CEP Self-directed study portal

Self-directed Study Instruction (Last updated Fall 2024):

To master English, just attending classes is not enough. You also need exposure to English at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week. The best way to do this are:

1. Read a book you're interested in without using a dictionary (Extensive Reading, ER)
2. Use websites, watch videos or listen to podcasts about the topics you're interested in, then make sentences with the new words you learned in them in your vocabulary notebook (Self-directed study)

How to do your weekly self-directed study:

1. Choose a website from this page. You can choose from:
• Type 1: Use English learning websites
• Type 2: Read online articles about your area of interest
• Type 3: Watch online videos or listen to podcasts
2. Study/read/watch/listen to it.
3. Write down any new words into your vocabulary notebook. Visit Cambridge Dictionary Online for definitions and example sentences, if necessary.
4. Click the link and fill in self-directed study report form at least once a week:
• For CEP2 students: Click here
• For CEP6D students: Click here
  

👍= Highly recommended by Peter!

WHAT'S NEW

VoiceTube

Watch K-Pop star's makeup video, Hayao Miyazaki anime with subtitles and Japanese translations to learn English! 👍

https://jp.voicetube.com/

English Central

Record your voice after watching a video and check your score! 👍 

https://ja.englishcentral.com/browse/videos

TYPE 1: ENGLISH LEARNING WEBSITES

Learn English Online: British Council 👍
So many free English courses! Who needs eikaiwa schools any more?
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

LearnEnglish Kids: British Council  👍

For kids, but also good for young adults.

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/

LearnEnglish Teens: British Council 👍

Even if you are above 20 years old, it's still good.

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/

BBC Learning English 👍
You can watch the English learning programs of the British Broadcasting Corporation for free.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/

Tim's Pronunciation Workshop 
Learn British pronunciation the fun way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation

English in One Minute 👍

Short and easy way to learn British English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/eiam/

VOA Learning English 👍

Free videos and audio files in different levels from the Voice of America.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com

VOA Special English TEXT and MP3 FILES
You can download the audio files of Voice of America programs in slower speed and read the scripts.
http://www.manythings.org/voa/scripts/

Test English

Good for TOEIC and/or EIKEN preparation.

https://test-english.com

Duolingo 👍

You can take a placement test for free. It has a Japanese version.
https://www.duolingo.com

ELSA Speak 👍

An app that helps you improve your pronunciation. It has a Japanese version.

https://elsaspeak.com/en/

TYPE 2: ARTICLES ABOUT VARIOUS AREAS OF INTEREST

MLB News
Are you a baseball fan?
https://www.mlb.com/news

Anime News Network
Are you an anime fan?
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com

Allkpop
Are you a K-pop fan?
https://www.allkpop.com

Game Informer
Are you an online game fan?
https://www.gameinformer.com

News in Levels 👍
You can read the news in different levels.
https://www.newsinlevels.com/#

News Reviews
Do you want to be able to read news in English? Here's the place to be.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview

Breaking News English
News stories that are designed to help you improve your English.
https://breakingnewsenglish.com

毎日ウィークリー 👍
最新号に限り無料で一部記事の全文が読め、音声が聞けます。
https://mainichi.jp/weekly/

Flight attendant central

For people preparing to become flight attendants.

https://flightattendantcentral.com

American Kennel Clubs

For all the dog lovers out there.

https://www.akc.org/

TYPE 3: VIDEOS AND PODCASTS

Six Minute English👍

A immensely popular podcast series from BBC Learning English

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english

Nick's English

EIKEN interview practice videos (British accent)

https://www.youtube.com/@NicksEnglish

JForrest English

Jennifer is another popular English-teaching YouTuber.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLNBasuHKOILIwewAetJO6g

Nas Daily
That crazy guy on YouTube who makes a one-minute video every day.
https://www.youtube.com/user/nyassin14

English with Lucy 
Probably the most popular English teacher on the web.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz4tgANd4yy8Oe0iXCdSWfA

Video Zone: British Council 👍
Authentic videos with transcripts and tasks
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/video-zone

Latifs Inspired

Are you into cooking? Try some British Indian food tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/@LatifsInspired

