from the experts in almost all the fields–science, social, politics, culture, etc.
Big Think’s interviews are great for language learning. Not just that the ideas are usually fascinating, but also the interview style is short, direct, and simple. Best of call, it provides the transcript along with the video. You can browse the videos either by Topics or by Experts.
It also has a channel in YouTube with over 200 interviews.
About: learning a second language? talk as much as you can, make as many mistakes as you have to, and never, never, never give up.