Cathy Cat カティー
German girl YouTuber explains Harajuku kawaii culture.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIg-kRovqtSqWC1kjfKTTZQ

Sam Chui

For people who want to become pilots, flight attendants, or are just interested in airplanes.

https://www.youtube.com/user/N178UA

Easy Natural English with Liam

A British online teacher based in Japan

https://www.youtube.com/@easynaturalenglish

World Friends

Young people talking about different languages

https://www.youtube.com/@worldfriends77

Izzy Sealy

Want to know what it's like to be a medical student at Cambridge?

https://www.youtube.com/@IzzySealey/featured

BBC 6 Minute English 👍
All you need is six minutes to learn new English vocabulary and expressions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english

The English We Speak 👍
Want to impress your teacher? The latest words and expressions you can use in everyday conversations are here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak

TED Talks
It is helpful for improving your presentation skills as well as English in general.
https://www.ted.com/talks

Learn English with Gill 

The most serene English teacher ever!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzBGtBze1AIcDmRwD2ZjiAA

The Hokkien Blog: Ho ti lai-soaN (The tiger is deep in the mountains)

This post is a translation from my previous post in Japanese.

I sometimes converse with my wife in Hokkien in order to expose our kids to Taiwanese Hokkien. (They only speak Japanese, Mandarin and English, in this order of fluency.)

She asked me to bring something over in Hokkien, so I answered: "Ho."

To this, she responded: "Ho ti lai-soaN lah!"

It took me a while to figure out she was saying: "The tiger is deep in the mountains".

What the heck could this mean?

In no time, I figured out what this word play meant.

Let me explain.

As you may know, Taiwanese Hokkien is a mixture of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou accents. In Taipei City, the traditional accent is closer to the Amoy accent, which belongs to the Quanzhou side.

In this accent, the pronunciation of "ho (good)" is rounded, as in "hoh".

However, the mainstream accent in Taiwanese media today is closer to the Kaohsiung accent (more toward the Zhangzhou side). In this accent, "ho" is centered, as if to say "her" non-rhotically.

So this word play is used by speakers of the latter accent to ridicule the former's pronunciation of "ho". (FYI, my wife is a speaker of the former. She probably heard someone say this to her parents, who have an even stronger Tong'an accent.)

There are some other jokes that utilize the differences in these two major accents in Taiwan, but some of them are quite vulgar, and not suitable for print.

台湾閩南語ブログ:ほーてらいそあN（虎は山奥に）

日本語と英語と北京語しか話せない子供達に台湾語を教えるために、時々わざと妻と台湾閩南語で会話することがある。

妻が私に何かをするように頼んだので、台湾語で「ほー」と答えたら、「ほーてらいそあNら！」という返事が帰ってきた。

どんな意味なのかと思ったら、「虎teh內山啦」（虎は山奥にいる）ということ。一体、何の話なのか？

ちょっと考えたら、この言葉遊びの意味が分かった。

台湾閩南語は中国福建省の泉州と漳州という二つの地域の言語が混ざったものであり、極大雑把に言って台北などの北部はどちらかというと前者に近く、南部と宜蘭は後者に近い。台北の混ざり方は福建省アモイ市のものに極めて類似していて、フィリピンやシンガポール・マレーシアなどの華人と問題なく意思疎通できる。戦後は台北市が台湾華語の中心地になったので、台湾のメディアで標準的なものとして扱われている台湾閩南語は、どちらかというと高雄・台南のものに近い。これは「台湾優勢腔」などと呼ばれている。

さて、この現在の台湾で主流派の台湾語では、「好」の発音がcenteringしていて、北京語読みの「赫」に近い。つまり、「はー」に近く聞こえる。

一方、台北で話される泉州寄りの発音では、lip roundingが入り、「ほー」と聞こえる。

日本に例えると、「箸」と言ったのが、他地方の人には「橋」と言っているように聞こえるのと似ているというわけだ。

それで、台北訛りで「いいです」と言ったのに、わざと「虎は山奥だ」と言ってからかう言葉遊びが成立するのである。

これに似た、泉州訛りと漳州訛りの違いを利用した冗談もいくつかあるが、ここでは書かないでおく。